They were giving out samples of these yesterday so I took one to taste. Didn’t like it at all. For me the cookie was crazy sweet, just overpoweringly sweet. I have no idea what “Cinnamon Bun Inspired” even is supposed to mean. I barely tasted cinnamon flavor, just an overpowering amount of sugar.
Now the TJ’s Regular Joe Joes are not bad; they are an Oreos copy. This one though, I thought whoever dreamed up this “Cinnamon Bun Inspired” variation had a terrible idea that failed in execution. On the plus side this says its a “limited edition”. I expect it to fade away and make room for another decent product.
I do love cinnamon and TJ’s I just love TJ’s Old Fashioned Cinnamon Grahams, which are a are wonderful cookie with a ton of great cinnamon flavor, so if you want a great cookie with cinnamon taste get some of those. They are absolute Classics and a great product.
My wife bought this to try though we are not lactose intolerant nor vegetarian. Taste wise it was very MEH. Neither of us thought it was good and we both thought “don’t buy this again”. Still if you are lactose intolerant (or vegetarian) perhaps this recent addition to the frozen dessert options at Trader Joe’s is something you might be interested in.
Saw it in the NEW ITEMS section: Trader Joe’s PEPPERMINT CASTILE SOAP – “A multi purpose cleaner made with olive, coconut, hemp and jojoba oils” – “SHAMPOO, BODY WASH, BATH, HOUSEHOLD CLEANER, LAUNDRY CLEANER”
As you can see this soap is good for almost everything!
Especially if you are of a certain age when you see this blue bottle which says PEPPERMINT CASTILE SOAP it will immediately make you think of the very famous bottle of DR BRONNER’S Castile Soap, an iconic brand. Those blue bottles had a label with a ton writing on it, mostly about World Peace. Dr. Bronner;s has been around for ever (founded 1948). I love the stuff and used it forever until it got quite pricey.
Dr Bronners peppermint soap is a product I am very fond of. Its good for EVERYTHING. The peppermint Dr Bronners is so minty fresh it would make your scalp tingle if you used as shampoo. “Dilute, dilute, OK” it said on the label filled with a ton of the Dr’s writings about World Peace. Don’t get it in your eyes. So Dr. Bronner’s is one of those “old fashioned” products that is so useful and so classic it’s actually been copied at least a few times that I know of. Bed Bath Beyond had their own version of this liquid peppermint Castile soap and now Trader Joe’s has come out with their version. I’m very happy to see this.
Its made with Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Hemp Oil (!) plus has two kinds of mint.
I don’t have a bottle of the original soap right now to compare Trader Joe’s version to, but I liked this. Trader Joe’s version of the famous blue bottle of Peppermint Castile soap quite good.
It has a wonderful peppermint smell. This is trulya “multi-purpose” product that you can literally use all over the house: in the bath, in the kitchen, in the laundry, on your floors, really all over the house. A little bit of it goes a long way too. A little squirt of this soap on your hands makes a good lather and your nose will love the fresh minty smell.
BODY WASH/SHAMPOO/BATH – I put a very tiny squirt on a bath poof and just the little amount made an enormous amount of soapy lather in a few seconds. It smelled wonderful and minty fresh. It felt refreshing. Shampoo- It will make your scalp feel tingly and clean from the peppermint (make sure not to let this get in your eyes !)
LAUNDRY – I put it on a clean, washed old T shirt I use for the gym. I hand washed it in hot water with some of this soap. Wow. The water got so dirty it wasn’t funny. This is great for laundry and will make clothes smell great and refresh clothes, especially things like gym clothes or socks that might have odor.
Trader Joe’s CASTILE PEPPERMINT SOAP is $5.99 for a 16 oz bottle. For comparison Target sells Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap for $17 for a 32 oz bottle. So decent price for this quality Castile soap.
I liked this a lot. I would buy it again.
“AVOID CONTACT WITH EYES” (tip: the mint is strong so be careful getting this near your eyes)
(Update Jan 2025: M.I.A. for some time. Are they Out of stock or possibly Discontinued?) March 2025L Well its official from Trader Joe’s. UNFORTUNATELY THIS PRODUCT WAS DISCONTINUED ) Too bad as these were really good!
Trade Joe’s has quite a few, cooked, ready to eat, chicken items in the refrigerated section. Some of those are chicken breasts that have been already sliced . These however are whole cooked boneless chicken breasts, plain and simple, ready to use how ever you like. “All Natural, Minimally Processed…”
So convenient when you don’t feel like cooking but want a fast, easy protein. My review of these is that these boneless breast are super tasty. They are as juicy as possible, as they have not already been cut up, plus they are sealed up with the cooking juices. These are of course super convenient to have in the fridge. They will last at least a week, maybe more. For longer term storage you can freeze them and leave them overnight in the fridge to defrost.
Of course you are paying a bit more here per pound for boneless breasts as naturally one pays for the convenience of having it prepped and cooked. However the taste and quality is quite high. I even am pretty sure too these have been cooked Sous Vide (more on this later) Inside the package are four vacuum sealed pouches containing one perfect looking 4 ounce boneless breasts of chicken like you can see here. They even have grill marks on them, meaning they got some time over a grill.
Some people look down on boneless chicken breast, and think of them as dry and flavorless, but I promise you the way this is cooked proves otherwise. These are perfectly juicy.
My hunch how they make these: I believe these are cooked two ways: First they grill the outside a tiny bit to get those attractive grill marks but then they vacuum seal the breasts and cook them Sous Vide.Naturally I am just guessing but these kinds of pouches look exactly like how sous vide food looks. I also say this especially at how perfect the cook is on these boneless breasts. These are perfectly cooked. Juicy, tender, flavorful. If you are in the food game, let us know in the Comments if you too think these are cooked sous vide.
I gave one of these to my neighbor to taste. She thought they were delicious and immediately said she would be sure to buy them the next time she goes to TJ’s.
“Fully Cooked” – To me this is cooked just perfectly a point. In French cooking “à point” means “exactly right” meaning being “ideally cooked, no more, no less”. These breasts are just cooked just like that. Not overcooked. They are plump and juicy and there is a bit of natural cooking juices in the pouch – which you should be sure to save! This little bit of juice/stock can go over the chicken.
I sliced up a breast and ate it right out of the package as again, these are “fully cooked”. The cook on this is what you might call “medium rare”. If you’re someone who says they like chicken breast cooked until its “well done” you may not find it . Trust me it is. Its Perfect and is done like this so you can reheat it as they state. I put the sliced breast meat on top of a salad and it was delicious. Especially with some Magnificsauce on top. The package states you can “Reheat” this by simmering the pouch in water (or microwaving it). They suggest “simmering for 10-12 minutes”. It comes cooked “a point” so honestly I wonder if simmering this for 12 minutes might ruin it by overcooking it. I would simmer for 5 minutes tops ! Maybe if this is actually sous vide, 12 minutes might be OK. But once again it is already fully cooked. Though “just cooked” in the center which is personally the way I make boneless breasts. Your call on this point.
So I found these breasts very good and very tasty. The downside is of course the price is $9.99 for 1 pound of chicken however of course you don’t have to lift a finger to cook or prep it. You are paying for the convenience of having it ready to use, plus lets face it in a nice deli that sells cooked boneless breasts I’m sure would pay that much a pound if not more for cooked boneless breasts of this quality: perfect.
So when you want a perfect breast of chicken all ready this is very convenient.
The nutrition label says one breast is 150 calories with a whopping 27 Grams Protein and only 4.5 gr of fat. Sounds pretty healthy, no?
Trader Joe’s fortunately sells a number of excellent Japanese style rice crackers (aka “senbei”) and I am a big fan of any kind.
These types of rice crackers are baked not fried. Hence low fat, low cal. As made just from rice flour these are naturally GLUTEN FREE.
They’re great for snacking by themselves as well as being great as a cracker for any topping. We like all of the different kinds of rice crackers they carry. I buy one or another of them all the time.
These Savory Thin Mini rice crackers are the soy sauce / tamari version of an identical rice cracker minus the tamari flavor, which is lighter in color. Also called “Savory Thin Mini Rice Crackers”, either version of these mini rice crackers are good.
The one with Tamari soy sauce flavor I find quite tasty as it gets some UMAMI from the Tamari and it’s Multi Seed and also contains black sesame seeds and flax seeds.
All of the Trader Joe’s rice crackers are naturally GLUTEN FREE as they are made from rice flour. The ingredient list has just a few ingredients, no weird chemical names, and overall seems pretty natural. These Mini Rice Crackers are really tasty and worth trying if you’ve never gotten them before.
$3.99 for 8 oz bag.
I would buy them again.
The lighter colored savory rice version of these rice crackers costs a bit less ($3.49) and those are also good if just a little plainer.
Sorry I cut off serving size; its 36 crackers = 120 calories; very low!
“Made with cream, Italian tomatoes and Grana Padano. Creamy, velvety and savory”
Product of Italy
Trader Joe’s introduced a new imported Italian pasta sauce called “ROSATELLA Pasta Sauce”. The sauce seems to be getting a lot of attention online. Sauces that mix cream or milk and tomato are known as “pink sauces” (rosa means pink), for example, Vodka Sauce.
“This ‘pink sauce’ really delivers on flavor….Our supplier in Italy sources all of their dairy from the Piedmont region—a region renowned for its milk and cheeses. They start with a cream & milk blend, to which they add a short list of ingredients, including tomato paste, onion & garlic purées, basil, oregano, and Grana Padano.“
I woke up today with an idea: what about using this sauce to make a pizza ?! Putting the idea out there….If anyone tries it, please let us know how it turned out.
This sauce is good! Creamy, nice and tomato-y and cheesy from a generous amount of authentic Grana Padano PDO cheese in the sauce. Online, people are calling it amazing, and frankly I agree. I found this new Rosatella sauce to be absolutely delicious.
When I opened the jar and took a taste, even at room temperature, I could taste that this sauce is real deal Italian. It has a nice balance of ingredients with the tomato, cream and cheese (PDO Grana Padano)
I thought a shaped pasta like rigatoni, penne, farfalle, or trofie might work best with a thick creamy sauce like this. I went with Rigatoni, as its a big and hearty shape that holds sauce well, and the rigatoni was a good choice. It went perfectly with the Rosatella sauce. Of course any pasta you pick should work fine too.
But about a week later I tried the rosatella sauce with Pappardelle and that was as good as it was on the rigaton, if not better. The flat noodle with this sauce was great. Super comfort food.
Rosatella sauce with Trader Joe’s Organic Pappardelle noodles
This sauce is quite thick out of the jar. Just to give you an idea of “how much to use”, for two portions of pasta I used about half the jar. Figure for four portions of pasta you will probably use a whole jar,. This sauce will easily stand up to a bit of your starchy pasta cooking water (all chef’s magic ingredient for pasta).
As always, I cook a pasta as per the classic (Italian) method, meaning you don’t just top naked cooked pasta with a spoon of sauce, the way many American’s tend to do (ugh!). The “correct” method is that you finish cooking the (undercooked) pasta with the sauce while tossing it and adding in some of that precious starchy pasta cooking water. I mean a few tablespoons at a time, just enough, not a cup as the pasta absorbs some of the sauce. Save about cup of your pasta water when you drain it, just in case. I just put a heat proof cup under the colander when I dump out the water.
My pasta technique: I take out the pasta about a minute before it hits al dente, toss it in a pan, adding most of the sauce plus a few tablespoons of (reserved) pasta water- the water a few tablespoons at a time tossing constantly (tip: always reserve a cup of your starchy pasta cooking water). In the pan, you toss the pasta with the sauce, again and again, and let it finish cooking until it all blends up together. Maybe about 60-90 seconds, or until the pasta is done “to the tooth” al dente, not over cooked. A little extra sauce on top is good. Plate and serve and eat it asap. I topped it with a bit of fresh basil plus, a bit more grated cheese and a drizzle of EVOO. The pasta dish with rigatoni and the sauce was so yummy. (I tried the Rosatella sauce a second time a few days later using Pappardelle and that combination was as good, if not better!). My recommendations pasta wise would be a shaped pasta, or the flat pappardelle.
We both really enjoyed the finished pasta with this excellent Rosatella pink sauce. I thought this sauce is so good, you could think about using it way beyond just for pasta. I can see it with lots of food. Say serve some on grilled chicken breasts? Or grilled shrimp or fish or meats? Certainly as the base for a homemade pizza. Really this stuff is yummy. You can’t go wrong with this.
I tried it spicy too – zhushing it up with a little spoon of my beloved spicy TJ’s “BOMBA” hot sauce (fermented Calabrian chilis). Even better! I just loved the now spicy Rosatella sauce as well.
This is a great new addition to the pasta sauces at TJ’s. It’s getting a lot of notice and plaudits online.
Trust me this is worth checking out. The Rosatella is $3.99 for a 14.5 oz jar.
I would buy this again
TIP: I look at the recommended cooking time on the package. If it says for example 11 minutes, I drain it at about 9 1/2 minutes. It goes into a pan as I add my sauce and cook it the final approximately 90 seconds cooking, so total time, about the recommended 11 minutes as I finish it, tossing it with sauce and a little pasta water. The mixing adds starch as the pasta releases it and makes your sauce creamier, thicker and stickier to coat all the pasta. And Serve immediately! People should be sitting down ready to eat as soon as it hits the plate. BUON APPETITO!
Roasted Eggplant Curry “Northern Indian dish from Punjab. Bharta means Charred grilled/smoked smashed vegetables”
NEW ITEM: Trader Joe’s recently added one more very good “Authentic Indian Recipe” entrée to the frozen Indian dishes they carry.
Baingan Bharta (a spiced roasted eggplant dish) is dish I’ve had many times in Indian restaurants and one I really enjoy. Trader Joe’s version of Baingan Bharta is quite decent, almost like something you could get at a restaurant, though maybe not quite as smokey. But TRADER JOE’S VERSION does have a bit of the classic smokey taste this dish is well known for, and it is very nicely seasoned with lots of authentic spices and flavor.
This dish, BAINGAN BHARTA, joins two other very good frozen entrée vegetarian dishes Trader Joe’s carries which I’ve reviewed and buy regularly: the excellent PALAK PANEER and CHANNA MASALA. I love having any of these in my freezer. For whenever the mood strike for an easy yet very tasty Indian meal. Just FYI, the ones I mention are the ones that are “entrées” meaning just that dish and they don’t include basmati rice (some dishes do) I make my own Basmati rice. Plus I like that that Trader Joe’s put this dish in an Eco Friendly (reclyable) paper base instead of plastic as some other dishes use.
HEATING: Use Microwave, Oven or Stovetop (even though they don’t say that). I made it on the stove and it worked fine just heating in a pan. You can leave it out on the counter for maybe a 1/2 hr, to defrost slightly then put frozen puck in a non-stick pan and heat it on low heat, covered, till its defrosted and heated thru, stirring every five minutes. It may take 15 minutes like this.
This dish of course goes well with Basmati rice and especially some Naan or other bread to scoop it up. I made a quick Raita with greek yogurt and cucumbers on the side. Naturally a nice chutney will go well too and one can not go wrong with TJ’s excellent Sri Lankan ORGANIC MANGO CHUTNEY
Cook up this entree up with Palak Paneer or a package of Channa Masala and some rice or naan and you have an Indian feast that will easily serve two for about $7-8.
“Our latest foray into the world of frozen entrées inspired by Indian cuisine combines the mild, slightly sweet flavor and creamy consistency of roasted eggplant with aromatic alliums like onion and garlic, savory seasonings like turmeric and fenugreek leaves, and a nice level of heat, courtesy of fresh green chili peppers. Hearty, flavorful, and satisfying, each bite of Trader Joe’s Baingan Bharta is layered with a pleasantly complex mix of tastes and textures. And though the eating experience may be complex, our take on this iconic Punjabi vegetarian dish (also known in some parts of the world as baigan chokha) is surprisingly simple to prepare: just heat, serve, and enjoy”
You can learn about this dish here which includes a recipe if you are feeling ambitious!
It’s wonderfully flavorful with just the perfect blend of sweet and spicy. Naturally it will go great with your Indian dinners such as your PALAK PANEER , or your Butter Chicken and Rice and some Naan and yogurt raita or tzatziki. However it will match well with many other types of food. Its great served on the side with grilled chicken or fish – or tofu for that matter. I even love it on top of cottage cheese! Great on a grilled cheese sandwich.
A jar is $3. I would buy this again. TIP: save yourself a trip and buy two jars!
“Made for us by a supplier in Sri Lanka, this magnificently Mango-forward Chutney is made with a thick, yet smooth and spreadable base of organic cane sugar and organic coconut sap vinegar, to which our supplier adds big, toothsome chunks of organic mango. They then flavor each batch with a suite of awesomely aromatic (and organic!) spices and seasonings that includes cinnamon, cardamom, chili powder, and garlic. Expertly balanced between its savory, sweet, and heat-based elements, the sky’s the limit with this vibrantly versatile Chutney. Try spooning a bit over pizza or pork chops, onto a freshly baked Organic Biscuit or toasted Tandoori Naan, or into a grilled cheese sandwich.“
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