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Trader Joe's food review thread

31,436 2,810 August 24, 2008 at 07:09 PM in Grocery (3)
I've been trying out various food products from Trader Joe's. Thought a food review thread might be fun. Please do add your own reviews of Trader Joe's foods/products.

So far...

Trader Joe's Chocolate (Product of Belgium): Really nice and a good value too.

Shepard's Pie: This one was a huge disappointment. It was watery, almost like soup and had very little meat in it. Hubby couldn't even eat it. The pic makes it look so good, the reality was a shock.


Chicken Enchiladas in Salsa Verde: Very tasty, have had this one a couple of times. Not bad value either. Cheaper than TV dinners at other stores. *Note: The only pic I could find is not the best, it looks much nicer IRL on a plate.


Chicken and Chile Verde Burritos:
Not bad, would eat again but not as nice as the enchiladas. Would be nicer with a sauce on top.


Chicken and Gorgonzola with Lentils:
Not my thing, found the chicken a bit bland for me, although the lentils were nice.

Mandarin Orange Chicken: This one is very nice and pretty easy to fix. Just put a 1/4 cup of oil in a pan, brown the chicken and then dump in the sauce and serve over rice (sold separately). To make it a little healthier, I took the chicken out of the oil, patted it to remove the excess oil and then mixed in the sauce. You can also bake the chicken in the oven, the instructions are on the package, it's just been too hot to fire up the oven here. Just bought more today. It's enough for a family of four or you can just do half for 1 or 2 people, as it comes with two sauce packets.

Community Wiki

Last Edited by Princess_Spock May 31, 2016 at 03:10 AM
Feel free to add your own, good and bad foods to the list but please, don't delete/move foods that someone else added - thx!
Quote :
For those of you who might be wondering if there's a Trader Joes near you, click this link and enter your zip code. Linky
To see if there's a store opening soon in your area, click this link. Linky [traderjoes.com]
List of Lounger approved (or disapproved) TJ foods.

Good Foods by category:

Gluten free favorites:
Rice Noodle Soup Bowls
Rice mac and cheese
Fiberful fruit leathers
Crunchy Curls
Raspberry chicken walnut salad
lara bars
gluten free brownie mix
gluten free pancake mix
Individually packaged omega fortified cranberry and nut mix
Banana waffles


Baked Goods, Cookies and Desserts
Brioche loaf (not bakery good but better than the grocery store type)
Candy Cane Joe Joes (available at Christmas time)
Caneles de Bordeaux (fairly good 3.5 out of 5 - needs a little more flavor and custard on the inside)
Carrot cake muffins
Chocolate Caramel Tartlet
Chocolate Dipped Dunkers
Cinnamon Rolls
Crispy crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dark Chocolate Triple Ginger Cookies
Lacy's milk chocolate macadamia nut cookies
Lemon Cream Cheese muffins
Lemon loaf cake
Mango Passion Torta Cotta
Maple Cream Cookies (oreo style)
Oatmeal cookies
Parmiago Rosemary Rolls
Pinachios
Pumpkin Bread mix
Pumpkin Spice Bunt Cake (baked goods area)
Raspberry Tarte (Best thing we've had so far. Frozen foods. They also have a blueberry tarte.)
Raspberry Chocolate Torte (frozen foods)
Schoolhouse Cookies
Seven grain bread (great flavor and texture)
Sheppard's Bread (great taste, with just a touch of honey)
Shortbread Chocolate Thumb Print cookies
Strawberry Shortcake (frozen foods, cake)
Triple Gingersnap cookies (in the tubs)
Vanilla Bread mix
Vanilla Lemon Cupcakes with cream cheese icing
Vanilla Meringues
White Fudge drizzled Oatmeal Cranberry Dunkers


Snacks
Alsace tart (appetizer) (frozen foods)
Any of the TJ chocolates
Banana chips
Blue tortilla chips
Bruschetta
Dark Chocolate Caramels
Dark Chocolate Roasted Pistachio Toffee
Ginger gummy bears
Gluten free trail mix
Golden crackers
Gorgonzola crackers
Lemongrass Spring Rolls (frozen foods)
Mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups
Mini Peanut Butter Sandwich crackers
Multigrain crackers
Phillo dough (frozen foods)
Pirate's Booty
Pistachio covered toffee
Pita chips with cinnamon and sugar
Pretzel Slims (either plain or chocolate covered)
Rice pudding
Roasted Plantain Chips (they are salty, not sweet)
Sesame Sticks
Southwestern Style Chicken Poppers (frozen foods)
Thai Lime and Chili Cashews (spicy!)
White Cheddar Corn Puffs




Meats and main courses
Smokehouse Pulled Beef Brisket
Korean-Inspired Pork Shoulder in a spicy scallion and ginger sauce
Paneer Tikki Masala (new frozen food)
Bison burgers
Chicken Empanadas (frozen foods)
California Rolls (prepared foods)
Beef or chicken tacos (frozen foods)
Chicken Enchiladas in Salsa Verde (frozen foods)
Chicken and Chilie Verde Burritos (really needs a sauce)
Mandarin Orange Chicken (frozen foods)
All of the pasta dishes
Asparagus Rissotto (frozen foods)
ChickenTaquitos (frozen foods) *note: the beef ones are okay but not as good as the chicken taquitos*
Chicken Gorgonzola with mushrooms (frozen foods)
Pre-cooked seasoned lentils (produce section)
Organic Jasmine Rice (frozen foods)
Vegetable Masala Burger (frozen foods)
Turkey chili with beans (canned)
Puff Pastry Margherita Pizza
All of the pizzas (esp. the BBQ Chicken Pizza)
All of the meats
All sausages
All frozen fish - tilapia and cod is awesome
Roast beef, pickled onions and honey mustard sandwich (prepared foods section)
Chicken Serenada (frozen foods)
Chicken Pompadoro (frozen foods)
Carne Asada (makes great fajitas)
Steamed clams (frozen, in shells, with garlic butter)


Other
Pizza dough (in the prepared/refrigerated foods section)
Garlic & Herb Pizza Dough ( even better than plain)
Spring Creek garlic and herb goat cheese
Roasted Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade
Masala Simmer Sauce (starter sauce)
Water crackers
Multigrain flax seed crackers
Golden Entertainers crackers
Brown Rice Medley
Grilled eggplant and zucchini (frozen foods)
Peanut Butter
Cookie Butter
Salad mixes
Greek style yogurt with honey
All soups (except Miso)
Frozen Garlic
Frozen Cilantro
Frozen Basil
Red pepper hummus
Edamame hummus
French Roast Coffee(drive across town just for this)
Bold and Smokey Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce
Romano Caesar salad dressing
Chile Spiced Mango (dried fruit section)
Thai Style Soy Ginger Carrot
Nasi Goreng
Black Raspberries (frozen foods)
pear sauce (in cups like apple sauce)
Almond milk
Garlic naan (frozen foods)
Banana waffles (frozen foods)
Lightly smoked canned sardines
Powdered Chai (pretty sweet but yummy and easy to mix)
Winter Blend coffee
Mango Chutney
Garlic Bread (frozen foods, by pizzas)
Beans So Green (frozen foods)

Bad Foods:

Oatmeal bars (way too sweet)
Shepherd's Pie (watery and nasty)
Chicken and Gorgonzola with Lentils (bit bland)
Tangerine juice
Orange juice (too sweet)
Instant Miso soup (powdered miso)
Dried Salted Green Beans
Currant cookies (too seedy)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Egg salad sandwich (bland and dry)
Perline Pasta & Proscutto (terrible filling, bad flavor and weird texture)
Chocolate covered frozen bananas - bummer, I thought they'd be a hit but no one liked them here
Filet of Sole reduced calorie meal (frozen foods - good flavor but very small portion)
Dried pumelo (over sweetened yet still bitter)
Cream filled Oscar Meyer hot dogs (cream does not belong with beef. Bad idea)
Tom Yum cashews (the flavor was too overwhelming)
Turkey meatballs - frozen foods section - (Mixed reviews, one lounger's DH liked them but to me they had a weird texture and odd taste, plus they gave my DH terrible heartburn so with 2 out of 3 no's, in the bad foods section they go.)
Eggplant Garlic Spread - bland and had an odd aftertaste
Spicy Shrimp Bao (strong fishy aftertaste)
Frozen falafels (incorrect seasoning, tastes like frozen veggie burger discs)



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Joined Aug 2007
heartless
> bubble2 9,236 Posts
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noungning
02-12-2014 at 03:28 PM.
02-12-2014 at 03:28 PM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :
I checked one of the TJ's near me and they only had black chia seeds. IIRC, the black ones were $4 for a small bag of a few ounces. Should have taken a photo as my memory sucks, I looked last weekend and forgot to post it when I got home. Doh
Thanks! worship

Quote from CQ1 :
white chia??? is that what the label would indicate? perhaps it has been hulled; therefore, white?

cuz, I've got a couple of bags/containers of chia seeds - and not one of them specifies "white" chia
This is the one I bought http://www.vitacost.com/now-foods...-seed-1-lb
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Last edited by noungning February 12, 2014 at 03:30 PM.
Joined Feb 2004
Eat a rock!
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mrlaugh
02-12-2014 at 03:37 PM.
02-12-2014 at 03:37 PM.
this thread reminds me that I haven't actually gone to the new TJ here in Austin yet Doh it's just in a different direction than I normally think of, and little further away than I'd like it to be. I'm sure when they build the one downtown I'll through it some of my business, probably more than I through to whole foods which is only three blocks further away
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acesmuzic | Staff
03-27-2014 at 12:49 PM.
03-27-2014 at 12:49 PM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :
I've been trying out various food products from Trader Joe's. Thought a food review thread might be fun. Please do add your own reviews of Trader Joe's foods/products.

Mandarin Orange Chicken: This one is very nice and pretty easy to fix. Just put a 1/4 cup of oil in a pan, brown the chicken and then dump in the sauce and serve over rice (sold separately). To make it a little healthier, I took the chicken out of the oil, patted it to remove the excess oil and then mixed in the sauce. You can also bake the chicken in the oven, the instructions are on the package, it's just been too hot to fire up the oven here. Just bought more today. It's enough for a family of four or you can just do half for 1 or 2 people, as it comes with two sauce packets.
it took me 6 years to actually try it but i finally took the plunge last night and this is awesome! Thumbup Thumbup

will definitely be adding this to my freezer stash for a quick dinner option (along with my staple of their cioppino)!
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Joined Jun 2006
Jambi-rific in Seattle!
> bubble2 31,436 Posts
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Original Poster
Zoe Moon
04-01-2014 at 07:10 PM.
04-01-2014 at 07:10 PM.
We took a break from the low carb diet, so I tried the veggie Biryani, not restaurant quality but not bad for a tv dinner.

Quote from acesmuzic :
it took me 6 years to actually try it but i finally took the plunge last night and this is awesome! Thumbup Thumbup

will definitely be adding this to my freezer stash for a quick dinner option (along with my staple of their cioppino)!
Your PM to join the SD Lounge procrastinator club is on it's way. laugh out loud

The Orange Chicken was the TJ's #1 best seller for several years, last year it got bumped down to the #2 spot, don't recall what outsold it.
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Joined Aug 2005
RLTW
> bubble2 2,109 Posts
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medicchick
04-01-2014 at 11:08 PM.
04-01-2014 at 11:08 PM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :
The Orange Chicken was the TJ's #1 best seller for several years, last year it got bumped down to the #2 spot, don't recall what outsold it.
I think it was the cookie spread stuff.

I haven't been back since they ticked me off by giving my daughter candy when I said no (the find the Billy Goat thing). The woman waited until I turned to grab some apples and I heard her say "Don't tell Mommy"...to my 3 year old as she gave her a sucker.Mad I said no and that should have been the end of it. I told the manager but he blew me off. Oh well, it's 100 miles away so I didn't go that often anyway.
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Joined Jun 2006
Jambi-rific in Seattle!
> bubble2 31,436 Posts
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Original Poster
Zoe Moon
04-01-2014 at 11:10 PM.
04-01-2014 at 11:10 PM.
Quote from medicchick :
I think it was the cookie spread stuff.

I haven't been back since they ticked me off by giving my daughter candy when I said no (the find the Billy Goat thing). The woman waited until I turned to grab some apples and I heard her say "Don't tell Mommy"...to my 3 year old.Mad I said no and that should have been the end of it. I told the manager but he blew me off. Oh well, it's 100 miles away so I didn't go that often anyway.
Wow, that would really piss me off. The woman was stupid, what if your kid was diabetic or allergic to something in the candy. I would have emailed their main office over that!

Edit: Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure if the parent says no, they have stickers they can give to the kiddos. I've seen them do that recently so she wasn't following protocol.
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Joined Jan 2011
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> bubble2 4,670 Posts
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AstroInactive
04-02-2014 at 07:25 AM.
04-02-2014 at 07:25 AM.
That would piss me off too...wtf? No means no...
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> bubble2 951 Posts
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euuser2780178
04-06-2014 at 10:19 PM.
04-06-2014 at 10:19 PM.
Just tried their beef tamales. Pretty good, with a slight spicy kick
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Jambi-rific in Seattle!
> bubble2 31,436 Posts
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Zoe Moon
04-07-2014 at 10:27 AM.
04-07-2014 at 10:27 AM.
The mini chicken tamales are good too, especially if you add a green chili sauce.
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Jambi-rific in Seattle!
> bubble2 31,436 Posts
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Original Poster
Zoe Moon
04-20-2014 at 02:03 PM.
04-20-2014 at 02:03 PM.
Updated list of coming soon store locations and dates.

  • South Burlington, VT - May 16
  • Austin (Northwest), TX
  • Austin (Seaholm), TX
  • Boca Raton, FL
  • Dallas (North), TX
  • Denver (7th & Logan), CO
  • Katy (Cinco Ranch), TX
  • San Antonio (Sonterra Village), TX




Quote from mrlaugh :
this thread reminds me that I haven't actually gone to the new TJ here in Austin yet Doh it's just in a different direction than I normally think of, and little further away than I'd like it to be. I'm sure when they build the one downtown I'll through it some of my business, probably more than I through to whole foods which is only three blocks further away
Have you made it there yet?
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Eat a rock!
> bubble2 13,790 Posts
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mrlaugh
04-20-2014 at 02:14 PM.
04-20-2014 at 02:14 PM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :
Updated list of coming soon store locations and dates.

  • South Burlington, VT - May 16
  • Austin (Northwest), TX
  • Austin (Seaholm), TX
  • Boca Raton, FL
  • Dallas (North), TX
  • Denver (7th & Logan), CO
  • Katy (Cinco Ranch), TX
  • San Antonio (Sonterra Village), TX




Have you made it there yet?
I did nod was funny seeing which things had changed and which hadn't in the four years since I had been in a TJ's. I went twice in March, mostly because I found a cheap art store nearby to fix a broken glass custom frame of mine. I'm much more likely to take advantage of the seaholm location when it opens, that would be among the closest grocery stores to me of any type.
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Jambi-rific in Seattle!
> bubble2 31,436 Posts
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Zoe Moon
04-26-2014 at 08:28 PM.
04-26-2014 at 08:28 PM.
Had some TJ's creamy goat cheese, it comes in a small tub and has the texture of soft cream cheese. Had it with some cherry preserves on a thin wafer. Very tasty. It would be really nice on a bagel too but since it's goat cheese it's pretty tangy, so would probably work best with a sweet bagel like a raisin, blueberry, sundried tomato, etc. bagel. TJ's has some really yummy crackers with raisins baked in them (more like little toasted squares) that it would be really good with, can't recall the name of them though.
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Joined Jan 2006
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SLickCate
04-27-2014 at 12:02 PM.
04-27-2014 at 12:02 PM.
Just had some Speculoos Cookie Butter! Picked up a few things last weekend from Spokane store, still no TJs here in my region of WA.
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> bubble2 3,105 Posts
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nutz
04-28-2014 at 02:16 PM.
04-28-2014 at 02:16 PM.
Love the chile spiced mango and soft & juicy mandarins.
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AstroInactive
04-29-2014 at 04:02 AM.
04-29-2014 at 04:02 AM.
Our first local TJ's opened recently, and I've made two unsuccessful attempts to go...the parking lot is tiny, there's only a single narrow entrance, and it's on a side street. Once I sat through 3 cycles of the light only to abandon the trek 100 yards from the entrance. The other time I didn't even get that close...
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