The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
Growing up in the GTA, my mom would often pick up samosas and other goodies from all of the delicious hidden gem food stores around Scarborough, and since I recently had a craving, I decided to see if there were any frozen samosas at Canada's grocery stores that would satisfy it.
While recently wandering in the frozen food section of Walmart, I found three delicious-looking packages of samosas and, since they were relatively cheap, I decided to pick all three up and give them a try. I had to stop in at Loblaws later that day to grab something else, so I also checked to see if they had samosas and ended up grabbing the two kinds they had available.
I decided to rank them out of five in terms of how much I enjoyed them, and honestly, they're all pretty damn good, but there are three brands I'd totally buy again to serve at either Diwali, Eid or just when I'm having people over.
Come along with me on this delicious journey, will you?
Bikaji Cocktail Jalapeno and Cheese Samosa
Bikaji Jalapeno and Cheese Samosa box. Right: A small samosa.
The Bikaji Jalapeno and Cheese Samosa are absolutely delicious, but... jalapeno and cheese in a samosa seems illegal.
This petite little treat tastes like a jalapeno popper rather than the South Asian samosas I'm used to and I found the entire experience to be confusing.
That being said, I could absolutely crush about 10 of these (and likely regret it later digestively) but in my humble opinion, this is not a samosa. If I'm being generous, this could maybe be a "fusion" samosa for a little east meets west moment, but even that seems like a stretch.
This is jalapeno and cheese in dough. I'm into it, and would even buy it again, but I'd never show up with a tray of these to a party and say I brought samosas.
Rating: 2/5
Price: $5.47 for 360 grams
Price per 100 grams: $1.52
Pran Vegetable Samosas
Pran Vegetable Samosas. Right: A samosa.
Next up is the Pran Vegetable Samosa which I'd rate as a good samosa, but not a great samosa.
It didn't come with any chutney, and while the flavour of the samosa was pretty good and quite anise-forward, it was the filling I took exception with.
All of the potato and veg seemed like it was almost pureed together, which made for a bit of a mushy mouthful, and it was hard to individually locate any discrete pieces while chewing, so it kind of reminded me of baby food.
That may be how some people like their samosas, but it's not the one for me!
Rating: 3/5
Price: $4.39 for 400 grams
Price per 100 grams: $1.10
Chef Bombay Vegetable Samosas
Chef Bombay Vegetable Samosas. Right: A samosa.
The Chef Bombay brand is Canadian, which is always nice to support, and I really liked these samosas, particularly after discovering they also came with a frozen chutney.
The pastry is both crispy and flakey and the traditional vegetable filling of potatoes, carrots, peas and onions was very nicely seasoned (no jalapeno or cheese to be found here, thankfully). If you aren't good with spice, this may not be the samosa for you as it does have a bit of a kick to it, but I enjoyed it.
The chutney has the sweet and sour tang of tamarind that I love, and it helped to cool my mouth down from the spiciness of the filling.
My only point of contention about this samosa is the fact that it has lentils in it (I'm oddly biased against them unless they're in dahl format), but I'd absolutely buy these again and I'm excited to try out more food from this brand now that I've discovered them.
Rating: 4/5
Price: $6.99 for 300 grams
Price per 100 grams: $2.33
Suraj Punjabi Samosa
Suraj Punjabi Samosa. Right: A samosa.
This pack of samosas came with not one but two chutneys: the usual tamarind one and one that tasted like a mint blend.
This is my kind of samosa — thick, hearty and filled with chunks of well-seasoned potato that just tastes like a warm and comforting hug.
One or two of these samosas could easily be a quick meal, and if you came home from the bar at 3 a.m., these would be an absolute delight to demolish.
I personally prefer the tamarind sauce, but having two options to dip your snack into is a nice touch and the mint offers a refreshing flavour against the delicious stodginess of the potato and dough.
Rating: 4.5
Price: $4.99 for 460 grams
Price per 100 grams: $1.08
Shana Punjabi Samosas
Shana Punjabi Samosas. Right: A samosa.
And my winner for the day always happens to be the one that comes in at the cheapest per 100 grams: Shana Punjabi Samosas.
These samosas have all of the wonderful qualities that Suraj had in that it's a hearty amount of food, but this has that little bit of spiciness that I think ties everything together perfectly.
It's only a bit of heat (I think people who aren't good with spice would find it tolerable) but it wakes up the entire samosa and elevates it, in my opinion, and it's just really damn delicious.
Rating: 5/5
Price: $3.47 for 460 grams
Price per 100 grams: $0.75
While I enjoyed all of these samosas, the last three are the ones I'd repurchase, depending on who I was serving.
I'd serve Chef Bomay samosas to people who could handle spice and serve Suraj Punjabi Samosa to those who couldn't handle spice, but Shana gives the best of both worlds and it's my favourite of the day.
I also appreciated the samosas that came with chutney as it's a nice way to mix up the bites you're getting since potatoes can get quite heavy, and all of the sauces were delicious.
I thoroughly enjoyed this taste test, and who knows — maybe I'll try frozen butter chicken next!
These prices are confirmed at the time of publishing, but they can change at any time. Taxes and fees may not be included.