Trader Joe’s Korean Scallion Pancakes are savory pancakes made primarily with scallions (green onions) as well as other vegetables.
These are a bit similar to TJ’s popular TAIWANESE GREEN ONION PANCAKES however the KOREAN SCALLION PANCAKES, (“PaJeon” in Korean) contain a lot more scallions than Trader Joe’s Taiwanese scallion pancakes, plus more vegetables such as onions, carrots, king oyster mushrooms and other goodies as you can see in the picture. These pancakes are quite tasty and Trader Joe’s version (made in Korea) are pretty good!
To make these pancakes, you make a egg and flour batter then add vegetables to it, then pour this into a pan to pan fry. I’ve have had them many times in Korean restaurants and those are delicious, really crispy. Naturally I can’t compare Trader Joe’s frozen scallion pancakes to those I’ve had in Korean restaurants but never the less, I enjoyed these. Trader Joe’s frozen PAJEON are quite tasty.
Even my wife (Korean/Japanese) enjoyed them and said they were good for a frozen version. You will enjoy these, especially if you can get them really crispy – which is the trick to making good pajeon.
The package suggests defrosting them before cooking doing either an overnight defrost in the fridge, or you can leave them out on the counter for a 1/2 hour or so, which is what I did. In a pinch they say you could do them from frozen. I didn’t try that way. Just plan a little bit ahead if you can to take them out for at least 20 minutes. The bag does say leave overnight in fridge to defrost, or about 30 minutes out on the counter. Meaning you should cook these defrosted if possible for the best results.
HOW TO COOK TRADER JOE’S SCALLION PANCAKES: Add a teaspoon or two of oil to a non stick, cast iron pan or very heavy skillet. If you happen to have a bottle of toasted sesame oil use that for the oil for the most authentic Korean taste.
Get the oil hot on medium heat then carefully add your (defrosted) pancakes. Let them cook for about 2-3 minutes on the first side checking the bottom occasionally for browning. You want to get them as golden brown as possible. You can press them gently with a spatula to help get them browned everywhere.
When the first side looks ready, flip them over and cook the second side, again getting the PaJeon as golden brown as possible, maybe another 2-3 minutes. When they look ready remove and drain off any excess oil on a paper towel.
Eat them asap while they are hot and crispy.
Other Methods: The package says you can bake them in the oven as well but I didn’t try that method yet. Perhaps then these can be done in an Air Fryer.
To serve these, cut the pancakes into quarters or slices (I actually cut the pancakes up before I cooked them as you can see above). Either way works. You want to eat these with a nice Asian dipping sauce, so get that prepped before you start cooking these. If you have some Gochujang , sesame oil and garlic in the sauce that will give you a real Korean flavor however any Asian dumpling sauce will work.
You could even top them with a fried egg. Or you could put some cooked shrimp on top. So be creative. Pajeon are hugely popular in Korean cuisine and can also be made with additional ingredients such as shrimp, beef, pork, tofu, seaweed, and other vegetables. Seafood pajeon are called haemul pajeon, kimchi pajeon are known as kimchijeon.
What to enjoy along with these to make a full meal? We ate them with fried rice and these go well with that. Maybe TJ’s Japanese Fried Rice or Bulgogi Fried Rice? Add KIMCHI on the side or mixed in for sure.
All in all, I found these SCALLION PANCAKES quite tasty. I would buy them again. They are about $4 for 4 pancakes. A bit more than the plainer Taiwan pancakes but these have way more ingredients.
(FROZEN) Trader Joe’s “Mushroom Medley” is one of their really great frozen products. It’s an assortment of mushrooms that have been cooked with olive oil and garlic. You can just use these exactly the same as if you had spent time cooking up a big bag of assorted mushrooms.
I love it so much I like to always have a bag in my freezer. I can use these to come up with lots of things fast and easy. For example just by adding these mushrooms to pasta or gnocchi or polenta I can make a very tasty dish, super fast. Of course they are good for other things besides pasta or gnocchi too. Sometimes I’ll use these to come up with a mushroom sauce for say chicken. Or add some of these to eggs and make a nice mushroom omelette or maybe a frittata. You could mix some into a can of tomato sauce. Or put on a pizza. You can use just what you need in the package and put the bag back inside a Ziplock bag.
They include a variety of different mushrooms. Beside “regular” mushrooms they have some oyster mushrooms (pleurotos ostreatus), porcini (boletus edulis) and slippery jack mushrooms (suillus luteus) to give you a variety of tastes and textures. Other ingredients include extra virgin olive oil, sunflower oil, parsley, salt and garlic. It can use more garlic so usually I will add that as well as a nice slug of good EVOO.
One example of a pasta dish might be something like cooking up a shaped pasta like farfalle, penne or rigatoni, trofie or gnocchi. Then mixing the pasta into a pan with the (defrosted) mushrooms till they get nicely coated. I usually add fresh garlic plus butter and olive oil and mix in a few tablespoons of the pasta water for a lovely sauce.
This makes a very tasty nice mushroom pasta dish. You could use a long pasta instead of a shaped one (like spaghetti) but in that case I might chop up the mushrooms first perhaps.
Another use might be to toss these into cooked rice or Harvest Grains Blend for a mushroom grain dish. So again, these are very versatile and useful!
One of my favorite/go to dishes is to use these to make GNOCCHI & MUSHROOMS. Crisp fry up a package of Trader Joe’s regular gnocchi while these mushrooms are cooking with a good slug of butter. When the gnocchi are golden brown, I just toss in these mushrooms and grate some Pecorino or Parmigiano on top. Voila, a gourmet dish equal to a restaurant that serves two for dinner and costs under $6!
Another one would be pairing these with the great ORGANIC PAPPARDELLE noodles. Sauté some garlic with olive oil, add the mushrooms and mix them with the pappardelle. Easy and delicious.
You don’t have to use the whole package; take out what you need and put the rest back for later in a ziplock into the freezer.
These are a must try.
Trader Joe’s frozen Mushroom Medley is $3.99 (12 oz)
This creamy soft log of goat cheese is actually one of my favorite cheeses Trader Joe’s carries. Along with it’s cousin the “honey chevre” log which has a tiny bit of sweetness from honey.
Chevre means goat in French. The cheeses are of course made with goat’s milk. If thought sounds off putting dont worry. TJ’s version is really a very mild, creamy chevre cheese with a light pleasant taste and aroma. The “Honey Chevre” is the same cheese but they’ve added a tiny bit of honey. I really like that version. I would suggest you to buy the Honey Chevre version first, if you’ve never tried any kind of goat cheese before. Goat cheese and some sweetness go so well together which is why chevre is often paired with fruit or coated with chopped cranberries or blueberries, and TJ’s has those fruity coated cheeses too.
These goat cheeses will be a great addition especially for a cheese board, and goat cheese matches wonderfully with fruit. Slice it up and serve with apples or grapes in addition to crackers and a crusty baguette.
TJ’s says “This lovely Chevre is fresh, soft, and unaged – lower in fat, calcium, but higher in vitamin A than cheese from cow’s milk. And with a lower lactose content, makes it more tolerable for many children and elderly people who may have a tougher time processing lactose.
As a side note, TJ’s has one goat log coated with dried herbs. I am not crazy for that one, I just don’t think its as good as these other two as I found the dried herbs had a slightly bitter aftertaste. You can make that yourself fresh chopping up some herbs and rolling the log in them.
If you are lactose intolerant goat milk & cheese is supposed to be easier to digest.
I was pleasantly surprised by Trader Joe’s frozen “Middle Eastern Style Kebabs, Seasoned Beef Patties” at how good these are.I thought these are good enough that one could imagine either you made them yourself or from a Middle Eastern joint. I found these quite tasty. Flavorful with lots of nice spices. These are what you would call KOFTE kebabs. Ground meat with veggies and seasonings. Now, I’ve made these style of kebabs myself in the past often, and honestly TJ’s version almost tasted like something I might have made myself.
The Trader Joe’s Beef Kebabs are well seasoned with an authentic Middle Eastern style flavor – they have coriander, cumin, allspice, cloves plus other spices.
The ingredients listed in these are nice and simple, and sound pretty much like what I would use if I made them:
I was even surprised that my wife , who is really tough on Trader Joe’s frozen foods, liked these! She said they were tasty. In fact she even asked if I had made them or bought them from TJ’s (hah!) That’s a good review.
Wrapped up in the LAVASH flatbread, with a yogurt garlic sauce, lettuce and onions…..
COOKING: Personally I think they benefit from a getting nice and browned up. As brown as possible. I cooked them in a pan on the stove – in spite of them not even listing this as way to make them. Trust me you can cook these in a pan which for me its the best way, especially as I cooked other things at the same time in the same pan. I added a handful of sliced onions and a tablespoon of olive oil. Some sliced garlic will not hurt!
When it was all done I I warmed up my flatbread in the same pan after I took everything out.
Other ways they list are oven, grill and air fryer too and microwave ( I say don’t just nuke it!)
I just put a little olive oil in a pan and cooked them on medium low until they were hot and nicely browned, which took maybe 7-8 minutes per side. You can also make them in the oven or in an air fryer or on a grill. Microwave? I wouldn’t though the package says so. Reason being I think they will be far better getting a bit more browning from actual cooking.
These can be a great lunch or dinner. I served the kebabs on flatbread with veggies and a sauce. Actually the first time I used flour tortillas as my flatbread and those work fine or serve them with Pita or Naan or best perhaps might be TJ’s LAVASH flat bread. I topped them with thinly sliced red onions, tomatoes and parsley. Then put sauce on top. Cucumbers, red or yellow peppers, or some greens all will work great with these kebabs.
SAUCE: I made an easy sauce of Greek yogurt and garlic – or just use use TJ’s Tzaziki sauce which is basically that with a little cucumber added. Or spread your bread with TJ’s yummy garlic spread. A few drops of lemon too will send these skyward.
On the side, I made some a delicious Yemeni rice dish, a recipe I found on YouTube, which I put below if you want to try that. It tastes amazing with these kebabs but even just some Basmati or Jasmine rice will be great as well.
I think these are one of the better frozen foods I’ve found at Trader Joe’s, along with many of the frozen Indian dishes.
They were about $6.50 (12 oz) with 6 kebabs in the bag (update: about $7.49 now)?
These would be great to have in the freezer to come up with a quick dinner easily.
I would buy them again.
Want to try your hand at making these style of “kofte kebabs”. Here’s a recipe for a Lebanese beef kofte. You might even use the Organic Ground Beef if you made them yourself.
These are called Savory Mini Thin Rice Crackers and they’re really tasty and really good. I just love them. They are about the size of a quarter. They’re incredibly crunchy and are delicious as a snack by themselves as well as equally delicious used like any cracker. Spread something on them, some cheese or spread or peanut butter and jam. Top them with a slice of ham, cheese, or whatever you want. If you are someone who is Gluten Free (I’m not) these are primarily made from rice. Ingredients listed are : rice flour, sesame seeds, safflower oil, tamari soy sauce powder, maltodextrin, salt and garlic powder. These light colored ones are $3.49 a bag (8 oz). There’s another multiseed kind (with Tamari) that are darker that are also good and are $3.99.
According to the Nutrition facts label there are 130 calories in 38 crackers! So pretty Low Calorie as far as snacks go and not heavy in the Sodium department either. So I’d say this is a pretty healthy snack as far as crackers you can buy.
They had this New Item right near the checkout line and so I was waiting I checked it out and then I noticed the sample station (Back, finally. Yeh!) happened to be offering samples of this so I grabbed some to taste. Yum. So good. This nut mix really looked “gourmet” with big pieces of top quality nuts: almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans and it had a little flavor of rosemary which elevated the whole combination.
I assume this is a seasonal Fall/Xmas special nut mix and is specially geared for Thanksgiving and holiday get togethers. This would impress any guest who would probably ask you where you got it.
TJ’s says: “Every good get-together needs a good snack mix, which is precisely why we like to keep a canister of our Nuts About Rosemary Mix on hand…roasted almonds, cashews, hazelnuts (aka Filberts) and pecans, all mixed together with a rosemary and sea salt spice blend spiked with just a touch of sugar.”
This stuff is super. I love it. Limited supplies so grab a bottle while you can if you are interested!
In case you are not familiar with it, Japanese yuzu is a citrus fruit that looks like a lemon, but is quite different and unique with its own distinctive flavor. It’s used quite a bit in Japanese cuisine. Among other things they use it to make Yuzu Kosho, a spice of the zest combined with chile pepper for a spicy citrus-y condiment. Yuzu kosho has been discovered by chefs here. “The secret weapon condiment chefs are putting on everything… It’s the closest thing you’ll get to a silver bullet condiment that’ll instantly impart depth to your dish. Chefs know it—they’ve been using it at their restaurants for years—and it’s time you did, too.”
This sauce has yuzu kosho combined with “small batch vinegar” to make a hot sauce that you can add a few drops or more to any food, to give it a real spark of flavor.
The sauce is really tasty and gives a nice citrusy kick to anything you put it on. As far as the spice level here, I would call it just mildly spicy, maybe “medium”, certainly not knock you head off spicy, so it may appeal to many people who can’t take too much heat.
What can you use Yuzu Kosho sauce on? Almost anything. The question might even be rephrased as what can’t you use it on? Its good on chicken, fish, salads, eggs, meats, tofu, pretty much anything you can think of. I just tested it on good old cottage cheese and it elevated something boring to a new taste.
This is worth trying if you like to taste unique items as as they say “limited” if you want to try it, grab one while you can. $3.99 a small (100 ml) bottle.
This is a seasonal (Fall/Christmas) item and to me it smells “Holiday, Christmas-y” but not too much over the top (you know, like a Hallmark movie?) Its a foaming soap, so as soon as you pump some out, your hands will already have tons of lather going. I liked it and I like the smell which is subtle and not too strong. My wife said she didn’t like the smell until I told her its a Xmas thing and then she changed her mind and told me it’s very nice! 8 oz. Pump bottle. $2.99
“Classic English Muffins – A breakfast essential” – I agree 100%!
I buy Trader Joe’s “English muffins” all the time. I just love these for breakfast, plus. They come in two versions, the regular classic one and a whole wheat version. Both are good versions of a classic English muffin with lots of nooks and crannies. They come already partially “fork split”. Just use your fingers or a fork to complete the job and gently open the muffins slowly. You want as many nooks and crannies as possible. Never ever cut a muffin open with a knife as you get a flat surface with no crannies.
Toast them until golden brown and delicious and enjoy with some good butter and maybe some strawberry or apricot jam. Muffins do kind of burn easily so watch them carefully when you toast them, a few seconds can take it from perfect to a little burnt.
Other than breakfast, can you do other things with them? Sure. These make a great base for many things, like a sandwich of say a fried or poached egg with ham, or some peanut butter and banana? The base for some avocado toast. Finally of course Americans came up with a great use, our famous kid and adult beloved Pizza Muffins maybe? Toast, top with a little sauce and mozzarella and voila.
There are six muffins in a package (12 oz). Now $1.99, still a pretty good deal. I would buy them again. The other Brit style breakfast treats are also good and I’ve previously mentioned are TJ’s English Crumpets (though they cost more).
TIP: What I do after a day or two in the fridge, is open all the muffins up and then put them back in the package and then freeze them. This makes it easy to just take them out and toast them.
I saw this in NEW ITEMS about a month ago and grabbed one to try. This sauce is made by Red Boat, a company that makes a famous top Asian fish sauce. Trader Joe’s sells tha. Its a well known top brand fish sauce. Something I always like to have in the pantry. Its Pure Umami.
Red Boat says: “In Vietnamese, kho means to braise and this dish is on regular rotation in all Vietnamese households but is rarely served in restaurants. Our Pham-ily created this sauce so you can enjoy this delicious meal, just like in our mom’s kitchen, in less than 30 minutes.”
We know Trader Joe’s likes what they call “simmer sauces”. They have at least two versions of Thai ones and an Indian sauce too. You can use these and just add a protein and veggies, pour in a bottle of your simmer sauce, let it simmer for about 20 minutes and voila you can have a very easy and tasty dish. This sauce made a delicious meal for us.
I used this sauce to make a braised dish with chicken and lots of vegetables. What I did was I sauté chicken (skin on, bone in thighs), tofu, carrots, onions, mushrooms, garlic and ginger for 10 minutes. Then I poured in the sauce and let it simmer. Though they say “simmer for 30 minutes”, I wanted the chicken to be falling off the bone so I let it simmer for more like 45-60 mins.
The resulting dish was excellent, redolent of fish sauce (nam pla) of course but it had many other flavors with lots of Umami. It had a bit of sweetness as well as a bit of heat. We thought the dish was so good, that we just scarfed it up! I used a lot of vegetables and bone in chicken so of course it had all the flavor from those as well, however you could easily make a less complicated easier dish with this sauce using boneless chicken, TJ’s Carnitas Pork, shrimp or fish or even tofu and mushrooms for that matter and come out with a lovely dish, full of Asian flavors. My intentions was to make enough for at least two meals so I used the whole jar plus 1/2 a jar of water as I wanted a huge amount of sauce for all the meat and veggies I used, and I got that which we enjoyed with rice.
Ingredients: Water, Fish Sauce, Organic Coconut Sugar, Canola Oil, Ginger, Shallot, Corn Starch, Green Onions, Citric Acid, Black Pepper, Sunflower Lecithin, Crushed Red Pepper, Yeast Extract.
I’m not sure if this was a one off trial run for Trader Joe’s or something they will keep in stock. If you do see this sauce it is worth getting if you want to make a great Vietnamese home style dish easily. In a pinch one could make the sauce using Red Boat fish sauce, coconut sugar and other ingredients (shallots, garlic…)
TJ’s had the sauce for $4.99 which is even cheaper than on the Red Boat website.
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