Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch

It's been a while since Trader Joe's has introduced a new condiment. The last creations Trader Joe's introduced were the Umami Mushroom Seasoning and the Everything but the Bagel seasoning. One knocked it out of the park. The other is still sitting in my pantry cabinet. Now, we have a new seasoning that is oil-based but seems like the partial contents of a spice cabinet have been emptied into it: Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch.

Taste

If you are an EBTB seasoning fan, you'll probably swoon over this. Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch has some of the same flavors: onion, garlic, and salt.

As an added bonus, it comes in oil. But the intriguing part here isn't the name. It's the fact that you have an oil-soaked crunchy condiment that has a mild heat.

Yes, there are crushed chili peppers in this, but they just give a bit of warmth more than anything else. Otherwise, the other pepper in this is bell peppers which contain no kick at all.

So if you are afraid of the heat, then use just a little of this and you'll get flavor and crunch.

I had mine with a bowl of pasta. I used a normal teaspoon with it. I still found it needed a touch of salt to amp up the flavor.

For the second bowl of pasta (the next evening), I got a bit braver and had a heaping teaspoon with my pasta. The heat was more noticeable as was the crunch. While the heat was more present it didn't rise to anything above a mild-medium.

Now, what gives it the crunch? Well, all of the spices here are dehydrated. Meaning the water has been removed. Despite the fact that the spices are sitting in olive oil, they aren't fully rehydrated. Why? Because oil just isn't water.

Frequently asked questions

The following are commonly asked questions about Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch.

So what can I put this on?

This is a pretty flexible spice mix. Chicken, pork, beef, tofu, pasta, vegetables, pasta, bread all come to mind. This could be used as part of a marinade, mixed in with a more bland sauce, mixed with butter to make rich and tasty compound butter, which are just the start of ideas.

But overall, this is a pretty flexible seasoning blend.

For $3.99 this is loaded with seasonings and really can amp up the flavor of a dish.

What if I want to make this at home?

I've got you covered. I've been working on a copycat as soon as I got this. Plus, I hated reading on social media about how far people were searching for these little jars. You can see my recipe here. It's a total Chili Onion Crunch dupe and you can see it in the reviews of how good it is.

Overall

Would I purchase this again? Yes, I would buy Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch again when I don't have time to make this at home.

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

Product photos

The jar of Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch:

The Bottom Line

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