I saw this at Trader Joe’s when I was looking for some regular bread for sandwiches. I had not reviewed this, so I got it to try out. In my mind I was thinking about making things like some grilled cheese sandwiches in the near future as well as having some regular square sliced bread for toast for breakfasts.
As far as sourdough bread goes, I think most people seem to be interested in Trader Joe’s round loaf sourdough breads.
Still if you are looking for a standard type of “white bread” with square slices to have around for say making regular slices of toast or regular sandwiches I would say this is about as good an upgrade for that type of bread as you could get. This is not some squishy white bread. Wonder bread this ain’t. It’s soft of course but has a bit of a firm, dense structure. I’d think of this not as an actual sourdough bread but as a sourdough style sliced bread. For sandwiches, etc. I took a slice of this and toasted it and was so hust happy with the result.
This bread just makes the best slice of toast! A little sturdy with a perfect texture. For me, this was pretty much created to become Toast. It can make the best “English style toast” with a perfect bite of crust and crumb textures. A nice, sturdy slice of toast, aching to be buttered. Optionally topped with whatever you like.
Besides toast of course this will be fantastic to make any kind of grilled sandwich, say a grilled cheese, or anything. What about maybe SARDINES ON TOAST? Yeah baby.
If you try this and make a piece of toast with this bread you will not be sorry. If you don’t want it toasted, I would still suggest perhaps at least warming it slightly, as all bread benefits from being warm.
(sliced sourdough toasted and topped with cottage cheese, garlic chips and spices.)
GRILLED CHEESE idea using this bread? I am thinking for the cheese, slice up some Unexpected Cheddar, put that on the bread and spread a very thin layer of TJ’s Pumpkin Butter on the top slice plus (optional) very very thin slices of apple. Grill this on low-medium heat with a tablespoon of butter until golden brown, flip over, and serve when ready with your favorite pickles.
90 calories per slice
Storing: I keep mine in freezer. Very easy to take out a slice.
1 slice = 120 Calories, 4 gr Protein, and 10 gr of whole grains
Trader Joe’s EUROPEAN GRAINS & SEEDS BREAD is a European / Scandinavian style bread that Trader Joe’s introduced not too long ago. Here’s what they have to say about it :
“Our Danish bakery partner starts with a hearty sourdough rye Bread base, bolstering it with flax seed, sunflower seeds, rye flakes, and wheat bran before baking it to a deep brown hue. The resulting loaves are classically European—moist, toothsome, and somewhat dense, with a slightly sweet, delightfully nutty quality in each thin slice.”
I’m a big fan of these types of dense, hearty loaves of bread, seen all over Europe plus every Scandinavian country. I love these kinds of breads that have lots of whole grains. These type of breads are usually square loaves, sliced on the thin side as they are dense. Hearty, and delicious.
Wonder Bread this ain’t!
Here in the U.S., we don’t see these kinds of breads often enough, so over the years whenever I’ve seen this type of bread somewhere I will generally buy it. Especially pumpernickel breads which I really like.
I was so happy to find Trader Joe’s came out with this style of European bread, which are of course super healthy, compared to most any other breads. Is it any good?
Yes, this bread is good. Trader Joe’s new “European Grains And Seeds Bread” is deliciously nutty, tasty and full of seeds. It is baked for for them in Denmark by a Danish bakery, with the thin slices have a nice, nutty taste from sourdoughwholegrain rye and whole wheat floursplus a lot of seeds.
So healthy. I am going to guess this is probably the healthiest bread you can buy at Trader Joe’s.
How to enjoy European Grains and Seeds Bread: What this kind of bread is great for, is making things like open face sandwiches. Probably not so great for your average (thick) sandwich. It may not hold up. You could try thin sandwiches with two slices but really, think I would think about doing Scandinavian style open face sandwiches.
Of course you can just simply spread a slice with (softened) butter, cream cheese, cottage cheese, any cheese you love, jam, ham, or whatever you like. One way I love to enjoy this bread is to spread a slice with butter and top it with thin slices of cucumber or radish and a few grains of sea salt.
You can eat as is, or warm or toast it a bit. As usual with breads, warming it up even a little bit always improves the flavor. But you don’t have to, its fine at room temp.
While I love how this bread tastes there is one area I think they could improve it. The slices tend to break apart if you are not careful with it, as there are so many seeds in it which make it less solid. Which just means you have to be a little gentle with it. So if using butter for example, I let the butter get a bit softened enough to spread easily, least you rip your slice. Sometimes I cut the slices into half or quarters as its easier to handle. Toasting it makes it a bit more firm so try toasting this too. I do really like it just a little toasted.
I made an simple open faced sardine sandwich on this bread and enjoyed it a lot ; it matched great with the fish. SO GOOD!. Try it with your favorite cheese too.
TJ’s says: “When it comes to toppings and fillings, the thin-yet-sturdy slices of European Grains & Seeds Bread are ready for near-infinite riffing: try topping a slice with a pat of Cultured Salted Butter and a swoosh of berry preserves; sliced Cave Aged Le Gruyère and Rosemary Ham, or ripe avocado and a spoonful of Crunchy Chili Onion. Enjoy a slice as the base of an open-faced sandwich topped with Whipped Cream Cheese, Smoked Salmon Pieces, and plenty of fresh dill. If it’s soft & chewy you’re seeking, use un-toasted slices of European Grains & Seeds Bread to scaffold scoops of tuna salad—and don’t forget the pickle on the side!”
Will this last as a TJ’s product? I hope so. Like all new products, if they see it is selling well they will keep it. However if not enough people buy this, then it may go bye-bye unfortunately. So if you try and like this, keep buying it. I sure will.
I think it’s even gotten a little popular. A few times I have found this sold out, but it seemed to get restocked after a few days.
“In recent years, tinned fish has undergone what can only be described as a full-on reputational renaissance— and if you ask us, it’s about time! We’re doing our part to promote this resurgence in piscine appreciation with the introduction of Trader Joe’s Grilled Sardines in Olive Oil. They’re wild-caught for us off the coast of Tunisia, then their fillets are split down the middle and lightly grilled before being stacked and packed in olive oil. Out of the tin, each gloriously grill-marked Sardine is firm and meaty in texture, with a savory and delicately smoky flavor, ideal for enjoying as a protein for a quick meal, as part of an hors d’oeuvre spread, or as a hearty, anytime snack.”
If you are sardine fan, you should try these new Trader Joe’s sardines.
They’re good.
Considering how canned sardines and tinned fish in general have caught on especially on TikTok the last year or two — enough to create fears of shortages — happily for us aficionados of canned fish (raises hand), Trader Joe’s recently came out with yet another variety of sardines, to stock along with their other sardines such as the really good one called “lightly smoked sardines”, a favorite of mine. That one is just one of their many sardine offerings I really like and have given a big thumbs up. I think with this new “grilled sardines” can, TJ’s may be selling four different cans of sardines ?
I really liked this new one. In this newest version, wild caught Tunisian sardines have been filleted, de-boned and then grilled. You can see a few grill marks in my photo, above. The sardines are packed in olive oil and have a slight smoky flavor. They are yummy. I find them very tasty and think these are good quality, especially for the price of two dollars a can. Compare that with some famous Spanish brands like ORTIZ (AMAZON) which are more like $6/can
I think if you’ve wanted to try sardines but haven’t yet, perhaps these new grilled sardines might be a good place to start if you’ve wanted to explore what this #tinnedfish and #cannedsardines craze/fuss is all about but maybe are one of those who are a little turned off by the way some canned sardines look?
When you open this can up instead of seeing little fishies, all you will see are non-threatening fillets of sardines with attractive grill marks. So perhaps this is a good sardine “starter” if you have been the least bit squeamish about eating sardines (don’t be! they are so good, plus so good for you) Me, I’ve been loving all kinds of canned sardines for years and years, long before they became cool.
These fillets are boneless but not skinless (TJ’s has some that are both). Though sardines with bones actually have more calcium so are really good for all of us – women especially of course. There’s a tiny bit less less fish in this can then some other ones for example TJ’s “lightly smoked” can of sardines (here 77 grams vs 85 grams in those) but its not a big difference.
Ingredients: sardines, olive oil, salt, natural flavor. PRODUCT OF TUNISIA
A can contains 15 grams of protein (the lightly smoked sardines have even more, 21 grams of protein)
TIP: the other day i experimented and instead of anchovies, I put a tablespoon of these into a tomato based pasta sauce for my classic pan fried potato GNOCHHI. It really worked almost as if I used anchovies, and gave the dish that same kind of UMAMI flavor.
These make a great snack, appetizer, or lunch
Trader Joe’s Recipe for easy dish of these grilled sardines on a bed of the Grecian eggplant -sounds good.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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