Trader Joe's Mushroom Risotto

The pros:  Trader Joe's Mushroom Risotto is out of the microwave in about 6 minutes. Lots of mushroom flavor here.

The cons:  This still ended up a bit watery, not as al dente as I was looking for  and I wished this was a bit cheesier.

The verdict:  For $2.99 , this is still a good deal compared to making it for yourself and not needing to stand around a stove for a good 20 minutes or so. True arborio rice is also not cheap in the grocery store either. That being said, this disappointed me in terms of texture. I really wanted something more al dente. What came out of the microwave was not al dente at all. It was rice, but I missed out on the texture. It ended up tasting more like regular rice than arborio, which is too bad. Would I buy this again? It's only a maybe for me.

Here is the visual rundown of what you get if you purchase this product. My final thoughts follow.

The bag of Trader Joe's Mushroom Risotto:

The nutritional information:

The ingredients:

How to prepare:

Out of the package you get:

After 3 minutes you get:

After being fully cooked you get:

Would I buy this again? For me this was only a maybe. It wasn't inedible as somethings once in a while are at Trader Joe's. It cleared my definition of good but was nowhere close to being great. The mushrooms in this were good, I had a problem with the level or how parcooked the rice was. For me it came closer to being a rice dish rather than a risotto to which there is a fine line. If you are going to buy this, and yes, I think this is worth a try at least once, please get some parmesan cheese. It needs its that true cheesy flavor as well.

Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe's for a searchable list.