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Tag: Trader Joe’s (Page 1 of 6)

Trader Joe’s Garlic Gondolas Review

October 27, 2026 / / 0 Comments

What you see is what you get

I picked these Garlic Gondolas last time I visited Trader Joe’s, as they somewhat reminded me of khachapuri, a tasty cheese bread from the Caucuses. These, however, eat more like cheese sticks from a pizzeria, though the bread is somewhat harder (though still doughy). They were, indeed, very garlicky, maybe not cheesy enough, but otherwise pretty generic.

The size is a little problematic. They are really too big for just one person, but it’s a bit awkward to share them. I think it’d be better if they had 4 mini-gondolas. Then again, I don’t eat much bread nowadays and these might be perfectly adequate in size for those who do.

In all, I wouldn’t buy them again but I was glad I tried them.

Safeway Tamales are All Right

September 22, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Good Meat to Masa Ratio

Safeway had their deli tamales on sale this week for $1.66 (regularly $2.50), so I decided to give them a try. I ordered the shredded pork tamal(e) and I was actually quite happy with it. There are two things I want in a tamal: a good tasting, not too spicy filling, and a good filling to masa ratio. The latter means that there should be more filling than masa, rather than vice versa. This tamal fulfilled both of my requirements. Indeed, the ratio was close to perfect.

I had a similar positive experience with Trader Joe’s frozen tamales last week. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the fresh tamales we occasionally buy at the farmer’s market, which have much more masa than filling.

There we no instructions on how to reheat this (refrigerated) tamal, so I microwaved it for 1 minute in the corn wrapping. That worked well enough.

I feel that even in this economy, paying $3 for a supermarket tamal is ridiculous (though you can buy 4 for $10) – that’s the farmer market’s/homemade price – but I’ll definitely buy them again when on sale.

Trader Joe’s Chicken Adobo is Really Bad

April 6, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Trader Joe’s frozen entrees vary in quality, but I don’t think any are as bad as its Chicken Adobo ($4.30). I’ve rarely had such a bad frozen meal.

It’s hard to know what to say about it beyond the fact that it doesn’t taste at all like chicken adobo. The chicken itself had no flavor, and I think it was probably cooked without seasonings by itself. The sauce was watery, and just not pleasant. The portion looked small, but it was so bad I couldn’t even finish it. In all, just a bad dish.

Trader Joe’s Traditional Meatloaf review

December 9, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Surprisingly good

Meatloaf is a strange meal. It’s basically a giant meatball, basted with a tomato/ketchup or barbeque sauce, and baked. As far as I know it’s an American invention, and it evoques the cuisine of the poor. Now that beef has become so extraordinarily expensive, it might make a comeback, who knows?

Meatloaf is not part of my culinary repertoire, though I’ve made it a few times here and there.

For some reason, however, once in a while I get a hankering for meatloaf. I don’t quite know why, as this is not something I grew up with, but I do love sweet-savory flavors, and meatloaf, with its sweetened sauce, can often go there.

Trader Joe’s traditional meatloaf is sold in the refrigerated section, but it lasts quite a while in the fridge (unopened). The packages have 1lb of meat loaf, so they probably serve 2 people for a meal, more if they are children (though my children tell me meatloaf is the grossest food ever, according to kids in cartoons). I ate it over 3 meals on my own.

I was quite pleased with this version. It wasn’t particularly sweet, but it had a nice, meaty flavor, and the tomato sauce complimented it. The texture was on point, and it was easy enough to slice and microwave. I’d buy it again for when I get a meatloaf hankering.

Trader Joe’s Mini Chocolate Mousse Desserts Review

December 8, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Good dark chocolate taste, but they are truly mini in size.

Well, when Trader Joe’s says mini, I guess they really mean “mini”. The photo shows two of these Mini Chocolate Mousse Desserts ($5 for 6) on a tea saucer. They are tiny. But if you are counting calories or carbs, this is a great way to treat yourself. The chocolate mousse has a strong chocolate flavor, a nice variety of textures, and is not very sweet. In all, it’s an elevated version of the Belgian chocolate pudding they used to sell, denser and softer (it’s a mousse, not a pudding) but with a similar flavor profile. I liked them very much.

The package comes with a plastic mold surrounding six mini-mousses. You can presumably remove each mousse while frozen to defrost in the fridge (for at least 2 hours), but I ended up defrosting the whole thing, as it was easier. Each mini-mousse is surrounded by a plastic film. Unfortunately, they didn’t keep their shape when removed while they were thawed. It might work better if you remove it when it’s frozen, if you want to preserve its look.

In all, while they are expensive (thank Trump for his tariffs), they are a high quality treat. They are made in Belgium and contain “cream, sugar, unsweetened chocolate, flour, butter, cocoa powder and cocoa butter” in addition to milk products and emulsifiers. I’d buy them again, as they fit my need for small sweets, but next time I’ll defrost them one at the time.

Trader Joe’s Mini Chicken Tikka Samosas Review

June 27, 2025 / / 1 Comment

Perfectly nice snack suited for an air fryer

Before the invention of the air fryer, I would not have even bothered buying a frozen snack like this. I don’t like turning the oven if I don’t have to – toaster ovens annoy so much that I put mine away -, and I hate having to pan-fry anything that is store bought. If I can’t microwave it effectively – and microwaving something with pastry like this, will turn the pastry soggy -, I rather not eat it. The air-fryer has changed all that.

These snacks are small, and therefore perfect for an even small air fryer like mine – cook them for 10 minutes at 375F. They come out with a nice, think and crispy shell and a flavorful but not too spicy filling. There is a good ratio of filling to shell. The are pretty tasty by themselves but you can dip them on anything you want. I used honey mustard dressing, as I was going through a honey-mustard-on-everything phase.

I’d buy them again.

Trader Joe’s Brazilian Style Cheese Bread Review

June 21, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Better than chipá

Brazilian style cheese bread had a moment in the US, probably around the time Brazilian steak houses became popular in the country. Due to a very old prejudice, I missed that moment and visited my first Brazilian steak house only last year, when my daughter’s boyfriend mentioned he wanted steak for his birthday. While I didn’t write a review at the time, we very much enjoyed the experience, though my memories of the cheese bread are too vague to refer to it.

Meanwhile, chipá, Guaraní cheese bread, had been having its own moment in Argentina. I tried it at my lodge in the Iberá wetlands and was so unimpressed as not try it again. Judged by the Trader Joe’s version, I should have.

Chipá or Brazilian cheese bread (the Guaraní people live in a vast territory that includes all of Paraguay as well as parts of Bolivia, northeastern Argentina and southern Brazil) is made with tapioca flour, milk, egg and grated cheese and usually shaped as little rolls. Trader Joe’s sells its version frozen with instructions of baking them in the oven. I air fried them (for 7 minutes from frozen at 360F, without preheating) and they were perfect. They had a nice, crispy shell with bright, not-too-salty Parmesan, and a wonderful chewy, elastic interior with a subtle cheese flavor. They are naturally gluten free for those who care about that. I really think you need to eat them warm to enjoy, as the elasticity of the dough is the best part.

Not only did I enjoy these buns very much, but I learned something knew. I already knew that cassava, yuca and manioc were all different names for the same root. What I didn’t know was that tapioca was the name of the starch of said root – thus tapioca flour refers to cassava starch while cassava flour refers to the flour made from the whole root. If you make your own chipá, make sure you use tapioca flour. But given how good Trader Joe’s frozen Brazilian cheese bread is, you really don’t need to go through the trouble.

Trader Joe’s Almond Croissants

October 5, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Bring the boulangerie home!

I first tried almond croissants at the Berkeley store of the now defunct La Petit Boulangerie chain when I was in college. As a starving student, these were a special treat which I’d allow myself once in a great while, but I absolutely loved them. Since then, almond croissants have had a special place in my heart, though I seldom get them.

I came across these Almond Croissants at Trader Joe’s during a recentish trip and picked them up without much thought. When I finally went to make them, I realized that it wasn’t a simple endeavor. I had to let them defrost overnight and only then I could bake them. I was frustrated, so I took them out from the freezer and put them in the fridge and waited a couple of days before touching them. As I looked at the instructions more carefully, I realized that I had to actually let them rise at room temperature, on a pan, separated from each other, for nine hours before this baking process – which I did swearing I’d never buy these again. Alas, after making them, I changed my mind.

These croissants tastes exactly like the real thing. Maybe not as good as my memories of the ones from La Petit Boulangerie, but similar to other almond croissants I’ve had since. The dough was very light with a bit of a bready taste, but one that grew on me. The almond filling was very tasty. I’ll definitely get them again next time I go to Trader Joe’s.

Trader Joe’s reviews

Trader Joe’s Chocolate Lava Cakes Review

October 5, 2024 / / 2 Comments

Skip it

Every time I go to Trader Joe’s, I pick up one desert to try, and in one of my trips it was the frozen Chocolate Lava cakes. It must be one of Trader Joe’s worst desserts. The cakes were dry, with very little chocolate flavor. On the plus side, I did save calories by not eating more than couple of bites. I made one first according to the instructions, and then a second one with less time, but both were failures.

They sell for $3.80 for 2 individual cakes.

Trader Joe’s Reviews

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