Birria Tacos are all the rage now made popular via social media and food trucks that specialize in them.
Naturally the frozen version available at Trader Joe’s may not equal the best ones from a great food truck, However you can get cook them in a way which will make them closer using the Beef Birria which I previously reviewed and liked.
I made the tacos as per the video above as Trader Joe’s suggests. These turned out quite good done this way! It’s worth a little extra effort.
The cheesy beefy tacos got a little cruchy on the outside with some delicious fried cheese leaking out of them.
As I like corn tortillas that’s what I used but four ones could work as well. I used shredded Mozzarellam, which worked well as the “queso” but so could other cheeses, like cheddar perhaps. Add the chopped onions, cilantro and some lime juice at the end as they say for an authentic birria taco taste.
Though thought thought may turn you off a bit, that orange fat on top that you are dipping the tortilla in, is important for flavor and to give the tacos a crispy texture.
I also later thought this dish could become a beef stew with other vegetables very easily. So I tried par-boiling carrots and potatoes for 5 minutes, then added them to the beef birria. Simmer all together until the carrots and potatoes are tender, which takes about 15-20 minutes with the par-boiling. Add a little water or stock if things get too dry. This turned out quite good and makes it into a Mexican style beef stew, with the veggies getting lots of flavor.
Trader Joe’s “San Francisco Style Sourdough” is a popular bread at Trader Joe’s. And for good reason. Its just a really good tasting sourdough bread which everybody seems to love and it’s priced reasonably at three and a half bucks.
Here’s my honest review: I buy it all the time. This bread has been one of my standard Go-To pick up items whenever I shop at Trader Joe’s. This has become one of my favorites breads there. And yes they have a lot of good breads! This is a handy stand out bread good for many purposes.
I bet like me you love ingredient lists where the list is nice and short. Which it is here. Basically the ingredients say: “unbleached enriched flour, malted barley, water, salt.”
No preservatives.
Its a round loaf, sliced up. The slices here are a bit thinner than another TJ sourdough, their CRACKED WHEAT SOURDOUGH which I also reviewed with a thumbs up. That bread is sliced thicker with about 13 slices to a loaf, while this one has about 16-17. One slice of this has about 100 calories.
The crust looks slightly shiny, typical of sourdough bread, and has a nice hole structure in the interior. Its slightly dense, slightly chewy, with a nice taste and a hint of that “sour dough” flavor. It makes excellent toast.
I love a slice of this toasted, say for breakfast with some butter and good jam. This make great sandwiches of course. You can not go wrong making a grilled cheese sandwich with this. Ditto avocado toast.
I found some (incorrect) rumors online last summer about it being discontinued which seemed to upset lots of people, only to learn it was not discontinued. Just to confirm that again, I just bought it recently (Jan 2025) As it is popular you might find it sold out, on occasion, but just ask at the front desk when they expect to get more in, if they sold out of all the stock that day.
If you haven’t tried this yet, try it. I would say its well worth every penny.
San Francisco Style Sourdough Bread, $3.49 (1 1/2 lb, 24 oz round slice loaf)
I would buy this again
I freeze it for long term storage wrapped inside another bag (double bagged). If its hard to pry a slice off frozen I just use a knife to pry one off. Can last 1-2 months frozen.
You are at Trader Joe’s and want hummus. Wow, you will find so many choices to pick from. So which one should you get to start off with?
I would say you can not go wrong with a classic kind, meaning at least for the moment, ignore those where they have added flavors or additions (I’m looking at you tomato/basil hummus, oh crikey… and that dreaded chocolate hummus, don’t even get me started….)
Stick to Basics. Start with a good simple classic hummus. Like this one. This should give you a base line for decent (store bought) hummus. Later perhaps branch out and start exploring the other varieties with things mixed into it. Or add your own additions, as I frequently do*.
With that in mind if you want a very good, classic hummus, I’d say you can’t go wrong with this one. Trader Joe’s ORGANIC HUMMUS.
I like this hummus. I think it may be one of the best ones they sell. Trader Joe’s organic hummus is a tasty, well balanced, hummus with a deep flavor, one reason being this one has a little more tahini than some others. Tahini or sesame paste is a vital component of hummus, to me, at least. Trader Joe’s does sell some hummus that has NO tahini it it.
You can serve hummus in so many ways. As a dip, along with either warm pita bread, or any bread you love, or crackers. Add some to wraps or sandwiches. Use as a dip for fresh or cooked veggies.
Try mixing a dollop of hummus into your salad dressing. That will give it a nice creamy flavor. Or mix in some Tahini for that matter.
While fine as is, I do like to add a little squeeze of fresh lemon to my tub and mix it in well. Serving it, a drizzle of very good EVOO over the top. Serve with with some warm pita or lavash and a salad. Yes.
For year I’ve been buying the little cans of anchovies in olive oil at Trader Joe’s, sold in a yellow can under the famous Italian-American “CENTO” brand for as long as I can remember. I try to always have at least one can in the pantry, as anchovies are so useful for cooking (trust me)
Today I saw that those yellow cans of anchovies come in a new can now sold under the TJ brand: “Trader Joe’s Anchovy Fillets In Olive Oil”. Even the sign below them not only says “Cento” they even wrote the (R symbol – for registered trademark)! Perhaps they just didn’t get around to changing the sign. I think they had a price increase from $1.49 to $1.79.
(and now $1.99 I think! Summer 2025)
In any case, anchovy fillets are great to have in the pantry. Have a least one there for whenever you need it.
Anchovies can add a ton of flavor to many dishes. They are just full of UMAMI. Even the Romans used them (well as garum) a kind of fish sauce made from anchovies, just like Thai Nam Pla fish sauce.
Don’t be afraid of anchovies. They’re an amazing ingredient. For example when you have “nothing for dinner”, just go in the pantry. Grab a package of spaghetti or capellini and a can of these anchovies. Start with 3-4 cloves of garlic, chop and toss in your pan, then pour in 2 tbls olive oil and let that sauté for minute. Now add in a can of anchovies (or half a can if this is your first time). Crush them up with a spoon. As they cook they will dissolve into your anchovy garlic pasta sauce. Toss in your pasta (undercook it two minutes) and a 1/2 ladle of the pasta water and let it come together mixing it well for a minute or so. Cook for a minute plus or until just al dente. Add chopped parsley, maybe some toasted breadcrumbs or panko. A squeeze of lemon. Voila a yummy dinner. Your welcome!
Anchovies match incredibly well with tomatoes and especially tomato sauce. Want to add something special to your jar of store bought sauce which will give it a ton of flavor and make it taste homemade? Try smashing a few anchovy fillets up with a knife into a paste and toss that into your sauce on the stove. Let them mellow for 5-10 mins on a simmer.
TIP: If I just use a few fillets from the can don’t use the whole can up I put the left over anchovies in a little glass jar. Cover with oil. They will last a month or two in the fridge.
Here is a recipe I found on the TJ website for UMAMI DRESSING using a can of anchovies.
Umami Dressing
1 package Anchovy Fillets in Olive Oil, drained and diced
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
Juice from two Lemons
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp EVOO
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper or to taste
In a medium bowl, mash the anchovies and garlic with a fork to form a paste. Add the lemon juice and mustard and stir until well incorporated. Slowly whisk in oil until it starts to emulsify. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired. Makes about 1 cup of dressing. Serving ideas: over bitter greens (radicchio, kale, arugula, Belgian endives) with freshly grated Parmesan, dress a Niçoise salad or as a dip for crusty bread
By the way, looking closely at the two cans, I see the yellow ones say Product of Morocco. The green ones say Product of Albania —
(google) “Albanian anchovies, particularly those sourced from the Adriatic Sea, are known for their high quality and are a popular culinary ingredient. Albania is a major exporter of fresh and processed anchovies, with some anchovy products being processed in Albania from anchovies caught in the Cantabrian Sea”
Review of Trader Joe’s steamed PORK AND GINGER SOUP DUMPLINGS (aka Xiao Long Bao)
Now I am what you might call a devotee of Xiao Long Bao or “soup dumplings”. I am crazy for them. I mean really good ones and thankfully New York City has a number of places where one can get excellent soup dumplings. One of my favorite places is in Flushing, Queens at a well known restaurant that specializes in them called, “NAN XIANG XIAO LONG BAO “(If you can, go there!) This place is famous for soup dumplings and the restaurant even has huge glass windows so you can see into the kitchen and watch a swarm of kitchen workers making them continuously in front of you. First rolling out the delicate dough wrappers. Stuffing those wrappers with the famous stuffing that has lots of gelatin which dissolves into liquid when they get steamed to make a bit of soup inside each one.
I think I had these Trader Joe’s version before and was not overly impressed. Especially as I had microwaved them – which I’ve now learned is not the best method (steam them)!
What prompted me to give them another try was we recently went to a new smaller sister place called Nan Xiang Express which recently opened up in New York City. We went to one on the Upper West Side and got the classic pork Xiao Long Bao.
Trader Joe’s version can’t equal those of course. Never the less when I made the Trader Joe’s dumplings the next day to compare them, we actually enjoyed them. This time I steamed them which gives a better result. Both of us said the same thing “Of course these are not as good as the restaurants but these are actually tasty. These are not at all bad.” For what these are, for the convenience and the price I have to say these are well worth your trying.
We enjoyed them with the sauce I made*. Sure the wrappers in these are a bit thick, not anywhere near as delicate or beautifully plated like Nan Xiang’s but again overall these are quite tasty and they did have a little spoonful of hot soup which you could suck out. Pour a little dumpling sauce* on and these make a pretty yummy snack or appetizer. Sure you can build a dinner around these (figure six per person for dinner plus some veggies, rice and other goodies)
Some people I hear are saying making these in soup and eating them like that.
Certainly the price here is great, six dumplings for $3.49 (at the restaurant: these are $10 for 6 pork dumplings and about $12 for the even yummier pork and crab version).
RECIPE: CLASSIC SOUP DUMPLING SAUCE (mix 3 parts Chinese black vinegar, 1 part soy sauce and a small knob of peeled fresh ginger, julienned or grated)
HOW TO COOK TRADER JOE’S SOUP DUMPLINGS – TIP: The traditional steaming method will give you a better result than microwaving these!
STOVE-TOP/STEAMED: “Fill a pot fitted with a steamer basket with water and bring to a boil. Place dumplings into steamer with space between them. Do not crowd. Cover with lid and steam for 8-10 minutes until fully heated. Remove carefully. Caution: these dumplings will be really really hot! Carefully pick up dumpling (chopsticks) and place on a spoon. Carefully bite dumpling to release the soup into the spoon. Slurp carefully. Eat dumpling”
Enjoy these with a little dumpling sauce. The way I eat these is I pick up a dumpling very carefully with chopsticks by the top, and finagle it gently into a deep size spoon (you don’t want to pierce accidentally and loose any soup inside). Carefully nibble a hole and suck out the soup and pour a drizzle of sauce onto my spoon.
A little bit of chili crisp too can be nice if you like spice (my jam is the real Lao Gan Ma).
“From the same supplier that helped us bring Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings to Trader Joe’s, we are thrilled to introduce Trader Joe’s Steamed Pork & Ginger Soup Dumplings. Inspired by the same original soup dumplings, xiao long bao, that originated in the Jiangsu province of China, this type of dumpling is traditionally prepared in a xiaolong, the small bamboo steaming basket from which it gets its name. In English-speaking countries they’re most often called Soup Dumplings because they are filled with hot soup (and therefore must be eaten carefully!) Xiao long bao are traditionally filled with pork, so this second entry in our freezers adheres closer to culinary tradition.”
Trader Joe’s ATLANTIC SALMON WITH LEMON HERB BUTTER (FROZEN)
This is one of those thing almost everybody loves. You can probably tell just from the picture this is a nice hunk of salmon. Center cut boneless skin on Norwegian Farm Raised Atlantic Salmon fillet, with three round pats of tasty lemon herb butter. The package is seven ounces, so what I would consider a generous portion for one person. One piece could possibly make two smaller portions, as these days a portion of protein is now generally said to be about 4 ounces. But I could easily eat the whole thing myself!
The Lemon Herb butter consists of butter, lemon zest, parsley, chives, sea salt and pepper. It’s make a very tasty sauce. The herb butter really adds something, elevating this to “gourmet” level. Its quite tasty.
To defrost: ideally I leave the fish in the fridge for a slow defrost (the overnight thaw method) as this is the best method to defrost fish. In a pinch you could leave it out on the counter for a few hours, or submerge the package under cold water (quick thaw method).
Cooking: broiled or pan fried would be my Go To methods to cook the salmon but baking works too. (AirFryer? I don’t have one but people on the Net report its a good method)
What to do with the butter… One can either take the pats of butter off, then add them during the last two minutes of cooking. Or just leave the butter on the fish and cook it like that, for example under the broiler. This will give you more of a cooked “brown butter” sauce. You can baste with it during cooking as well.
Serving with a bit of fresh lemon juice too will elevate the fish even more. This will go well of course with maybe some rice or boiled potatoes and a veg and/or a salad.
TJ’s SALMON WITH HERB BUTTER makes a yummy dinner and is well worth your trying. Googling it I found a ton of web stuff and TikTok’s with people making this salmon. Its popular.
I would buy this again.
$6.99 (7 oz, 198 gr)
35 gr protein per fillet! 510 cals (all that butter) You could remove one or two pats if you want less calories.
Double Concentrated Tomato Paste, Ingredients: Tomatoes. Salt
For some time I mourned the loss at Trader Joe’s of their handy Italian TOMATO PASTE in a tube which they “discontinued” maybe a year or two back. At the time I asked the TJ’s Captain to look it up and he said it was not even on order and that he was pretty sure it was gone for good. Fortunately it magically appeared back on the shelves recently at my Trader Joe’s and for that I say, HOORAY! So did Trader Joe’s change their minds? Did they lose a supplier and could not find one for years? Who knows? In any case I’m just glad to see this as this is a product I used to buy all the time.
Sometimes you don’t need that whole little can of paste, so the great thing about the tubes of tomato paste – an essential kitchen item, people – is obvious. Say you just need 1 tablespoon of tomato paste for something. Now you don’t have to open a whole small can up. Then figure out what to do with the rest. With the tube one just squeezes out the tablespoon. The paste in the tube can last a few months in the fridge. Which is better than finding that half used up can of tomato paste in the back of the fridge which I forgot I had, which now looks bad so I throw it out.
$1.49 (which is half what the tomato paste in a tube costs at regular grocery stores)
BTW did you know that tomato paste is one food that is Pure Umami*?
GOOGLE:
*Tomato paste is a great source of umami flavor:
Umami-rich Tomatoes are naturally high in glutamates, which are chemicals that create umami, the savory depth of a food. Concentrating the flavor of tomatoes into tomato paste makes it a powerful umami ingredient.
Versatile – A small amount of tomato paste can add a lot of flavor to many dishes, including soups, sauces, stews, braises, and bread dough.
Easy to use – A tablespoon of tomato paste can have the same flavor as 100 fresh tomatoes.
Flavor develops with browning – Browning tomato paste in the skillet caramelizes the natural sugars in the tomatoes, which enhances the umami flavor and reduces acidity. To brown it, just add some tomato paste into oil or butter on med/low heat and gently stir for about 3 mins or so till it darkens in color.
Other ingredients that are high in umami include: Miso paste, Soy sauce, Aged cheeses, Potatoes, Dried mushrooms, Anchovies, and Fish sauce.
“Our newest Cream Cheese Spread is celebratory, creamy, super savory, and full of flavor for all your summer schmearing needs. Trader Joe’s Red Bell Pepper, Garlic & Parmesan Cream Cheese Spread is a zesty combo with a heavy-handed sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, is flecked with red bell pepper, and studded with minced garlic throughout.”
( FYI it says “Limited”) so you may or may not find this…)
When I just tasted it on a spoon by itself. It seemed a bit on the strong side, predominately tasting of parmesan cheese. Of course its meant to be a spread, so I put a shmear of this cream cheese on a cracker. They were very good together. I used this spread the next morning on a toasted bagel spread with this stuff, topped with lots of slices of cucumber. That was quite good. It was good on bread and many things. In fact, I can easily see using some of this added to a pasta dish, thinned out with a bit of pasta water to make a creamy sauce. I’ve learned recently that some Italians actually use cream cheese mixed into pasta to make it creamy! I think this could match well in a sauce with sauteed cherry tomatoes.
So I do think this is worth a try if you see it. I would buy it again and experiment some more with it on different things, IF I can find it.
“Trader Joe’s salted edamame (soybeans) are blanched, salted and then quick frozen to seal in the freshness”
If you’ve every been to a Japanese restaurant, you probably have know what edamame are. Served warm they are soybeans still in their fuzzy pods. The beans are inside the a green fuzzy pod. You eat them extracting the beans with a combination of mouth and fingers, pushing a bean out with your finger plus sucking them out of the pod. The experience is kind of fun. This is legit playing with your food.
Trader Joe’s “Salted Edamame” are cooked edamame soybean in pods, which get frozen. These really only need heating up which you can do in either in a microwave or on the stovetop. I usually rinse the frozen pods under cold water in a colander for a second, then toss them into pot with a tablespoon or two of water and let them steam covered for about two minutes until they are hot, then serve, sprinkling on a bit of freshly ground pink salt when serving them.
TJ’s frozen edamame in pods make a delicious and healthy appetizer, snack, or side, or ingredient. Everybody seems to love edamame, young or old, and maybe especially kids? Because these are an accepted way to play with your food! Gotta eat with your hands.
Soybeans are just full of protein of course. Just a 1/2 cup have 8 grams Protein not to mention fiber. So Good Eats! Trader Joe’s frozen edamame are terrific to buy ($1.99) $2.29. Equal to way more expensive frozen edamame you might find in a Japanese or Asian market where they might double the price. I love having these in the freezer at all times for whenever the edamame mood strikes. Actually I buy both versions of at TJ’s, shelled and these unshelled ones in the pod. Shelled soybeans are great for an ingredient. I use those the same way I might use or add frozen peas. They are terrific on top of rice of course with a little butter.
Remember to put an empty bowl on the table for the empty pods!
Chefs and pro cooks love these as its the purest, most natural form of vanilla. “Bourbon Vanilla” is considered the best vanilla, from Southeast Asia. I did check the label but assume these may be from Madagascar.
Pro cooks scrape out the tiny seeds inside these pods with a knife and use that in recipes that call for vanilla. Don’t throw out the pod after using either as they still have lots of aroma. You can put the pods into a large jar and and cover them with about a pound of sugar. Let that sit for a few days or more as the vanilla beans infuse the sugar so it becomes yummy Vanilla Sugar.
$2.99 for two vanilla beans
In addition to these Trader Joe’s has lots of other vanilla products like BOURBON VANILLA BEAN PASTE and they are all on the shelves now for the FALL/WINTER baking season.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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