The pros: Trader Joe's Autumnal Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce is thick, rich, creamy and will have you thinking that it is just a well made cream sauce.
The cons: It's seasonal. I wished they would change the name and just sell this all year long. Sodium is high, but the flavor is good.
The verdict: A few years back, the wife of Jerry Seinfeld wrote book called Deceptively Delicious. The premise of the book was simple: hiding veggies from kids through pureeing veggies. I felt like this sauce plays on that same concept. While there were lots of veggies present on the packaging and the ingredients, I still felt that I was tasting a well made cream sauce. Had I not read through that I might not have noticed them in the flavor.
While looking at the ingredients of this product, I noticed there were lots of veggies packed into an otherwise normal looking cream sauce. Yes, tomatoes and cream are present but so are pumpkin, carrots and butternut squash. While they are present, the flavors that came through are the tomato and cream. There is a vegetal sweetness here, but nothing that screams pumpkin or butternut squash (either that or my tastebuds are so used to the "spice" that usually comes with pumpkin.
Out of the jar this is one thick sauce. It tastes a lot like a thick vodka sauce (minus the vodka). While some might be disappointed in the lack of assertive veggies, I was quite happy with it. It went well with whatever type of pasta I've paired it with. It's thick, creamy, and most importantly filling. Now, this product in my opinion has way too much sodium. It's almost a quarter of what you should have in a day. Otherwise, there isn't much to complain about here.
Actually there is just one thing: it's seasonal. I do wish they would just repackage and call it something else. It would be a great additional jarred sauce to keep in my pantry. For $3.49 it's a good tasting sauce as long as your aren't searching too hard for those autumnal flavors. You get the sweetness but not much of the seasonal taste that can be such a love/hate thing this time of year.
Here is the visual run down of what you get if you buy this product:
The jar of Trader Joe's Autumnal Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce:
The nutritional information:
The ingredients:
How Trader Joe's describes this product:
Out of the package and on top of Trader Joe's Zucchette Pasta you get:
Would I buy this again? Yes. I enjoyed Trader Joe's Autumnal Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce and I've picked up three or four jars since trying it for the first time. This is only available during the autumn season and is worth trying at least once.
Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
I bought a jar of "vodka" pasta sauce once . . . it is still on the shelf. Maybe I could put some veggies into the food processor and add them to that jar of sauce and use as suggested on the label shown. Thanks for the nudge!
Virtual hugs,
Judie
I absolutely love this sauce. I need to buy a couple more jars before they go away for the season.
I did the same thing. I do wish it were around all year.