6 Target Frozen Seafood Items To Buy And 3 To Skip, According To Reviews

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Target has more food options within its walls than you might have realized. There are aisles of fresh, packaged, refrigerated, and frozen food to stock in your kitchen. You can stop by for a full range of options, purchasing everything from Favorite Day frozen desserts to enjoy for a sweet afternoon treat to Good & Gather snacking nuts when you're feeling peckish. But if you're looking for something a little heartier, we found some of the top seafood items to add to your shopping cart and then a handful that you should avoid entirely — all according to customer reviews from the Target website, as well as a previous Tasting Table ranking. 

These items either received high ratings and praise or low ratings and numerous complaints regarding taste, freshness, texture, and quality. You can feel more confident in your shopping trip without wasting money on something that may not taste good or be of good quality. Stick to the buys, and you'll be all set.

You'll get a pound of product from the Good & Gather wild-caught Alaskan salmon burgers. There are four pink and/or keta salmon-based patties per pack, and they don't contain any type of artificial flavor, sweetener, or high-fructose corn syrup. The product has a 4.4/5 rating based on over 400 reviews. That positive rating comes due to customers finding the Alaska patties a good value, easy to cook, and that the salmon tastes fresh and high-quality. People report purchasing it regularly and appreciate its buildable seasoning, with ingredients including salt, garlic, onion, rosemary extract, and Mesquite smoke flavor. 

This allows you to enjoy the fish as is or add a little bit more to it based on the meal you're creating. If you need some ideas, customers say they like to slap it in between a bun and slather it with tartar sauce and toppings, while others like to use it as their source of protein with a side of rice or veggies.

Snag yourself a 2-pound bag of these adorable small cooked shrimp during your next Target run. Stock up when you want to eliminate prep time, as they're peeled, deveined, and already have the tail removed. Reviewers appreciate how easy the crustaceans are to prepare, making them a convenient option when you don't want to spend much time in the kitchen. Though they have only a small review sample at the time of writing (56 reviews), feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with 4.8 out of 5 stars. 

You'll get around 71 to 90 shrimp per pound, allowing you to create plenty of tasty meals before running out. Customers report a fresh taste and a good price for the amount of shrimp they receive. People say that they like adding the shrimp to pasta, risotto, and soups, making them a wonderfully versatile option to keep in your freezer. You can prepare them in any number of ways, including sautéing and serving with vegetables, incorporating them into tikka masala, rolling a handful into a shrimp taco, or adding a smattering to make salads more filling. 

Not everything at Target can be a hit, and this 16-ounce bag of wild-caught yellow tuna is an easy skip. It has far too many one-star ratings and complaints about the quality and lack of freshness. While the bag advertises four 4-ounce servings, more than one reviewer says the last bags they purchased had only three fillets, indicating that quality control and the lack of the advertised weight may be a problem. Reviews include reports of stringy fillets with connective tissue that made them tough to eat, while others had fillets riddled with dark red spots, which they thought might be blood vessels or parasites. 

Others say that the quality is horrible, with discoloration spots on the fillets. People report that yellowfin tuna has an unappealing fishy flavor that makes them nauseated, and unfortunately, the fishiness cannot be covered up with seasonings either. Reviewers seem to throw the food away because it's just too unpleasant to eat. With a rating of 3.7 out of 5.0, it may be best to save your dollars and skip this one.

The 1-pound bag of farmed, antibiotic-free Atlantic salmon comes with praise from over 1,100 happy customers. People share that it's a convenient option to have in the freezer, and it's a good bang for their buck — although some say they like to stretch their dollar even further and buy it when it is on sale, which is a method we can always get behind. 

Reviews mention the salmon tastes fresh and delicious, and that it retains moisture. If you've had a dryer or overcooked fish, you know how important this can be. One person even shares that, once thawed and cooked, you wouldn't even know it came frozen. Reviewers appreciate that everything is individually wrapped, so the fillets don't stick together. In addition to the excellent taste, people praise the way the salmon is cut as well as the portion size. While it does have color added, the packaging notes that it's from a non-artificial source.

While the Atlantic salmon was a clear winner, the 24-ounce bag of Alaska keta salmon is best avoided. The ratings are significantly lower than those of other entries on this list, with many one-star reviews and complaints about quality, freshness, taste, and more, adding up to an average of 3.8 out of 5 stars with only 35% of reviewers recommending the purchase. On the lighter side of the criticism, many people say they spotted, chewed on, or had to pick out bones from the salmon. Customers also share that they find the texture strange, reporting it to be dry and chewy, with some comparing it to chicken rather than fish. 

Other more serious claims share that their fish was rancid, gave them food poisoning, or they spotted worms in the fillet — not exactly something we want to leave to chance. It's unpleasant for the senses, as some say the smell and taste were disgusting or that the fish was discolored. The product is considered terrible, with some reviews saying they ultimately just trashed the fish or would not buy it again. Don't bother wasting your money on the Atlantic salmon.

If you prefer bigger pieces of shrimp, then the Large Raw Shrimp from Good & Gather is a stellar find. The 1-pound package includes peeled, deveined shrimp with tails removed, yielding approximately 41 to 50 pieces. The sheer amount of five-star reviews makes it a clear winner for Target frozen seafood and shrimp in particular. Customers rave about the quality, noting that the shrimp pieces are consistently sized, clean, and well-peeled and deveined, earning 4.5 stars out of 5.0 across over 1,700 reviews.

People mention that they've added the shrimp into their weekly protein rotation and provide insights on what they like to make with them — whether it's shrimp scampi, a creamy Alfredo, shrimp salad, or adding it to jambalaya. Ultimately, customers say it's a solid value for the price, and it's an easy way to get a meal on the table since they don't have to prep the shrimp beyond thawing and cooking it.

Don't confuse the large shrimp we just mentioned with the jumbo ones, the latter of which people have found issues with and do not generally recommend, with an overall rating of 3.7 out of 5.0 stars. It might be easy to mix them up since they are similarly prepped: raw, peeled, deveined, and the tails off. But this time they are jumbo-sized with around 20 to 25 pieces per bag. One of the big issues people complain about is the quality; They found that the poop and veins were still in the shrimp. 

Multiple people complain about the strange taste, which seems to be the biggest of many issues. The negative reviews are all over the place, saying it tastes like chemicals or has a fishy profile that makes it taste spoiled. They share that the crustacean is virtually inedible, nasty, and stinky, and that it's actually the worst frozen shrimp they've purchased to date. You can feel confident avoiding the jumbo shrimp, based on the sheer number of 1-star complaints about the taste alone.

Now, we know Lobster Mac and Cheese Bites aren't quite like the plain seafood options we've covered so far, but we liked them so much that they deserve a mention. This is a rare recommendation, as it hasn't fared well according to Target reviews, but when one of our writers tried out 14 Good & Gather frozen foods from Target, they deemed the bites as the ultimate winner. If you're expecting mediocre lobster bites with little lobster, you may want to reconsider.  

Our writer was also surprised by the sheer amount of lobster in the little balls. The bites offered an impressive lobster flavor with a pleasant amount of lobster packed into each one. The mac and cheese is savory and cheesy, while the lobster offers a buttery bite; our reviewer found it creates a delectable balance of a crisp exterior and rich interior when you want a prepped appetizer you can bake and serve. The reviews on the Target website are mixed, but people seem to call out that they like that it makes an easy snack, particularly if cooked in the air fryer and paired with tomato soup.

If you're looking for fish other than salmon to incorporate in your at-home freezer, the Good & Gather skinless tilapia fillets are top-notch. You'll get a 24-ounce bag, which people say offers incredible value. It's so beloved that customers often complain about it not being in stock. "Next time I see it, I'm buying at least 4 bags," one Target reviewer shares. 

Others say that the fillets blew them away; they like the fresh, fantastic taste and excellent, non-chewy texture. Reviews mention that they appreciate the well-portioned pieces and that the price is better than other stores or even the seafood counter at their local grocery store. People like to use tilapia in fish tacos, stews, wraps, or pan-fry thawed pieces to pair with potatoes and veggies; It's a highly versatile protein to add to your repertoire. Make sure to stock up if you see this available at your local Target, because it may be hard to find.

We found all of these items by browsing the Target website and filtering for only the Good & Gather seafood products. After that, we filtered by ranking, which returned a list of products ordered from highest to lowest. We started by identifying higher-rated items with 70% or more 5-star reviews at the time of writing, then scrolled to the end of the page to locate lower-rated items with a high number of low-star reviews. Poorly rated items often had multiple issues with flavor, freshness, or quality. We also included a highly rated product, as determined by a Tasting Table taste test from our trusted writer. It was essential to include a range of items, from shrimp to salmon to tuna, to offer a wider selection. All information about reviews and ratings was accurate at the time of writing.