Trader Joe's blog and cooking.
I remember going to the Hall of Science as a kid. And most childhood museum trips, the highlight was hitting the gift shop for some reason. The Hall of Science is no exception. They sold something that had all of our imagination going: Astronaut Food. Which reminds me a whole lot of Trader Joe’s Freeze Dried Strawberries.
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If you’ve come to Trader Joe’s for your Corned Beef, you are in luck for St. Patrick’s Day. Even if you don’t celebrate that holiday, Trader Joe’s Corned Beef corned beef is something worth celebrating. Best of all there are two varieties: uncooked and precooked. This review focuses just on the corned beef you’ll be cooking for yourself. If you find that you are enjoying it, be prepared for this to disappear over the rainbow when corned beef season ends….
Well, it wouldn’t be the beginning of the year without looking at the lighter options available at Trader Joe’s. Now, I’ve had my fair share of Mac and Cheese offerings from the Pepperoni Mac and Cheese, Truffle Mac and Cheese, Gluten Free Mac and Cheese, Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese, and Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese. And yes, they are mostly pretty good.
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The pros: Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Nutty Bits are a well balanced snack that after a few bits are satisfying.
The cons: These don’t look quite as pretty as the picture. I kept wanting to call them bites, instead of bits.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Organic White Truffle Potato Chips are thin potato chips that are packed with flavor of truffle. Yes, truffle is actually on the ingredient list.
The cons: If you aren’t into the earthy flavor that truffles bring then you should avoid this one. This bag is only 6 ounces.
The verdict:
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During the winter holiday season I noticed Trader Joe’s Mini Quiche Duo . As quickly as they appeared in the freezer aisle, they seem to have disappeared like so many other well done products. Sadness about that product aside, I decided to be adventurous and try the much larger Trader Joe’s Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche. It’s closer to being full sized. Good enough for 1 person or two if you have a side that you’ll serve with it.
The pros: Trader Joe’s Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche had a nice flaky crust out of the toaster oven, loaded with broccoli and had a nice cheesy taste.
The cons: While the directions for Trader Joe’s Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche say you can put this in the microwave, I think you might end up sacrificing the quality of the pastry crust here. Nutritional information is a bit of a bummer after knowing it tastes so good.
The verdict: …
There are currently two varieties of Kale Chips available: Trader Joe’s Seasoned Kale Chips and Trader Joe’s Nacho Kale Chips. Which should you buy? I preferred the Nacho, but these weren’t bad as an alternative. They were salty, crisp and nutritionally a bit better than potato chips.
The pros: Trader Joe’s Seasoned Kale Chips are tasty and come in a resealable bag. You’ll want some portion control with this product.
The cons: These cost almost $32 per pound which makes them expensive. They have about as many calories as a bag of potato chips.
The verdict: …
If we could keep one of the recent coffee flavored new products around, Trader Joe’s Vietnamese Coffee Flavored Caramels is the one that gets my vote (ok, and Trader Joe’s Sumatra Coffee Brownies). It’s coffee flavor without being gritty. You can also have this product without getting a buzz from the caffeine. This is the application of coffee that just works.
If you are unfamiliar with Vietnamese coffee, here is what you need to know: it’s strong and it’s very sweet from the sweetened condensed milk. While this product is not strong in the coffee department, it’s sweet and it just works.
The pros: Trader Joe’s Vietnamese Coffee Flavored Caramels are sweet, and have a nice balance between the coffee and other flavors.
The cons: Might be too sweet for some. Might even be better with a touch of salt (but that’s clearly my own sweet and salty preference).
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Peppered Turkey Bacon is a thicker cut and more peppered variation of Trader Joe’s Uncured Turkey Bacon. It was meaty, smoky, and only 40 calories per slice.
The cons: There are no directions for cooking this in the oven which is unusual as their other varieties of bacon do have these directions.
The verdict:
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The pros: If you find salad to be boring or just love iceberg lettuce, Trader Joe’s Butter Lettuce is a good product to pick up.
The cons: Not as nutrient dense as some other salads in a bag, but if you need to break up your routine, this is a good one to reach for.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Espresso Baton is coffee and chocolate without the flavors being out of balance. One does not overwhelm the other.
The cons: If you are expecting a smooth chocolate, you’ll have some added texture here from the coffee grounds.
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 Chocolate Almond Butter Tarte is a nice combination of chocolate from the crust, to the ganache and ribbons. Almond butter is present but it does not feel like you are eating an (almond) Reese’s candy.
The cons: The crisp crust wasn’t very crisp for very long. The box says you should eat the whole in the in 24 hours.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Thai Sweet Chili Veggie Burger is an Asian spin on their other veggie burgers. Was tasty out of the frying pan. Heat is subtle but present. Trader Joe’s Thai Sweet Chili Burger had enough oil in the burger to cook it without oil in a pan.
The cons: If you are looking for that fake meat flavor, you are out of luck here.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Joe’s Dark Coffee Squares are for you if you enjoy your coffee black and have a sweet tooth. Trader Joe’s Dark Coffee Squares might satisfy both.
The cons: If you don’t care for the taste of black coffee, this isn’t for you.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Coffee Toffee Shortbread Cookies have a coffee taste that isn’t overwhelming, added texture from the toffee and a good amount of chocolate.
The cons: Price. This is a small container of cookies for almost $3 and comes with about a dozen cookies.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Canneles de Bordeaux is respectable in calories. Reminded me of a creme brulee with it’s caramelized outside (but no crunch here) and custard filling. I enjoyed this more heated slightly in the microwave than cooled.
The cons: These dessert are small so plan accordingly. You’ll finish each in about four bites.
The verdict: …
Trader Joe’s has taken on a new theme in the month of March: coffee. Maybe it’s day light savings time and everyone needs a buzz. Now they placed that caffeinated food item into your dinner with Trader Joe’s Coffee Rubbed Spatchcocked Chicken.
The pros: Moist chicken ready in about an hour. A very different taste from Trader Joe’s Spatchcocked Lemon Rosemary Chicken.
The cons: The coffee flavor may not be for everyone.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Organic Chocolate Chip Granola Bars is an on the go snack bar that’s organic and full of fiber.
The cons: Texture. This bar wasn’t chewy at all. I found it to be quite hard and the bar was very tiny.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Pepperoni Pizza was crispy and and had lots of pepperoni.
The cons: More sauce than was necessary and my pepperoni wasn’t evenly placed. I know that seems a bit petty, but when cut into 4 slices there was actually one plain slice.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s French Brioche is a delicious, light and buttery bread. It was buttery bread that was as fresh as can be. Toasted it was light as a feather with a sublime taste. While I haven’t tried it as French Toast, I image it will be quite good.
The cons: Sharing this product will lead to the bag being emptied almost immediately.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Matar Paneer star ingredients were the peas and paneer were the stars here. The curry sauce was just ok.
The cons: Not the best of the Indian selections, but hey what do you expect in a can? Not pretty when you open and dump out the can.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Uncured Turkey Bacon has very little grease to speak of, nice salty taste with a bit of smoke to it.
The cons: True bacon lovers will miss out on the real bacon taste.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt and Malt Vinegar Caramels have lots of fun textural elements. It’s not a scary tasting as it sounds. If you totally embrace the sweet/salty combination you’ll probably like these. I could not detect any raw vinegar taste.
The cons: If you don’t care for the sweet/salty dessert option, then please skip this. Expensive considering you are only getting 7 candies in the box….
