It’s wonderfully flavorful with just the perfect blend of sweet and spicy. Naturally it will go great with your Indian dinners such as your PALAK PANEER , or your Butter Chicken and Rice and some Naan and yogurt raita or tzatziki. However it will match well with many other types of food. Its great served on the side with grilled chicken or fish – or tofu for that matter. I even love it on top of cottage cheese! Great on a grilled cheese sandwich.
A jar is $3. I would buy this again. TIP: save yourself a trip and buy two jars!
“Made for us by a supplier in Sri Lanka, this magnificently Mango-forward Chutney is made with a thick, yet smooth and spreadable base of organic cane sugar and organic coconut sap vinegar, to which our supplier adds big, toothsome chunks of organic mango. They then flavor each batch with a suite of awesomely aromatic (and organic!) spices and seasonings that includes cinnamon, cardamom, chili powder, and garlic. Expertly balanced between its savory, sweet, and heat-based elements, the sky’s the limit with this vibrantly versatile Chutney. Try spooning a bit over pizza or pork chops, onto a freshly baked Organic Biscuit or toasted Tandoori Naan, or into a grilled cheese sandwich.“
Usually starting in Fall, Trader Joe’s will have a few kinds of squash. Acorn, Butternut….and I really like those. However some squash are a bit of work to prep, especially if you have to get the skin off. Generally I think, “too much work”. Which brings me to a favorite kind of squash, because its The. Easiest. Squash: Delicata! I’m so fond of it, if I see these at Trader Joe’s I will usually grab one and toss it in my basket.
A few years ago, TJ’s sold them for 99 cents each. They now cost $1.49. That is still pretty cheap, especially if you can score a big one.
So what I really love about the DELICATA sqush is you don’t have to peel them. Which makes them so much easier. Delicata which means “delicate” of course. They have thin (edible) skin. Compared to acorn or butternut squash, which can take 10-15 minutes of serious knife work, these are so much easier. They take 1-2 minutes to prep. For me, that’s a squash game changer.
I made delicata recently and took a few pictures to show how easy it is to make them. Sure you can roast them. They are great that way. But you don’t have to. Mostly I just toss them into a pan with olive oil and garlic. Which is a little easier than roasting in my opinion and almost as good.
The ones here I made them as the ingredient for a pasta dish. I just added the pasta right in the same pan to finish the dish with bit of alfredo sauce (but even just butter and grated cheese would be fine).
Here’s my prep – Rinsed them. Took a teaspoon and scraped out seeds. Sliced them up, a bit thin (1/4″ or so thick) as I was going to sauté them. If I was going to roast them in the oven I would have cut them a bit thicker.
In this case I just tossed them into a non stick pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and crushed garlic. Salt and pepper. Sauté them for maybe 15-20 minutes on medium stirring frequently so they don’t burn. Let them get nice and brown almost as if you had roasted them. This is easier for me as I don’t even have to turn on the oven.
They make a great side dish, or use the cooked squash as an ingredient, for example in a pasta dish. Add them to cooked penne or farfalle, either with just butter and cheese or something a little creamy like alfredo or cacio e pepe.
If you never tried them before, I hope this give you the idea to try Delicata Squash and then you may grow to love them as much as I do; here’s some links to cooking ideas using delicata squash…..
I think this is a new dessert, or at least we hadn’t seen it before. MINI CHOCOLATE MOUSSE. Individual tiny chocolate mousse cakes that are Imported from Belgium, where they know a little bit about chocolate!
So rich and yummy. Its a round mini cake consisting of chocolate mousse on top of a shortbread crust base, topped with a dark chocolate ganache. Three layers. These were very delicious and a dessert that will satisfy any discerning Chocoholic (raises his hand). Just heavenly.
Reading the label though, we were all a bit confused by it saying “1 serving per container” as well as “serving size 6 pieces”! What? They think this box is one serving? Now each one is small, only about 3 bites each. I could eat 2 easily. Maybe even 3…. Still I don’t think anyone should eat six. Odd Nutrition label. Still each serving of one piece says its (only) 110 calories. Not bad at all and they are very light as mousse is airy.
These were so good. I would buy them again. Look for these in the Frozen Dessert section.
“A crispy savory and sweet cracker to complement cheeses, dips, and toppings”
Wow, these little Trader Joe’s crackers are just delicious. First off, the texture is great, as they are very well baked and very crunchy, and have both sunflower and flax seeds.
The flavor of these is terrific, just the right amount of both sweet and savory. These are pretty small and delicate. They taste great on their own with nothing on them. You can eat them right out of the box.
However they will be even better if you put something on them. I tried them with cream cheese and loved the combo, then tried them with some Chevre and brie; they will match superbly with any cheese you put on them, or try them with charcuterie too like prosciutto.
These are one of those Trader Joe’s products that you could really impress guests with. Especially one of those cheese boards. Pretty natural sounding ingredients too. These are about $4 / box (5.3 oz)
Another knock it out of the ball park Trader Joe’s item. I would buy them again
“A light roast with notes of dried fruit and orange”
This is the latest “small lot” coffee Trader Joe’s has come out with (Dec ’23). This coffee is from Brazil, called “Cachoeira da Grama”, which comes from Brazil’s Vale de Grama in the Sao Paolo region.
Trader Joe’s describes the beans as a “light roast” on the package and in this case, I agree (we know TJ’s roast descriptions can vary wildly). The package says these coffee beans were “double fermented”: “this innovative double fermenting process brings about the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness, and the light roast unveils lively notes of dried fruit and orange.”
Naturally whenever I taste a new Trader Joe’s Small Lot coffee, I can’t help but to compare it with my memory of other small lot coffee they’ve had. How does this new one compare to the best of their Small Lot coffees some of which were so freaking good, they blew me away?
I neither loved nor hated this; it falls in the middle. This Brazilian one is good and is a decent coffee with yes notes of “dried fruit and orange”. While I thought it was fine I didn’t find it terribly special. Yet when I searched online about this coffee I found some reviewers just raving about it. Me, I would not give this a Rave however lets face it, things like coffee, or wine for that matter, are the most personal of taste preferences. At some point only you can decide what you think.
I found this this a decent coffee but when I thought of others… a few amazingsmall lot coffee gems Trader Joe’s had in the past – I would not put this one up there with at least two others I recall. Not terribly long ago, TJ’s had a terrific small lot coffee that came from the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – I found that one to be wonderful. A standout. Ditto for another one which was really good, the HONDURAN Small Lot Coffee.
Both of those two small lot coffees were incredible finds to my taste and I cross my fingers I may see someday either of them again someday at Trader Joe’s as I would buy either in a second. But I won’t hold my breath because as we know all too well, one of the first things about Trader Joe’s one learns the hard way is if you fall in love with something you may have your heart broken someday.
Trader Joe’s Brazil Cachoeira da Grama Small Lot Coffee was $9.99 (12 oz) a decent price for a small lot coffee. The small lot are “Limited Editions” so if you want to try it, grab it asap.
I would not buy this again. It was good but not as special as other Small Lot Coffees I’ve tasted. But I saw that some people really liked this, so as the French say, “à chacun son gout“
Just FYI – One of my Go To coffee’s at Trader Joe’s is the AZMARI BUNNI, Afro-Latin blend (light roast). It’s a consistently excellent and well balanced blend which I find to be a terrific all around coffee that never fails to please me in the morning. They carry this regularly now. If you have not tried it I suggest starting there.
UPDATE – Finally some good news! After being M.I.A for a LONG time, and believed to have been discontinued, take a look at what I saw reappear in the butter section at my TJ’s (NYC). The beloved FRENCH CULTURED BUTTER came back.
This terrific French butter from Brittany, France has been Missing In Action for something like 2 years or more. In fact I think I remember a few years ago they put up a sign announcing in would be discontinued (when she saw that my neighbor bought 8 and froze them).
Do we care that the sign calls it “EURO STYLE CULTURED BUTTER” for some reason? Is that an E.U. thing? Or that they aren’t hand painting a sign like they would normally do? Does that mean its temporary.
In any case the label looks like it used to, and says “Produced in Brittany, France”. Fingers crossed, they’ve nailed the supply problem and this thought to be discontinued item item is making a permanent comeback. We will see. It went up in price of course and costs $4.69 (last time I got it was 3.69?) But that was 2 years ago? The Kerrygold Irish butter seems to cost $4.49 now so this is not much more than that one.
Just in case you’ve never tried it, the French Cultured Butter is really top notch. Many readers were shaken when we saw it was discontinued 2 years ago. I’ve been getting the Irish Kerrygold butter basically since the French butter vanished a few years back. I like it very too. It costs a bit less (but not much anymore; maybe only a quarter!!).
For us, having options for a few premium imported butter is nice. I still miss the NZ butter they used to carry back when TJ’s actually had 3 kinds of imported butter from France, Ireland and New Zealand!
One of the few products Trader Joe’s sells under the original brand, SYNERGY RAW KOMBUCHA is an all natural fermented drink. My wife mostly buys it and most of the times she goes to Trader Joe’s she will get this. On occasion she will even let me have a few sips if I ask politely.
They have about three different flavors but of all of them this is her favorite. “Gingerade”, which is quite gingery. I like this flavor too.
But first if you are not familiar with it what is kombucha anyway ?
Kombucha has gotten more and more popular over the last few years from the health community as it’s loaded with probiotics.
Its very unique from a taste standpoint. The first time you open this bottle you will get a huge fizz. Like opening a soda. Really fermented with a LOT of natural fizz. Taste it and you get a bit of a natural bite on your tongue. Really zingy. Personally I like the taste and sensation and find it both refreshing and tasty, but it may be an acquired taste. The fizz will die down once you open it after a day.
Kombucha is a naturally fermented drink with lots of enzymes and probiotics. Kombucha is said to have many health benefits. People have made it for a thousand years or so. A little goes seems to go a long way. This 16 oz bottle lasts us a few days. This is made from black tea, green tea, kiwi juice and ginger.
Trader Joe’s sells Synergy Raw Kombucha for $3.49 (16 oz) It’s carried in the refrigerated drinks area.
Seen at Trader Joe’s this “PANOPLY OF ORGANIC ITALIAN PASTA – A box of five uniquely shaped pastas. Serve with a variety of sauces and cheese. ”
its really nice looking. High Quality Artisanal Pasta. All natural, plant based colors. “Striped Farfalline, Striped Papillon, Lemon Flavored Torchietti, Striped Figchietti, Ortolana de Gallo”
Some of these shapes are quite rare to see in the U.S.
$9.99 for the 35 oz box. This box looks very gift-able to me….
My wife bought this “MISO RAMEN SOUP”. Now she loves ramen and will usually buy her favorite, Korean Shin Ramen, which is very good. It costs more. She made this and when I asked her what she thought her review was pretty short: “I’ll never buy this again”
Inside the cup there’s some noodles which don’t look like the dried ramen you are used to. These are straight wheat noodles which look semi-dry (pre-boiled?). There’s not a lot of noodles. There’s a dried packet of stuff (the soup) plus a little clear packet, which we thought was one of those drying packets and almost threw it away. Nope, its part of the ramen set; The clear packet contains a little bit of oil you add along with the dry packet of miso soup.
I tasted her ramen and here’s what I thought of this product.
The Good: The broth was actually pretty decent. Better than I expected. It tastes like a Japanese miso soup broth. There was even a piece or two of wakame (seaweed) floating around in the soup. Some umami from seaweed and mushrooms. The Ingredient list reads fairly natural; you don’t see wierd names of chemicals just dried ingredients. Broth 7/10
The Bad: Ramen? Well they really messed up the “ramen” part of this “miso ramen soup”. Noodles are lousy. We both thought the noodles were not very good and to add insult to injury they are very skimpy with the noodles. These noodles are not dry but a little flexible, like a semi-dried, pre-boiled noodles? They barely had any texture or bite to them after the recommended six minutes. Very MEH as they should be the star. Noodles 5/10
The Sodium content is listed as 870, which is almost 40% of your daily recommended level of salt. We cut that down by only using about 3/4 of the packet. Naturally that will make the broth a little less strong. It was fine for us. All instant ramen tends to have quite a bit of sodium. Always check the labels. This really applies to all the Asian products at TJ’s.
If you decide to actually try this, it may be better if you try adding a poached egg and chopped scallions as they suggest.
$1.89
I had an idea that since the broth was not bad but the noodles are Meh I thought one might combine this with the packet of cheap ramen dried noodles you might have in the house. I used to get them 5/$1 a few years back!
If you want good ramen, Korean Shin Ramen runs rings around this and most instant ramen though it costs more.
Here’s a review of Trader Joe’s Wild Caught Alaskan Sockeye Salmon, which you will find with the fresh fish (Label states “previously frozen” (I believe they process and flash freeze the salmon as soon as it comes off the boats in Alaska.) Boxes of frozen fish arrive at Trader Joe’s; they put it out to slow defrost in the refrigerated case overnight daily (proper slow defrost)
I had asked my wife to pickup some salmon at Trader Joe’s for dinner recently. Instead of the Norwegian Atlantic salmon we usually get and I thought she would buy, she picked up some Wild Caught Alaskan Sockeye fillets. Yes, it cost a bit more. But we really liked the wild salmon and thought it’s worth the occasional splurge for this “upgrade”.
You can pan fry, broil, bake or BBQ it. I decided I would broil it in a Japanese style, with WHITE MISO. It was delicious done this way, which is a great way to make salmon, or any fish, if you never tried it. The miso gives it a lot of “umami”.
Normally as I mentioned, we tend to get Atlantic Salmon, farmed from Norway. Which I honestly think is also very good and of a very high quality. So lets discuss, Wild vs Farmed Salmon taste-wise: Most of us are probably now more familiar with eating Atlantic salmon farmed from Norway or elsewhere, compared to wild caught Sockeye salmon, which is more expensive.
Alaskan Sockeye Salmon is different from Atlantic salmon. First, while the two fish are related species, they are actually different fish. If you compare the two fish visually, the two salmon varieties look shockingly different (see pictures below). Second, is the simple fact that a wild Sockeye hunts food. It swam thousands of miles over its lifespan. Therefore it is more muscular with denser flesh. It has a more robust taste than farmed Atlantic salmon. A Sockeye’s body (and flesh) is DEEP RED with a dense texture. It has less fat. So doesn’t exhibit the white marbling (fat) which Atlantic salmon has. Sockeye is not just leaner, its thinner too. You want to cook wild salmon more carefully as it has no visible fat so is less forgiving about overcooking.
TJ’s wild caught Alaskan Sockeye cost $13.99/lb. That is $4 more per pound than the Norwegian farmed Atlantic Salmon at Trader Joe’s (currently $9.99/lb) However even $14/lb is probably a decent price for wild caught Alaskan Sockeye. I have a feeling say at Whole Foods similar wild Alaskan Sockeye salmon probably costs more like $20lb or more….
Our $16 package of salmon was a little over a pound of fish and was cut into two fillets. This was actually a whole side of one salmon filleted, with one thick piece (the head end, visible in the photo above). Under that was a thinner piece (the tail end) not as attractive of course. The tail piece is thin. Wild salmon is thinner than farmed, and leaner so you need to be more careful cooking it and it will take less time to cook.
RECIPE: BROILED SALMON WITH WHITE MISO: I coated the salmon on both sides, slathering on a coat of Trader Joe’s WHITE MISO PASTE and sprinkled it with fresh black pepper. Do not add salt as the miso has plenty. I let the fish marinate for about an hour at room temp. If you don’t have that much time, give it 20 minutes. To cook it I put both pieces in a cast iron pan skin side down. I dotted the top with a few dots of butter, then broiled the fish on just the top side for about 5 minutes, or just until the flesh flaked apart easily. I didn’t flip this wild salmon over to cook the skin as I would normally do to get the skin crispy. I was worried about overcooking it.
The fish was delicious cooked this way. We ate one piece (1/2 lb) and I saved the other so I managed to get another meal out of the one package. I cooked up both pieces and kept that tail piece of salmon for the next night where I used it for a Japanese style “donburi” rice bowl (a rice bowl topped with shredded salmon meat mixed with some white miso. Put the flaked up salmon on top of warm rice and sprinkle with FURIKAKE flakes. The salmon this way was also delicious and was a good way to use that tail end of the fish.
Personally I love the taste of wild salmon which has a more robust flavor than Norwegian farmed Atlantic salmon (however I do enjoy that as well.)
I’m not someone who will only eat wild fish. If we all did that, there would be no fish left in the oceans. I like both kinds of salmon as each have certain qualities, the main difference being the fat content. The fat marbling seen in the farm raised salmon does keep the salmon nice and moist when cooked, making it easier to cook without overcooking it, If you enjoy salmon, try both kinds to compare them. Some people might even decide they prefer the milder flavor of farmed salmon with it’s richer, fattier flesh (remember in fish, fat is a good thing with its Omega-3’s).
I would buy this again.
Just FYI, Trader Joe’s also has frozen Wild Sockeye Salmon in the freezer section. I think it’s a dollar less per pound…. (you can do a slow defrost yourself, overnight in fridge. )
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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