There used to be quite a few items you could get at Trader Joe’s that cost a buck or less. There aren’t as many now. There are a few pasta items that still cost 99 cents but this is one I am going to single out. As you can see, its Trader Joe’s ORZO, which is 99 cents for a 1 lb bag.
Orzo is that rice shaped pasta frequently used in Greek and other cuisines. I find orzo just so handy and so useful and very good. So here’s my Ode To Orzo.
The number one thing I love about orzo is the fact of how fast it cooks. Orzo is a pasta that takes just five minutes! It takes longer to boil the water for it.
Many meals when I realize I don’t have enough food I find myself reaching for the Orzo, because it’s ready in no time at all and its pasta so super tasty. All I need to do is dump a cup of orzo into boiling salted water. After five minutes, it’s done; just drain it, add it to a bowl and give it a a nice amount of butter (or olive oil). Grind on some black pepper. Taste if and see if it still needs a sprinkle of more salt. BOOM; your buttered orzo side dish is ready. Optional; Grate on some cheese. Parmesan, Pecorina, Grana or cheddar or goat for that matter.
You can equally expand on buttered orzo with adding a vegetable to that. Perhaps diced fresh zucchini which is a lovely combination especially with some feta cheese for a Greek dish. The Zucchini can cook in the water along with the orzo and be ready when the orzo is in about 5 minutes. Or even easier vegetables? You can use a frozen vegetable. Maybe French Green Beans? Or frozen peas? The green beans can go in with the orzo (about 5 minutes). Add the peas about the last minute or two before the orzo is cooked as those are ready very fast.
It’s great for adding to soups or stews as well. Chicken soup with orzo is fantastic and comforting.
Orzo is fantastic to make whole dinners around. For example, a ONE POT dish of Garlic Butter Chicken Orzo; here’s the recipe.
So this is why I always have some orzo in the cupboard, and suggest you should as well. If not, the next time you are at Trader Joe’s just grab a a package of what I think is one of the handy dandiest items there that only costs 99 cents! The 99 cents pasta (spaghetti, capellini, orzo, etc) and cans of beans there are good ways to stretch your dollar at Trader Joe’s.
These are NEW ITEM that recently came out from Trader Joe’s called MORNING BUNS – “Sweet rolls with flakey butter croissant dough, cinnamon sugar filloing and sweetented orange zest”
The prep is a bit similar to Trader Joe’s excellent CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS. Meaning the night before you take them out and let them proof overnight (or 7-9 hours) at room temperature before baking them for approximately 15 minutes at 375. I haven’t had a chance to try them yet myself but they seem promising based on how good the same type of laminated dough used in the chocolate croissants is.
I think it’s cool that they have even provided the paper cups that you bake them in to save you a few steps. Just put them on a baking tray or in a muffin tin to proof.
A package of 4 is $4.99 – I’m sure at some bakery something like this would easily cost that about four or five bucks each for one!
Trader Joe’s says” “Laminated dough (made through an intense process of rolling, layering with butter, folding, and repeating the steps many times) creates the delicate, flaky crust akin to a croissant. In fact, our Morning Buns are made with the very same dough as our Chocolate Croissants and Almond Croissants. The twenty divine layers of dough are then covered with a cinnamon and brown sugar mix that is accented by vibrant orange zest to awaken your sun-up senses. The dough is finally cut, rolled into Buns, frozen, and packaged, leaving just the proofing and baking to you.
Before you go to bed, place each frozen Morning Bun on a baking tray in the provided paper cup and let rise at room temperature for 7-9 hours. In the Morning, the Buns will have about doubled in size, ready to bake in the oven a 375°F oven for 14-16 minutes. This “muffin” format makes it so easy to take a fresh-baked Bun with you as you rush out the door.”
I did find one Instagram user who has given them a thumbs up with, “I think it’s a winner”
“It’s made with a base of rich and fluffy Whipped Cream Cheese that’s been mixed with a tangy sun-dried tomato spread, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and a series of savory seasonings, all of which work together to evoke the taste of cheese Pizza on the palate.”
So here is another one of those Trader Joe’s products that came out and seemed to blow up all over social media.
Sometimes I find the things that go viral worthy of the hype, however sometimes they leave me with the opposite impression, with an “I don’t get it” feeling.
So how does this product strike me? Somewhere in the middle I think.
Everything But The Pizza Whipped Cream Cheese Spread has sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, Parmesan cheese and spices. Kind of imagine taking some whipped cream cheese, and mixing in marinara sauce. Tasted right out of the tub on a spoon, I would say you might find it tastes kind of “strong”. This definitely needs to go on something or with something.
I tried it on a toasted bagel which one of the things everyone says is Da Bomb. For one thing, if you do that at least toast the bagel so you get some of that crusty chewy effect you want. I thought that combo tasted pretty good. Just not earth shattering as claimed that on a bagel it “tastes like a pizza”. If I was going in that direction, I would prefer the classic muffin pizza. English muffin toasted up with a little tomato sauce and melted mozzarella. I grant you there is slightly more work involved.
I thought the best thing to do with this is to add it to some pasta. Thin it out with some pasta water, milk or cream or even mix in some marinara sauce. You can end up with a nice creamy pink pasta sauce. It did kind of work for me with pasta. What I ended up liking it on, believe it or not, was actually putting it on some pizza!
I had a thought when I was making some pizza from scratch of adding some to my pizza. When it was all toppped, I put a few dollops of this all over with all the other things using two teaspoons. After baking, it came out of the oven with those creamy bits now caramalized a bit. Some creamy bites with lots of flavor. Pretty good!!
I think with pasta, or on a pizza, this stuff is worth trying out. This is one of those you have to try it for yourself and see what you think items. Invent some uses that you like.
All in all I was just a little bit under impressed with this in comparison to all the hype and viral plaudits I saw online about it, however your mileage may vary. Let us know what you think via the Comments
This TikTok’er “hated on it” but discovered she likes it using it to make an open egg sandwich, using toasted sourdough bread:
Another TikTok’er suggest eating it on raw bell peppers, as kind of a crudité dip. So try it with other things like carrot sticks, celery sticks and the like….
I’m surprised I never got around and actually reviewed this Trader Joe’s standard, which is a Classic in it’s own right.
I had tried the other one, Trader Joe’s roasted garlic marinara and liked it. So I thought I it was time to give the original flavor a spin.
First and formost, what a decent deals with these Trader Joe’s sauces, right? A jar still costs less than two bucks. This sauce is a very good what I might call an every day tomato sauce, frankly equal to some big brands that cost more.
You can fix it up easily too. Love garlic? I do. So I added a few cloves of slivered fresh garlic to the pan in a bit of olive oil, let the garlic get a little toasted, then poured in this sauce. Add some more herbs to your liking as well, especially a little fresh basil should you have some. A dash of red pepper flakes perhaps?
Even if you do nothing, this is a very tasty versatile sauce which can not only be used for pasta but for cooking and making other dishes. “Use it as a simmer sauce for chicken breasts or meatballs. Or, let it be the starting point for your own sauce-creation. So many different ways to enjoy this enduring sauce.” https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/tomato-basil-marinara-sauce-045029
I even like the way this one tasted way better than an organic version I tried a while back and gave a fail.
This would also be a good sauce for making your own pizza, using either fresh dough or a crust (or naan) from Trader Joe’s.
I don’t know if it can go toe to toe with Trader Joe’s frankly fantastic (and upscale) Italian CARO SUGO sauce. However that one costs $5 a jar. You could buy 2 1/2 jars of this sauce for that.
If you are on a tight budget Trader Joe’s can help with dinner. Let’s figure, you buy one of their pastas that still cost 99 cents. Grab a jar of this sauce. You’ve spent three bucks and you have dinner.
If your budget allows that might even leave room for some upgrades to say, one of their “artisanal” pastas ($2) and maybe some leeway to add a bread and salad…. $1.99 for a baguette and maybe a $2.29 bag of arugula.
Trader Joe’s ORGANIC RADIATORE pasta is a relatively new addition to the pasta shelves there. They were introduced along with the square rigatoni pasta, which I also gave a great review.
Want to know the translation of “radiatore“? Funny enough it means what it sounds like: “radiator”. Because that’s what these look like. Little radiators.
The shape has all those nooks and crannies which are perfect for taking in and holding a lot of sauce. By the way, did you know the Italian government recognizes about 300 different pasta shapes?
A 1 lb package goes for $1.99. It’s a high quality, bronze die cut pasta, imported from Italy and made from organic durum wheat semolina.
I made this pasta for dinner last night with Trader Joe’s TOMATO BASIL MARINARA sauce (a bargain at $1.99 and it’s excellent). OK, as I am a “cook” and can’t just open a jar and be done with it, I did add two cloves of garlic and a 1/2 shallot sauteed in a tablespoon of olive oil then added a 1/2 jar of the sauce (for two portions). Trust me it made it even better but you could go the easy route and just open a jar.
These radiatore cook pretty fast due to shape, in about 9 minutes. I probably took them out a minute before that (ie, pre-al dente) as I would cook them more in the sauce. I dumped the drained pasta into my pan with my sauce, added about a 1/4 of the pasta water, tossed them over and over for about a minute to let them marry and absorb some sauce till al dente.
I was going to serve peas on the side but as I was making this, my wife suggested I just toss everything in together. Which was actually a great idea as the peas add a nice flavor and texture and got into the nooks of the radiatore. Grated on some of my favorite TJ ROSEMARY ASIAGO which I especially love with pasta.
The texture and taste of this radiatore pasta was perfect and we really loved this dish we came up with “radiatore with peas in tomato sauce” which can now go into rotation. Try this combo! Super easy and delicious, not to mention a bit healthier with added vegetable protein. A little salad and bread made it all perfect.
The best thing? Pantry meal. Everything came out of the pantry (and freezer) so a perfect idea for when “you don’t have anything” in the fridge.
Delicious easy dinner for two, which probably cost less than 3 bucks.
Equally good would be the simplest pasta using this radiatore; just Butter and Cheese. Use lots of both.
I would buy these again. — (UPDATE: I looked for them today to buy more and didn’t see them on the shelves…. )
PASTA WITH PEAS recipe (pasta al piselli)
Toss your pasta into salted boiling water. Whatever time it says on the package, you will subract one or two minutes for “pre-al dente”. In a pan or pot, put a tablespoon of olive oil, and a nice pat of butter. (optional) Add 2 cloves of sliced garlic, and cook till golden. You could also add in 1/2 shallot too if you have one, or a 1/4 onion.
Add your favorite jarred (or homemade) sauce to the pan. When the pasta is “pre-al dente” (tests a little hard) add that to the pan and cook, adding in some pasta water (1/4 cup?). Toss in some frozen peas (1/2-1 cup as you wish) Toss everything over and over to mix and cook for about a minute or so, cooking the pasta just till it becomes al dente. That means “to the tooth” just after the pasta is no longer hard to bite and not soft or mushy. Italians hate overcooked pasta.
Plate and top with a nice amount of freshly grated ASIAGO cheese (or Parmagiano or Pecorino) and serve. Bread and a salad will round this out nicely into a dinner
Portions: for two people I usually figure about a 1/2 lb (half the package) pasta, and for sauce about a 1/2 jar but your ratio may vary. Again, Italians like just enough sauce to coat the pasta well but not to have pasta swimming in sauce the way most Americans think you make it.
They say this: “Trader Joe’s Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice is the ultimate #Cookinghacks for this dish. Our Butter Chicken showcases chunks of chicken enrobed in a mild, mouth-watering curry crafted of crushed tomatoes, cream, onions, garlic, ginger, butter…Spiced just so, and partnered with delicate, fragrant grains of Basmati rice, it’s ready to heat and enjoy. Serve it with our other frozen Indian fare – TJ’s Palak Paneer, TJ’s Channa Masala, TJ’s Tandoori Naan – for a feast. Don’t forget the TJ’s Mango Ginger Chutney & sliced cucumbers!” https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/butter-chicken-with-basmati-rice-099032
Search for this, and you learn that it comes up as one of Trader Joe’s most popular items with a pretty loyal following. Trader Joe’s has carried this forever, and it seems to have quite a lot of fans. I had not tried it till now though. Here’s my honest review with what I liked about it, plus as well as things I think could be improved on.
The Good: This is actually quite a tasty Indian chicken dish. The price is very attractive at $4.49. The flavor of this is quite good, with a rich tomato-y sauce. The chicken (I think white meat?) is perfectly cooked and not at all dried out; it’s tender and juicy coated with a tasty, creamy tomato sauce, which includes concentrated tomatoes, cream, butter and spices. The package says this whole thing is just 400 calories. I mean the portion is not huge. They give you mostly rice of course.
I think NAAN is worth eating with this, so you might want some with this too, to scoop up the sauce.
(THEIR PICTURE FROM THE TJ WEBSITE)(you can see about 3 or 4 pieces of chicken)
The Not So Good: I was surprised at the small amount of chicken they actually give you. I wish they gave you a bit more of it, as will you. Which makes me wonder, was it always so? I wacked a picture, probably old, off their website about the product. In that product picture, it looks like they show about six decent sized pieces of chicken. In the package we got, I counted about 4 pieces. Has the amount changed over the last year or so, as ingredient costs have gone up? Someone let me know please via the Comment section, if you’ve gotten this for years, if you think they cut back on the amount of chicken now as opposed to in the past. I just kind of suspect to keep the price the same there may be some shrinkflation ?
I found the basmati rice that comes with this just OK. Less flavorful than if I made my own Trader Joe’s Basmati Rice, which I assume might be a better quality Basmati rice. The taste of this one seemed less and its a bit under seasoned and maybe even undercooked.
A main selling point of this “whole meal” is of course, convenience in that it comes with rice already made. Me, I’m a rice freak, I make rice, daily many times. So frankly I’m not the typical target audience as I can put up a pot of rice in minutes. Hey, my wife’s Asian, and we can have rice 5 days in a row.
I think the rice could stand for a pinch might stand for a pinch of salt. Or put the sauce over the rice as it may balance out. I did not find the dish as a whole salty, nor spicy. I think I would call this “mild” Indian, not spicy, nor has a ton of seasonings and cream of course which mellows things. Ingredients include garlic, ginger, spices….
TIP: If you want to make this into a more substantial meal you could add a can of drained chick peas (99 cents) into this. I did. After the sauce is defrosted enough to take out the chicken, add a half (or whole can) of drained chick peas. Or you could add another dish perhaps make the excellent CHANNA MASALA chick peas in a tasty sauce to serve along with this. With that two people might be able to enjoy the two dishes as a meal.
Ingredients look pretty normal and natural without additives.
If for example you took this to work for your lunch, it would make a nice easy meal, only needing tossing into the microwave. Or don’t feel like cooking, add a salad and this could suffice as dinner. Drizzle perhaps with some greek yogurt and serve with their very good Mango Chutney.
Perhaps the first thing that will stand out to you when you are looking in the pizza shelves at Trader Joe’s and you see this MARGHERITA PIZZA is frankly that this looks pretty good and then you see that it costs $4.79. Under five bucks for this? It’s looks like it almost came out of a pizza place’s oven.
If it actually tastes anything close to as good as it looks in their picture, that’s hard to beat.
My neighbor tried this first and told me she really liked it. She was pretty impressed with it and was amazed that it cost under five bucks. So we got one to try out as I’ve not had this before.
(Here’s what it looks like right out of the box, frozen, wrapped)
You can see the crust is partially pre-baked, with the ingredients for us to finish baking it.
(frozen, unwrapped, pre-baking)
Here’s what TJ’s has to say about this pizza (which has been around for over a decade or more):
“This classic Margherita Pizza starts with a hand-stretched, Amalfi style crust, the dough for which is fermented for a full 24 hours prior to kicking off the pizza-making process. This new-and-much-improved crust is thin, soft, and bubbly, with a slightly thicker, chewy edge. In this Pizza’s previous iteration, they topped said crust with a standard tomato sauce; in this version, however, they top it with a passata—a.k.a. a traditional Italian tomato sauce made by sieving ripe tomatoes into a silky-smooth purée, allowing the pure, tomato flavor to really shine. The pies are finished with fresh mozzarella rounds, shredded Grana Padano and carefully placed basil leaves, then baked in wood-burning stone ovens, flash-frozen, and sent to sail the culinary seas…” (-Trader Joe’s website)
So they changed (improved) it but as this is my first time with it, the new version is the only one I know, so here’s my review.
(Should say first, I am one of those people who will on occasion actually make a pizza from scratch, including fermenting my dough 3 days in the fridge?) Anyway here’s our impression of Trader Joe’s PIZZA MARGHERITA.
Overall my wife and I liked this very much. This is a very tasty pizza and has many good points I liked. There one or two areas I thought it could be improved on.
The good points with this pizza is first if you like Neapolitan style pizza, I would call this pretty “authentic” in that its in the nature of a pizza you might get in Naples rather than a “NY Style” pizza. , Meaning the kind of pizza that you may want to eat with a knife and fork as many Italians do (Neapolitan style, not Roman). The reason being the center of the pizza crust may be too thin to support ingredients to hold it up and eat as a slice, and the center may be a little soft and juicy.
I confess I did actually try to get the bottom a bit crispier by putting it back in after I pulled it out the first time, for about another two minutes. In hindsight this was a mistake, as I over-baked it a little and doing that made the outside border crust a bit dry and hard. So try the recommended times (the box says bake 9-12 minutes at 425 F) If you have a pizza stone or steel, I would use that. If not, even a 1/2 sheet pan will do. And as always pre-heat your oven for at least 20-30 minutes, though every oven is a bit different.
(My finished pizza after baking.)
The pizza looked almost like it came out of a pizza shop – in Italy!
The low moisture skim mozzarella cheese in large round slices when baked up was really good, and it did the stringy cheese thing everyone loves to see on Instagram. The sauce is very simple. Its just “passata” or pure tomato puréed up in the classic Margherita way, so not a “pizza sauce” as you may be used to. I think it tasted just the tiniest bit tart or sour to me but not bad.
The used to have a pizza sauce. I wonder if that might be bit better tasting but then it would not be “Margherita” which is very simple, basically 3-4 ingredients. It had another cheese, Grana Padano, grated over and that too added a nice touch, You can even see it’s dressed with a little bit of fresh basil!
FIXING THIS UP: You can improve this easily, and think that is worth doing. I would suggest if you make this pizza, you fix it up a bit with any or all of the following (all optional of course) : Sliver of garlic, a sprinkle of dried oregano, a little basil (dried or better still, fresh if you have that) and maybe a drizzle of say Hot Honey to add a touch of sweetness and spice? Certainly add a drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkling of more cheese, some grated Parmigiano or Pecorino when you take it out of the oven. I would do all this the next time I make this pizza.
I overdid the baking by maybe two minutes as I put it back to try to get the bottom crispier (it comes out a bit soft), which I know was a mistake, as you see how dark my crust came out. If I made it again, I would stick to the 9-12 mins as suggested on the box PLUS I might brush the border with a little olive oil before baking it.
The whole pizza is 15 ounces. I think this can be a dinner for two adults, maybe with a little salad or veggie on the side. In sum, while not perfect this is quite a tasty pizza and well worth trying at what is a great price!
Calories: 1/3 of this equals about 310 calories — but trust me you will probably eat at least 1/2 not a 1/3. Still this is on the lower side for pizza I think if thats like 450 cals?
How does this TJ pizza rank among all the other offers in the pizza department from Trader Joe’s? To me it’s up there. However I might rank a few others they have, just a hair above this one (such as the Pizza Parlanno and the Buratta, Prosciutto and Arugula one) as they have “more going on” of course. For a simple Neapolitan style pizza, this is quite good, if thats what you are looking for.
The ingredient list as you can see, is quite simple so that’s a nice plus!
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS FROM FROZEN: Preheat oven to 425. Bake for 9-12 minutes until crust is LIGHTLY BROWNED
Trader Joe’s got two new artisan pastas in this month. A spiral radiatore and this SQUARE shaped rigatoni. Both look perfect for our favorite (hearty?) sauce.
I got the square rigatoni to start with for review as I have never seen a square rigatoni before and could not resist trying it. It looks cool, right? First thing I thought was this: but after cooking is this going to stay square when it’s softer?! Well guess what, the answer: YES it does stay square as you can see….
TJ’s says this: ” What makes this pasta noteworthy? It starts with the Italian pasta maker sourcing high-quality, organic, and local durum wheat semolina, then going the extra mile to mill the flour themselves. High-quality tools are equally essential —bronze-coated extruders are used to produce thick, textured noodles that deliver a perfectly al dente texture, which helps support the heftiness of its partnered sauce while maintaining a delicate chew….Pair this uniquely shaped Pasta with a hearty Bolognese sauce and be in awe of how much sauce clings to, and even fills, each noodle. It is a natural choice for baked pasta dishes, as it can hold up well in a casserole without losing its shape.”
I just made the simplest pasta that day just to test it out quickly just butter and cheese; We liked this pasta quite a bit. Its great and tasty of course as I’ve found all of the artisan pastas from Italy the sell are (these are all high end pastas, organic durum semolina, bronze die cut….) But ideally this shape will excel and be perfect for a heartier sauce, especially something like a Bolognese or ragu, meat sauce as they suggest, or a baked pasta. Greek Pastitsio anyone?
Cooking time on the bag is 13-14 minutes. This two new ones including this one were $1.99 (1 lb) I would buy it again (PS they say these two new pastas are LIMITED editions, grab them while you can)
Trader Joe’s says: “For a taste of Turkey at home, allow us to introduce you to Trader Joe’s Simit Turkish Sesame Bread. Simit can be found on street carts and bakeries throughout the country, and although these beauties may resemble bagels, they are distinctly different.
Simit is not boiled (like bagels), just baked, and have a characteristic twist throughout. While its interior is chewy and nutty, its exterior is crispy and dense. Our Simits are made “Ankara style,” on the smaller size, conveniently-sized, with a crisp texture. Sticking to tradition, these circular breads are coated with a molasses-based solution that adds a bit of shine, helps with browning, and allows sesame seeds to encrust their surface.” (TJ)
NEW at Trader Joe’s for Sept/Oct 2025 are these fabulous Turkish Breads called SIMIT, which are made in Turkey for Trader Joe’s. Find these frozen along with other breads like their frozen Naan.
Simit come in a package that has 4 round breads, wrapped in packs of 2, to stay as fresh as possible. It’s $3.49, or about 90 cents each. In Istanbul there are carts with sells simit. A little search on Google says on the street in Istanbul they typically sell for about 10-20 Turkish lira ($0.25-0.50) and a bit more in a bakery.
I had read these they were coming to TJ’s and kept waiting to see them. When I finally saw they arrived at my local TJ’s, I grabbed a package to try and review. So how are these? Well, here’s my honest review. Are they worth buying? YES!!!!!!
Trader Joe’s did it again with a delicious bread find imported here from another land. Wow, are these simit breads terrific. I give these a 5 stars RAVE! Delicious. I just loved how these taste and at the texture of the outside versus the soft inside.
These are little Artisanal breads, which you can tell are hand rolled. They are encrusted all over with sesame seeds. When you are warming these up, and they get start to get toasty you will smell the sesame in the kitchen. Yes, the shape of these may remind you of a bit of a bagel, though simit are very different and unique. They are just baked, not boiled first like bagels. They are the tiniest bit sweet on the outside. These look like they were twisted together then rolled by hand. So they’re not as easy to cut open say as a bagel. They separated when I tried to cut in half horizontally and I found them best to just take one and rip a bite off as I went if I wanted to, or rip them in half and dip them or put butter or whatever on them.
They were great just plain by themselves but were fabulous with other things like different kinds of butter, olive oil, cheese, olives, cream cheese and scallions, jam, you name it, you will love it. I loved them alongside some scrambled and sunny side up eggs, where I dipped the simit into the yellow yolks! Yummy!
HEATING: Take them out of the freezer and leave them about 15 minutes to defrost. Then toss in a 350 oven for about 4-5 minutes. – OR – Just so you know, I made mine on the stovetop in a cast iron pan. About 4-5 minutes a side on low-medium, until they looked golden brown and flipped it over. That easy method worked fine too. If you have an air fryer that probably will also work.
My wife loved these as much as I did. We are eating them with many things. Tonight for one, they well go great with LENTIL SOUP.
Simit are $3.49 for 4 breads (14 oz) Frozen
I would buy these again
How to eat Simit – Simit is a versatile bread that can be enjoyed in many ways throughout the day:
For breakfast: Pair it with traditional Turkish breakfast items like feta cheese, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a glass of Turkish tea.
With spreads: Serve it with savory dips such as hummus or a red pepper dip. For a sweet option, top it with butter, jam, or Nutella. I liked them with a little cream cheese.
As a snack: Warm them and eat it plain
As croutons: Cut it into pieces and toast until crunchy to use as a topping for soup.
Very short ingredient list. No Preservatives. We like that!
I found it a bit difficult to cut the Simit lengthwise to use for a sandwich as they are twisted and cutting them tended to make them separate. However they taste just as yummy.
If you are Turkish and try these, please let us know what you think…. UPDATE. We’ve heard from a few Turkish people who said they “taste like home”. One reader left this Comment: “Just tried today. Real deal. Just like the simit in Turkey.”
“For best flavor and crispy crust, pop into a 400F oven for 4-7 minutes“
These are only $1.29?! Wow!
CIABATTA DEMI BAGUETTE – Its a half size “demi” ciabatta bread. We tried it. We loved it. It comes slightly underbaked, to allow for additional baking that you will finish. This will really improve it to almost “freshly baked right out of the oven” status. Just pop it in for about 4-7 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
Don’t want to turn on the oven? I didn’t. So I tried this: I found I could toast it up on the stove top (covered) in my cast iron pan for about 5-7 minutes on each side. I cut it into slices. Flipped. Or you can cut in half lengthwise. Doing this way until it was slightly toasted which worked out fine. One more idea is you could perhaps toss it in an air fryer if you have one (I don’t). Or toaster oven or broiler.
The ingredient list has few ingredients and no preservatives. ING: Flour, water, sea salt, yeast.
Trader Joe’s says: ” The loaf is in the shape of a half baguette (“demi-” and “wand” in Italian), but the bread itself is ciabatta bread. Ciabatta dough contains a higher moisture content than traditional baguette dough—over 70% in this case— giving it a thin, slightly caramelized crust and a light crumb with large holes. Better yet, it’s made with just a few ingredients: unbleached wheat flour, water, sea salt, yeast, and malted barley. Though our supplier makes large quantities of bread, they are still able to achieve the sought-after artisanal taste and texture.”
The night we tried this bread, I had made a pasta frittata and this bread went perfect with that, as we used it for mopping up our extra sauce. Both my wife and I found this bread to be so tasty.
Another time, I used this loaf to make a classic grilled sandwich, a CUBANO. Sliced it horizontally and used the soft loaf (panini press style) Grilled up some pork slices, black forest ham, swiss cheese, pickles, mustard, mayo. Grilled on both sides until golden brown and cheese all melted. So yummy.
It’s a small loaf, just about 6 oz of bread. and it goes for just $1.29! A bigger ciabatta loaf (11 oz) goes for $1.99.
I would buy it again.
(their serving suggestion, brie, apples, bacon…! what’s not to like!)
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