Joined Jun 2006
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Forum Thread
Trader Joe's food review thread
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.
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!
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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For those of you who might be wondering if there's a Trader Joes near you, click this link and enter your zip code. LinkyTo see if there's a store opening soon in your area, click this link. Linky [traderjoes.com] |
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)
***
This post can be edited by most users to provide up-to-date information about developments of this thread based on user responses, and user findings. Feel free to add, change or remove information shown here as it becomes available. This includes new coupons, rebates, ideas, thread summary, and similar items.
Once a Thread Wiki is added to a thread, "Create Wiki" button will disappear. If you would like to learn more about Thread Wiki feature, click here.
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I've tried coconut oil in stir fry before and boy was that a bad idea!
I've tried coconut oil in stir fry before and boy was that a bad idea!
I use something that looks almost like a cheese grater, but it's typically used to shred papaya here... http://www.amazon.com/Kiwi-Pro-Slice-Peeler/dp/B000L8FZMY And I shred the zucchini, cook in some olive oil, and have it with Rao's pasta sauce.
tj's chocolate croissants, proof overnight, the best
green kale packed in a bag
organic cherry tomatoes medley
seaweed strips
acorn squash
bananas (for my DD1)
I was very impressed with the store and the prices.
the good:
kimchi! $2 a pouch, wish it came in a jar
the cream sherry!
the tahini sauce.
the tzatziki sauce.
the apple cider.
the corn tortillas.
the chocolate and cookie batter candy bars.
the wasabi seaweed.
the mediocre:
the olive ciabatta bread.
simpler times pilsner.
the bananas.
It's not that it tastes like coconut, but it smells like coconut and I associate coconut smell with dessert. Must be an Asian thing but we put coconut milk in a lot desserts. I'm not even sure if the Nutiva has a taste, but the scent is definitely overpowering. It was fine when I used it to fry shrimp to make dip, but other than that... It's used to mix in with curry with other coconut milk.
I usually fry with butter. Most of the stir fries I make are with butter.
On a related spicy note, I'm so upset TJ doesn't carry the spicy edamames, I had to resort to plain.
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the good:
kimchi! $2 a pouch, wish it came in a jar
the cream sherry!
the tahini sauce.
the tzatziki sauce.
the apple cider.
the corn tortillas.
the chocolate and cookie batter candy bars.
the wasabi seaweed.
the mediocre:
the olive ciabatta bread.
simpler times pilsner.
the bananas.
(can't have banana on the low carb diet
I'm going to miss them when we go back to Alaska though.
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