Trader Joe's blog and cooking.
Trader Joe's offers a big selection of cheese and diary products. But quality can vary, fortunately, that's why you have this site!
From Triple Creme Brie to the Mint Chip Ice Cream find dozens of reviews of Trader Joe's dairy products and see which ones are worth your time and which ones you may want to consider leaving on the shelf!
There are some products that Trader Joe’s can do no wrong with. So many of them are in the dessert section too. Their macarons are solid, the key lime pie is just hitting shelves as is the seasonal macaron aux framboises, and don’t forget about Trader Joe’s Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches live up to their name.
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Maybe this has happened to you: You are having a bad day, so you reach for a tub of ice cream. You sit, you watch some TV or Netflix. Before you know it, the container of ice cream has suddenly become empty. This was probably the inspiration for light ice cream. And now Trader Joe’s Light Ice Cream has entered the market of light ice creams with containers that are under 400 calories should you find yourself consuming the whole thing.
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It’s not often that I review things as basic and a half gallon of milk. Normally, I wouldn’t. But this product jumped out to me on a few different levels. First, it’s organic and grass fed (all buzzwords right now) AND for the price. Second, this half gallon set me back nearly $5 and that is a premium beyond the price of a regular half gallon and even the organic half gallon.
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A bagel and a schmear. As a life long New Yorker, I’m pretty sure there is a certain amount of Yiddish that has been added infused into the local lexicon. And when it comes to bagels there is a reason for this.
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The pros: Trader Joe’s Mint Chip Ice Cream is one the best mint chip ice creams that I’ve ever had.
The cons: Don’t look at the nutritional label. Just. Don’t. Do. It.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Butter Spread is one of two new butter options.
The cons: With some room temperature butter you can easily make this at home for a fraction of the cost.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic and Herb Butter Spread is one of two new butter spreads available at Trader Joe’s.
The cons: While this container isn’t expensive, this works out to over $11 a pound. I think you can do better in terms of price.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Chocolate Whole Milk fills a gap in the dairy section.
The cons: It is much pricier than buying regular milk and doing it yourself.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Truffle Dip is new and setting social media ablaze as Truffle seems to be the flavor of the season this winter.
The cons: This also seems to be seasonal.
The verdict:
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The pros: Trader Joe’s Raclette Sliced Cheese is not new, but is a divine find in the cheese aisle.
The cons: For me, this item was addicting.
The verdict: …
Truffles don’t come cheap. However, Trader Joe’s is starting to make me wonder about that. There have been several months were the foods had a theme. October seems dominated by all things pumpkin. This past March it was all things coffee. Now, aside from peppermint, truffle seems to be the new winter flavor. People’s feelings towards truffles can best be summed up by one of two emotions: love or disgust….
The pros: Trader Joe’s Chocolate Hold the Cone! Mini Ice Cream Cones is the perfect dessert when you only want a bite of ice cream and don’t want to eat the whole pint.
The cons: It’s easy to eat a few of these.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Mini Mint Ice Cream Mouthfuls are about the size of a Trader Joe’s Joe Joe’s but with ice cream filling in the center.
The cons: Cookies seemed a bit soggy and there wasn’t quite as much mint flavor as I would have liked.
The verdict: …
Growing up we had a local Ice Cream man. The sound of his truck made all of us kids drop what we were doing and get our money together. I usually asked Steve, our local ice cream man, for one of two menu items: A Marino’s Italian Ice in Blue Gelati or a Chipwich.
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The pros: Trader Joe’s Ovoline Mozzarella is super fresh mozzarella that cuts easily and sits in enough salt water to add flavor.
The cons: Short shelf life, if you are going to only eat one cheese ball at a time then you’ll want to cut the other in half to ensure that it stays submerged in salt water.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Mango and Cream Ice Cream has phenomenal mango flavor which made me wish the dropped the plain part of this ice cream.
The cons: Cream Ice Cream is literally that. For me, that part of the ice cream was missing some vanilla flavor.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Triple Creme Brie is the most buttery brie I’ve ever tried.
The cons: You might find yourself addicted to this. I don’t usually care for Brie. Then my local Trader Joe’s was handing out samples. It almost has the same caloric content as butter.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Buffalo Milk Butter has less cholesterol than regular butter. It tastes pretty much like regular butter. Trader Joe’s Buffalo Milk Butter is made from grass fed buffaloes in India.
The cons: While on the cholesterol front it’s healthier, it is just as caloric as regular butter. You won’t notice the pink Himalayan salt. Doesn’t melt as quickly as regular butter. Doesn’t spread as well as regular butter either.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Cultured Salted Butter competes with the rich European butters like Kerrygold. This is very rich with a slight tang from the lactic acid.
The cons: The packaging is an issue if you plan to bake with this. There are no units of measurement other than telling you it’s 8.8 ounces. As table butter it’s hard to serve in the current wrapper. More expensive per pound than regular butter.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Unsalted Butter is good quality butter. It’s comparable to what you get in the supermarket, but it’s not European level better.
The cons: The stick size is completely different. I had to reexamine the package a few times to make sure I actually bought a pound of butter (I did). See my pictures as to why the butter dish may not be the best place for this.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Cream Cheese has pumpkin spice flavor to a cream cheese spread. Mild flavor of pumpkin without feeling like you are eating a container of puree. Gentle touch of cinnamon here too. A welcome break from just plain cream cheese.
The cons: Would probably be even better if there was a whipped variety. This cream cheese is very dense and heavy.
The verdict: …
