“Trader Joe’s ORGANIC CAESAR SALAD KIT with croutons, shredded Parmesan and a creamy Caesar dressing.”
I have read that this salad kit is pretty popular among the fans of Trader Joe’s. So I had to finally check it out. Before we begin with my review I should state a few times over the years I’ve made Caesar Salad myself. I mean the real deal. From scratch. Even making croutons (homemade ones are fantastic). Plus making the dressing (Ummm, with ANCHOVIES!)
If you’ve ever done that, or had a Caesar Salad in a decent restaurant then you know how good a real Caesar Salad can be. I mean the Real McCoy is fantastic. So good. You should try making one yourself at least once. Outside of the dressing its really basically three ingredients : lettuce, croutons, cheese…
Here are a few links to give you ideas (Natasha’s recipe looks good. But leaves out the anchovies. So another link with a dressing that has them…. )
Naturally you can make this salad into something substantial by adding a protein on top of your salad. I could easily see one putting slices of cooked chicken or a piece of cooked salmon on top. Do that and you have a complete dinner, especially with a bit of good bread.
So having said that, let me review Trader Joe’s ORGANIC CAESAR SALAD KIT.
A bag can serve 2 with other food or maybe one very hungry salad lover.
For a packaged kit, it’s pretty good. Does it compare to my homemade one, or one from a good restaurant? Of course not but for just something Grab and Go, again pretty decent. For convenience, I can easily understand why people go for it. Just toss this in a bowl and voila a passable Caesar at a fair price ($4) and all in all fairly tasty and satisfying.
The Romaine was nice and crisp, the crouton very crunchy and are bite size rather than too big for your mouth or fork. So pretty good. But I have a few qualms.
Romaine lettuce – Nice and crunchy! However I did find a few bad pieces which I threw out but only about 6-10. Anyway as with all packages of salad, be sure when you buy it to examine it carefully for quality. Check dates on the packages. Get the best date you can find. If possible, try to use it the day you buy it, or the next one.
Dressing – Again, pretty decent, creamy and tasty (however no anchovies!) Of course its not going to match up against a “real” fresh made Caesar dressing. I did think it tasted decent for a commercial dressing. Looking at the ingredients though no “anchovies” listed and the main flavors of a classic Caesar Salad are Anchovies and Parmesan. In most recipes. Anchovies can be controversial.
They give you plenty of dressing. I would suggest add it stages. Don’t put the entire bag of dressing at once. Add about half or 3/4 of the bag of dressing, toss the salad, see what it looks like and if you think you need more then add the rest. You want salads well dressed but not drowning.
(TIP — Fresh LEMON really help this salad so if you have a lemon handy, squeeze on about 1/4 to 1/2 a lemon. Fresh lemon juice will definitely improve the overall taste of this salad quite a bit.)
Cheese – I thought this was one place they do the typical Trader Joe’s skimping. They don’t give you very much grated cheese and its just OK. Not actual Parmigiano I am pretty sure. So I added some of my own cheese, I shaved on Grana Padano with a vegetable peeler. Add cheese if you have some. It will help improve it.
Croutons – The croutons are OK but nothing special. They are well baked (dark) and fortunately bite sized. VERY crunchy. However these seem to be just baked bread. Actual croutons are seasoned. These croutons are nice and crunchy bordering on too hard however they will soften a bit of course when you add dressing.
The quality of these croutons here are not as good as Trader Joe’s packaged croutons – which are very good. Which makes me think. Couldn’t one come up with a pretty easy Caesar Salad yourself just by buying a few ingredients from Trader Joe’s?
I certainly think so. Get a package of Romaine lettuce hearts. A package of TJ’s good croutons. A bottle of Romano Caesar dressing. Some cheese (Parmesan, Grana Padano or Pecorino) With those ingredients you could could make your own Caesar salad which will be better than this one in about five minutes. You could have enough for a few days too and I am guessing it will work out to $2-3 a portion?
So this gets a thumbs up mainly for the convenience, as TJ’s Caesar Salad Kit is Grab and Go and if not great, its pretty decent and OK.
Would I buy it again? Well honestly I am not sure about that. Maybe only if I had to come up with something fast? Frankly I would probably DIY it and buy some Romaine lettuce, croutons, and a bottle of dressing at Trader Joe’s and make it myself with only a little more time and effort.
Now could you open up a can of anchovies and add some (mashed up with lemon juice) to this Kit? Why not!? You would have a way more authentic salad.
I would label this latest Small Lot coffee offering at Trader Joe’s in my “good but not great” category.
I liked it but it didn’t knock me out as some of their other small lot coffee finds have at times in the past. These are totally hit or miss. Sometimes you get one which is fantastic. Outstanding. Sometimes you get one which is pretty good, which for me, is this Costa Rican coffee. I thought it was pretty good. I only say this as some of the Trader Joe’s coffees which were terrific raise the bar when compared to some of the best Small Lot coffee finds in the past over the years that TJ’s has had. The Uganda Mountains of The Moon small lot coffee from a while back was off the hook, stunning. Epic! So again, there is a high bar.
This coffee is from a mountainous region in Costa Rica, from an area officially designated as “Chirripo National Park”. The beans are roasted in an (actual) medium roast and the beans look very good as you can see. This coffee’s taste is as they describe on the bag. “Nutty and toasty, with notes of citrus”. If you are one of those people who just likes to check out and explore EVERY Small Lot coffee that Trader Joe’s comes out with just to check it out, its worth getting. Otherwise, I would say spend your ten bucks coffee money on some known entity which you love. For me for the past year or so since they started carrying it, that coffee has been the Fair Trade Organic BOLIVIAN BLEND. Another Medium Roast. I really love that one, which is not a Small Lot, so easy to find too year round.
This Costa Rican Chirripo coffee while OK, its not as good as that for me so I would not buy it again. Once again, Small Lots are Limited so if you want to try this, grab while you can. I rate this maybe 6/10
Trader Joe’s announced the winners of their 16th annual customer choice awards (2024).
Which, out of all the products TJ’s has, do you think customers awarded as the overall top dog pick? Interestingly enough it’s the same one which has been voted first by customers for the 4th Year In A Row as overall favorite ! Drum roll, please, and the winner is….
TJ’s really good snack their Chili & Lime Flavor Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips, were once again voted as as overall favorite. These have been picked 4 years running!
Some time ago I reviewed these and loved them. I gave these delicious, possibly addictive, snacks a big thumbs up. So I am not shocked that these remain to be so popular and got the top Customer’s Choice spot again as these are super.
Though they may not be to everyone’s taste as these pack a punch of pretty intense flavor plus a good leave of heat (like Takis) I find them Spicy Delicious. However my wife for example is someone who doesn’t go for these at all. Even though she likes fairly spicy in general, she doesn’t like these chips. She finds the flavors too strong and too intense, whereas I find them irresistible, and frankly addictive, to the point where once I start eating them at times I have to remeber to stop myself lest I eat the whole bag!
Having said that I do actually sometimes like to counter balance the intense flavor of these chips by pairing them with something which will counter balance them. Knock down the heat a bit. As I mentioned in my review sometimes I actually like to eat these with cottage cheese. I find that a great combination as cottage cheese, something a bit bland, will balance out the flavor. Or sometimes I will enjoy these with some dip which is not too intensely flavored.
OK so the Rolled Tortilla Chips were the #1 Customer Pick. What were the Runners Up in that catagory? Here are the second through fifth place choices, just to give you some ideas of what Trader Joe’s products seem to be most popular with customers:
Things seem to have slightly improved, as I am finally seeing eggs back at Trader Joe’s. Instead of finding mostly empty shelves like we have been seeing for the last month or so (sold out by 9 am). Perhaps one reason is the limit on 1 dozen eggs per customer.
So consider this an improvement? Plus price-wise, considering I have seen eggs at local supermarkets for $11-14, seeing eggs for $4 for a dozen Extra Large Brown at Trader Joe’s seems like a bargain. Other prices were $7 for Pasture Raised Organic Large Brown (Feb 15, 2025 Trader Joe’s Broadway 72nd Street, NYC) Let’s hope it stays like this or hopefully improves? That may be wishful thinking!
“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
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”
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.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Trader Joe’s has come out with another variety of their CHOCOLATE BARK. I liked the original one with pretzels and sea salt (sweet and salty)
The new one comes in a pink bag. DARK CHOCOLATE BARK plus Puffed Quinoa and Freeze Dried Raspberries.
From Trader Joe’s: “The Bark you’ll find within each bag starts as a thin(ish) slab of rich Dark Chocolate studded with pieces of pleasantly tart freeze-Dried Raspberries and Puffed Quinoa.”
So I got some to review. At first I thought it was a bit sweet, however as frequently happens when I am tasting something from Trader Joe’s, I could not stop eating more. I kept saying to myself, “just one more bite.” Then I realize I had already devoured 3 or 4 pieces. Be warned, this chocolate may be slightly addictive.
This new variation on the dark chocolate slab is good. Quite tasty. In the bag quite a few largish pieces of the bark which you can break up into smaller bites. The chocolate combo is pretty yummy,, just a little bit on the sweet side however the tart dried raspberries in this does counterbalance it all out. There is a nice crunchy texture you get from the puffed quinoa in these, kind of like chocolate with Rice Krispies. Here its tiny puffed quinoa bits. The dried raspberries give a nice backnote of fruit in each bite.
Update: Trader Joe’s just implemented a “1 per customer” limit policy
The pictures of bare shelves where the eggs are supposed to be, were taken at two different Trader Joe’s early February 2025 (in NYC (Upper West Side).
Trader Joe’s prices seem a bit better than elsewhere which is probably one reason why people are scrambling to get eggs from Trader Joe’s. I see $4.99/dozen listed. These days five bucks for a dozen eggs is “a deal”! Hah!! Well that is better than a supermarket near me I checked a few days ago. I got sticker shock to see yes they had eggs in stock however they were selling regular white large eggs for $10.79/dozen. Yikes!
When I spoke to an employee near the egg shelves at Trader Joe’s about when they come in he told met they come in in the morning and the eggs at present are usually all sold out of eggs by 10 a.m. Just a week later another employee updated this to tell me if you want eggs you better come before 9 a.m! They open at 8. So the moral of the story, is if you want to find eggs at Trader Joe’s you may have to go there early in the morning, 8-9 a.m. Unfortunately that leaves me out. I’m not really an early riser.
After 4 or 5 strike outs trying to find eggs at Trader Joe’s recently (I got there early afternoon) I ended up buying eggs elsewhere: Fairway Market (NYC). White Extra Large eggs there were just under $6. More for brown, cage free, etc.
As long as the Avian Flu problem exists – and it only seems to be getting worse and worse – expect to see high prices on eggs as well as limited supplies, especially at Trader Joe’s perhaps? Each Trader Joe’s store only gets so many daily, and it looks like demand is exceeding supply. This is a pretty major problem and just getting worse unfortunately.
Update: Feb 7 2025: Trader Joe’s added a sign saying “eggs are limited to one dozen per customer per day”
UPDATE: Mar 31 2025: I am seeing eggs on Trader Joe’s shelves, on and off, depending on what time of day you get there. They might be sold out around noon. However a TJ employee told me they put eggs out now about twice a day; mornings and afternoons. First at 8 am when they open, and then again around 4 in the afternoon (this was NYC, Trader Joe’s UWS). Limits are “one carton per household”. Prices at Trader Joe’s are FAR MORE REASONABLE than I see at other standard supermarkets in my area where eggs can cost anywhere from 8-9 up to 11-12 dollars. Contrast this with TJ’s prices: $3.49 for jumbo white, $3.99 for brown large, $4.99 for brown large cage free, up to about $6 or 7 for pasture raised brown large or extra large.
“Per household” – they are not people coming together and buying a carton each when they are clearly “together” and pretending not to know each other!? Though how exactly they figure that out is beyond me.
These I have gathered have gotten to be quite popular especially due to a semi viral “hack” about them on social media like Instagram and TikTok.
The hack is basically you cook these in chicken broth and drizzle with chile oil. So basically chicken dumplings in chicken soup. Almost like they were wontons.
I previously reviewed the other version of these that Trader Joe’s has, the more typical pork version of these dumplings. Pork and Ginger Soup Dumplings. I thought I would give these Chicken Dumpling versions a try as well.
OK, they are decent as long as I really just think of them as another kind of dumpling and not specifically “soup dumplings” aka “xiao long bao” or XLB, those prized jewels of the Chinese dumpling art. I am a huge fan, a devotee of XLB. Any good xiao long bao as I previously mentioned in that other review about TJ’s Pork Soup Dumplings.
I made these chicken soup dumpling two ways. First, the simple, classic way of just steaming them, then enjoying with a dipping sauce. For what they are and what they cost, I would say they were not bad (If not really “soup dumplings”). Round chicken dumplings.
Next I wanted to try this viral hack going around…. So I also made them this time cooked in chicken broth.
Yes, cooking the dumplings in chicken broth gives these an edge. First, serving them this way makes these into more of a meal or “dinner” rather than being an appetizer or snack.
I actually had some of my own homemade chicken broth which I had made a few days before, and let’s face it that obviously helped improve the whole dish. Tip 1: use good chicken broth.
PROS- I was pleasantly surprised by how tasty I actually found the chicken filling in these dumplings. The filling is definitely a step up. Very rich and meaty tasting having a good amount of chicken and really being loaded with ginger. The ginger gives these a great taste. The filling in these is so much better, compared to the standard Trader Joe’s chicken gyoza/dumplings (plastic bag, $4). No comparison. These cost more and you can taste the difference. So for the upgraded chicken Filling, I give these a big plus.
CONS – Where these lose ground with me, are the actual wrappers. I wish they had better quality wrappers. The dough wrapper here just turned too soft and mushy too easily. Yes maybe thats just what sitting in hot soup does to them, though frankly I must have eaten a thousand bowls of steaming hot wonton soup in my lifetime and never find the wrappers as soft and mushy as these became. Second, the “chicken soup” in them? Minimal. At best. Not nearly enough soup inside (though if eaten in broth, this may be a moot point, I admit).
An authentic soup dumpling has perhaps a tablespoon or more of liquid. These had maybe a teaspoon if that? These are fairly flat, like little pucks while real XLB are round and a bit tall, so can fit more stuffing inside. Real XLB you can be picked up with chopsticks (see pic) – which is next to impossible with these Trader Joe’s “soup dumplings” as they just don’t have enough extra dough at the top, as you can see in this authentic Xiao Long Bao.
(what an authentic soup dumpling looks like, image from Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao. See how much filling and soup they have?)
The fact is unlike many kinds of dumplings, xiao long bao don’t really freeze well. The wrappers are delicate. So real ones are almost always made fresh to order. As far as frozen xiao long bao, I’ve had them from supposedly high end vendors, but did not find any equal to eating them fresh in a restaurant by a long shot.
HOW TO COOK Trader Joe’s STEAMED CHICKEN SOUP DUMPLINGS:
Steamed in Microwave: Follow the package directions to put them in the microwave for a little less than two minutes right in the tray they come in.
Stovetop: I made them in this traditional way, in a steamer basket. Steam for 8-10 minutes until very hot.
Cooking In Chicken Broth: If you are doing the viral hack of making these in chicken broth, unless you have some good homemade broth, I would suggest getting the best quality chicken broth you can buy. Most broth in cartons are just OK. Nothing like homemade. I have found the Trader Joe’s Low Sodium Chicken Broth to be “just ok”. FYI, The NY Times said that Target’s GOOD AND PLENTY broth was among the best of store bought chicken broths in a carton. Yes you would be adding a bit of soy sauce and chili oil which will give things a bit more of a taste. Rather than the typical carton broth which everyone is showing you they pour on these dumplings, I would suggest trying Trader Joe’s BONE BROTH (sold in the refrigerated case, $5). I have found that broth pretty good, closer to home made chicken stock than TJ’s carton broths. Real chicken broths gel up when cold from the collagen in bones. The TJ Bone Broth is a bit gelled.
Add a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil and chili oil (my chili oil of choice would be the real deal: Lao Gan Ma) over Trader Joe’s CHILI CRISP but it can do it a pinch.
Again if you think of these not really as XLB but as decent frozen chicken dumplings I would say these are worth trying, especially if you try the viral dumplings in soup with chili oil hack/recipe.
Trader Joe’s STEAMED CHICKEN SOUP DUMPLINGS $3.49 (for six dumplings)
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.
“8 Mini Ice Cream Cones filled with rich vanilla ice cream and a chocolate coating”
Who hasn’t heard of these yet? Well, just in case you haven’t, these little mini ice cream cones dipped in chocolate that Trader Joe’s came out with are Da Bomb. These are SO GOOD! Not to mention so popular. They seem to fly off the shelves. As you can see in the photo I took when I went to buy them there was an almost empty shelf but luckily there still were a few boxes left so I could get one to try out for review. I got the vanilla but I’m sure all are as good.
They are small mini cones, kind of a perfect size when you are in the mood for a little ice cream snack. One is maybe about 5 or 6 bites. You could easily eat two or three! Even if you did eat three, according to the box that would be 260 calories, not too crazy bad.
The chocolate covering is not super thin, nor too thick, it’s just thick enough (ok its not Dove Bar thick) so you do get some very good chocolate with the first few bites, and the chocolate is good. The combo is so tasty matched with the all three elements: ice cream, chocolate coating plus the tasty cone it is in.
One thing I especially liked about these is that you get some ice cream all the way down to the very bottom of the cone which really makes these good till the last bite. Another huge improvement? They now are seeming to pour a little chocolate in the very bottom of the cone. This acts as a “stopper” and helps the ice cream not melt out through the bottom.
These MINI CONES really became popular fast. They may be Trader Joe’s most popular dessert item now. They’ve come out with and added a number of flavors besides the original (Vanilla) one so now you will see a few flavors like Strawberry, Mint and Chocolate…
If you haven’t tried these yet – and you can find them – be sure to check them out. You can not go wrong with these yummy treats.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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