Trader Joe's Banana Pudding Flavored Ice Cream

While you can't buy banana pudding or just pudding these days, they are now selling as a limited run item Trader Joe's Banana Pudding Flavored Ice Cream. But be warned, this is going to be very polarizing as a flavor choice.

Review

There are three distinct elements at play here: banana (no chunks, just puree), salted caramel, and vanilla wafers. Essentially, you have three layers of sweetness with the salted caramel being the only possible reprieve from all the sweetness.

At first bite, I thought this tasted a little funky. I guess frozen banana flavor threw me off from say the taste of a fresh banana. But it wasn't funky enough to not go back for a second bite. And I'm glad I did. While this in no way will ever replace mint chip as my favorite flavor.

So yes, initially the bananas were a touch funky. And again, there are no chunks of banana to speak of. If you want to add some banana flavor then you'll need to pony up those nineteen cents for an extra banana.

I love a good vanilla wafer, but these were essentially mush by the time I got into my scoop. They didn't add much and there weren't many of them. And I believe Trader Joe's still sells vanilla wafers on store shelves if you really have a need to add them in.

And then there is the salted caramel swirl. Again, Trader Joe's sells a fleur de sel caramel which is pretty good. And there is sufficient caramel in this, but the salty element is lost in all the rest of the sweetness here.

While these elements are ok on their own, they are not great altogether. Would a banana ice cream totally work? Yes, but add those last-minute items that Trader Joe's already sells once you have already scooped your ice cream. Once they are added in they are just too muddled to be really outstanding.

And the other problem here is that for the most part, Trader Joe's sells a lot of outstanding ice cream options which compete on an equal if not better playing field than this.

Unless you are into very sweet banana ice cream, then this was made for you. Otherwise, there are lots of other solid options listed below.

Packaging

This is a standard pint of ice cream. You will need to peel back a bit of plastic covering the top of the ice cream.

Where to buy

Since this product is frozen, it is only available for purchase in stores at Trader Joe's. It is also a limited-run product. If you don't see it, then it might be sold out for the season.

Other ice creams

If you are curious about Trader Joe's extensive line of ice creams, then check out my other reviews on the other ice cream flavors they've offered:

• Mint Chip Ice Cream (year-round)
• Ube Ice Cream (summer seasonal)

And of course, if you are into smaller ice creams then absolutely check out

• Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cones (summer seasonal)
• Pumpkin Ginger Hold the Cone Mini Ice Cream Cones (fall seasonal)
• Hold the Cone Vanilla Ice Cream Cones (year-round)
• Chocolate Hold the Cone! Mini Ice Cream Cones (year-round)

Overall

Would I buy this again? While I probably won't buy Trader Joe's Banana Pudding Flavored Ice Cream again, this one is best geared to the die-hard banana fans who want banana everything.

Did you try it?  Let me know what you think in the comments section!