The pros: Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo is spicy, tasty and happens to be vegan and gluten free and inexpensive at $1.99.
The cons: If you are looking for it to hold it's sausage shape you will be disappointed. Meat lovers will miss exactly two things about this "sausage:" the casing and the fact that this really isn't sausage and will not hold itself together. Might be a bit spicy for some. Will leave that familiar red grease stain anywhere the chorizo touches.
The verdict: For $1.99 you get a tube that pretends to look like the sausage it is pretending to be. This to me struck me as an odd product. Since Trader Joe's does a Best of Survey at the end of each year, this of all products one best meat by being meatless (and tasty). So upon receiving several people contacting me to say "you should try this," I finally did. The casing is plastic so it must be removed prior to cooking. Within the casing there is "meat" that looks a lot like ground meat. After being heated in a pan you have a number of ways you could enjoy this: as is, as tacos, with eggs, or a countless number of ways that I haven't thought of (and I hope you'll comment on what you use this with).
After sampling a bit of it the has the texture of a finely chopped ground beef. But the flavor is all chorizo and a spicy chorizo at that. Placed on a taco with some cheese and Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Chunky Guacamole and I wasn't missing the beef at all. This is a great buy regardless of whether you are vegan, gluten free, or want to cut down you meat consumption. This is also a great buy if you are celebrating Lent and still want to have taco night instead of pizza or fish. Do I think it's the best meat at Trader Joe's? No. I truly feel that Trader Joe's does not have the greatest prices when it comes to meat, it does have one of the more reliable sections of prepared meats so it's hard to pick just one.
This is something terrific to have on hand and worth a try at least once. The hype is real on Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo. There is more than enough seasoning in the chorizo to make it taste like chorizo. It's worth a try at least once. This will likely become a new staple in my household.
Here is a visual rundown of what you can expect if you purchase this item:
The package in the refrigerated aisle:
The nutritional information:
The ingredients:
The "casing" of the "chorizo":
The only directions here are to remove the plastic casing and heat to 165F. After being cooked you get:
Made into tacos and topped with Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Chunky Guacamole and Trader Joe's Mexican Cheese Blend I had some really tasty tacos.
Would I buy this again? Yes. Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo is now in my permanent rotation weekly items.
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!
I make a bunch of different soups with this as the protein (and flavor base). The best being one with cabbage.
That's an awesome suggestion. I never thought about adding this to a soup. I'm sure it has quite a kick to it.
It's not so bad because it gets diluted. Every August I make a big batch with seasonal veggies and eat it during the coldest days of winter.
I have gotten every single friend and family member hooked on the soyrizo too! And they’re all omnivores. It’s fantastic added into black beans, or a breakfast casserole, my dad likes to cook it with cubed red potatoes to have with eggs, i like it on a taco salad so the veggies temper the heat.
It freezes great, so i just stock up once in a while
I am not a vegan or a vegetarian, but I order vegan chorizo tacos from taco stand and I was hooked! Thanks for the other ideas. I wish it had less fat. I have had very high triglycerides and trying to stay away from meat is important, but at 10 mg of fat per chorizo serving I am eating raw veggies all day.