Trader Joe's Marinated Beef Flank Steak Pesto Roll

The pros: Trader Joe's Marinated Beef Flank Steak Pesto Roll has a lot in common with the seasonal Trader Joe's Porchetta Roast.

The cons: Make sure to use a roasting pan or a dish with a lip as a lot of liquid and oil came off of my roast. I'm still not sold on the idea of cooking pesto.

The verdict:  Is there anything better than a quick and easy dinner? I tend to think not. Over this past holiday season Trader Joe's rolled out (pun intended) some really good roasts. Even better one of them is essentially a roulade. If you got a chance to try Trader Joe's Porchetta Roast, then you were in for a treat of epic porky proportions. It was full of bacon flavor and was moist and juicy.

This beef flank steak follows some of the same formula that made it successful. It comes already netted so you don't have to go through the trouble of trying to tie this up. It is filled with herbs, but will leak quite a bit of oil and fat, so be sure that you put this on a dish or pan with a higher lip.

The directions were more or less correct depending on whether or not you allow this roast to warm to room temperature. However, it does note that 145F is the temperature to which you should remove it. Now, depending how much you like your steak to taste like rubber is up to you. Medium rare is anywhere from 130F to 135F, medium is 140F to 145F, medium well is 150F to 155F and well done is anything north of 160F. Keep in mind also, that there will be some carry over heat so when you read the temperature your roast might still rise another 5F after you remove it. I removed mine closer to 140F fearing an overdone roast.

While I found this good overall, I'm not sure flank is really the best cut to put in the oven. When I think of flank, I associate good ol' BBQ. It was tender, but not as tender as if it were grilled. The pesto was decent, but they certainly could have reduced the amount of oil because it looked like the Exxon Valdez had spilled in my roasting dish. There were an odd flavor here too: lavender. When I think of lavender, I tend to associate dryer sheets. My husband and I both agreed there was just one flavor that did not quite belong and that was the one we could isolate.

Out of this just over 1lb roast I was able to manage three dinner sized slices. For $14.51 or $11.99 per pound it's not badly priced for steak. It was in no way inedible, but did not rise to the level of awesomeness that some other roasts have in Trader Joe's refrigerated case. Overall it's decent, but I know pesto shines best when it's not cooked. I appreciate the herbaceous inside, I think it would have been far more successful with a different filling like say a cheese and spinach. It was fun to try once, but I doubt this will find its way back into my shopping cart.

Here is the visual run down of what you get if you buy this product:

The bag of Trader Joe's Marinated Beef Flank Steak Pesto Roll:

The nutritional information:

The ingredients and how to prepare:

Out of the oven you get an oil slick with a roast on top:

After being sliced you get:

Would I buy this again? Trader Joe's Marinated Beef Flank Steak Pesto Roll is only a maybe for me. Perhaps, I am more partial to the seasonal pork variety, but it wasn't bad, just not one of my favorites.

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!

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