viral | Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

Trader Joe’s Everything But The Pizza Whipped Cream Cheese Spread

14 Jan 2026 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in Blog, cheese, condiments, dairy, fresh, General, Italian, Meh, New, Prices, Products, review, snacks, spices, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update Tags: cheese, cream, dinner, Food, hype, pasta, pizza, product, Products, recipe, Recipes, Trader Joes, viral

$2.79/8 oz tub

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/everything-but-the-pizza-whipped-cream-cheese-spread-081648

“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:

@danielles_eats
How I’m using the Trader Joe’s Everything but the Pizza whipped cream cheese 🍕 #traderjoes #tastetest #creatorsearchinsights
♬ original sound – Danielle’s Eats

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….

Trader Joe’s Baladi Egyptian Sourdough Pocket Bread (pita)

19 Aug 2025 10 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, baked, Blog, bread, fresh, frozen, hot sauce, New, News, Pantry, Trader Joes, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: Arab, Arabic, bread, Cooking, dinner, Egyptian, Food, gluten, healthy, Levant, Middle Eastern, no preservatives, pita, pocket, product, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, review, Trader Joes, vegan, vegetarian, viral

(Scroll to end for latest update on the status of these which have been MIA for months!)

RAVE

“Perfect for hummus and dips and for sandwiches. Heat and enjoy!” (frozen)

I really love good pita bread. The fresh “pita bread original pockets” at Trader Joe’s have been OK in a pinch but its far from what I would call good pita (not too mention they used to give you 6 and now its just 4! Shrinkflation in action)

This “original pita bread” ($1.59) Trader Joe’s is fairly large, and on the thin side. I’ve always found these quite not sturdy enough to count on to make a pocket in, and hold the food. They kind of tend to fall apart when you fill them with ingredients as you are eating them.

This has changed with this new pocket bread/pita.

With the new Egyptian Baladi sourdough pocket bread Trader Joe’s finally has an excellent and authentic pita which is sturdy enough to split open and make a pocket that will hold ingredients, for say a falafal sandwich. And it’s Delicious. The BALADI SOURDOUGH POCKET BREADS are made by an Egyptian bakery for Trader Joe’s. So the real McCoy. These say “Product of Egypt”. Baked, then frozen, so as close to fresh as possible.

Trader Joe’s says: “We now offer Trader Joe’s Baladi Egyptian Sourdough Pocket Bread in our freezers. Made for us by a supplier in Egypt, these versatile (vegan) Baladi Pocket Breads take only a matter of minutes… to heat… before they’re puffed up, toasty, and ready to eat. Once heated, they have a tasty, slightly tangy Sourdough tinge to their flavor profile, and are ideal for stuffing with your favorite fillings. We’re partial to going with a classic combo of Falafel, chopped cucumbers, and our Garlic Spread-Dip, though they’re equally excellent when stuffed with our Gyros or Shawarma Chicken Thighs, too. And, of course, you can just serve them for dipping in hummus or tahini, as they do in Egypt.”

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/baladi-egyptian-sourdough-pocket-bread-078015

Here is my honest review of Baladi Pocket Bread. Wow. These are EXCELLENT. A great product. I was so impressed at how good these are and found them these pita breads to be so tasty and satisfying. They were even delicious just eaten simply with butter on them too as bread with our meal. Versatile. Between this new Baladi pocket bread and TJ’s Lavash I am super happy to have these Middle Eastern bread options.

Nice light whole wheat flavor. Natural ingredients. No preservatives. They come frozen in a resealable bag, with 5 breads inside the package and cost just $2.29. What a great deal. They are soft, fluffy inside yet sturdy enough for a pocket, or to use to scoop up any dip like hummus or what have you, pick up foods, hold up to falafal, or use for any sandwich, or even I think used as the base for mini pizza (see below).

Match these with your favorite hummus for sure!

HEATING: I took them out for about 10 minutes, left them out on the counter to defrost a bit (optional). I heated them, trying two ways; in the oven and on top of the stove in a covered pan. About 4-5 minutes. Both methods worked fine. In a pinch you could nuke them from frozen, but I think they will still benefit from a few seconds over the burners turning and flipping for the best texture like they just came out fresh from the oven they were baked in.

Trader Joe’s Introduces Egyptian Baladi Bread to American Shoppers

180 calories per bread. 7g protein

UPDATE 2 – MID OCT 2025 – HURRAY! THESE ARE FINALLY BACK!!

TRADER JOE’S CARNITAS HACK: How To Use it to make CHAR SIU (Chinese Roasted BBQ Pork)

20 Jul 2022 4 Comments

by promacnyc in Asian, DIY, Mexican, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, spices, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update Tags: Cha siu, Char siu, chinese, Food, hack, hacks, Mexican, Products, review, Roast Pork, Trader Joes, viral

Here’s a hack I came up with to turn Trader Joe’s Pork Carnitas into Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

Looking at a half used package of TJ’s Carnitas I had in the fridge, I had an thought. Could I turn it into Cha Siu ? I mean both are roasted pork. Let me see if by adding typical Chinese flavorings I can make them into something like Char Siu?

I tried it out and guess what? It worked. Those TJ Carnitas now tasted very close to yummy Char Siu / Roast Pork. My wife and I thought the hack worked and the pork was delicious. Here’s how I did it.

I made a Chinese sauce, grilled up a few thick slices of the carnitas, cooked it in the sauce to absorb the flavors, then spooned on more. To get that BBQ effect, I put the pan under the broiler until it had caramelized and the sauce became a thick glaze. The pork was tender, moist and full of flavor. We were amazed at how good this turned out and how much it tasted like Chinese BBQ Pork aka Char Siu.

I will be doing this now whenever I am in the mood for some easy Char Siu ! (BTW the Carnitas / Char Siu make a great topping for Ramen!) We ate the BBQ pork along side a Chinese noodle dish I made. It could be even good just on top of a bowl of rice too and with a few veggies, or any way you would use traditional Chinese Roast Pork.

Try this hack out yourself and see how easy and tasty it is!

SAUCE TO MAKE CARNITAS CHAR SIU

1 clove of fresh garlic, crushed

1/2 inch ginger, grated

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons palm sugar / light brown sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

pinch of ground cinnamon (or 5 spice powder if you have some)

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Mix all the ingredients together in the bowl. In a cast iron or oven safe pan, grill up your Carnitas pork slices under the broiler on low, for maybe 3 minutes, watching carefully until the pork is lightly browned. Flip and brush on some Char Siu Sauce and place back under the broiler on low for maybe 1 minute checking it carefully to make sure it does not burn. Take out and turn off the broiler. Spoon any left over sauce over the pork to coat. Put the hot pan back in the oven and let it sit for 1-2 minutes for the sauce to glaze up and reduce more in the residual oven heat (again keeping an eye on it to make sure it is deeply browned but do not let it get burned) Spooning the sauce over every 30 seconds or so.

Enjoy!

Here’s a more traditional recipe making it from scratch. I made the ingredients simpler in that you can find them all at Trader Joe’s – which doesn’t sell Oyster Sauce, for example (I wish). So if you have that and other Chinese ingredients in your larder, of course add them. The CHAR SIU recipe below in Woks of Life will give you ideas.