The pros: Trader Joe's Lemon Basil Pasta Salad is new to the refrigerate aisle and is vast improvement over some of the grab and go food items.
The cons: Mine only had a tiny wedge of lemon. If you are planning on eating this for lunch, then be ready for the fact this bowl is 500 calories. If you need to mix the ingredients, you'll want to reach for a bigger bowl.
The verdict: In previous posts about the refrigerated aisle, I have long complained that so many of the grab and go options are vastly underwhelming. Some left me wondering why they remained on the shelves for so long.
Regardless, it seems that the refrigerated case is getting some solid options. Recently, I tried the Banh Mi Noodle Bowl which is a solid addition. This too seems like a solid option with some minor reservations.
First off, the Banh Mi Bowl has dressing and needs to be mixed. Those elements lead to a flavorful combination. This on the other hand is bland. It did not have much flavor of lemon or basil This pasta salad needs to be mixed, but there was no room spared to do so. Unless you want entire mouthfuls of spinach or cheese, you may still need an additional bowl.
Also, the wedge of lemon to add some acidity to this was pretty tiny. While they included a slice of a lemon, I'm pretty sure they got at least dozen slices out of that same lemon. I ended up adding more lemon to mine. That's fine when you are at home, but if you are taking this to work it is something to consider.
Now, pasta salad falls into one of two varieties: with mayo and without. This is clearly the without. Now, a pasta salad without mayo should have the tang from the vinaigrette. Here, it seemed like it was leaning on the minimal acidity from the lemon provided and small amount of vinaigrette. The vinaigrette seemed to provide more oil than vinegar and the basil flavor was a bit underwhelming.
The pasta as firm enough as not to be al dente or mushy. There was plenty of asiago cheese, shredded spinach, and peas in mine. As for the zucchini, mine did not seem to have much of it. I really had to look for it. I wasn't tasting much in the way of zucchini either.
For $4.49, this isn't a terrible pasta salad, but does not reach great either. I think with a little bit of doctoring up the ingredients at home you can absolutely have something special here. Everything seems very fresh, just way more bland than it should be. It would be more ideal as a shared side than a lunch. It's nice to see so many nice new options in the refrigerated aisle.
Here is the visual run down of what you get if you buy this product:
The package of Trader Joe's Lemon Basil Pasta Salad:
The nutritional information and the ingredients:
Out of the package you get:
Would I buy this again? Trader Joe's Lemon Basil Pasta salad seems like something that would work better as a shared side to bring to a picnic than to sit and eat as a meal. This is only a maybe from me in terms of buying this again because it is just a bit too plain for me.
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!
Where is the dressing?! I think they could had added more lemon; maybe lemon zest on top.
Hey Alek! It was light on the dressing (you can see some of it by the nutrition label, but I had to turn the bowl upside down to get that picture). Dressing is a catch 22. If you add it in prepackaged the final result could get soggy. If they had a container or packet it becomes more trash. I added more lemon to mine. Thanks as always for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
Well it's good to see that they're attempting to put out some reasonably good refrigerated items. So many of the non salad entree items have been such a miss. I can only think of maybe 5 things that I have truly liked. This pasta salad sounds like it might be good if you threw in some rotisserie chicken ,garlic, ground white pepper and some balsamic.
Hey Dagmar! I couldn't agree more. The refrigerated section has been such a field of duds. I've tried just about all the wraps and only few I have repurchased. It's such a missed opportunity. I love grab and go stuff. I agree, this is a good starting point, but absolutely needs some finishing touches. Thanks as always for stopping by!
Might be good with some rotisserie chicken, garlic, ground white pepper & balsamic added.
Hey Dagmar! I would agree. It just needed some extra touch. The components seemed fine, just it needed something more to bring it all together. Thanks as always for stopping by!
I just had mine today. I was supposed to take it with me to work, but I ended up not going in, so I had it for dinner. I’m glad because I made some adjustments and had to use a larger bowl to mix it just like you said. I added capers and a balsamic glaze as well as some black pepper. I was super disappointed in the lack of basil flavor! They really fooled me with that spinach chiffonade- I thought there was some fresh basil chopped up in there. Nothing. I did enjoy it after my adjustments (I was starving), and the firmness of the pasta was perfect to me. Thanks for your review! I will try the Bahn mi next, I skipped over it this trip.
Hey Aja! I was fooled by the spinach too! I thought the exact same thing. Let me know when you try the Banh Mi. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and share your experience.
The only prepared salad i buy regularly is the “super spinach” salad which they have had since forever, it’s easy to eat from the box and not a calorie bomb.
The new salad i was really surprised by and LOVE is the legume and spinach “salad palette “, I didn’t see a review here for it. It’s not easy to mix in the container and it’s really filling for about 400 cal since it’s also high in fiber and protein.
I’ll pass on the pasta salad here due to your review- and $4.50 seems high for basically pasta and a few leaves
Hey Ttrockwood! I haven't tried the spinach salad palette. I guess that is just another thing I'll have to look for. And yes, for the price it was expensive for some pasta and spinach. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by (and for the suggestion).
No, while it wasn't too bad, for lunch, it was too many calories! 500
Hey Rosemarie! I agree totally. I was going to bring it for lunch too until I saw how many calories were in it. Thanks for taking the time and sharing your thoughts.
I had to add additional lemon and salt. I felt it needed that salt boost and I added left over cook shrimp as well. Was very good
Hey Dawn! I'm not surprised you had to add things to this. It's got a decent base to it but absolutely needs a personal touch to it. Some shrimp with it sounds pretty good and makes it a whole meal. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and share what you think and how you made yours better!
I put the true lemon crystallized lemon powder on mine and it gave it some life! Lol, they need something else to make it better.
Hey Ellie! Thanks for stopping by and sharing.