(UPDATE: Reported to be Discontinued but they have a lot of similar items to check out)
“A FIERY snack that you may not be able to stop eating”
These snacks are Made in Japan, a place they are very serious about snacks.
Trader Joe’s CRISPY CRUNCHY SPICY RICE MOCHI snacks are (really) crunchy bite sized nuggets made from rice powder and coated with spices. A lot of spices! Now one never quite knows when Trader Joe’s calls something “spicy” exactly how spicy they mean. In this case I assure you TJ’s is Not Kidding with the spicy! These are SERIOUSLY spicy as in mouth on fire spicy (or “head on fire” spicy if you look at the the package) The cute pictures on the package are not by accident, they are warning that this Bag Contains Really Spicy Stuff! So yes while these – actually yummy – snacks are super hot, they are more than just “spicy”, they are really tasty (as long as you can handle heat). I actually liked these and I give them a thumbs up, if you like spicy stuff. They are super duper CRUNCHY bites liberally coated with spices including : Black pepper, white pepper, chipotle powder, habanero powder, red chili powder... If you read that list I’m sure you get the picture. Again these are not just fiery, they’re quite tasty with a bunch of other interesting flavors as well such as citrus peel, paprika, cumin, cardamon, ginger, cinnamon….. So we are talking fiery flavorful and yummy all at the same time. Even addictive as they say? I can eat one or two and then kind of take a break for moment before eating another one then drink something to cool down the tongue. You should have some drink near you eating these. They would probably be great with an ice cold beer. I liked them on their own. I also found I especially liked them and they were even better with a little something else to kind of balance and mellow out the heat a bit. They were good with some cheese and even with a little cream cheese and probably great with some kind of dip, especially yogurt based? Anyway, these are really something. If you like heat you will enjoy these, they are more than just hot, they’re super tasty. Oh and wash your fingers after you are done eating these, lest you accidentally touch your eyes or something.
(On the bag…) “Sumatra is the sixth largest island in the world with volcanic mountains extending the length of Western Sumatra. Coffee on this lush island is grown on small farms, where the beans are picked, washed and pulped by hand using the wet hulling process, creating some of the most flavorful and complex beans on the planet. Our organic and fair trade Sumatra beans are carefully roasted to a medium dark level to reveal smooth earthy flavors with little to almost no acidity.”
If you are a fan of darker coffee beans you will probably like this “Fair Trade Organic Sumatra” coffee. I sure do. I’m a big fan of this coffee.
Opening up the foil bag one gets a very appealing aroma. These coffee beans smell wonderful and are roasted to what TJ’s calls “medium dark”. Dark medium?
As you know, coffee roast descriptions can vary wildly, especially Trader Joe’s it seems but to me. I would say this is just south of what some might call a French roast? The beans are dark and shiny. This is not however an Espresso roast. Nor would I call these “over roasted” myself (hard to trust even this picture, you kind of have to see beans in person really). For this coffee I think the roast works, perfectly.
You will hopefully grind up your beans just before brewing of course… and all I can tell you is when I do and open up the grinder, I get an intense, heavenly coffee smell. For me the Sumatran is an excellent coffee, one of best coffees that Trader Joe’s has in a dark roast. I think this would be especially good for espresso machine owners as well as Moka pot brewers, like yours truly now. My brewing method the last few years is using a Moka pot . I also use a little milk with this to make something like old school “cafe con leche” as this coffee really stands up to and goes well with milk. While great as is, sometimes I will make my own custom blend of light and dark beans using this Sumatran with some lighter beans like the excellent TJ’s Azmari BUNNI Afro-Latin coffee to come up with a wonderful blend of both light and dark beans from Latin, African and Asian countries. If dark roasts are not your thing.
And of course you can brew doing a drip or pour over, I still say mixing some of this into your lighter beans, will make a good and slightly more intense coffee for drip and pour over brewers.
The 13 oz bag of the Sumatra Coffee goes for $8.99. For Fair Trade beans, that’s not bad at all. For best flavor, I say best to use this up fairly quickly, say within a two weeks after opening the bag, or in a pinch freeze some. TIP: I save empty bags for doing this. PS Even darker? The other very good espresso roast beans I like that TJ’s has is the organic Five Countries Espresso. (Update: Unfortunately Discontinued!!)
Left: Organic Sumatra Right: Azmari Bunni beans (TJ’s calls Left, “medium dark” and the Right “medium”. Go figure) But both are very good!
“CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY SWIRL” (NEW PRODUCT) An excellent new addition to Trader Joe’s ice creams containing two flavors which are so perfect together, namely chocolate ice cream plus an intense raspberry sorbet, both swirled together into one super tasty treat. This stuff is so delicious. Super gourmet premium ice cream/sorbet. Its $3.99 a pint.
“Old Fashioned Blister” Roasted Peanuts and OMG these are Oh So Good. Maybe these are THE BEST roasted peanuts you ever had. Old Fashioned like ones I remember when we were kids we could go to a real “Nut Store” and buy them just out of the roasting pan. These taste super fresh and are seriously delicious. If you like peanuts you must try these. I promise you will not be sorry, they are just so yummy it’s hard to stop eating them. These are $2.99 a bag (15 oz). INGREDIENTS: Extra Large Water Blanched Virginia Peanuts, Peanut Oil, Salt. Simple and delicious.
NEW PRODUCT: “Seasoned Cold Smoked Salmon with Dill Pickle Flavoring”.
Trader Joe’s seems to just love dill pickle stuff. They have quite a few products with the flavor. I love (fresh) dill on many things and especially love a sprinkle of fresh dill on smoked salmon (or fresh salmon). I love Gravlax (Scandinavian dill cured salmon).
However I didn’t love this new TJ smoked salmon flavor at all, I found it to be a Miss. For one thing I am guessing they use dried dill, not fresh. In fact they even list “dill weed oil” as one of the ingredients, which seems to me like trying to mimic fresh dill’s taste? Before reading this, I didn’t know “dill weed oil” existed as an ingredient. Furthermore this salmon seems a bit tougher (thicker cut?) then other seasoned salmons I really like from TJ’s, namely the Everything Smoked Salmon as well as the Pastrami Smoked Salmon, both of which I think work way better than this seasoning. I like both of those TJ’s smoked salmons
The 4 oz. package was $6.49. For me this stuff is a Miss. I rate it somewhere between a “Meh” and a Rant. Frankly my advice is pass on this but get either of those other two good seasoned smoked salmon Trader Joe’s offers.
This is a tasty cream cheese spread with chives and onions. It was quite good spread on a toasted bagel and some crackers. Its pretty good on pretty much anything. I’ve even put some into things, for example it’s great mixing some into mashed potatoes to zing them up (try!). Or you can toss a tablespoon into a vegetable like some cooked French Green Beans. You can add a spoon to sauces or pasta. It’s too thick as a dip but if thin it a bit with some milk or sour cream, or maybe warm it in the microwave to get it looser it could work as a dip. Its $1.99 2.29 (8 oz.) I would buy it again.
(Note: Since I wrote this, Trader Joe’s came out with a new flavor of these: Pineapple Teriyaki Meatballs).
Trader Joe’s CHICKEN MEATBALLS “Seasoned, Fully Cooked, Gluten Free” (now there are 3 kinds!)
INGREDIENTS: All Natural Chicken, Sea Salt, Oregano, Basil, Vinegar Powder, Garlic powder, Onion powder, Rosemary, Black Pepper, Parsley
These meatballs looked interesting enough to me to try out and review. They’re sold fresh packed in a vacuum package. Fully cooked, just “heat and eat”.
‘Made from “all natural, minimally processed chicken, no antibiotics”. These are Gluten Free, simply made from chicken with a few simple seasonings. Vacuum packed, they can easily keep at least a week or more in the fridge unopened. For longer storage just freeze them (to defrost I just leave them in the fridge overnight).
I’ve found with these meatballs to be very convenient for a super fast easy protein to use to come up with an quick easy meal. I find them pretty tasty if just the tiniest bit rubbery (if I compared to my own homemade chicken meatballs). I think they would be even better if they had a little bit of binder (bread crumbs eggs, veggies or the like). If you’ve ever made meatballs you know they will come out softer with a little bit of some kind of “binder” in them. Meatballs generally have bread crumbs, eggs, and milk.
I suggest you be sure to brown them, as I think the flavor will be improved by browning. So I suggest don’t just nuke these, Brown them up in a nonstick or well seasoned pan in a little butter or oil.
I cook them via the “Stove Top” method, browning with some butter and/or olive oil. I sometime cut them in half, or quartered or sliced up as that increases the surface area for browning. If you want them whole that’s fine too just turn them to get all sides brown before serving. When they are golden brown, turn off the heat, toss a tablespoon of water or stock, or lemon juice in and cover the pan immediately to let them steam a bit which will soften them. A sprinkle of lemon juice perked them up nicely. Before cooking them I like to sprinkle them with either Smoked Paprika or AJIKA blend which helps browning even more, plus adds nice flavors.
These will be good with some sauce of your choosing… Sriracha Mayo or Garlic Dip mixed with lemon juice… Or even just some ketchup and/or mayo….Magnifique Sauce. Your favorite BBQ sauce. Sweet Chili sauce… Basically any sauce you like will work and improve these.
Here is a one way I’ve served them. Cut into halves, browned up and put on top of a bed of lentils that I had made a few days before. Another way was in a Wrap on a flour tortilla.
Grilled Chicken Meatballs on a bed of lentilsWRAP – Chicken meatballs sliced and grilled, served on flour tortilla with avocado and Magnifique Sauce. I added shredded lettuce then wrapped it up.
These can easily become dinner along with some sides, say rice or potatoes, or pasta and a veggie. I think these might match well with any one of TJ’s simmer sauces(Thai or Indian). You could brown them, add sauce, simmer a few minutes and serve. Maybe toss in some frozen green beans or peas in the sauce as well? Serve on top of rice or noodles or pasta. Or just with pita or Naan? What about making these Italian style? Brown and add your favorite jar of tomato sauce. Toss them with pasta and you have an easy dinner. Or maybe brown them, slice up, and put them into a pita with some lettuce and some sauce? Or just serve them sliced up on top of a salad? So you might find these a handy thing to have in your fridge. TJ’s Chicken Meatballs are $3.99 (12 oz, about 16 meatballs in the package). Figure maybe 4 per person/portion? 4 meatballs have 16 gr of protein with 150 calories!
Now on the other hand with just a little effort you can make your own chicken meatballs! No really, it’s pretty easy. While these are very convenient of course, your own homemade ones will be way better.
RECIPE – HOMEMADE CHICKEN MEATBALLS: Take a package of Trader Joe’s fresh ground chicken ($3.99 $4.49 a pound). Put in a bowl. Mix in one egg, 2 tablespoons milk, 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs or Panko., 1/4 tsp Salt & Pepper (Optional add more seasonings, and even better with some chopped scallions, parsley, garlic, cilantro? Add a tablespoon of AJIJKA spice or Smoked Paprika. Mix ingredients thoroughly. Put in fridge for 1/2 hr to firm up. Form (using wet hands) into small meatballs. Flatten them in the pan into patties (more surface area to brown). Cook in a nonstick pan/cast iron with butter and/or olive oil. Sprinkle on Smoked Paprika. Cook about 4 minutes per side, till well browned. Deglaze pan with 2 tbl water, lemon juice, add butter and pour pan sauce over chicken.
(my Homemade grilled Asian style chicken patties with grilled rice)
I think my standard Go To for an excellent all-around coffee at TJ’s is their very good COLOMBIAN SUPREMO coffee beans. In fact many consider the Colombian Supremo coffee as the #1 coffee at TJ’s. Still this nice looking package in the NEW ITEMS section caught my eye the other day as I saw this was from Ecuador. Reading the label, well they made it sound worth trying, plus I am not sure I’ve ever had a coffee from Ecuador and was curious what that might be like. In short however I was disappointed and didn’t like this coffee. Now, it had a nice aroma and smelled really nice when I ground it. However when I brewed it up (in a Moka pot) I found it not at all what I expected to taste like and thought it tasted somehow off? I found the brewed coffee to be thin and bitter, and way more acidic than what I was expecting, almost “African”. I tried it a few more times with slightly different grinds and ratios to see if I could improve it, but still found it turned me off somehow. Especially by comparison to the balanced coffee flavors in their Colombian Supremo. If you’ve want a good tasting medium roast whole bean coffee at a decent value get that big can with the colorful Colombian toucan. Or the Azmari BUNNI coffee, which is terrific.
Ecuador Zamora small lot coffee was $9.99 for a 13 oz bag. I would PASS on this one however a few of the small lot coffees have been very good like the MEXICAN La Laja (and an Indian one I had) so it’s kind of hit or miss. As one reader pointed out in the Comments, pre-pandemic back when Trader Joe’s offered small cups of coffee to sample you could get an idea of what one actually tasted like. Ah, the Good Old Days….SIGH!
“Inside this bag you will find captivatingly crunchy, satisfyingly sweet clusters of rolled oats and pecans, with notes of maple syrup and honey”
If you are a fan of the big clumps you find in granola, you may like this. Trader Joe’s “Just The Clusters” Maple Pecan Granola gives you lots of clumps. I do like these crunchy clusters made even crunchier than other granolas as this has some rice flour added in for extra crunch.
It has pecans in it, a fair amount if not loaded with them. I guess at this price (3.29) they can’t put a ton of them in there but there are quite a few very tasty roasted pieces of pecans, and the maple flavor of this granola is tasty. As per the Nutrition Label, I wish it didn’t have quite the amount of Added Sugars it says but I really don’t eat a whole bowl of this, or even the 2/3 cups they use as the serving size. What I use this for really is as a nice topping to add crunch on top of my breakfast yogurt bowl, usually something like chia seeds, mixed with yogurt and kefir and fruits (banana, apples, berries…) This would equally be great on top of oatmeal or overnight oats for a little crunch. You could even eat some as a snack, in moderate amounts.
$3.99 for a 1 pound bag. No weird ingredients, all pretty natural as you can see….
update: unfortunately at present this is either unavailable or possibly even discontinued (?) As a substitute the Organic Fusilliis also quite good
“Made in small, handmade batches with high quality organic durum wheat semolima. Thick, textured noodles, that cook up perfectly al dente and pair beautifully with pesto”
“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 shaping disks are used to produce thick, textured noodles that deliver a perfectly al dente texture, crucial to support the heftiness of your sauce while maintaining a delicate chew. The Trofie pasta shape originates from Liguria, the northwest coastal region of Italy, famous for pesto. You could say pesto is Trofie’s soul-sauce, a match made in pasta-eating heaven. But limiting Trofie to a single sauce would be a mistake. These short, twisted noodles pair well with a variety of sauces, in both hot and cold applications.”
NEW TRADER JOE’S ITEM – Organic Trofie Pasta: I saw this sign and grabbed a package of this pasta from the display as I’m familiar with “Trofie”, a pasta shape we don’t see very often in the U.S but is popular in Italy. It’s from Liguria. “Trofie”is a shape that is kind of a little twisted noodle so it has a lot of nooks and crannies to hold sauces. Trader Joe’s pasta is a very high quality organic pasta which as can you see in the pictures has a lot of rough cut edges, a clear sign it was made using bronze dies. I really liked this pasta. I used it to make a dish I came up with with spinach, garlic and feta cheese, a kind of Greek / Italian dish which turned out really yummy. This is great stuff, a very high quality pasta for a really good price. The 1 lb. package sells for $1.99. I would buy this again. This is my new favorite pasta! I suggest if you see it, Grab it! If you want to learn about Trofie check out some of these videos on YouTube….
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
Recent Comments