Perhaps the first thing that will stand out to you when you are looking in the pizza shelves at Trader Joe’s and you see this MARGHERITA PIZZA is frankly that this looks pretty good and then you see that it costs $4.79. Under five bucks for this? It’s looks like it almost came out of a pizza place’s oven.
If it actually tastes anything close to as good as it looks in their picture, that’s hard to beat.
My neighbor tried this first and told me she really liked it. She was pretty impressed with it and was amazed that it cost under five bucks. So we got one to try out as I’ve not had this before.
(Here’s what it looks like right out of the box, frozen, wrapped)
You can see the crust is partially pre-baked, with the ingredients for us to finish baking it.
(frozen, unwrapped, pre-baking)
Here’s what TJ’s has to say about this pizza (which has been around for over a decade or more):
“This classic Margherita Pizza starts with a hand-stretched, Amalfi style crust, the dough for which is fermented for a full 24 hours prior to kicking off the pizza-making process. This new-and-much-improved crust is thin, soft, and bubbly, with a slightly thicker, chewy edge. In this Pizza’s previous iteration, they topped said crust with a standard tomato sauce; in this version, however, they top it with a passata—a.k.a. a traditional Italian tomato sauce made by sieving ripe tomatoes into a silky-smooth purée, allowing the pure, tomato flavor to really shine. The pies are finished with fresh mozzarella rounds, shredded Grana Padano and carefully placed basil leaves, then baked in wood-burning stone ovens, flash-frozen, and sent to sail the culinary seas…” (-Trader Joe’s website)
So they changed (improved) it but as this is my first time with it, the new version is the only one I know, so here’s my review.
(Should say first, I am one of those people who will on occasion actually make a pizza from scratch, including fermenting my dough 3 days in the fridge?) Anyway here’s our impression of Trader Joe’s PIZZA MARGHERITA.
Overall my wife and I liked this very much. This is a very tasty pizza and has many good points I liked. There one or two areas I thought it could be improved on.
The good points with this pizza is first if you like Neapolitan style pizza, I would call this pretty “authentic” in that its in the nature of a pizza you might get in Naples rather than a “NY Style” pizza. , Meaning the kind of pizza that you may want to eat with a knife and fork as many Italians do (Neapolitan style, not Roman). The reason being the center of the pizza crust may be too thin to support ingredients to hold it up and eat as a slice, and the center may be a little soft and juicy.
I confess I did actually try to get the bottom a bit crispier by putting it back in after I pulled it out the first time, for about another two minutes. In hindsight this was a mistake, as I over-baked it a little and doing that made the outside border crust a bit dry and hard. So try the recommended times (the box says bake 9-12 minutes at 425 F) If you have a pizza stone or steel, I would use that. If not, even a 1/2 sheet pan will do. And as always pre-heat your oven for at least 20-30 minutes, though every oven is a bit different.
(My finished pizza after baking.)
The pizza looked almost like it came out of a pizza shop – in Italy!
The low moisture skim mozzarella cheese in large round slices when baked up was really good, and it did the stringy cheese thing everyone loves to see on Instagram. The sauce is very simple. Its just “passata” or pure tomato puréed up in the classic Margherita way, so not a “pizza sauce” as you may be used to. I think it tasted just the tiniest bit tart or sour to me but not bad.
The used to have a pizza sauce. I wonder if that might be bit better tasting but then it would not be “Margherita” which is very simple, basically 3-4 ingredients. It had another cheese, Grana Padano, grated over and that too added a nice touch, You can even see it’s dressed with a little bit of fresh basil!
FIXING THIS UP: You can improve this easily, and think that is worth doing. I would suggest if you make this pizza, you fix it up a bit with any or all of the following (all optional of course) : Sliver of garlic, a sprinkle of dried oregano, a little basil (dried or better still, fresh if you have that) and maybe a drizzle of say Hot Honey to add a touch of sweetness and spice? Certainly add a drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkling of more cheese, some grated Parmigiano or Pecorino when you take it out of the oven. I would do all this the next time I make this pizza.
I overdid the baking by maybe two minutes as I put it back to try to get the bottom crispier (it comes out a bit soft), which I know was a mistake, as you see how dark my crust came out. If I made it again, I would stick to the 9-12 mins as suggested on the box PLUS I might brush the border with a little olive oil before baking it.
The whole pizza is 15 ounces. I think this can be a dinner for two adults, maybe with a little salad or veggie on the side. In sum, while not perfect this is quite a tasty pizza and well worth trying at what is a great price!
Calories: 1/3 of this equals about 310 calories — but trust me you will probably eat at least 1/2 not a 1/3. Still this is on the lower side for pizza I think if thats like 450 cals?
How does this TJ pizza rank among all the other offers in the pizza department from Trader Joe’s? To me it’s up there. However I might rank a few others they have, just a hair above this one (such as the Pizza Parlanno and the Buratta, Prosciutto and Arugula one) as they have “more going on” of course. For a simple Neapolitan style pizza, this is quite good, if thats what you are looking for.
The ingredient list as you can see, is quite simple so that’s a nice plus!
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS FROM FROZEN: Preheat oven to 425. Bake for 9-12 minutes until crust is LIGHTLY BROWNED
Trader Joe’s got two new artisan pastas in this month. A spiral radiatore and this SQUARE shaped rigatoni. Both look perfect for our favorite (hearty?) sauce.
I got the square rigatoni to start with for review as I have never seen a square rigatoni before and could not resist trying it. It looks cool, right? First thing I thought was this: but after cooking is this going to stay square when it’s softer?! Well guess what, the answer: YES it does stay square as you can see….
TJ’s says this: ” What makes this pasta noteworthy? 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 extruders are used to produce thick, textured noodles that deliver a perfectly al dente texture, which helps support the heftiness of its partnered sauce while maintaining a delicate chew….Pair this uniquely shaped Pasta with a hearty Bolognese sauce and be in awe of how much sauce clings to, and even fills, each noodle. It is a natural choice for baked pasta dishes, as it can hold up well in a casserole without losing its shape.”
I just made the simplest pasta that day just to test it out quickly just butter and cheese; We liked this pasta quite a bit. Its great and tasty of course as I’ve found all of the artisan pastas from Italy the sell are (these are all high end pastas, organic durum semolina, bronze die cut….) But ideally this shape will excel and be perfect for a heartier sauce, especially something like a Bolognese or ragu, meat sauce as they suggest, or a baked pasta. Greek Pastitsio anyone?
Cooking time on the bag is 13-14 minutes. This two new ones including this one were $1.99 (1 lb) I would buy it again (PS they say these two new pastas are LIMITED editions, grab them while you can)
“Coffee was originally introduced to farmers by the Thai Royal Family… This relatively unknown region of the coffee world has blossomed into one of the top 20 coffee producers worldwide…. 100% Arabica beans, Mae Kha Jan, Chiang Mai small lot coffee is medium roasted producing a coffee with full body and notes of cherry and dark chocolate.”
“This relatively unknown region of the coffee world has blossomed into one of the top 20 coffee producers worldwide”.
“Relatively unknown”? To me, unknown for sure as I don’t think I’ve ever come across a coffee Thailand before, and I am pretty sure this is the first Thai coffee I’ve tasted.
Here’s my honest review of this new Thai coffee.
Is this latest TJ’s Small Lot coffee find any good? Is it worth you’re buying?
I answer with a huge, “YES” to both questions. Color me very impressed.
I don’t know if most of the coffee from Thailand is anywhere near this good, but all I can say is I found Trader Joe’s newestsmall lot coffee, Thailand Mae Kha Jan Chiang Raireally tasted fabulous.
One of our readers, commented that, “it’s divine” and I agree. This small lot coffee is right up there with the very best of all those Trader Joe’s has come out with. Sure, I think they had a few clunkers here and there, but the coffee finders at Trader Joe’s who travel the world looking for good coffee made by small producers, have from time to time, brought back some really excellent finds over the years to us coffee lovers, and this is one of them.
I ground up the beans, which smelled lovely, then brewed the coffee up, as usual, in my Moka pot. The aroma of it brewing smelled great. It even produced some crema too as you can see.
My cup of coffee was smooth and full bodied, well rounded with no off notes anywhere. Yes one can easily detect subtle notes of cherry and dark chocolate, as they describe on the package. I found this coffee just so pleasant to drink. I think it’s my new current favorite at Trader Joe’s.
It is quite accurately described as being a Medium Roast, which in this case it is exactly and I found perfect for it’s flavor profile.
Here’s some more of what Trader Joe’s has to say about this Thai coffee:
“Thailand has become a rising star in the coffee world over the past few decades. Much of this coffee production happens in the northern Thai border region, commonly called the Golden Triangle. It’s from this region that we get the small lot Trader Joe’s Thailand Mae Kha Jan Chiang Rai blend.
As part of our Small Lot Coffee Series, these beans are sourced from the Mae Kha Han Mill, one of the top dry coffee mills in Thailand. Although the mill is in the lowlands, the coffee is grown in the high mountains around it, at elevations between 1,100 and 1,500 meters. This Coffee is fully washed with a 12- to 24-hour wet fermentation process where the pulp is removed and the beans are fermented in water. This method, common in Thailand and Indonesia, results in a clean, consistent flavor. Each sip offers tasting notes of dark chocolate and cherry.”
This is just so good you can’t stop drinking it. As you know the Small Lot coffees are “limited editions”, they won’t be around forever. If you see this, I’d offer up this Small Lot coffee is well worth trying, as long as you can find it. $9.99 (12 oz) For this level of coffee quality, that’s not bad.
I went back and bought another bag of this for my pantry.
Trader Joe’s says: “For a taste of Turkey at home, allow us to introduce you to Trader Joe’s Simit Turkish Sesame Bread. Simit can be found on street carts and bakeries throughout the country, and although these beauties may resemble bagels, they are distinctly different.
Simit is not boiled (like bagels), just baked, and have a characteristic twist throughout. While its interior is chewy and nutty, its exterior is crispy and dense. Our Simits are made “Ankara style,” on the smaller size, conveniently-sized, with a crisp texture. Sticking to tradition, these circular breads are coated with a molasses-based solution that adds a bit of shine, helps with browning, and allows sesame seeds to encrust their surface.” (TJ)
NEW at Trader Joe’s for Sept/Oct 2025 are these fabulous Turkish Breads called SIMIT, which are made in Turkey for Trader Joe’s. Find these frozen along with other breads like their frozen Naan.
Simit come in a package that has 4 round breads, wrapped in packs of 2, to stay as fresh as possible. It’s $3.49, or about 90 cents each. In Istanbul there are carts with sells simit. A little search on Google says on the street in Istanbul they typically sell for about 10-20 Turkish lira ($0.25-0.50) and a bit more in a bakery.
I had read these they were coming to TJ’s and kept waiting to see them. When I finally saw they arrived at my local TJ’s, I grabbed a package to try and review. So how are these? Well, here’s my honest review. Are they worth buying? YES!!!!!!
Trader Joe’s did it again with a delicious bread find imported here from another land. Wow, are these simit breads terrific. I give these a 5 stars RAVE! Delicious. I just loved how these taste and at the texture of the outside versus the soft inside.
These are little Artisanal breads, which you can tell are hand rolled. They are encrusted all over with sesame seeds. When you are warming these up, and they get start to get toasty you will smell the sesame in the kitchen. Yes, the shape of these may remind you of a bit of a bagel, though simit are very different and unique. They are just baked, not boiled first like bagels. They are the tiniest bit sweet on the outside. These look like they were twisted together then rolled by hand. So they’re not as easy to cut open say as a bagel. They separated when I tried to cut in half horizontally and I found them best to just take one and rip a bite off as I went if I wanted to, or rip them in half and dip them or put butter or whatever on them.
They were great just plain by themselves but were fabulous with other things like different kinds of butter, olive oil, cheese, olives, cream cheese and scallions, jam, you name it, you will love it. I loved them alongside some scrambled and sunny side up eggs, where I dipped the simit into the yellow yolks! Yummy!
HEATING: Take them out of the freezer and leave them about 15 minutes to defrost. Then toss in a 350 oven for about 4-5 minutes. – OR – Just so you know, I made mine on the stovetop in a cast iron pan. About 4-5 minutes a side on low-medium, until they looked golden brown and flipped it over. That easy method worked fine too. If you have an air fryer that probably will also work.
My wife loved these as much as I did. We are eating them with many things. Tonight for one, they well go great with LENTIL SOUP.
Simit are $3.49 for 4 breads (14 oz) Frozen
I would buy these again
How to eat Simit – Simit is a versatile bread that can be enjoyed in many ways throughout the day:
For breakfast: Pair it with traditional Turkish breakfast items like feta cheese, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a glass of Turkish tea.
With spreads: Serve it with savory dips such as hummus or a red pepper dip. For a sweet option, top it with butter, jam, or Nutella. I liked them with a little cream cheese.
As a snack: Warm them and eat it plain
As croutons: Cut it into pieces and toast until crunchy to use as a topping for soup.
Very short ingredient list. No Preservatives. We like that!
I found it a bit difficult to cut the Simit lengthwise to use for a sandwich as they are twisted and cutting them tended to make them separate. However they taste just as yummy.
If you are Turkish and try these, please let us know what you think…. UPDATE. We’ve heard from a few Turkish people who said they “taste like home”. One reader left this Comment: “Just tried today. Real deal. Just like the simit in Turkey.”
All I can say is: This is SO GOOD! So refreshing. So delicious.
It’s more to the everyman taste than some Ginger Beers I have had in the past, especially real real Jamaican ginger beer, which while I love, some people may find too too strong with way too much ginger flavor. This is just more like the best ginger ale you ever had, well balanced with a perfect ginger flavor plus a little bit of lemon and lime in the background. It’s one of those things that was next to me on the Check Out line, just asking for you to put in your basket and I could not resist, for which I am very glad because I now have a new favorite beverage.
Trader Joe’s sells these for about $1.15 each or or pack of 4 for $4.49 (12 oz each)
“Made fom a time-tested recipe with ingredients that include water, sugar, ginger juice, lime and lemon juices from concentrate, and ginger extract, our Ginger Beer has a refreshing, gingery bite, and mild carbonation. The addition of lemon and lime juices adds a zesty, citrus zing, and also helps establish the right acidic balance.” -TJ’s
“Give this Crunchy Chili Onion Sprinkle a generous shake over a plate of French fries, warm from the air fryer, into a bowl of ground beef before forming it into burger patties, or atop a sheet pan of freshly roasted veggies. It adds a delightful depth of flavor to baked tofu, a certain savory mystique to soups of all kinds, and a pleasantly crunchy pop of texture when mixed into popcorn. Whether it’s scrambled eggs at breakfast, a salad dressing at lunch, or a pan-seared steak at dinner, a little Crunchy Chili Onion Sprinkle can make a big difference.” – Trader Joe’s site https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/crunchy-chili-onion-sprinkle-seasoning-blend-077111
All I’ve been hearing and reading about all over the internet is how fantastic this Trader Joe’s CHILI ONION SEASONING BLEND is, so I finally got around to trying it.
I have to say, basically it’s as good as everyone says.
I loved this seasoning blend. It’s another of those things you get at Trader Joe’s that you like so much, you start putting on everything you can think of to see if it works on it. Pretty much the answer would be yes as far as I’m concerned. Everything I’ve sprinkled this on seems to work,and seems to get tastier and better. Last night I made some grilled broccoli and just before I served it I thought let me sprinkle some of the Magic Dust on it and sure enough it made the broccoli taste about twice as good as it was without it! Ditto fresh corn on the cob.
Ditto my boring cottage cheese. Sprinkle this on. Not boring at all. Its terrific with cottage cheese. Try it.
This is Excellent on pretty much everything I’ve tried it on, especially vegetables of any kinds, eggs (!), burgers, chicken, turkey burgers, you name it, it seems to work.
The seasonings in the Blend include: sea salt, fried onions, chili flakes, brown sugar, dried roasted garlic and Szechuan pepper. This seasoning blend is made in South Africa where they really know something about spices, even just judging from the wonderful South African Smoke seasoning blend that has come and vanished over the years (I still have a little bit left I stingy-ling use from time to time)
It does have some salt (not a lot) and it has just a hint of sweetness from brown sugar as well as being just slightly spicy but this is not fiery hot at all, mildly spiced and quite flavorful.
Trader Joe’s Crunchy CHILI ONION SPRINKLE Seasoning Blend is about $2. It’s yet another great addition to all of Trader Joe’s seasoning.
Does it taste really like apples? Yes actually it does, thanks to little bits of dried honeycrisp apples all throughout the granola. This granola not the clumpy kind; it is loose like cereal, not with the large clumps as some other granola’s that Trader Joe’s has such as the almond butter granola. Personally I am a fan of big “clumpy” granola with chunks that I can take out and sometimes just snack on. However I liked this too as it’s got that great apple fruity taste. I mean the taste of this granola is really a winner from those apple bits.
Ingredients include rolled oats, cane sugar, dried Honeycrisp apple, honey, molasses, and a subtle hint of fall spices (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, clove….) Very, very subtle, more like a backnote to the apple taste of this granola, not the overwhelming kind.
This Apple Granola one of their “Limited” fall items, meaning we will see it for a few months. So if you want to try this grab it while you can, and maybe stock up on a few bags if you tried it and liked it. I probably will. Both my wife and I really liked this very tasty granola.
$3.99 for a 12 oz bag.
I would buy it again.
“Our latest fall-forward, seasonal cereal shines the spotlight on an autumnal all-star: the heavenly Honeycrisp apple! Heralded for its crunch and concentration of flavor, it’s a natural companion to snacks and cereals of all sorts—snacks and cereals such as the sweet, seasonally-spiced clusters inside each bag of Trader Joe’s Honeycrisp Apple Granola!” – TJ’s
“A savory, focaccia like bread with light chewy texture, studded with briney black and Kalamata olives”
This bread is a bit unusual and one of Trader Joe’s more “gourmet” breads on offer. I think it’s worth trying especially if you are an olive fan.
This is a French style FOUGASSE, a bread typically associated with the South of France. Kind of a cousin to Focaccia. Trader Joe’s Olive Fougasse has both Kalamata and Black Olives. It’s loaded up with olives and has a great olive flavor. I love olives and I really liked this bread. FOUGASSE can be shaped in many ways, some quite artistic (see link for images of different Fougasse breads)…..
We baked it up as directed.Like a few breads Trader Joe’s sells, this one comes slightly underbaked, so you can get “fresh baked bread”. It’s needs to finish baking for just about 5 minutes so just pop it into hot oven (or air fryer?) for about 5 minutes. It will smell heavenly when you take it out. Its crusty, soft and chewy inside, Herby and Olive-y. My wife and I really enjoyed eating this with a pasta dish.
This would be great with many things, including I think goind with your cheese board, charcuterie board or butter board.
If you see a Fougasse in a bakery they would probably be selling them for 6-8 bucks. Trader Joe’s price is $3.49 (12 oz)
Ing. include flour, water, sea salt, yeast and herbs. It has No preservatives. Use within a day or two after buying or freeze it. I would buy it again.
First they came out with the CRISPY SHALLOTS which I like a lot. Now they’ve come out with something similar but it’s CRISPY GARLIC.
This new product is a winner. Possibly even better. For me, a must try. Crispy slivers of garlic toasted until nutty. A great topping, or ingredient. Lasts a long time so a great item you can keep in the pantry for whenever you need it. This is a super Asian (or Italian or anything) garnish.
Trader Joe’s says: “Trader Joe’s Crispy Garlic ably demonstrates, when sliced thin and fried to a glorious golden brown, garlic’s gifts easily extend into the textural realm, too. We tried plenty of options before finding this iteration of Crispy Garlic, which is brought to us by an expert supplier in Thailand. Only their Crispy Garlic was able to capture that flavorful-but-not-bitter, nicely-fried-but-not-tough, crunchy-but-still-melt-in-your-mouth quality that our tasting panel adored. We think you’ll adore it, too. Trader Joe’s Crispy Garlic is excellent as a topping on stir-fries, salads, and scrambled eggs; pizzas, pastas, and pad Thai; or even burgers, baked potatoes, and bánh mi. It can be mixed into homemade cheesy dips and casseroles, sprinkled over noodle dishes or roasted veggies, or even just enjoyed over a bowl of freshly made rice.” – Trader Joe’s
Tru’ dat. The little thin crisps of garlic are so just so flavorful and tasty. We tried it, and instantly fell in love with this stuff. We tried even eating them as is just out of the bag. Intense but tasty!
Think little thin chips of fresh garlic, cooked till golden brown, super crunchy and crispy. The garlic flavor is a bit milder and mellowed from the frying. As they say it’s cooked just right, before the point of bitterness.
Toss these chips on just about anything. We’ve been trying it out on just about everything we can think of to put it on and whatever we tried seemed to work. Noodles. Salad. Add some on top of plain Rice!
Here I put some on top of cottage cheese on top of a toasted slice of their Sourdough Sliced bread and added some spices, and the combo was super yummy.
You can crush them up with your fingers to get smaller bits too (I crushed them up over buttered corn. Yum!)
$3.29 (4 oz) I am just guessing it was probably about a pound of garlic before. Its got just 3 simple ingredients, garlic, oil and salt. It’s not greasy at all. Just crispy. Keep it tightly sealed in the foil pouch and it should stay that way for a long time.
I saw this at Trader Joe’s when I was looking for some regular bread for sandwiches. I had not reviewed this, so I got it to try out. In my mind I was thinking about making things like some grilled cheese sandwiches in the near future as well as having some regular square sliced bread for toast for breakfasts.
As far as sourdough bread goes, I think most people seem to be interested in Trader Joe’s round loaf sourdough breads.
Still if you are looking for a standard type of “white bread” with square slices to have around for say making regular slices of toast or regular sandwiches I would say this is about as good an upgrade for that type of bread as you could get. This is not some squishy white bread. Wonder bread this ain’t. It’s soft of course but has a bit of a firm, dense structure. I’d think of this not as an actual sourdough bread but as a sourdough style sliced bread. For sandwiches, etc. I took a slice of this and toasted it and was so hust happy with the result.
This bread just makes the best slice of toast! A little sturdy with a perfect texture. For me, this was pretty much created to become Toast. It can make the best “English style toast” with a perfect bite of crust and crumb textures. A nice, sturdy slice of toast, aching to be buttered. Optionally topped with whatever you like.
Besides toast of course this will be fantastic to make any kind of grilled sandwich, say a grilled cheese, or anything. What about maybe SARDINES ON TOAST? Yeah baby.
If you try this and make a piece of toast with this bread you will not be sorry. If you don’t want it toasted, I would still suggest perhaps at least warming it slightly, as all bread benefits from being warm.
(sliced sourdough toasted and topped with cottage cheese, garlic chips and spices.)
GRILLED CHEESE idea using this bread? I am thinking for the cheese, slice up some Unexpected Cheddar, put that on the bread and spread a very thin layer of TJ’s Pumpkin Butter on the top slice plus (optional) very very thin slices of apple. Grill this on low-medium heat with a tablespoon of butter until golden brown, flip over, and serve when ready with your favorite pickles.
90 calories per slice
Storing: I keep mine in freezer. Very easy to take out a slice.
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