Trader Joe's blog and cooking.
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 Nacho Kale Chips are vegan, tasty, nacho flavor without any cheese. Therefore it’s healthier in than potato chips and comes in a resealable bag for portion control
The cons: At almost $4 per bag, you are paying the equivalent of almost $32 per pound for kale.
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….
The pros: Trader Joe’s Garlic Potatoes with Parmesan Sauce is a tasty side dish ready as quick as 5 minutes from your microwave.
The cons: Trader Joe’s Garlic Potatoes with Parmesan Sauce comes in a bag that is not resealable.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Garlic and Basil Linguine is tasty and cooks almost as quickly as fresh pasta. Tastes pretty close to fresh pasta as well.
The cons: The bag is only half a pound so the per pound price is premium for a pasta product. Not the sturdiest packaging choice for a delicate product.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Sparkling French Berry Lemonade really tastes less like lemonade and more like Strawberry soda.
The cons: Nutritionally it’s sugar water and 2% juice not lemonade.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo is spicy, tasty and happens to be vegan and gluten free and inexpensive at $1.99.
The cons: If you are looking for it to hold it’s sausage shape you will be disappointed. Meat lovers will miss exactly two things about this “sausage:” the casing and the fact that this really isn’t sausage and will not hold itself together. Might be a bit spicy for some. Will leave that familiar red grease stain anywhere the chorizo touches.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Yuzu Hot Sauce tastes like lemon and can compliment anything lemon based by adding a touch of heat.
The cons: Trader Joe’s Yuzu Hot Sauce is a bit pricier than other hot sauces.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Sumatra Coffee Brownies are rich and decadent brownies that are worth the calories.
The cons: High calorie count. If you don’t like the taste of coffee, this might not be for you.
The verdict: …
The pros: If you are a fan of Arnold’s Sandwich Thins, Trader Joe’s Multi Grain Slims is pretty darn similar. High fiber and only 100 calories.
The cons: High fiber, so if you aren’t used to much fiber in your diet these might be a shock to your system.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Candy Coated Chocolate Drops are tasty candy coated chocolate with more natural colorings, comes in a resealable bag.
The cons: Addicting. Some of my drops were cracked and chipped.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Beef Cabernet Pot Roast is well seasoned, well trimmed and tasty overall.
The cons: You might want a gravy with this, or at least make your own gravy out of the juices. No actual red wine in this.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Garlic and Herb Pizza Dough is inexpensive, quick, easy, little wait time, you are only limited by your own creativity.
The cons: Short shelf life but can be frozen.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Gummy Tummies Penguins are a tasty candy that kids and adults may enjoy. It made me a bit nostalgic.
The cons: I wish these came in lunch sized portions. My husband and I ate these in one sitting.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s This Mango Walks Into a Bar has good tropical flavor, reminds me of a Nutrigrain bar, nutritionally it’s not a total loss or just empty calories.
The cons: Easy to eat a few of Trader Joe’s This Mango Walks Into a Bar in a sitting.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups does not disappoint in making the classic peanut butter cup, rich dark chocolate that isn’t waxy or too sweet. Chocolate is a nice contrast to the sweet peanut butter filling.
The cons: I might take some adjustment to having dark chocolate with this.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Fully Cooked Baby Back Ribs are tasty, tender and ready in under 20 minutes.
The cons: If you are hoping for championship level BBQ, this isn’t it. Doesn’t mean that it’s bad either. It’s just not the best BBQ I’ve ever had. You’ll also want a very sharp knife in order to separate the ribs. Some were no problem, some were a bit of a challenge with a very sharp knife….
The pros: Trader Joe’s This Apple Walks Into a Bar is tasty, organic, low fat, affordable, portable and not a source of completely empty calories.
The cons: Easy to eat a few of these in a sitting. If you buy the strawberry flavor, the packaging of the individual bars looks almost identical to these….
The pros: Trader Joe’s Italian Breadsticks with Olive Oil are light and airy. These are perfect for snacking.
The cons: If you like very dense breadsticks, you might not like these. Some of mine came out of the package broken. The problem was addressed by immediately eating all of them first.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Chicken Enchiladas Verde are pretty close to what you might expect in a Mexican Restaurant without having to go out or pay restaurant prices.
The cons: Calorie count is higher than expected. Each enchilada is one serving. Don’t get me wrong, they are filling and nicely sized. The taste might convince you that eating all of them is a good idea….
The pros: Trader Joe’s Cheese Enchiladas Rojo are pretty close to what you might expect in a Mexican Restaurant, if not possibly better.
The cons: While the directions don’t mention it, my enchiladas stuck to the bottom of the pan that I used (and no, the pan they come in can’t go in the oven). Some cooking spray or parchment could have dealt with that issue. Calorie count is higher than expected and it’s easy for one person to sit and eat all of these in one sitting.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Burgundy Pepper Lamb Tips have a super tasty spice combination on lamb slices.
The cons: Australian lamb, no burgundy (red wine) according to the ingredients.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Guacamole is a tasty guacamole that might surprise you (as it did me). A nice amount of heat. Nice chunks of fresh veggies.
The cons: You might eat half the container without realizing it.
The verdict: …
The pros: Tasty, slightly spicy and doesn’t pretend to be meat. Better if prepared on the stove top or oven which gives it a tasty crust. Trader Joe’s Quinoa Cowboy Veggie Burgers are filling as a burger or as a side.
The cons: A bit mushy in the microwave, but the taste was still there.
The verdict: …
