“Trader Joe’s Taiwanese Green Onion Pancakes are like what you might get at a traditional Dim Sum meal…Savory disks of dough fried till they are crispy and flaky… East as a snack or part of a meal…”
VEGAN
Trader Joe’s Taiwanese scallion pancakes are very popular, and for good reason. They’re really tasty, very easy to make, and let’s face it pretty much a bargain at $2.49 for a package with five pancakes. If you’ve never tried these before, trust me, you should.
These can make a tasty and easy appetizer, snack, side dish, lunch or even become a complete meal depending on what you eat with them.
These only need about 6 minutes in a pan to become crispy golden brown and delicious. As these go best with a dipping sauce, I’ve put an easy recipe for an Asian dipping sauce further down. In a pinch even a little soy sauce, ginger and Chinese black vinegar (or rice vinegar) will work. Or you can use one of Trader Joe’s bottled sauces like the “Gyoza Sauce” or similar.
Inside the package are five frozen pancakes conveniently separated by plastic sheets. These are super easy to make; you just take out a frozen pancake and put in a hot pan with a bit of oil, and let it get golden brown.
We ate these as part of a dinner recently. Along with the pancakes with had fried rice and even added a fried egg on top of it all for some extra protein. The combo was yummy. I made the fried rice however one could easily use Trader Joe’s popular frozen JAPANESE FRIED RICE.
HOW TO COOK TRADER JOE’S GREEN ONION PANCAKES:
STOVE TOP METHOD – Put 1 tsp of cooking oil to a nonstick or cast iron pan heated on Medium. As the oil gets hot, swirl it around the pan. Add a frozen pancake (removing the plastic of course!) After adding the disk to the pan, let it alone for a good minute or two to brown. Let that first side get nice and brown which will take about 3-5 minutes. Check it periodically. Get it nice and golden brown (see photo above). When that first side is golden brown, flip it over with a spatula but don’t press down hard (to keep them flaky). Let the second side brown. This will take less time as it is no longer frozen, perhaps about 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on it. When the bottom is golden brown, remove pancake, put on a paper towel and keep warm while you get another one going. (TIP – Each disk is about 7 inches in diameter so if you want to make a few at a time you might get 2 pans going (or use a griddle).
When you are ready to serve them, you can cut them up into quarters or eights. Enjoy asap while they are warm and crispy. Dipping sauce (recipe below)
AIR FRYER – I don’t have one however I’ve seen people online say these can be cooked in one.
Please don’t even think of microwaving as an option. They need to get crispy and brown.
These types of Chinese scallion pancakes are simple yet delicious. I’ve eaten these made in front of me from Chinese street vendors or stalls in Flushing. I also had them in restaurants. Naturally one can’t quite compare these store bought scallion pancakes to handmade ones, however these are still quite tasty, not to mention so convenient to have on hand in the freezer.
I do have one complaint with these Trader Joe’s pancakes…. they don’t have nearly enough green onions to be called Green Onion Pancakes.
An authentic Chinese / Taiwanese scallion pancake will have a ton of scallions. I suggest you get a package of fresh scallions when you buy these. Chop up a a big handful and toss them on top when you serve. And you can also put scallions in your sauce.
Now just As-Is these are fine – However one can add things, on top too. Say for example, a fried egg on top. You can fold a pancake like a taco with the egg and eat it like that (in a paper towel) which is a very typical way one might get these served on the street somewhere in China or Taiwan.
Feel free to use these as a base and add toppings of whatever you like. How about some cooked seasoned beef or ground pork, grilled chicken. Or shrimp? Or grilled tofu. Grilled portobello mushrooms. You can even put cheese on them for a cheesy Chinese pancake. Be as inventive as you like with these. One more idea – eat with TJ’s Middle Eastern Beef Kebabs for a Silk Road combination! They match well.
As mentioned before these need more scallions so toss on a big handful and I love chopped cilantro too with these.
Typically these pancakes are usually served with a dipping sauce. You can easily make an Asian dipping sauce (see below for a simple basic recipe). Any sauce can work say even TJ’s “Soyaki” or Gyoza Sauce or the like. TJ’s Chili Onion Crunch, of course too is a great too. My favorite real deal addition for these pancakes is some chili crisp aka Lao Gan Ma, to which I have a serious addiction (If you don’t have any Asian markets here’s a link to it on Amazon : Lao Gan Ma )
BASIC ASIAN DIPPING SAUCE:
- 2 tbl TJ’s Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 2 tsp Chinese black vinegar (if you don’t have it you can use rice vinegar or even balsamic)
- 1 lg crushed clove garlic
- 1 tsp brown sugar or honey
- Optional – Fresh grated ginger. A drizzle of Sesame Oil (if you like spicy mix in some Chili Crisp or Lao Gan Ma)
- You can add chopped green onions to the sauce as well.
Checking the Nutrition label 1 pancake contains 330 calories.
Ingredients : Wheat flour, water, scallions, coconut oil, baking powder, baking soda.
I would buy this again. Need some ideas to use these as a starting point for something ….? Check out these ideas…..
One last thing: Trader Joe’s has other frozen pancakes: KOREAN SCALLION PANCAKES PA-JEON. These are maybe even better though a bit different. The Korean ones have lots of scallions plus other vegetables that go into a batter. The PAJEON cost a bit more but are terrific and may even be easier to find in stock. I think the Taiwanese scallion pancakes seem to have gotten so popular they get sold out kind of fast as some people buy 5 or more packages (you know who you are, so please leave some for the rest of us!)
UPDATE-1 (Winter 2023) – Haven’t seen them for months. Sold Out / Out of Stock at two different TJ’s I go to. Beginning to wonder if these are too popular for their own good?!
UPDATE-2 (Mar 2024) – FINALLY! Seeing these back in stores! Yeah! Hopefully you find them.
Chinese Scallion Pancakes (葱油饼)
https://www.seriouseats.com/extra-flaky-scallion-pancakes-recipe
PS – I’ve actually made Scallion Pancakes from scratch a few times. Sure, it’s a bit of work but frankly these are not very hard to make yourself. Of course they are even better, so think about making them. All you need is flour, scallions and oil. Check out these recipes and think about giving it a try one day!
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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