“This fully cooked entrée option takes less than an hour to reheat in the oven. Marinated in a brine of salt, sugar, black pepper and garlic herb butter. “
I didn’t try this (so not a review) but I recently noticed this item the other day and it caught my eye. It’s in the refrigerated case with TJ’s fresh and frozen turkeys. Being cooked I definitely can see this as something that might appeal to many people who don’t want to cook a whole turkey but still want to have turkey on the table that looks home made. It’s a half breast of turkey that was brined, then cooked “sous vide” (a cooking technique chef’s love as it keeps meat juicy and tender). TJ’s says it all this needs is about 40 minutes in the oven to reheat.
Most of the packages I looked at seemed to total around $32 to $40, running around 3 to 4 pounds each. Sure $10 a pound for turkey breast isn’t exactly cheap but then you are paying for a lot of convenience and work and time saved. Plus say you only like white meat anyway, there will be less waste and left overs. If one has this all you need to do is maybe add a package or two of TJ’s turkey gravy ($1.49) and some of their frozen sides like mashed sweet potatoes, French green beans. I could imagine one can come up with an almost home made T-Day pretty easy. This item seemed a bit popular and was even sold out the next time I went to TJ’s.
“Our Midwest supplier splits a full turkey breast, leaving the bone in, and marinating it in a brine of salt, sugar, black pepper, and garlic-herb butter. The Half Breast is then seared, and slowly cooked sous-vide. It’s not an exaggeration to say this approach produces a moist, juicy, and tender Half Turkey Breast with rich, slow-roasted flavor-and in just 40 minutes, versus the multiple hours it takes to cook a whole turkey. Find our Fully Cooked Brined Bone-In Half Turkey Breasts (about 2.5 pounds each on average) in our refrigerated deli section.”
I just saw lovely fresh organic cranberries in stock at Trader Joe’s now (November 2023)
This year the organic ones are $2.99 a bag (1 lb). The regular ones, $2.29. Both are very good prices this year! Frankly for the fairly small price difference between the regular and organic I would get the organic ones.
How easy is it to make your own cranberry sauce? It will take you maybe 1 or 2 minutes of “work”, if you call “add water and sugar” work.
I will not bore you again with my rant about never serving anyone Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce from a can again — but really its super easy to make your own fresh cranberry sauce!
“Our Organic Cranberries are harvested in the fall and shipped to your neighborhood Trader Joe’s. There are so many uses, you’ll want to grab more than one bag to simmer into a super sauce, bake into breads and muffins, deck out your Thanksgiving tablescape, garnish glasses of chilled sparkling wine…”
EASY BASIC CRANBERRY SAUCE RECIPE : Put all the berries into a heavy pot. Add one cup water, then add one cup of sugar. (I like organic cane sugar but use any kind you have) Bring this to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and just let it cook like that for 15-20 minutes until the cranberries start to “pop”. Once the start to pop its done.
(TIP : you can use orange juice for the liquid, or mix or 1/2 juice 1/2 water)
When the sauce cools it will thicken a lot as cranberry skin contains a great deal of pectin. I like adding some fresh lemon juice too (optional) after it’s done. You can make this days in advance. Take it out and let it come to room temperature before serving. I promise you, your guests will rave at how good your sauce is.
TIP: Fresh cranberries freeze well. You can buy an extra bag and freeze it. No one says cranberry sauce doesn’t go well with foods besides turkey. Its great with grilled chicken and other things too.
Trader Joe’s GRILLED CHICKEN STRIPS Seasoned White Chicken Meat.
Simply grilled white chicken meat. Simple and straightforward, just strips of (cooked) chicken breast and I’ve found they can be handy to have on hand in my freezer. Say I wish I had a few strips of of leftover chicken to put on something like a salad. Or perhaps I need a little chicken as an ingredient, say for a fast chicken/cheese quesadillas.
Except I don’t have any leftover chicken. No wait, I have this in the freezer. I take out a few strips, put them in a pan with a pinch of water, cover and voila. In just 6 minutes I’ve got some strips of chicken I can use however I want.
I find this has been at times quite useful to come up with a fast protein. To top a salad or greens, a bowl of rice or other grains, or for a protein bowl. To match with vegetables or a taco, or what have you. High protein, low calorie.
This seems pretty natural ingredients-wise, just chicken and a few seasonings, no chemical names. The chicken has a slightly smokey, grilled taste. It has grill marks which I guessing means they got a little time on a grill or open flame.
Gluten free. Minimal ingredients. Chicken, salt, pepper, onion, garlic… Sodium level is not bad at all. No added fats. The Nutrition Label says 100 Calories per 3 oz serving which has a whopping 20 grams of Protein!
(frozen)(cooked)
Cooking Directions: (Stovetop) Place chicken in a nonstick or cast iron pan. Add 2 tbls of water. Cover the pan and cook on low-medium for about 6 to 8 minutes, until done. TIP: Personally I add a little olive oil or butter to the pan, as I find a bit improves the flavor.) I always do the “stovetop” method but there are directions as well for microwaving them too. Just be careful and don’t overcook them lest you end up with over cooked tough white meat.
My take is cook just until the point of done-ness, or “à point” – as they say in French. Basically we’re letting it go from frozen to defrosted and then cooking just a little bit. The moist environment helps, which is the point of adding a little water, and remember to open the cover and let the steam out when its done.
Many of the strips are perfect however you will find some broken or small pieces, probably happening during shipping and stocking. C’est la vie. TJ’s Grilled Chicken Strips are $8.99 (1 lb). You’ll find them in Frozen near chicken products
“They pair well with all kinds of veggies and starches, and take particularly well to customizing with your favorite sauces and seasonings—we’re partial to tossing them with a bit of Korean Gochujang Sauce, ourselves. They’re a great topper for salads, pastas, and pizzas, phenomenal as a filling for tacos and quesadillas, lovely when layered into sandwiches and wraps, and an easy addition to casseroles and baked enchiladas.”
“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 )
BASICASIANDIPPING 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.
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.
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 INDIAN FARE YELLOW TADKA DAL is “A savory, creamy and spicy blend of lentils and spices” (PRODUCT OF INDIA)
Trader Joe’s has quite a bit of Indian foods on offer, some in the frozen foods section as well as some non-frozen ones too, such as this line of Indian dishes which comes in pouches. Some of these I’ve tried are really good, especially this one, TADKA DAL.
We ate this TADKA DAL last night and I have to say I found it surprisingly tasty, I’m mean as in “This tastes like it came from an Indian restaurant” level good. This Tadka Dal was very flavorful and nicely spiced with a wee bit of heat going on. I put it in a pan on top of the stove (they suggest heating in hot water). If you serve this dal with a few other things, you have a nice easy dinner… We had this with another dish plus cooked Basmati rice, some Garlic Naan, Mango Chutney and a salad. (Sidenote: I saw TJ’s has a new Indian condiment, “Garlic Achar” which I want to try)
If you add at least one other dish to the Dal such as TJ’s CHANNA MASALA you can have an easy and quite tasty pretty authentic Indian dinner. These TJ’s “Indian Fare” products come in shelf stable pouches and are not a bad deal at about $2 each (for 10 oz) I find these pouches of Indian items great things to have in our pantry for whenever we’re in the mood for Indian food, or come home and don’t feel like cooking but don’t want to order out either. These plus frozen Naan make fast super easy meals. I have not tried all of these Indian Fare pouches but there are a few varieties on offer. This Tadka Dal one is quite good and worth your trying. By the way, in case you want to know what “Tadka” refers to: Tadka translates as “tempering.” It is a method widely used in Indian cuisine, in which whole or ground spices are heated in hot oil or ghee and the mixture is added to a dish.“
TADKA DAL: ingredients include yellow split peas, butter, oil, tomato, chili pepper, salt, cumin, onion, curry leaves, yest, mustard see, tumeric…. The Sodium level listed is a bit high, so compensate for that with other dishes (such as using less salt to make your rice)
When I saw these frozen TANDOORI NAAN, I had an idea… Could I use these naan for the “base” of a pizza? If so than I could make pizza in mere seconds! OK it actually took me more like 5 minutes to assemble these pizzas (see pic) and pop them in a hot oven. But the idea? It basically worked fine. Using these Naan breads makes it super fast and easy to whip up some individual sized pizzas almost instantly. Just spread some of your favorite sauce, put on some cheese, and pop them in the oven, and Bingo you got a fresh hot pizza in about 10-15 minutes with almost no work at all.
As you can see in the pictures, I simply put some marinara on. I put slices of TJ whole milk mozzarella on, then threw it in the oven on a baking sheet for about 10-12 minutes at 400 .
Yes, I spruced these up a little adding a few sliced mushrooms and a few sliced asparagus to make it a bit “veggie”. I had this stuff in the fridge. Now I turned on the broiler for the last minute or two to really get the top nice and browned (I over did this by a few seconds so be careful if you do the broiler browning part). When they came out, I put some fresh grated parmesan on for good measure, and a drizzle of EVOO.
DELICIOUS!
The Naan Pizza turned out quite good as you can probably tell from the pic. We ate one each with a salad for dinner and that made a very satisfying (and tasty!) dinner for us. Making these with the Naan requires so little time and effort. Yes the naan is not a real pizza base, it is more bread-y than a real pizza but seriously this was so fast, easy and cheap that making PIZZA NAAN is certainly worth giving a try sometime. TIP: Buy and try this with the GARLIC NAAN version TJ has as well. Obviously the Trader Joe’s Naan are great used in the traditional way too. For example accompanying some of the TJ Masala Chickpeas (frozen section) which are delicious!
A pack of 4 Naan is $1.99 (50 cents each, not bad huh). These are great to have in your freezer for pizza or Indian food or to use in many imaginative ways whenever you are in the mood.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
Recent Comments