I’m surprised I never got around and actually reviewed this old Trader Joe’s standard. It’s a Classic in it’s own right. I gave Trader Joe’s roasted garlic marinara a very good review. So I thought I would give this one a spin. First let’s just get it out of the way. A 24 oz jar of this sauce costs less than two bucks so great value. I would try both the roasted garlic version and this one and see which of these $1.99 gems is your favorite.
This is a very good what you might call every day tomato sauce, frankly equal to some sauces more than this two dollar jar. You can fix it up easily too to taste more expensive. I add a few cloves of slivered fresh garlic to the pan in a bit of olive oil, let the garlic get a little toasted, then add this sauce to the pan. Add some more herbs to your liking, especially a little fresh basil should you have some. A dash of red pepper flakes?
Even if you do nothing, this is a very tasty versatile sauce which can not only be used for pasta but for making dishes. “Use it as a simmer sauce for chicken breasts or meatballs. Or, let it be the starting point for your own sauce-creation. So many different ways to enjoy this enduring sauce.” https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/tomato-basil-marinara-sauce-045029
If you are on a tight budget Trader Joe’s has you covered. Let’s figure, you buy one of their pastas that still cost just 99 cents. Then grab a jar of this sauce (or the roasted garlic version). You’ve spent three bucks and you have dinner.
If your budget allows that might even leave room for some upgrades to say, one of their “artisanal” pastas ($2) and maybe some leeway to add a bread and salad…. $1.99 for a baguette and maybe a $2.29 bag of arugula.
I doesn’t have a ton of chemical names either. Fairly natural.
Trader Joe’s ORGANIC RADIATORE pasta is a relatively new addition to the pasta shelves there. They were introduced along with the square rigatoni pasta, which I also gave a great review.
Want to know the translation of “radiatore“? Funny enough it means what it sounds like: “radiator”. Because that’s what these look like. Little radiators.
The shape has all those nooks and crannies which are perfect for taking in and holding a lot of sauce. By the way, did you know the Italian government recognizes about 300 different pasta shapes?
A 1 lb package goes for $1.99. It’s a high quality, bronze die cut pasta, imported from Italy and made from organic durum wheat semolina.
I made this pasta for dinner last night with Trader Joe’s TOMATO BASIL MARINARA sauce (a bargain at $1.99 and it’s excellent). OK, as I am a “cook” and can’t just open a jar and be done with it, I did add two cloves of garlic and a 1/2 shallot sauteed in a tablespoon of olive oil then added a 1/2 jar of the sauce (for two portions). Trust me it made it even better but you could go the easy route and just open a jar.
These radiatore cook pretty fast due to shape, in about 9 minutes. I probably took them out a minute before that (ie, pre-al dente) as I would cook them more in the sauce. I dumped the drained pasta into my pan with my sauce, added about a 1/4 of the pasta water, tossed them over and over for about a minute to let them marry and absorb some sauce till al dente.
I was going to serve peas on the side but as I was making this, my wife suggested I just toss everything in together. Which was actually a great idea as the peas add a nice flavor and texture and got into the nooks of the radiatore. Grated on some of my favorite TJ ROSEMARY ASIAGO which I especially love with pasta.
The texture and taste of this radiatore pasta was perfect and we really loved this dish we came up with “radiatore with peas in tomato sauce” which can now go into rotation. Try this combo! Super easy and delicious, not to mention a bit healthier with added vegetable protein. A little salad and bread made it all perfect.
The best thing? Pantry meal. Everything came out of the pantry (and freezer) so a perfect idea for when “you don’t have anything” in the fridge.
Delicious easy dinner for two, which probably cost less than 3 bucks.
Equally good would be the simplest pasta using this radiatore; just Butter and Cheese. Use lots of both.
I would buy these again. — (UPDATE: I looked for them today to buy more and didn’t see them on the shelves…. )
PASTA WITH PEAS recipe (pasta al piselli)
Toss your pasta into salted boiling water. Whatever time it says on the package, you will subract one or two minutes for “pre-al dente”. In a pan or pot, put a tablespoon of olive oil, and a nice pat of butter. (optional) Add 2 cloves of sliced garlic, and cook till golden. You could also add in 1/2 shallot too if you have one, or a 1/4 onion.
Add your favorite jarred (or homemade) sauce to the pan. When the pasta is “pre-al dente” (tests a little hard) add that to the pan and cook, adding in some pasta water (1/4 cup?). Toss in some frozen peas (1/2-1 cup as you wish) Toss everything over and over to mix and cook for about a minute or so, cooking the pasta just till it becomes al dente. That means “to the tooth” just after the pasta is no longer hard to bite and not soft or mushy. Italians hate overcooked pasta.
Plate and top with a nice amount of freshly grated ASIAGO cheese (or Parmagiano or Pecorino) and serve. Bread and a salad will round this out nicely into a dinner
Portions: for two people I usually figure about a 1/2 lb (half the package) pasta, and for sauce about a 1/2 jar but your ratio may vary. Again, Italians like just enough sauce to coat the pasta well but not to have pasta swimming in sauce the way most Americans think you make it.
They say this: “Trader Joe’s Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice is the ultimate #Cookinghacks for this dish. Our Butter Chicken showcases chunks of chicken enrobed in a mild, mouth-watering curry crafted of crushed tomatoes, cream, onions, garlic, ginger, butter…Spiced just so, and partnered with delicate, fragrant grains of Basmati rice, it’s ready to heat and enjoy. Serve it with our other frozen Indian fare – TJ’s Palak Paneer, TJ’s Channa Masala, TJ’s Tandoori Naan – for a feast. Don’t forget the TJ’s Mango Ginger Chutney & sliced cucumbers!” https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/butter-chicken-with-basmati-rice-099032
Search for this, and you learn that it comes up as one of Trader Joe’s most popular items with a pretty loyal following. Trader Joe’s has carried this forever, and it seems to have quite a lot of fans. I had not tried it till now though. Here’s my honest review with what I liked about it, plus as well as things I think could be improved on.
The Good: This is actually quite a tasty Indian chicken dish. The price is very attractive at $4.49. The flavor of this is quite good, with a rich tomato-y sauce. The chicken (I think white meat?) is perfectly cooked and not at all dried out; it’s tender and juicy coated with a tasty, creamy tomato sauce, which includes concentrated tomatoes, cream, butter and spices. The package says this whole thing is just 400 calories. I mean the portion is not huge. They give you mostly rice of course.
I think NAAN is worth eating with this, so you might want some with this too, to scoop up the sauce.
(THEIR PICTURE FROM THE TJ WEBSITE)(you can see about 3 or 4 pieces of chicken)
The Not So Good: I was surprised at the small amount of chicken they actually give you. I wish they gave you a bit more of it, as will you. Which makes me wonder, was it always so? I wacked a picture, probably old, off their website about the product. In that product picture, it looks like they show about six decent sized pieces of chicken. In the package we got, I counted about 4 pieces. Has the amount changed over the last year or so, as ingredient costs have gone up? Someone let me know please via the Comment section, if you’ve gotten this for years, if you think they cut back on the amount of chicken now as opposed to in the past. I just kind of suspect to keep the price the same there may be some shrinkflation ?
I found the basmati rice that comes with this just OK. Less flavorful than if I made my own Trader Joe’s Basmati Rice, which I assume might be a better quality Basmati rice. The taste of this one seemed less and its a bit under seasoned and maybe even undercooked.
A main selling point of this “whole meal” is of course, convenience in that it comes with rice already made. Me, I’m a rice freak, I make rice, daily many times. So frankly I’m not the typical target audience as I can put up a pot of rice in minutes. Hey, my wife’s Asian, and we can have rice 5 days in a row.
I think the rice could stand for a pinch might stand for a pinch of salt. Or put the sauce over the rice as it may balance out. I did not find the dish as a whole salty, nor spicy. I think I would call this “mild” Indian, not spicy, nor has a ton of seasonings and cream of course which mellows things. Ingredients include garlic, ginger, spices….
TIP: If you want to make this into a more substantial meal you could add a can of drained chick peas (99 cents) into this. I did. After the sauce is defrosted enough to take out the chicken, add a half (or whole can) of drained chick peas. Or you could add another dish perhaps make the excellent CHANNA MASALA chick peas in a tasty sauce to serve along with this. With that two people might be able to enjoy the two dishes as a meal.
Ingredients look pretty normal and natural without additives.
If for example you took this to work for your lunch, it would make a nice easy meal, only needing tossing into the microwave. Or don’t feel like cooking, add a salad and this could suffice as dinner. Drizzle perhaps with some greek yogurt and serve with their very good Mango Chutney.
They would be absolutely perfect to serve to guests over the holidays!
These are a wonderfully delicious French butter cookie, coated with a layer of excellent chocolate.
Trader Joe’s says this: “These Cookies are, indeed, made for us in France. The usual cookie-dough suspects—flour, sugar, egg yolks, milk, leavening, and salt—are combined with cultured French butter (13% of the recipe) to create a dough that is shaped into thin rounds. The baked biscuits are coated in rich, Dark Chocolate (40% of the recipe), yielding an exquisite Cookie that is at the same time: smooth, crunchy, chocolate-y, and buttery!”
Even if these didn’t have any chocolate, you would say these were great butter cookies. But they were dipped in chocolate, coated with a nice generous bit of excellent French chocolate too, which puts them out of this world.
These were a big hit with both of us. We really found these to be a super delicious treat.
My only problem with these? There’s way too few of them in the package! So you may want to buy at least two.
$2.99/package (4.76 oz)
Someone at my local TJ’s came up with “try with a dollop of peanut butter”. Yeah, baby.
I tried out this Trader Joe’s “Goat’s Milk Creamy Cheese”, which I think cost’s nearly $5.
This is a soft spreadable goat cheese, which is not at all goaty. So if that’s what you are looking for you might like this extremely mild “goat cheese”. Me, I love goat cheese and don’t mind at all if it’s a little goaty. Isn’t that the point? OK very very goaty can be off-putting at times but I found this soft cheese just way, way too mild. I found this barely tasting like a “goat cheese”. Perhaps this is the mildest goat cheese I’ve may have ever tasted. I was not impressed. It ain’t cheap so what’s the point? To me this tastes like cream cheese with a smidge of goat cheese mixed in. Something you or I could make easily, for way less too.
Anyway this might have been a good idea on paper but I found this to be a failure for my tastes as it’s way too mild. Very lacking in goat cheese flavor, and most importantly expensive as this is a tiny package (4.5 oz) for which they charge almost 5 bucks. The do sell a few excellent kinds of goat cheese (chevre).
We could make a soft spreadable goat cheese akin to this… Just mix a package of cream cheese ($2) and Trader Joe’s excellent Goat Cheese log ($3). Let both sit out for a few hours until they are soft, and combine them. If you want a little less goat taste, just mix in half the goat log. Me, I would mix the whole thing. It would cost less per ounce than this.
I think the result will give something like what I was expecting this to be – a soft, easily spreadable goat cheese that would work on toast, crackers, a bagel or what have you. Great for a cheese board or guests.
HOW TO MAKE CREAMY GOAT CHEESE for $5 bucks – Get a blue “Chevre” log and a package of cream Cheese. Wait an hour or two till they are soft. Mix cream cheese with whole (or half) the log of Trader Joe’s GOAT CHEESE (optionally you could add flavors, perhaps fresh herbs or black pepper. A few drops of lemon juice. You will get about 12 oz for a tiny bit more than this package (4.5 oz) costs, so cheaper in the long run too.
This cheese here (blue log of chevre) is a terrific goat cheese at a decent price. It’s TJ’s Number Two best selling cheese two years in a row and sells for three bucks! So if you want a soft not too sassy spreadable goat cheese I say buy that and make your own creamy goat with your preferred ratio of goat to cream cheese (1/2 of this for a milder cheese or the whole thing if you like a bit more tangy and goaty.
I love PETIT BILLY (that’s the exact taste and texture for a very French soft goat cheese: https://tasteoffrancemag.com/trending/cheese-wire-petit-billy/) Last time I went to France I smuggled one back. That cheese is wonderful, it’s one of my favorite French cheeses (but costly in the U.S.)
As far as this tub under review, “Goats Milk Creamy cheese” I would not buy it again.
Perhaps the first thing that will stand out to you when you are looking in the pizza shelves at Trader Joe’s and you see this MARGHERITA PIZZA is frankly that this looks pretty good and then you see that it costs $4.79. Under five bucks for this? It’s looks like it almost came out of a pizza place’s oven.
If it actually tastes anything close to as good as it looks in their picture, that’s hard to beat.
My neighbor tried this first and told me she really liked it. She was pretty impressed with it and was amazed that it cost under five bucks. So we got one to try out as I’ve not had this before.
(Here’s what it looks like right out of the box, frozen, wrapped)
You can see the crust is partially pre-baked, with the ingredients for us to finish baking it.
(frozen, unwrapped, pre-baking)
Here’s what TJ’s has to say about this pizza (which has been around for over a decade or more):
“This classic Margherita Pizza starts with a hand-stretched, Amalfi style crust, the dough for which is fermented for a full 24 hours prior to kicking off the pizza-making process. This new-and-much-improved crust is thin, soft, and bubbly, with a slightly thicker, chewy edge. In this Pizza’s previous iteration, they topped said crust with a standard tomato sauce; in this version, however, they top it with a passata—a.k.a. a traditional Italian tomato sauce made by sieving ripe tomatoes into a silky-smooth purée, allowing the pure, tomato flavor to really shine. The pies are finished with fresh mozzarella rounds, shredded Grana Padano and carefully placed basil leaves, then baked in wood-burning stone ovens, flash-frozen, and sent to sail the culinary seas…” (-Trader Joe’s website)
So they changed (improved) it but as this is my first time with it, the new version is the only one I know, so here’s my review.
(Should say first, I am one of those people who will on occasion actually make a pizza from scratch, including fermenting my dough 3 days in the fridge?) Anyway here’s our impression of Trader Joe’s PIZZA MARGHERITA.
Overall my wife and I liked this very much. This is a very tasty pizza and has many good points I liked. There one or two areas I thought it could be improved on.
The good points with this pizza is first if you like Neapolitan style pizza, I would call this pretty “authentic” in that its in the nature of a pizza you might get in Naples rather than a “NY Style” pizza. , Meaning the kind of pizza that you may want to eat with a knife and fork as many Italians do (Neapolitan style, not Roman). The reason being the center of the pizza crust may be too thin to support ingredients to hold it up and eat as a slice, and the center may be a little soft and juicy.
I confess I did actually try to get the bottom a bit crispier by putting it back in after I pulled it out the first time, for about another two minutes. In hindsight this was a mistake, as I over-baked it a little and doing that made the outside border crust a bit dry and hard. So try the recommended times (the box says bake 9-12 minutes at 425 F) If you have a pizza stone or steel, I would use that. If not, even a 1/2 sheet pan will do. And as always pre-heat your oven for at least 20-30 minutes, though every oven is a bit different.
(My finished pizza after baking.)
The pizza looked almost like it came out of a pizza shop – in Italy!
The low moisture skim mozzarella cheese in large round slices when baked up was really good, and it did the stringy cheese thing everyone loves to see on Instagram. The sauce is very simple. Its just “passata” or pure tomato puréed up in the classic Margherita way, so not a “pizza sauce” as you may be used to. I think it tasted just the tiniest bit tart or sour to me but not bad.
The used to have a pizza sauce. I wonder if that might be bit better tasting but then it would not be “Margherita” which is very simple, basically 3-4 ingredients. It had another cheese, Grana Padano, grated over and that too added a nice touch, You can even see it’s dressed with a little bit of fresh basil!
FIXING THIS UP: You can improve this easily, and think that is worth doing. I would suggest if you make this pizza, you fix it up a bit with any or all of the following (all optional of course) : Sliver of garlic, a sprinkle of dried oregano, a little basil (dried or better still, fresh if you have that) and maybe a drizzle of say Hot Honey to add a touch of sweetness and spice? Certainly add a drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkling of more cheese, some grated Parmigiano or Pecorino when you take it out of the oven. I would do all this the next time I make this pizza.
I overdid the baking by maybe two minutes as I put it back to try to get the bottom crispier (it comes out a bit soft), which I know was a mistake, as you see how dark my crust came out. If I made it again, I would stick to the 9-12 mins as suggested on the box PLUS I might brush the border with a little olive oil before baking it.
The whole pizza is 15 ounces. I think this can be a dinner for two adults, maybe with a little salad or veggie on the side. In sum, while not perfect this is quite a tasty pizza and well worth trying at what is a great price!
Calories: 1/3 of this equals about 310 calories — but trust me you will probably eat at least 1/2 not a 1/3. Still this is on the lower side for pizza I think if thats like 450 cals?
How does this TJ pizza rank among all the other offers in the pizza department from Trader Joe’s? To me it’s up there. However I might rank a few others they have, just a hair above this one (such as the Pizza Parlanno and the Buratta, Prosciutto and Arugula one) as they have “more going on” of course. For a simple Neapolitan style pizza, this is quite good, if thats what you are looking for.
The ingredient list as you can see, is quite simple so that’s a nice plus!
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS FROM FROZEN: Preheat oven to 425. Bake for 9-12 minutes until crust is LIGHTLY BROWNED
Trader Joe’s got two new artisan pastas in this month. A spiral radiatore and this SQUARE shaped rigatoni. Both look perfect for our favorite (hearty?) sauce.
I got the square rigatoni to start with for review as I have never seen a square rigatoni before and could not resist trying it. It looks cool, right? First thing I thought was this: but after cooking is this going to stay square when it’s softer?! Well guess what, the answer: YES it does stay square as you can see….
TJ’s says this: ” What makes this pasta noteworthy? It starts with the Italian pasta maker sourcing high-quality, organic, and local durum wheat semolina, then going the extra mile to mill the flour themselves. High-quality tools are equally essential —bronze-coated extruders are used to produce thick, textured noodles that deliver a perfectly al dente texture, which helps support the heftiness of its partnered sauce while maintaining a delicate chew….Pair this uniquely shaped Pasta with a hearty Bolognese sauce and be in awe of how much sauce clings to, and even fills, each noodle. It is a natural choice for baked pasta dishes, as it can hold up well in a casserole without losing its shape.”
I just made the simplest pasta that day just to test it out quickly just butter and cheese; We liked this pasta quite a bit. Its great and tasty of course as I’ve found all of the artisan pastas from Italy the sell are (these are all high end pastas, organic durum semolina, bronze die cut….) But ideally this shape will excel and be perfect for a heartier sauce, especially something like a Bolognese or ragu, meat sauce as they suggest, or a baked pasta. Greek Pastitsio anyone?
Cooking time on the bag is 13-14 minutes. This two new ones including this one were $1.99 (1 lb) I would buy it again (PS they say these two new pastas are LIMITED editions, grab them while you can)
“Coffee was originally introduced to farmers by the Thai Royal Family… This relatively unknown region of the coffee world has blossomed into one of the top 20 coffee producers worldwide…. 100% Arabica beans, Mae Kha Jan, Chiang Mai small lot coffee is medium roasted producing a coffee with full body and notes of cherry and dark chocolate.”
“This relatively unknown region of the coffee world has blossomed into one of the top 20 coffee producers worldwide”.
“Relatively unknown”? To me, unknown for sure as I don’t think I’ve ever come across a coffee Thailand before, and I am pretty sure this is the first Thai coffee I’ve tasted.
Here’s my honest review of this new Thai coffee.
Is this latest TJ’s Small Lot coffee find any good? Is it worth you’re buying?
I answer with a huge, “YES” to both questions. Color me very impressed.
I don’t know if most of the coffee from Thailand is anywhere near this good, but all I can say is I found Trader Joe’s newestsmall lot coffee, Thailand Mae Kha Jan Chiang Raireally tasted fabulous.
One of our readers, commented that, “it’s divine” and I agree. This small lot coffee is right up there with the very best of all those Trader Joe’s has come out with. Sure, I think they had a few clunkers here and there, but the coffee finders at Trader Joe’s who travel the world looking for good coffee made by small producers, have from time to time, brought back some really excellent finds over the years to us coffee lovers, and this is one of them.
I ground up the beans, which smelled lovely, then brewed the coffee up, as usual, in my Moka pot. The aroma of it brewing smelled great. It even produced some crema too as you can see.
My cup of coffee was smooth and full bodied, well rounded with no off notes anywhere. Yes one can easily detect subtle notes of cherry and dark chocolate, as they describe on the package. I found this coffee just so pleasant to drink. I think it’s my new current favorite at Trader Joe’s.
It is quite accurately described as being a Medium Roast, which in this case it is exactly and I found perfect for it’s flavor profile.
Here’s some more of what Trader Joe’s has to say about this Thai coffee:
“Thailand has become a rising star in the coffee world over the past few decades. Much of this coffee production happens in the northern Thai border region, commonly called the Golden Triangle. It’s from this region that we get the small lot Trader Joe’s Thailand Mae Kha Jan Chiang Rai blend.
As part of our Small Lot Coffee Series, these beans are sourced from the Mae Kha Han Mill, one of the top dry coffee mills in Thailand. Although the mill is in the lowlands, the coffee is grown in the high mountains around it, at elevations between 1,100 and 1,500 meters. This Coffee is fully washed with a 12- to 24-hour wet fermentation process where the pulp is removed and the beans are fermented in water. This method, common in Thailand and Indonesia, results in a clean, consistent flavor. Each sip offers tasting notes of dark chocolate and cherry.”
This is just so good you can’t stop drinking it. As you know the Small Lot coffees are “limited editions”, they won’t be around forever. If you see this, I’d offer up this Small Lot coffee is well worth trying, as long as you can find it. $9.99 (12 oz) For this level of coffee quality, that’s not bad.
I went back and bought another bag of this for my pantry.
Brighten up your space with these plants for five bucks now at Trader Joe’s (limited) for Halloween (2025) DIA DE LOS MUERTOS – Day of the Dead inspired design.
“Give this Crunchy Chili Onion Sprinkle a generous shake over a plate of French fries, warm from the air fryer, into a bowl of ground beef before forming it into burger patties, or atop a sheet pan of freshly roasted veggies. It adds a delightful depth of flavor to baked tofu, a certain savory mystique to soups of all kinds, and a pleasantly crunchy pop of texture when mixed into popcorn. Whether it’s scrambled eggs at breakfast, a salad dressing at lunch, or a pan-seared steak at dinner, a little Crunchy Chili Onion Sprinkle can make a big difference.” – Trader Joe’s site https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/crunchy-chili-onion-sprinkle-seasoning-blend-077111
All I’ve been hearing and reading about all over the internet is how fantastic this Trader Joe’s CHILI ONION SEASONING BLEND is, so I finally got around to trying it.
I have to say, basically it’s as good as everyone says.
I loved this seasoning blend. It’s another of those things you get at Trader Joe’s that you like so much, you start putting on everything you can think of to see if it works on it. Pretty much the answer would be yes as far as I’m concerned. Everything I’ve sprinkled this on seems to work,and seems to get tastier and better. Last night I made some grilled broccoli and just before I served it I thought let me sprinkle some of the Magic Dust on it and sure enough it made the broccoli taste about twice as good as it was without it! Ditto fresh corn on the cob.
Ditto my boring cottage cheese. Sprinkle this on. Not boring at all. Its terrific with cottage cheese. Try it.
This is Excellent on pretty much everything I’ve tried it on, especially vegetables of any kinds, eggs (!), burgers, chicken, turkey burgers, you name it, it seems to work.
The seasonings in the Blend include: sea salt, fried onions, chili flakes, brown sugar, dried roasted garlic and Szechuan pepper. This seasoning blend is made in South Africa where they really know something about spices, even just judging from the wonderful South African Smoke seasoning blend that has come and vanished over the years (I still have a little bit left I stingy-ling use from time to time)
It does have some salt (not a lot) and it has just a hint of sweetness from brown sugar as well as being just slightly spicy but this is not fiery hot at all, mildly spiced and quite flavorful.
Trader Joe’s Crunchy CHILI ONION SPRINKLE Seasoning Blend is about $2. It’s yet another great addition to all of Trader Joe’s seasoning.
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