This is a tasty cream cheese spread with chives and onions. It was quite good spread on a toasted bagel and some crackers. Its pretty good on pretty much anything. I’ve even put some into things, for example it’s great mixing some into mashed potatoes to zing them up (try!). Or you can toss a tablespoon into a vegetable like some cooked French Green Beans. You can add a spoon to sauces or pasta. It’s too thick as a dip but if thin it a bit with some milk or sour cream, or maybe warm it in the microwave to get it looser it could work as a dip. Its $1.99 2.29 (8 oz.) I would buy it again.
INGREDIENTS: All Natural Chicken, Sea Salt, Oregano, Basil, Vinegar Powder, Garlic powder, Onion powder, Rosemary, Black Pepper, Parsley
These meatballs looked interesting enough to me to try out and review. They’re sold fresh in the refrigerated case in a vacuum pack.
They are fully cooked, ready to heat and eat. Made from “all natural, minimally processed chicken, no antibiotics”. These are Gluten Free, simply made from chicken with a few simple seasonings. Vacuum packed, they can easily keep at least a week or more in the fridge unopened. For longer storage just freeze them (to defrost I just leave them in the fridge overnight).
I’ve found with these meatballs to be very convenient for a super fast easy protein to use to come up with an quick easy meal. I find them pretty tasty if just the tiniest bit rubbery (if I compared to my own homemade chicken meatballs). I think they would be even better if they had a little bit of binder (bread crumbs eggs, veggies or the like). If you’ve ever made meatballs you know they will come out softer with a little bit of some kind of “binder” in them. Meatballs generally have bread crumbs, eggs, and milk.
I do suggest you be sure to brown them, as I think a little browning improves them. Therefore I suggest don’t just nuke these, cook and brown them up in a nonstick or seasoned pan with a little butter or oil.
I use the “Stove Top” method mentioned on the package, browning with some butter and/or olive oil. I sometime cut them in half, or quartered or sliced up as that increases the surface area for browning. If you want them whole that’s fine too just turn them to get all sides brown before serving. When they are golden brown, turn off the heat, toss a tablespoon of water or stock, or lemon juice in and cover the pan immediately to let them steam a bit which will soften them. A sprinkle of lemon juice perked them up nicely. Before cooking them I like to sprinkle them with either Smoked Paprika or AJIKA blend which helps browning even more, plus adds nice flavors.
These will be good with some sauce of your choosing… Sriracha Mayo or Garlic Dip mixed with lemon juice… Or even just some ketchup and/or mayo….Magnifique Sauce. Your favorite BBQ sauce. Sweet Chili sauce… Basically any sauce you like will work and improve these.
Here is a one way I’ve served them. Cut into halves, browned up and put on top of a bed of lentils that I had made a few days before. Another way was in a Wrap on a flour tortilla.
Grilled Chicken Meatballs on a bed of lentilsWRAP – Chicken meatballs sliced and grilled, served on flour tortilla with avocado and Magnifique Sauce. I added shredded lettuce then wrapped it up.
These can easily become dinner along with some sides, say rice or potatoes, or pasta and a veggie. I think these might match well with any one of TJ’s simmer sauces(Thai or Indian). You could brown them, add sauce, simmer a few minutes and serve. Maybe toss in some frozen green beans or peas in the sauce as well? Serve on top of rice or noodles or pasta. Or just with pita or Naan? What about making these Italian style? Brown and add your favorite jar of tomato sauce. Toss them with pasta and you have an easy dinner. Or maybe brown them, slice up, and put them into a pita with some lettuce and some sauce? Or just serve them sliced up on top of a salad? So you might find these a handy thing to have in your fridge. TJ’s Chicken Meatballs are $3.99 (12 oz, about 16 meatballs in the package). Figure maybe 4 per person/portion? 4 meatballs have 16 gr of protein with 150 calories!
Now on the other hand with just a little effort you can make your own chicken meatballs! No really, it’s pretty easy. While these are very convenient of course, your own homemade ones will be way better.
RECIPE – HOMEMADE CHICKEN MEATBALLS: Take a package of Trader Joe’s fresh ground chicken ($3.99 $4.49 a pound). Put in a bowl. Mix in one egg, 2 tablespoons milk, 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs or Panko… 1/4 tsp Salt & Pepper (Optional seasonings, even better with some chopped scallions, parsley, garlic, cilantro? Add a tablespoon of AJIJKA spice or Smoked Paprika. Mix ingredients thoroughly. Put in fridge for 1/2 hr to firm up. Form (using wet hands) into small meatballs. Flatten them for patties (more surface area to brown). Put into a nonstick pan with butter and/or olive oil. Sprinkle on Smoked Paprika. Cook 4 minutes per side, turning till browned. Deglaze pan with 1 tbl water, lemon juice, add butter and pour pan sauce over chicken.
(my Homemade grilled Asian style chicken patties with grilled rice)
NEW ITEM: Trader Joe’s “Cleansing and Conditioning Hair Wash” – “Gentle + Moisturizing. Generally Suitable For all hair types. Detergent & Paraben Free. Non-Foaming. Grapefruit Mint Scent. Reduces tangles, buildup, frizz and dryness. Enhances texture and volume. Reveals soft and shiny hair. Get more days between washes. No conditioner needed”
DIRECTIONS: “Wet hair. Coat all hair with hair wash. Massage in vigorously. Will not foam, and feels more like a conditioner. Rinse very thoroughly. No need to use a conditioner”
So this kind of seems that is is neither a shampoo nor is it exactly a conditioner… its something in between the two, they call “hair wash” and is something that you use between shampoos. My wife says she uses it after washing her hair as a conditioner (?) and she gave this a thumbs up (note, she’s tough to please with hair products). Now most conditioners say something like “leave in for three minutes before rinsing” This stuff doesn’t mention anything like how long to leave it in, therefore I assume that means you can rinse it out right away. No waiting!. This is something men like as we are well known to hate having to wait three torturous minutes for our conditioner to work. All kidding aside, this stuff seems to work, it has a pleasant scent, it has some ingredients that sound good, such as evening primrose, castor seed oil, sunflower oil, aloe leaf, soy, wheat and corn proteins, and flower extracts. I would buy it again but this is kind of unusual so its every man (or woman) for themselves on this “hair wash”. The nice thing is Trader Joe’s will give you a refund if you don’t decide you didn’t like it. How many stores do that?!! It’s $4.99 for the 8 oz tube.
“Inside this bag you will find captivatingly crunchy, satisfyingly sweet clusters of rolled oats and pecans, with notes of maple syrup and honey”
If you are a fan of the big clumps you find in granola, you may like this. Trader Joe’s “Just The Clusters” Maple Pecan Granola gives you lots of clumps. I do like these crunchy clusters made even crunchier than other granolas as this has some rice flour added in for extra crunch.
It has pecans in it, a fair amount if not loaded with them. I guess at this price (3.29) they can’t put a ton of them in there but there are quite a few very tasty roasted pieces of pecans, and the maple flavor of this granola is tasty. As per the Nutrition Label, I wish it didn’t have quite the amount of Added Sugars it says but I really don’t eat a whole bowl of this, or even the 2/3 cups they use as the serving size. What I use this for really is as a nice topping to add crunch on top of my breakfast yogurt bowl, usually something like chia seeds, mixed with yogurt and kefir and fruits (banana, apples, berries…) This would equally be great on top of oatmeal or overnight oats for a little crunch. You could even eat some as a snack, in moderate amounts.
$3.99 for a 1 pound bag. No weird ingredients, all pretty natural as you can see….
update: unfortunately at present this is either unavailable or possibly even discontinued (?) As a substitute the Organic Fusilliis also quite good
“Made in small, handmade batches with high quality organic durum wheat semolima. Thick, textured noodles, that cook up perfectly al dente and pair beautifully with pesto”
“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 shaping disks are used to produce thick, textured noodles that deliver a perfectly al dente texture, crucial to support the heftiness of your sauce while maintaining a delicate chew. The Trofie pasta shape originates from Liguria, the northwest coastal region of Italy, famous for pesto. You could say pesto is Trofie’s soul-sauce, a match made in pasta-eating heaven. But limiting Trofie to a single sauce would be a mistake. These short, twisted noodles pair well with a variety of sauces, in both hot and cold applications.”
NEW TRADER JOE’S ITEM – Organic Trofie Pasta: I saw this sign and grabbed a package of this pasta from the display as I’m familiar with “Trofie”, a pasta shape we don’t see very often in the U.S but is popular in Italy. It’s from Liguria. “Trofie”is a shape that is kind of a little twisted noodle so it has a lot of nooks and crannies to hold sauces. Trader Joe’s pasta is a very high quality organic pasta which as can you see in the pictures has a lot of rough cut edges, a clear sign it was made using bronze dies. I really liked this pasta. I used it to make a dish I came up with with spinach, garlic and feta cheese, a kind of Greek / Italian dish which turned out really yummy. This is great stuff, a very high quality pasta for a really good price. The 1 lb. package sells for $1.99. I would buy this again. This is my new favorite pasta! I suggest if you see it, Grab it! If you want to learn about Trofie check out some of these videos on YouTube….
Trader Joe’s CHEDDAR CHEESE with Caramelized Onions – “English Farmhouse cheddar blended with sweet caramelized onions creates a nice sweet & savory balance”
This one is another excellent cheese offering at Trader Joe’s. It’s an imported farmhouse cheddar from Dorset, England that in a CUSTOMER CHOICE AWARDS won #1 in the Cheese category. Yes, that good.
Trader Joe’s says… “It’s crafted for us on an established estate, idyllically situated between the rolling Dorset Downs and the Jurassic Coast—an international world heritage site, lush with pastures. With more than 40 years of traditional cheese making experience, a famed farm on this estate transforms rich, creamy milk from local grazing herds (within a 30 mile radius) into beautiful, full-bodied farmhouse Cheddar.”
Some cheeses are overpowered by added flavors however there are some very good cheeses with flavors that are delicious. This is one. FYI, you won’t see actual pieces of onion in the cheese; they seem to have been melted / blended in, which gives it a brown tinge. The flavors of caramelized onions match perfectly with the cheddar. You know like a Ploughman’s Lunch.
It’s delicious sliced thinly just on its own., and it was delicious too tasted with fruit (apples, grapes, pear). I just love this with a slice of my favorite apples from TJ’s (ENVY). I also loved this cheese on a cracker with a bit of the Apricot Jam (you should try this!)
What about MELTED?! Any good? Yes, yes, yes! Fantasticmelted… it made a really good melted cheese sandwich and was equally good for quesadillas. An “Ultimate melted cheese sandwich” might be mixing this cheese with the superb UNEXPECTED CHEDDAR on rye bread with a little Dijon mustard. This cheese sells for $10 a pound, which is not bad for an imported premium cheddar like this. I would gladly buy this again. I think this would be great on a cheeseboard. This is a terrific cheese, and worth trying.
(NOTE: Since when I originally wrote this, Trader Joe’s came out with another flavor called, “SPICY GARLIC AND SESAME SAUCE” (black package). I recommend that version (black)over this one (red) as the sauce in that version is much better than this one! (But the cooking ideas in this post apply to both)
Trader Joe’s Squiggly Knife Cut Style Noodles with Soy and Sesame Sauce
One could easily call me a noodle loving foodie, as I will go for most any Asian noodle dish you put in front of me.
So when I first saw these Trader Joe’s Noodles they looked very promising. Not to mention they say “Made in Taiwan”. Asian wheat noodles like these with ruffled edges are quite typical and prized as the ruffle edges hold onto a sauce. I often see these type of noodle for sale, dried in a Chinese/Asian supermarket. So nice to see them at Trader Joe’s as for most of us that is way more convenient.
Soon after Trader Joe’s came out with these noodles I learned they really blew up on social media like Tiktok and Instagram. They became such a big thing that trying to find them at Trader Joe’s became next to impossible (at that time). These were selling so fast, shelves were emptied almost as soon as they were filled*. Things got so nuts, that “food scalpers” were even actually RESELLING THEM for profit* for way more than they cost! Argh!!%#@$
(Update-2, Aug 2023) Things seem to have calmed down with these noodles, and I’m able to find them on on the shelves.
(2025 ; this MIA issue doesn’t seem to exist anymore, they are way easier to find now, almost always on the shelves)
So my first big question was : Why are they so popular? Are these really that good? I had a feeling one simple reason was simply the price.
For $4.99 for a package of 4 (or $1.25 each) I was pretty sure people basically were viewing these as “dollar ramen”. And I mean the cheap kind, $1 ramen (or 2 for $1) and NOT quality Korean or Japanese ramen packages that cost $4-5 each.
I grant you these “squiggly noodles” look better than cheap $1 ramen. Though, if you only cook them as them as directed, meaning just eat these noodles and the (frankly crappy) “soy and sesame sauce” these come with, my answer to the question, “are they that good” is qualified on how you make them. Make these exactly As Is (noodles plus sauce packet)? Like that, these are at best, Mediocre. Make them as directed on the package and I give these maybe a 4/10.
HOWEVER I think these noodles have POTENTIAL , if you bother to fix them up! Make a little effort to fix them up a bit and you can come up with a tasty noodle dish.
(I found their “Soy and Sesame” sauce pretty crappy)
So my suggestion is do not even bother with the included (crappy) sauce packet. Its not good. “Soy and sesame” sauce? Ha! Just check the ingredients which reads as mostly chemicals. I say don’t use that cheap crappy “sauce”. ADD YOUR OWN SAUCE. Yes you heard me. To fix these up use the noodles plus your noodle! (again, the black package has a much better sauce!)
Consider the noodles a blank canvas that you will fix up. With a little effort you can turn these noodles into a decent tasting noodle dish. Basically you will make some sauce, and likely add some of your own things.
Then they go up to perhaps 7/10.
The package says: “Cook the Noodles in boiling water for four minutes, drain, then toss in the Sauce and prepare to be pleased.”
I did that and was not very pleased at all. Very mediocre. If you do it bare bones, simply cook these and mix with their packet of crappy “soy/sesame” sauce (again — the other “spicy garlic” version in the black package actually has a sauce that is way better which comes as two sauce packs).
Cooking (as per the package’s instructions):
The very first time I made these, I did it exactly as it says on the package: “Bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add noodles. Cook 4 minutes. Drain and add sauce packet”. Result? A big Meh. So mediocre as the sauce packet that comes with this version kind of sucks. If you only cook noodles and mix in the packet you will end up with an extremelymediocre noodle dish.
Now while these aren’t superb noodles, the noodles are decent enough. They have potential. The ruffled edges are actually great at holding sauce. So you need some kind of good sauce with these.
So my first advice about TJ’s Squiggly Noodles (Soy/Sesame) is simple. Come up with your own sauce. Add other things. Do this and these noodles can become a dish you will really enjoy. It won’t take much effort. Really!
So the second time I made these noodles I took a different take. First, I knew I would add my own sauce, and not use that packet it comes with. I also thought I would use these noodles to make a Stir Fry dish. So here’s what I did.
First I cooked (or more like par-boiled) the noodles. I reduced the time from 4 minutes to 2 minutes. I am par-boiling them as they will be cooked more stir frying them then adding some sauce.
Cook 2 minutes, drain them, and run under cold water. Put drained noodles in a bowl temporarily. Mix in 1 tsp of oil, stirring to coat (this helps noodles from sticking together).
In a wok I sautéed chopped garlic, ginger, green onions and a few veggies I had in the fridge for a minute in a tablespoon of oil. I pushed those things up the side of my wok and poured in a little more oil I made a scrambled egg in the center of the wok. When the egg was about 75% cooked I tossed in the par-boiled noodles, and stir fried everything together for about a minute or two. Now I added my sauce* mixture and stirred everything gently to coat the noodles. I gave them 30-60 seconds like that to come together and let the sauce reduce a bit.
I plated the noodle dish, tossing on some chopped scallions, cilantro, sliced cucumber. Drizzled on a bit of Toasted Sesame Oil. Wow, this noodle dish was so much better it wasn’t funny. These noodles now tasted good! Here’s the dish (and yes I know I should have cut the cucumbers way thinner!)
So most important is make or add your ownsauce. Add a few things. Here’s some basic ideas….
(Quick basic Chinese saucerecipe: In a small bowl add 2 cloves garlic, crushed. Add 1 tbl soy sauce, 1/2 inch fresh grated ginger. 1 tsp brown sugar. Add 3 tbl of water and mix well.
OK, that’s a start. If you want more flavor consider adding : 1/2 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp black vinegar (sub: rice vinegar), toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp Gochugang. ) A heaping tbl of crunchy peanut butter can work great in a sauce with these noodles. If you use that, mix it with 2 tbs water to thin it out.
Oh come on, is that too much work for you? Ok, then just use a prepared Asian sauce for example TJ’s SOYAKI sauce plus Chili Onion Crunch. Maybe TJ’s GOCHUJANG sauce mixed with 2 tbls water, 2 cloves of crushed garlic and some Soy sauce. Maybe TJ roasted sesame oil.
Still too much work? Fine, add some soy sauce, butter and black pepper.
Almost anything will be better than the poor “soy and sesame” sauce this comes with. If you insist on using the included packet, use no more than half of it, then add a little a bit of low sodium soy sauce and a clove of crushed garlic, and peanut butter thinned out with some water. Toss on Chili Crunch.
Of course you can add veggies. Proteins. Just look in the fridge or freezer and see what you have that you could add. With just a bit of effort will figure out what you like on these noodles.
(AGAIN, noodles in the the red package has a pretty bad sauce, but sauce packs that come with the black package is pretty OK! I would only buy the black package of noodles)
TJ’s “SQUIGGLY NOODLES” $4.99 (4 noodle packs). “Product of Taiwan”
I would suggest try them at least once as a stir fried dish, as I detailed above. You could come up with a great sauce topping the way Aaron of “Aaron and Claire” makes this (Check out Aaron’s Chili Garlic Noodles recipe from YouTube). With ground pork or ground beef you can make a fantastic noodle dish. Even if you just add a runny fried egg, soft scrambled eggs or a 6 minute soft boiled egg on top, that can make these better. Chopped scallions and Cilantro if you like it. A really nice topping could be my hack for easy CharSiu made with TJ’s Carnitas Pork. Proteins? Sliced Baked tofu. Sliced chicken. I usually look through my fridge and whatever leftovers I find that could work go into my dish. TERIYAKI CHICKEN MEATBALLS!? For sho’
Watch Aaron, of “Aaron and Claire” doing a Garlic Chili Noodle dish (video). One could definitely try this with these noodles which look like noodles he is using. I’ve watched so many of Aaron’s cooking videos, and I know this has really upped my cooking game for making Korean & Asian dishes especially using noodles. So check him out too if you want to up your noodle game.
920 mg SODIUM (Note: That is nearly 1/2 the recommended amount a person should eat in a day. As some packaged Asian foods have very high Sodium levels be sure to check the label when shopping for them).
Check and you will see way, way too many chemical names listed, at least for my tastes.
Here’s another new Korean/Asian item from Trader Joe’s. These rice cakes are flat oval disks made from sticky rice, so are very chewy and soft. These kind of rice cakes are a typical ingredient in many Asian cuisines, Chinese, Korean others. In Chinese cooking these rice cakes are known as “nian gao”. If you fry them, they get a little crispy, which is how I like them best and the way I would suggest you try to make them. The bag has just rice cakes (no sauce) so you will add your own stuff. You can use these to make a stir fried dish with vegetables and a protein. There is a basic stir fry recipe on the bag (“Stir Fried Rice Cakes with Vegetables” which you could expand upon with adding a protein (say chicken, shrimp, pork or baked tofu.) Tip: of course do add garlic which this recipe omits (?!) You could come up with a Korean stir fry variation by adding some Kimchi or Gochujang and pork or chicken. The other thing you can do with these is add them to a soup (like a Wonton and Chicken Soup) in which case, no need to fry them up. The rice cakes are $3.29 (16 oz). They’re are in the Asian frozen area. These are a “Product of Korea”. While not quite as good as ones I buy in say at H-Mart in a pinch these will do and easy to buy. VEGAN, GLUTEN FREE
I make GINGER TEA (just boil ginger in water) and really like that. This tastes pretty much exactly like that. So while cheaper to make it yourself of course, my wife really liked this Ginger Drink Mix both for the convenience and taste, so she’s buying this regularly now. It’s $2.99 (7 packets). Dissolve with 12 oz water hot or cold. Product Of Thailand.
Want to make it yourself for way less ? Here’s my ginger tea “recipe”. Take about 1″ or so of fresh ginger. Slice it up and put in a pot with about 2 cups of water. Boil for 10 minutes or so. Add sugar if desired. Enjoy!
Traeder Joe’s has these cans of SMOKED PAPRIKA, which is Spanish Pimenton. Smoky, mildly sweet and flavorful. This lovely paprika is really nice in so many things and matches well with chicken, fish, shrimp and especially well with pork. I frequently make Pork Tenderloin Filets, cut into thickish slices (tournedos) coated very liberally with a lot of smoked paprika, crushed garlic and salt and pepper, for a super easy dish which takes about 5 minutes. Just sauté the “tournedos” in a good amount of Olive Oil till golden brown but still pretty rare on the inside. Remove and add a little stock, wine or even water to deglaze the pan to make a pan sauce with a few knobs of butter. Easy, fast and delicious. TJ’s SMOKED PAPRIKA is $2.49 a tin.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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