Trader Joe’s “GOAT’S MILK CREAMY CHEESE”

09 Nov 2025 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, bread, cheese, condiments, DIY, French, fresh, General, Meh, New, News, Prices, Products, Rant, recipe, Recipes, review, Trader Joes, update, vegetarian Tags: , , , , , , , ,


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.

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/chevre-goat-cheese-019751

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.

Trader Joe’s (controversial) Italian Pistachio & Fior di Latte Gelato Style Frozen Dessert

01 Jul 2025 1 Comment

by promacnyc in Blog, frozen, ice cream, Rant, review, Trader Joes Tags: , , , , ,


WIKIPEDIA : “Gelato is made from a base of milk, sugar, and sometimes cream and/or egg yolks, similar to ice cream, but with a higher proportion of milk and a lower proportion of cream.“

Trader Joe’s “Italian Pistachio & Fior di Latte Gelato Style Frozen Dessert”, I say the whole thing needs to be in quotation marks, including the word “Italian”

My wife loves pistachio ice cream and saw this and got some for us to try. How is it? Well, to me, this product is a weird one. First off, if you love pistachio, you know its is one of the trickiest flavors to get right. Basically because pistachios are expensive. The pistachio flavor of this “frozen dessert” barely tastes like pistachio. It doesn’t have much pistachio. In fact the word appears way down in the ingredient list.

Yet I find some people on the net raving about this stuff. How they almost ate the whole container at one go. Really? I assume they’ve never had real pistachio ice cream or gelato. Another thing calls this a “chemical box”.

Doesn’t this even look a little weird to you?

Looking closely at the package I start to think about why exactly are they calling this “gelato–style frozen dessert“? Clearly it must be that this is not gelato. I assume they can’t legally say “gelato”, due to ingredients, so them must call it “gelato-style” even further emphasized by the addition of the words “frozen dessert“. When you can’t call your product gelato or ice cream, its a “frozen dessert”. Due to the ingredient list? You know the way American cheese is “cheese product” rather than “cheese”.

I look at the package and examine all the ingredients. Do you see that ingredient listed third? It says “Coconut Oil“? Listed as the third ingredient, the first being “water”. Really? Not milk. Some “whey solids” from something that started as milk somewhere.

Ingredients: (Fior di latte flavor): Water, sugar, coconut oil, glucose syrup, non fat dry milk, dextrose, whey solids, mono and diglycerides of fatty acids, spirulina extract….
The pistachio flavor ingredients are almost the same: water, sugar, coconut oil, glucose, etc. And then somewhat down the list it finally says, pistachio.

Anyway if you buy this seeing “gelato” on the package without really reading closely just realize you will be getting “Gelato-Style Frozen Dessert” as opposed to “gelato”.

Product of Italy? Mamma Mia. Trust me, Gelato loving Italians would never eat this “gelato style frozen dessert”. It’s made solely to export to us (dumb) Americans.

I won’t be buying this again. In fact, I came back and asked for a refund (rare)

That five bucks I will use to buy some really good Trader Joe’s ice cream like Mint Chip or Coffee Blast.

Trader Joe’s info on this: https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/italian-pistachio-fior-di-latte-gelato-style-frozen-dessert-080323

Trader Joe’s Italian Pistachio & Fior di Latte Gelato Style Frozen Dessert $4.99

I have found some people praising online this! Me, I would not buy this again.

To each, his own.

Aha – I saw this after I reviewed this calling this product a chemical box: “Trader Joe’s Is Being Slammed By Shoppers for Their New $5 Dessert: It’s a ‘CHEMICAL BOX’

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/trader-joe-being-slammed-shoppers-221500103.html

Trader Joe’s SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE Fruit Spread

11 Apr 2025 6 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, General, jar, New, News, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rant, Rave, recipe, Recipes, review, snacks, spices, Staple, sweets, tea, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


NEW ITEM

This new Trader Joe’s item is kind of good news if you are a ORANGE MARMALADE fan. Again, “kind of”

Trader Joe’s used to sell a really good marmalade. Their SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE was terrific. Outstanding. A proper marmalade made with Seville Oranges. It was one of the best orange marmalades I ever had. I loved it. Unfortunately Trader Joe’s famously discontinued it (back in 2019). Argh!!.

My review of that marmalade plus the fact that they had discontinued an outstanding product, happens to be one of the most Commented posts on this entire site. One of the biggest RANTS here. Everyone who loved it and used to buy it was pissed as hell that they discontinued it. People were shocked, aghast, angry and dismayed that an excellent product got the ax, and wrote in the Comments here to voice that anger. Over 80 people took the time and effort to Comment and complain.

Well guess what? About 5 years after they discontinued it, Trader Joe’s has just come out with this NEW ITEM. Trader Joe’s Seville Orange Marmalade Fruit Spread (ok, its “marmalade fruit spread”) Frankly I was pretty surprised to see it . I had to try it and review it. While not exactly the same, it is orange marmalade and I do find it very tasty. But! Its a “fruit spread” (meaning not as thick and tight)

The new marmalade fruit spread is a product of Belgium. That older (true) marmalade was from Canada.

So how is it? Its a bit of a mixed bag. It is orange marmalade made from Seville oranges and actually tasty. Is it as good as the old one? There are some obvious differences, the first being the added words “fruit spread”.

A) VISCOSITY: This is looser than that original marmalade. A “fruit spread” is not as tight / thick as jam or marmalade. This contains apple juice concentrate for one thing. It is much less viscous (thick) Runnier than a true marmalade.

B) SIZE. The original Seville Orange marmalade came in a big jar of about 17 ounces. This jar is just 7.5 ounces. Less than half the size of that old marmalade. Yet it costs about the same. So twice the price of the old one, and as less thick so will you use a bit more?

The ingredients on the old one (pictured below with a yellow green label) were: SUGAR, SEVILLE ORANGE PEEL, SEVILLE ORANGE JUICE. Plus pectin , the natural gelling agent in fruit.

(this is the label on the old jar of marmalade from 2019)
(label of the new version, marmalade fruit spread)

This version lists sugar and Seville oranges but also apple juice from concentrate as the ingredient after Seville oranges. Which is why I assume this is described as ORANGE MARMALADE FRUIT SPREAD and not simply “Marmalade”. Now Trader Joe’s says something about this, and even puts a positive spin on it….

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/seville-orange-marmalade-fruit-spread-079516

“A great marmalade is a bit of a balancing act. First, you’ve got to balance the sweetness of the fruit juice and sugar involved with the tartness of the citrus and bitterness of the orange rind. Then, you’ve got to find just the right balance of fruit and rind within the physical makeup of the marmalade—too much fruit, and it’s more like a jelly, too much rind, and it’s an overly-chewy mess. Luckily, when we decided to bring in a seasonal Seville Orange Marmalade Fruit Spread to our shelves, we had some real experts in our corner. Made by the same supplier in Belgium who previously demonstrated their mastery of balance with our Apricot Cardamom and Green Tea Yuzu spreads, this sweet, citric, and properly proportioned Marmalade is a triumph of harmonious flavors and textures on the palate.” – Trader Joe’s

So while I I like the taste of TJ’s new “orange marmalade fruit spread” of course as a fruit spread it’s not as thick as it would be called just “orange marmalade”. I’m glad I can buy something akin to orange marmalade at Trader Joe’s again, period. But. Its a tiny jar. My jar went fast. Again, so a bit of a mixed bag.

Cost: This small 7.5 oz jar will go much faster than the 17 oz one of course especially as its not as thick and concentrated. The new marmalade costs more than double what the old one cost. Granted it was 2019 but the old bigger jar went for $3.50.

Some people might actually like this “marmalade fruit spread” who may not like the (thicker) more intense versions of marmalade they might have tried in the past. There is a whole “thick cut” versus “thin cut” camp. I suspect TJ’s is trying to please more people with this version? If you are a marmalade lover, at least this is worth trying, even if not “ideal” for the true English marmalade lover.

Spread this new Marmalade fruit spread on an English Muffin or an English Crumpet with butter for breakfast.

Besides muffins or toast, try this on top of cottage cheese as Trader Joe’s suggests. I tried it and thats a nice match.

Trader Joe’s SEVILLE ORANGE MARMALADE FRUIT SPREAD $2.99 (7.5 oz)

So I give this a mixed thumbs up.

Let us know what you think in the Comments!

PS – Over the years I used to make my own orange Marmalade I gave to friends for an Xmas gift. Want to try your hand it it? Here’s a recipe

https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/easy-orange-marmalade/

Trader Joe’s CHEESY BAGELS. Review, Expectation vs Reality

17 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in baked, bread, fresh, General, Meh, New, News, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rant, review, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update Tags: , , , ,


“Trader Joe’s Cheesy Bagels are hearth-baked Bagels with a plain bagel base, delightfully doughy on the inside. On the outside, they boast a cheesy, chewy crust that comes from shredded Asiago cheese that’s been pre-melted on top.” — Trader Joe’s

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/cheesy-bagels-079365

When I saw these in the NEW ITEMS section a few weeks ago I was intrigued and thought this sounded like something worth trying. Just picking up the bag and smelling them, well it has a wonderfully appealing smell, from baked Asiago cheese! Since they smelled so good, I thought I would check them out. When I told my neighbor (another big Trader Joe’s fan) she said she wanted to try them too, and as she got back to Trader Joe’s before I did, she bought them for us both to try.

Well, guess what. We were both dissapointed in these, and not half as as good as we were expecting. We both thought, “just OK”. Yes, the cheesy part, the Asiago on top that is baked in, that is good, however it is called a “cheesy bagel” so the bagel itself has to be good. It’s not. Trader Joe’s says “delightfully doughy inside”. It is doughy. Just soft and doughy, bready. It did not delight this bagel maven. These have none of the chewy texture which defines a real bagel. You can tell this so called “bagel” is only baked and not boiled and baked, which is what makes a real bagel. Just to compare, these are nothing at all like Trader Joe’s ARTISAN BAGELS, which are boiled and baked and to which I gave a big thumbs up. Those are good, real authentic bagels with a chewy crust and soft chewy interior. And once again this is coming from a picky New Yorker who knows from bagels!

These just taste to me like the kind of “bagels” seen in supermarkets in maybe Iowa, where they have no idea about bagels. Now I think one could come up with something akin to a good “cheesy bagel”. Take one of Trader Joe’s good Artisan Plain Bagels, cut it open and toss on some grated Asiago Cheese. Toast this up till the cheese is melted all bubbly, and you may come up with a good tasty “Cheesy Bagel”. It will be far far better than this disappointing so called bagel.

Two of us reviewing them said the same thing: “Would not buy these again”

Trader Joe’s “Cheesy Bagels” – $3.49 (4 bagels) 2/10

TJ’s Artisan Bagels are $1.99 for three (good) perfectly chewy bagels. I kind of suggest you just buy those and toast them up with your favorite cheese.

(image: Trader Joe’s)

Trader Joe’s (“Low Fat”) ORGANIC TOMATO BASIL MARINARA

15 Oct 2024 1 Comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, Italian, New, News, organic, Pantry, Products, Rant, review, Trader Joes Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,


Trader “Giotto’s” ORGANIC TOMATO BASIL MARINARA

“Low Fat” huh? Well they certainly left out adding any olive oil to this sauce, even though any Marinara sauce recipe calls for olive oil. Which may be just among many reasons two different tasters found this to sauce to be way less than good. My neighbor bought this, was very disappointed, and gave me the rest of the jar to get a second opinion on it. I didn’t like it either. Apparently we are not alone in not liking this. Sporked had this pasta sauce ranked at the bottom of a review of 16 Trader Joe’s sauces:

“If you want the best marinara sauce, this ain’t it. It’s flat and watery and the herbs taste like the old dried stuff you find when you’re moving.” (-Sporked) Hah! They gave this 2 1/2 out of 10. I concur.

Organic does not always mean good.

This also costs quite a bit more, almost twice the price of one of Trader Joe’s best pasta sauces, the well regarded ROASTED GARLIC MARINARA ($1.99). That’s the one you should buy. Simple and good.

I would not buy this again.

$3.49

Trader Joe’s DARK CHOCOLATE COVERED MARSHALLOWS have an ingredient you probably weren’t expecting!

14 Aug 2024 3 Comments

by promacnyc in French, fresh, General, News, Pantry, Products, Rant, review, snacks, sweets, Trader Joes Tags: , ,


Oh those French! They have such wonderful charcuterie and other pork products. However I wasn’t expecting to see it listed in these sweets which are a PRODUCT OF FRANCE.

A friend gave us these pretty tasty chocolate marshmallows to test out. They are pretty good if a bit sweet for my tastes. However as we were looking at the ingredients listed, we were all a bit surprised when when one of us noticed something we weren’t expecting.

She said “hey did you know this has pork in it?” I wasn’t expecting that! We looked at the label yes its got “pork” (“pork gelatin”). Now gelatin is in lots of food products (as gelatin or collogen) and I believed it was usually made from (cow) bones. However it can be made from other products too.

Just so you know.

Anyway just so you know!

So this could make this problem a bit of a no-no for some people, like Kosher Jews or Muslims. Sure Kosher products are clearly marked “K” for Kosher but but not Halal items have no markings to my knowledge. And there are many people who avoid pork for other reasons…

Just saying, always read the label carefully

Trader Joe’s Pizza Sauce vs. Marinara: A Comparison

15 Jul 2024 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in bread, cheese, condiments, fresh, General, Italian, Meh, Products, Rant, recipe, Recipes, review, spices, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, vegetarian Tags: , , , , ,


RANT

Trader Joe’s sells some fresh “PIZZA SAUCE” carried in the refrigerated case, near the pizza dough. The sauce goes for $2.69 for 10 oz. I decided to give it a try.

The other night we planned on making a fresh pizza from scratch (I made my own dough using the famous Jim Lahey recipe). When I was ready to assemble the pizza for cooking I used this sauce.

Now my Go-To typically for tomato sauce for making pizza might just be to use TJ’s very decent jarred Marinara. Either the Plain version or the Roasted Garlic version. I like them both.

So here’s my honest review of this fresh sauce. “Just OK”. I would find it hard to recommend. I just tasted it on a spoon. I could swear it gave me a bit of a bitter aftertaste. Possibly from so many dried herbs? It is thick with a lot of ingredients. Too complicated?

I gave it a chance and used it to make the pizza. The pizza turned out OK and yes the sauce was a bit better now cooked but again “just ok” so would stick to my Go-To (and cheaper) jar of TJ’s Marinara – or whatever sauce you like at TJ’s).

So instead of this I suggest using TJ’s regular or ROASTED GARLIC MARINARA if you are making your own pizza from scratch – using either Trader Joe’s pizza dough or your own dough or whatever – and add your mozzarella or favorite cheese(s). Or their prepared Pizza Base.

To top my (marinara) sauce for our pizza I will add a pinch of dried herbs like oregano, maybe some crushed red pepper. Usually I will add fresh garlic. Later I will add fresh basil, cut with a scissors. Then give it all a drizzle of EVOO.

This will be way better than this prepared “pizza sauce” and the Marinara is cheaper to boot. You will plenty left over too to use in another dish, or freeze for later.

I would not buy this again.

Speaking of fresh basil – Here is the legendary late, great Dom DeMarco cutting on some basil with scissors. The Master at work and whose pizza’s I was lucky enough to get to enjoy many times, sometimes waiting a hour or more…. RIP Maestro Dom.

Trader Joe’s Sticker Shock! Popular product gets first price increase in 20 years!

26 Mar 2024 2 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, Changed, fresh, General, New, News, organic, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rant, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,


(posted late march 2024)

Well it took 20 years but Trader Joe’s decided to finally raise the price of one of it’s most popular products, and the internet became abuzz with this new.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2024/03/26/trader-joes-bananas-price/73102762007

Trader Joe’s raised the price for BANANAS. They raised the price 20%. For the last 20 years Trader Joe’s has sold bananas individually at 19 cents each.

They’ve stayed 19 cents for 20 years!

However Trader Joe’s decided to raise the price of bananas from 19 cents to 23 cents (regular bananas) with Organic bananas, which were 25 cents for the same amount of time, now costing 29 cents each. Yes, this price increase looks small but this does work out to about a 20 per cent price hike. Inflation is supposedly down to 3 or 4%. So its a noticeable jump as most people who buy say 5 bananas at a time will be at least 20 cents more for them.

One more sign of inflation. As if we needed another one, right?

One Trader Joe’s spokesman said due to inflation they have finally had to raise the prices due to cost increases. Street vendors in New York City sell them usually 4 for $1 (25 cents each) Trader Joe’s used to undersell the guys on the street but now they are about the same price. I may buy them from them now, we’ll see.

Trader Joe’s Online Discontinued Product Feedback Form

03 Mar 2024 5 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, Blog, Changed, Discontinued, News, Products, Rant, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update Tags: , , , ,


Not happy about a discontinued product? We’ve all been there.

HOW TO CONTACT TRADER JOE’S TO COMPLAIN ABOUT A DISCONTINUED PRODUCT

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/contact-us/discontinued-products

I discovered this link on Trader Joe’s website and just want to share it to make sure every one knows about how to contact them and voice your opinion.

Surprisingly Trader Joe’s does have a way that you can complain when they dropped a favorite item of yours.

Now of course who knows if it will have any effect? But if they get enough complaints and feedback about some product they got rid of, perhaps they might even reconsider. It may be worth a try, you have nothing to lose and at the very least you get to have your say.

As they say, one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar, so probably best to be a bit polite.

Trader Joe’s “Cinnamon Bun Inspired Joe-Joe’s”

09 Feb 2024 1 Comment

by promacnyc in General, New, News, Products, Rant Tags: , , ,


https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/cinnamon-bun-inspired-joe-joes-sandwich-creme-cookies-075230

They were giving out samples of these yesterday so I took one to taste. Didn’t like it at all. For me the cookie was crazy sweet, just overpoweringly sweet. I have no idea what “Cinnamon Bun Inspired” even is supposed to mean. I barely tasted cinnamon flavor, just an overpowering amount of sugar.

Now the TJ’s Regular Joe Joes are not bad; they are an Oreos copy. This one though, I thought whoever dreamed up this “Cinnamon Bun Inspired” variation had a terrible idea that failed in execution. On the plus side this says its a “limited edition”. I expect it to fade away and make room for another decent product.

I do love cinnamon and TJ’s I just love TJ’s Old Fashioned Cinnamon Grahams, which are a are wonderful cookie with a ton of great cinnamon flavor, so if you want a great cookie with cinnamon taste get some of those. They are absolute Classics and a great product.

The next day my TJ’s was giving out samples of another cookie. Heart Shaped Raspberry Shortbread Cookies. I thought those were very yummy!

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