Trader Joe's Pumpkin Sourdough Bread: A Delicious Review

A package of Trader Joe's sliced pumpkin sourdough bread featuring an illustration of a pumpkin and a label indicating it's made with pumpkin puree and spices.

Sliced bread resting on a wooden cutting board, showing a light brown crust and airy interior.

$4.99 (17.6 oz, 500 gr)

NEW ITEM (LIMITED TIME)

As I mention every Fall while I’m not one of those people who goes nuts when Trader Joe’s comes out with all the pumpkin stuff, on occasion I do see something that looks interesting and peaks my interest

Like this : Trader Joe’s SLICED PUMPKIN SOURDOUGH BREAD. I saw loaves of this bread featured in the New Items area. Supposedly shoppers are raving about this bread and snapping it up. So I got one to try out. Here’s my honest review.

I like it, for one thing, that it does taste of pumpkin and its fairly subtle. Not overly flavored with spices which I find cloying. Here those pumpkin spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg) are subtle. It has a slight sweetness but tastes like bread not dessert.

This bread is made with pumpkin puree which is the third ingredient listed (flour, water, pumpkin purée). Its got a nice dense crumb, tastes a tiny bit sweet plus has a tiny bit of tang of sourdough, and that’s in quotation marks as I think of this as a “sourdough style” bread.

As is untoasted, I thought it tasted OK, however like many breads my feeling with this is you need to TOAST it! This is great for toasting or grilling. This bread makes fantastic toast. That is what you want to do with it. First I just toasted it and tried it simple ,just spread with good butter. Simple and delicious. Also excellent with Which Jams? Experiment and find your favorite combo. Trader Joe’s APPLE JAM?

FRENCH TOAST. I didn’t try it yet but I know this Definitely would make fantastic french toast. Make that with this bread over the holidays?

Close-up of a grilled cheese sandwich, cut in half, revealing melted cheese between two slices of toasted bread, with a slice of cucumber on the side.

What about using this for a Grilled Cheese Sandwich? I got the idea somewhere on the internet to make a grilled cheese with this bread. It sounds a little odd but you know what? They were not wrong. We really liked the way these came out.

Cheese: I saw the recommended one to use as Trader Joe’s GRUYERE CHEDDAR MELANGE and that’s what I did.

Here’s the PUMPKIN SOURDOUGH GRILLED CHEESE.

A slice of whole grain bread with large pieces of white cheese on top, partially covered by another slice of bread.

Slice up your Gruyere Cheddar Melange cheese, then spread the bread slices with a thin layer of your favorite mustard. I used a mix of Dijon and Regular mustard. Add a decent amount of cheese and carefully close up the sandwich. Grill in a heavy pan with a bit of butter on medium. Let it grill up for about 3-4 minutes per side until it looks nice and Golden Brown and Delicious (check occasionally after 2 3 minutes, it can get dark easily) Flip the over carefully, press gently with a spatula until the second side is done and the cheese is all melty and delicious. Serve with pickles.

I’m sure also great with a cheddar but I have to say, that gruyere melange perfect, subtle and nutty and matched perfectly with the pumpkin sourdough.

Nutrition facts label for a sliced pumpkin bread from Trader Joe's, including ingredients, serving size, calorie content, and nutritional information.

My only complaint with this its kind of small, just over a pound of the bread for five bucks. Our loaf went pretty fast! We were fighting over who would eat the last slice of this toasted.

1 slice is 110 calories.