In school, we learned about the color wheel and how to mix colors. We also learned about shades and tones of various colors. So when it comes to cooking certain rules of color just don’t apply. For example, in Italian cooking a Penne Vodka sauce starts off as red. When you add white cream to the sauce, it breaks all rules and turns a color than can only be described as being orange. Except some people also refer to that as being a pink sauce. However, there is a new pink sauce that is actually pink: Trader Joe’s Creamy Pink Primavera Sauce.
So in a rare moment of Trader Joe’s following the rules or coloring in the lines if you will, you get a sauce that is legitimately pink. And I mean pink. Like 1980s neon pink. So pink you actually think there is food coloring in this. However, why use manufactured food coloring, when you can use the natural stuff.
Enter the root veggie known as beets.
They stain pretty much anything they touch with their deep magenta hue.
Add this stuff to a cream sauce and you get a pink sauce that will have you thinking it isn’t natural (to which it is as natural as you can get).
Now, color aside I’m not the biggest fan of beets. They need to be paired with something that can mellow them.
I do make beet ravioli. The goat cheese tames the assertive flavor. Add some pesto to those and it is a harmonious union of flavors.
I cracked open this jar and took a taste.
It was unlike any cream sauce I had tried previously.
It was less creamy and more acidic. The citrus and the tomato were the dominant notes. It was thick without being rustic. The cauliflower didn’t come through and the chickpeas seem to only add thickness.
It was quite pleasant. I went through my cabinet to see which pasta would hold a sauce well. I opted for ziti.
After boiling and preparing the pasta, I coated my pasta in the sauce.
And just like that
BOOM.
All beet flavor.
Through some sort of magic, the acidity was gone and it became a single note sauce. All with just the addition of pasta.
When I took a tablespoon to try it without pasta, the beets seem undetectable, a win in my book.
With the addition of pasta (and a decent quantity of sauce to coat), that’s all the pasta was reduced to.
And that’s a shame, because despite the glow in the dark coloring, it held promise. Now, despite it saying it is a pasta sauce, I’m going to see if I can make a borscht out of it.
Beyond the notes that come out with pasta its texture and initial taste held some promise in my book.
For $3.69 if you really, really, really, really like beets, then this is a good one to try.
Would I buy this again? Unless, I can find something else to do with Trader Joe’s Creamy Pink Primavera Pasta Sauce, this is a solid no from me.
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
Here is the visual run down of what you get if you buy this product:
The jar of Trader Joe’s Creamy Pink Primavera Pasta Sauce:
The nutritional information:
The ingredients:
After being tossed with some pasta you get:
Want to see more items I’ve reviewed from Trader Joe’s? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.
The Bottom Line
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Trader Joe's Creamy Pink Primavera Pasta Sauce
Product Name: Trader Joe's Creamy Pink Primavera Pasta Sauce
Product Description: Trader Joe's Creamy Pink Primavera Pasta Sauce is new and has quite a few of the popular buzzy foods in it.
Price: $3.69
Summary
Trader Joe’s Creamy Pink Primavera Pasta Sauce has many different elements that make it a unique sauce
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Taste
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Value
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Worthy of Repurchasing
Pros
- Texture is good
- A thick sauce that coats well
- Without pasta, it had great acidity and brightness
- If you love beets, you’ll love this
Cons
- Became a single note flavor after being mixed with pasta.
I bought this sauce with the Trader Joes Organic Italian Striped Garganelli (pink and white stripes) pasta to make over the holidays…which never happened, so we are eating it today. My vote-I LOVE IT (of course, I’m actually really hungry, at the moment, as well, lol). All in all, without looking at the ingredients, I’m tasting what, to me, tastes like a rich and creamy tomato soup with a garlic like “punch” to it. It may not be an amazing event, but I am just about to go for seconds. I LIKE IT! Thanks so much for all your fun reviews! You are my go-to for all things Trader Joes! 😀
Hey hey! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this. I’m glad you enjoyed it too. Thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to stop by and share. Your comment made my day.