You may have heard about how good this $5 cake Trader Joe’s is. It’s terrific. This cake quickly became a famous Trader Joe’s dessert and I have to agree with how good it is.
TJ’s Chocolate Ganache mini sheet cake is really delicious. I am a big chocolate fan and this hits the (chocolate) spot right on the nose and satisfies it. The cake is moist and the frosting is perfect with a rich dark chocolate flavor. I am actually not a big fan of butter cream frosting, which I find too rich and heavy, however this cake has a cream cheese frosting instead of butter frosting and which is perfect. I love it, it’s so good. The only problem I have with the cake is how hard it is to stop eating it.
There is also a vanilla version of the sheet cake, called Chantilly Creme, also with a cream cheese frosting. I’d seen online many people say its also wonderful as well. I still haven’t tried that one yet but both are no doubt worth trying.
I saw this in NEW ITEMS about a month ago and grabbed one to try. This sauce is made by Red Boat, a company that makes a famous top Asian fish sauce. Trader Joe’s sells tha. Its a well known top brand fish sauce. Something I always like to have in the pantry. Its Pure Umami.
Red Boat says: “In Vietnamese, kho means to braise and this dish is on regular rotation in all Vietnamese households but is rarely served in restaurants. Our Pham-ily created this sauce so you can enjoy this delicious meal, just like in our mom’s kitchen, in less than 30 minutes.”
We know Trader Joe’s likes what they call “simmer sauces”. They have at least two versions of Thai ones and an Indian sauce too. You can use these and just add a protein and veggies, pour in a bottle of your simmer sauce, let it simmer for about 20 minutes and voila you can have a very easy and tasty dish. This sauce made a delicious meal for us.
I used this sauce to make a braised dish with chicken and lots of vegetables. What I did was I sauté chicken (skin on, bone in thighs), tofu, carrots, onions, mushrooms, garlic and ginger for 10 minutes. Then I poured in the sauce and let it simmer. Though they say “simmer for 30 minutes”, I wanted the chicken to be falling off the bone so I let it simmer for more like 45-60 mins.
The resulting dish was excellent, redolent of fish sauce (nam pla) of course but it had many other flavors with lots of Umami. It had a bit of sweetness as well as a bit of heat. We thought the dish was so good, that we just scarfed it up! I used a lot of vegetables and bone in chicken so of course it had all the flavor from those as well, however you could easily make a less complicated easier dish with this sauce using boneless chicken, TJ’s Carnitas Pork, shrimp or fish or even tofu and mushrooms for that matter and come out with a lovely dish, full of Asian flavors. My intentions was to make enough for at least two meals so I used the whole jar plus 1/2 a jar of water as I wanted a huge amount of sauce for all the meat and veggies I used, and I got that which we enjoyed with rice.
Ingredients: Water, Fish Sauce, Organic Coconut Sugar, Canola Oil, Ginger, Shallot, Corn Starch, Green Onions, Citric Acid, Black Pepper, Sunflower Lecithin, Crushed Red Pepper, Yeast Extract.
I’m not sure if this was a one off trial run for Trader Joe’s or something they will keep in stock. If you do see this sauce it is worth getting if you want to make a great Vietnamese home style dish easily. In a pinch one could make the sauce using Red Boat fish sauce, coconut sugar and other ingredients (shallots, garlic…)
TJ’s had the sauce for $4.99 which is even cheaper than on the Red Boat website.
ALL NATURAL. No additives. One ingredient only. Peanuts.
If you asked me for one item I buy religiously at Trader Joe’s I would absolutely answer “Peanut Butter!”
It may not be revelatory news but TJ’s does have good peanut butter at very good prices. I probably get a jar every other week.
Big brands like SKIPPY or JIF, have regular peanut butter which have extra ingredients such as sugar or some sweetener plus hydrogenated oils, those added to keep it from separating. But “Natural” peanut butters on the other hand contain just peanuts. Of the assorted varieties TJ’s carries my favorite is this one: The “Crunchy/Salted” which has a blue label. (Side note: Smooth being for kids and crunchy for grownups? I consider the day I graduating kid-dom was when I decided to go Crunchy! To me, Crunchy has more peanut-y flavor from the peanut-y bits).
Any All Natural peanut butter tends to separate at room temp, meaning you will see a little oil at the top when you buy it but this is No big deal. Just stir it.
TIP: Put the jar in fridge for 10 minutes. After you open it, take a butter knife and get it to the bottom of the jar, then stir slowly 10 or 15 seconds until blended. Keep it in the fridge, it will stay blended (PB does actually say “refrigerate after opening”).
Though the price has gone up (from $1.99 to 2.29 and at present, $2.49). Still pretty decent compared to other stores/brands as their prices having gone up more.
I prefer this All Natural version however Trader Joe’s does sell a “No Stir” PB too. TJ’s regular Natural Peanut Butter is $2.49 (1 lb). It comes in a number of variety combinations, Smooth, Crunchy, Salted or Unsalted. They also sell an Organic version of Peanut Butter ($4.49)
Peanut butter has many uses. It’s terrific as an ingredient especially in Asian dishes; Try a Satay Style Peanut Sauce on some grilled chicken for example; The recipe follows
This was in NEW ITEMS. Verdict? It’s handy, handy, handy to have in the kitchen. Made of cotton and cellulose. They’re like a thin sponge. Absorbent. Reusable. “Ideal replacements for paper towels ” = Eco. We’ve used them for washing dishes, cleaning countertops, wiping cabinets. Large at about 8 inches square but just leave them like that as you can easily fold it up in half or quarters. They seem durable. They come five in a package ($4.99 so figure about a buck apiece, not too bad. Hopefully one will last at least a month or so? We’ll see. I even found another use that these are perfect for: namely using it to open a jar (one on the top and for really tricky jar, another on the bottom.
“Wife Approved” (she gave these a thumbs up. These are good and I would buy again along with TJ’s Amazing Cleaning Cloths which sell for $2.99. Those are also super handy, and when they wear out I used them for rags, floor cleaners, etc.
Trader Joe’s has a few different varieties of jarred pestos, sold near the pasta sauces. The first jarred pesto I had tried was the standard classic, basil pesto, Pesto Genovese, which I found decent. They later came out with a red version of that they called “pesto rosso” which was just OK for me however I see it’s popular and sometimes even sold out, so people seem to like it. Here’s another one based on olives.
If you are a fan of olives as I am, you may like this latest addition to the pesto’s they have. This new addition is called “Olive and Basil Pesto Sauce” with olives as the first ingredient. You get more “olive” than “basil” flavor so basically I say think of this as an olive tapenade with a hint of basil. Its a chunky paste of chopped olives plus other ingredients and its just chock full of umami. I tasted it on a spoon right out of the jar and thought this is like a tapenade and liked it.
I tried this olive pesto first just mixing it into cooked spaghetti and thought that yes, just mixing this with pasta will make a decent tasty pasta. I added some fresh garlic too and that of course this made it even better. Finish the pasta with some good olive oil too while you are at it (I suggest adding both the garlic and EVOO) Finally top with fresh grated cheese (Parmigiano, Pecorino, or Grana) and voila, you will have a very easy and quite tasty dish.
Next I tried this olive pesto as an ingredient with other things. I mixed a few generous tablespoons of this into some fresh tomato pasta sauce I had made and found it made it even tastier with the extra umami boost it got from olives. If you are using a jarred sauce you could just put a spoon of this on the finished pasta too. You could also put this on say fish or shrimp or grilled chicken to jazz it up a bit. As this is an olive tapanade and made for bread, I tried just putting this on good bread and of course it was quite good that way too. This will work great for making bruschetta, put a nice amount on some lightly toasted bread. This is decent olive tapanade, especially if you add in fresh garlic and EVOO. Chop up some fresh basil and you will really be going in the right “homemade taste” direction. The label has that this is a Product of Greece, where of course they have lots of olives.
TJ’s Olive Pesto is $2.49 a 6 oz jar. Its quite useful to have in your pantry. I would buy it again.
“Organic soybean oil, water, organic eggs, organic white vinegar, salt, organic lemon juice concentrate, organic mustard seeds….”
Trader Joe’s used to carry both a regular (non-organic) mayo and an organic version. At some point they discontinued the non-organic version and now carry just this “Organic Mayonnaise.”
I used to buy the regular one, which came in a big 32 oz jar, double this one. Both are very good. I remember the non-organic 32 oz mayo went for $2.99.
This 16 oz organic mayonnaise is $3.49, or more than double the price. Oh well! A remember asking the Captain at the Front Desk what happened to the non-organic mayo, and he said he thought Trader Joe’s seems to be gearing towards selling only Organic if possible. They were slowly discontinuing non-organic versions of some products (for instance my beloved tomato paste in a tube. Gone!). He said he thought TJ’s plan was to only carry Organic Products in the future. Which to me sounds kind of like Whole Foods…
Honestly I thought the regular mayo was fine and half the price of this organic mayo. I was unhappy they just Discontinued it and gave customers less choice. Sure I like Organic stuff but I like options too. Don’t get me wrong, this organic version is very good and of course I’ve switched to it, unless I see Hellman’s on sale somewhere (that too has gone way up)
Commercially made mayonnaise like this one is good and fine, however if you never tasted “real French mayonnaise” — the kind you make fresh — you are missing out. You should try to make it at last once. Watch this video below to get ideas how to make your own real French mayonnaise from scratch.
Seriously this is the real McCoy. A real fresh mayo is so good you won’t believe it. Mayo is not hard to make. It will only take you maybe 5-10 minutes . You could impress some guests! Compare this to any mayonnaise you have probably had, the best commercial brand and you will not believe the difference. All you need is vegetable oil, an egg, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, beaten together… its actually easy and fun and kind of magical when it all emulsifies. Ah food science!
NEW ITEM: This is the latest “small lot” coffee on offer at Trader Joe’s (Sept 2023).
Many of these Trader Joe’s Small Lot coffees are really good, some times even terrific, with yes an occasional dud. Many times these coffees are Single Origin, Single Estate coffee beans. The good stuff, like those you would find at some trendy Williamsburg roaster / shop, you know where small hand lettered bags of single estate beans can go for perhaps $30? If are the kind of person who would like to try lots of interesting and unique coffees but doesn’t want to break the bank, many times these Trader Joe’s Small Lot coffees can be a great way to explore the World of Coffee. I found this latest Trader Joe’s Small Lot coffee offering to be a terrific robust tasting coffee.
This one is is from the mountains of the Dominican Republic and is called “Jarabacoa” with 100% Arabica beans in a Medium Dark Roast. Trader Joe’s description on the bag of this coffee has this to say….
“In Jarabacoa, third generation farmers have dedicated themselves to the production of coffee beans. ‘Honey processed’ and sun dried to impart a subtle sweetness, the beans are given a medium dark roast for a robust cup when brewed, brimming with notes of chocolate, brown sugar and blackberries”
I found this description to be right on. This coffee was as listed “medium-dark” (actually the picture may make it look darker). The beans are a shade past “medium” with just a little bit shiny in places, however I would not call this overly roasted, such as Starbucks is famous for doing to their beans. In fact this medium dark roast seems just right to me. A little bit under say a French Roast with a bit of that robust flavor those have if you like that sort of thing. Personally I love and really enjoy medium dark roasts, in addition to lighter roasts.
The beans smelled wonderful when I first opened up the bag, releasing the most heavenly aroma, and when I ground it up of course it smelled even better, perfuming the whole kitchen. I brewed up those freshly ground coffee trying it in both a Moka pot and another one as a pour over. The resulting brews were really tasty. I found the coffee rich and dark and oh so good. As they said it had a subtle sweetness to it with yes, hints of chocolate and blackberries. It tasted better with each sip. I finished my cup, then I actually debated making another cup immediately. Yes I found it that good.
The Jarabacoa Dominican coffee has become my new favorite Trader Joe’s coffee at the moment. I’m really enjoying it. TJ’s is selling a 12 oz bag for $9.99. This is not bad as some recent small lot coffees that had were more, about $12 each.
Would I buy this again? Well I actually ran back the next day and got 2 more bags to have in the pantry “just in case” …. these small lot New Items coffees frequently go bye-bye pretty fast. I’ve lost out on some coffees by waiting too long only to find they ran out.
“Normally, the sticky-sweet outer layer of the coffee fruit is washed off, but these beans are “honey processed,” so that layer is left intact. Because they spend less time in water, the sun-dried beans ferment less and retain more natural sweetness. Trader Joe’s Dominican Republic Jarabacoa Small Lot Coffee wears its honey process on its sip. Immediately, a taster can detect a subtle sweetness, accompanied by notes of chocolate and hints of blackberry.”
Want to make a Thai Style Yellow Curry yourself? This makes it quite easy.
TJ’s says: “We’ve honored the modern recipe of a zesty, ginger-forward sauce packed full of onion, garlic, red chilies, and of course garlic! All of this is blended together with creamy coconut milk making for the rich, velvety sauce we all know and love. With this sauce you can make a traditional yellow curry dish in no time! Cook up some meat, poultry, tofu, or veggies until done, stir in our Thai Style Yellow Curry Sauce, simmer until heated through, and serve on a bed of rice.”
I made curry recently and used this yellow version, however there is a red version of this curry sauce too. Both are decent. Overall I find the yellow one is slightly better myself but maybe you need to try both and settle on your preference of which you like better.
I usually sauté my protein and vegetables for 5-10 minutes in a little oil, then add this sauce. I rinse the jar out with a few ounces of water to get every drop. Then just let everything simmer for 20-30 minutes.
A trick I’ve learned is I usually also will add about a 1/2 can of TJ’s coconut milk. This helps two ways. It gives me more sauce, enough for a big pot of curry, as when I make this I want to get at least two meals. The other way is additional coconut milk will also tame the heat down a bit, as my wife’s preference is for not too spicy.
This sauce has a good Thai flavor profile. They list lemongrass and galangal for example, both which give authentic Thai flavor. This sauce is moderately spicy. It’s not blow your head off spicy. Again if you had more coconut milk that will mellow things more.
An 11 oz jar is $3.49. Now for that price I wish they gave you at least 16 ounces because honestly 11 ounces is barely enough sauce. Ah well.
You will definitely want some Thai Jasmine rice to go with your lovely curry. As far as your Main, Protein, etc. almost anything will work, like chicken (breast or thigh), Fish, Shrimp, Tofu, Hard Boiled Eggs….
Another way to make an easy Thai curry was taught to me by a Thai friend. This is how many Thais make a fast easy curry at home, by using a good real Thai curry paste. You sauté the curry paste a bit in oil for a few minutes then add your ingredients and then coconut milk. One good brand of Thai curry paste is Mae Ploy. They sell green, red and yellow versions. These pastes are very concentrated. Honestly that tub could last a year.
Thai curries are delicious and worth making. This sauce makes it super easy. The Mae Ploy paste plus coconut milk is going to make a better dish will than this Trader Joe’s “thai style” sauce however just opening this jar is a bit easier and will still turn out something like a Thai curry.
A reader told me I had to try out this new flavor ice cream Trader Joe’s came out with recently, so I did. All I can say is boy were they right. I thought it was SO good. In fact I believe via social media, the word has gotten out about it and it’s become so popular, it seems to be flying off the shelves. Also it was a Flyer Item. When I recently went to my TJ’s to buy some I was crushed to see just an empty row where it should be.
Fortunately though that might have been my Lucky Day. An employee just happened to be restocking the case with it just at that time, and he saw my crest fallen face looking at the empty shelf. He put a pint in my hand and told me to enjoy it. O frabjous day!
After I tasted some I understood why it’s flying off the shelf. It’s quite good, with a fairly unique flavor concoction that reminds me of something Ben & Jerry would come up with. If you love bananas (raises hand) you may love this. Yes it has some kind of really good banana flavor, and they list actual puréed bananas as the third ingredient listed. The taste does kind of remind you of banana pudding. In addition to some salted caramel swirls it even has tiny bits of vanilla cookie bits (‘Nilla wafers) like banana pudding has. It all blends up very well for a unique, subtle flavor combo.
As good as it was by itself I couldn’t help wonder how it might taste if I added some bananas on top! I cut up 1/2 a banana and added that and yes, super Yum with them. Like a banana, banana split. Trust me and try it with a banana! So good.
Still I did have one problem with this ice cream; It was so good the tiny little pint magically vanished so quickly. I put this ice cream into “dangerously good” category. If it’s in the freezer, I’m going to have a hard time staying away. It’s $3.79 pint (well it is a premium custom seasonal ice cream)
I would buy this again. If I can find it, that is. It was sold out when I went back a few days later. And a few days later again I could not find any in the freezer. So consider yourself lucky if you see this, and grab one. You won’t be sorry. Oh and it’s a “Limited Edition” flavor. So don’t expect to see this forever. Maybe it will be seasonal?
TJ’s says: “Made for us by the same supplier as some of our other (widely celebrated, if we do say so ourselves) seasonal ice cream pints, each bite of Trader Joe’s Banana Pudding Flavored Ice Cream expertly evokes the taste of a classically sweet and creamy banana pudding…We’re not just saying you’ll love it—we’re saying you’ll love it a whole bunch”
Now just in case you can’t find this flavor and want some recommendations for other flavors at Trader Joe’s I’d say you can’t go wrong with the COFFEE BEAN BLAST or MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ice creams.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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