If the Skittles slogan is "Taste the Rainbow," then someone was thinking "Taste the green pizza." Well, I tasted it. It tastes about as attractive as it looks. A pizza made with spirulina would have made for a prettier pie.
Taste and review
This pie, to me, should be sold as "taste the sadness." Now, this comes after two other pizza crusts that seem more successful: cauliflower pizza and the seasonal butternut squash pizza crust.
So all of those pizza crusts have roughly the same format: they do taste quite a bit of cornflour and end up having a polenta-like taste.
So what makes this one different and me so negative sounding?
Listen, I love kale chips. But they have to be crisp. I like broccoli too, but that is a pretty watery veggie.
So when you take this out of the box, it looks like a giant disk of the broccoli cauliflower patties that have been repurposed here as a pizza crust.
This pizza takes a long time. From start to finish, it was over 30 minutes. I went as long as possible on this because I knew from previous experience if there is much hydration, you'll get a floppy veggie polenta-style pizza in each bite.
So 12 minutes for EACH side, plus 5 minutes in the broiler to crisp it up further, plus another 5 for toppings.
And while it did get crisp enough to hold up its own toppings, it was too crisp to make the "crust" edible. So much hydration had been removed, that portion of the pizza was inedible.
Overall
As for the taste, it was just ok. It was primarily broccoli and cornflour. The kale seemed lost in terms of flavor and did not come through much. Plus as an added insult, this pie seemed to shrink down a bit.
And this isn't cheap either at $4.29. I'd personally rather have broccoli on my cauliflower pizza than in it.
It wasn't inedible. But wasn't my favorite thing either. Fortunately, the toppings did overwhelm the taste of broccoli in this product.
If you are curious about Trader Joe's Broccoli and Kale Pizza Crust, then by all means try it. But if this pie sounds like a box of "taste the sadness" then this one is ok to skip in my book.
Now, maybe I'm not the target audience for this. It's labeled as gluten-free and while it isn't labeled as such a quick glance through the ingredients makes this appear to be vegan.
However, another glance at the nutritional values, and you might notice the same thing I did: it doesn't seem all that great for you either. Bummer. I guess I'll have to enjoy kale or broccoli the old-fashioned way.
Would I repurchase this item? No, I won't be buying Trader Joe's Broccoli and Kale Pizza Crust again.
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
Product photos
The box of Trader Joe's Broccoli and Kale Pizza Crust:
Calories and ingredients
Directions
Out of the package you get:
After being cooked you get:
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The Bottom Line
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Trader Joe's Broccoli and Kale Pizza Crust
Product Name: Trader Joe's Broccoli and Kale Pizza Crust
Product Description: Trader Joe's Broccoli and Kale Pizza Crust is made with broccoli, corn flour, kale, olive oil and salt.
Price: $4.29
Summary
Trader Joe's Broccoli and Kale Pizza Crust is gluten free and made with broccoli, corn flour, kale, olive oil, and salt and shares some commonalities with other veggie crusts at Trader Joe's.
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Taste
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Value
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Worthy of Repurchasing
Pros
- It's another option for gluten free pizza crust
Cons
- Expensive for its size
- Taste doesn't wow
- Takes a long time in the oven
Alek says
Ironically TJ's haven't released a corn pizza crust! I mean they could just use similar base but without adding the other veggies. A corn pizza crust would be amazing. Almost like cornbread. Cornbread crust would sound divine and leading to many possibilities; BBQ sauce with pulled pork on top.
arrows+attitude says
I need to try this!!
becomebetty says
I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!
arrows+attitude says
I’ll get back to you on that! 🙂
Ttrockwood says
This does look like it’s vegan- I don’t know why TJs doesn’t label stuff any more.
Based on your review I’m going to give this a hard pass- don’t think i would have bought it anyhow, i may be the last person on earth still eating carbs but when i have my somewhat rare craving for pizza i want the real thing. Or as real as it gets without cheese anyhow.
becomebetty says
Hey Ttrockwood! I know! I wonder the same thing. It so helpful and you never know what might be cross contaminated. Anyways, I don't blame you. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Sara Guil says
I LOVE this pizza crust!!! I really like the taste and following the directions on the box it came out crispy and delicious! Highly recommend. I am on a special diet, so I topped it with Lindsey black olives, fresh baby bella mushrooms and Violife Just Like Parmesan (which does not melt crisps up, still delicious). When it came out of the oven I topped with arugula. So glad TJ's offers a pizza crust like this, nutritious and delicious.
becomebetty says
Hey Sara! Thanks for stopping by, sharing how you enjoy this, and sharing your thoughts on this product.
Taylor says
I tried it before reading this. I agree completely but would go a bit further in saying it’s pretty inedible. I wanted to like it! Oh well
becomebetty says
Hey Taylor! I wished we both liked it more. Any time you are unsure, just check here, I might just have the review. I have just about 1,000 Trader Joe's products reviewed. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on this.