Trader Joe's Avocado Mash

My first instinct was like, "Why would anyone ever need mashed avocados unless they're making guacamole?" But then Sonia was quick to point out that you don't put guac on avocado toast. Point taken, wifey. Guess I'm just more into guacamole than I am into avocado toast.

Still, with some sourdough as a base and Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning on top, avocado toast is tastier than I ever thought it would be before I tried it. I mean, this isn't the very first time I've had it, but all the other times either someone else made it or Sonia had to mash or spread the avocados herself.

Trader Joe's Avocado Mash will run you $3.49 for the 8 oz tub. I've heard of Hass avocados but I couldn't tell you much about them. What I can tell you is that the quality of the mash is top notch, tastes great, and is super smooth. It's not stringy at all or slimy or brown at the time of unsealing. As a matter of fact, the package has been unsealed for a couple days now and it still isn't brown. The lemon juice and salt probably helps preserve it as well as adding a bit of extra flavor.

We also used the mash on some soft tacos, and it worked well that way, too. You could always turn it into proper guacamole by throwing in your own onions, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, and jalapeño. What else can you do with it? I'm not exactly a culinary wizard, so let us know if you've got any great ideas or recipes up your sleeve.

Avocados are never cheap, so the value is pretty decent at three and a half bucks. Found in the refrigerated section. Kosher. Yet another product of Mexico. Would buy again. Sonia and I will throw out eight out of ten stars a piece for Trader Joe's Avocado Mash.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe San Soyaki

A quick internet search will reveal that Trader Joe's is just about the only place that sells "soyaki" sauce. Plenty of other folks are peddling bottles of teriyaki with sesame seeds as a primary ingredient. It seems fairly self evident that "soyaki" is a mashup of the words "soy" and "teriyaki," but if regular teriyaki has soy in it anyway, then wouldn't all teriyaki be soyaki? Seems to me that the sesame seeds are the things that make this product unique, but I guess "sesameyaki" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

Trader Joe's Soyaki is bursting with the umami flavor of soy sauce, but behind it there's a surprising amount of cane sugar sweetness along with garlic and ginger purees. You can taste sesame, vinegar, and tamari, and the whole thing is nice and savory. There are enough sesame seeds that they not only provide a bit of nuttiness to the flavor, but they add some texture, too.

My instincts would gravitate towards poultry or fish as the perfect pairings for this sauce, but I suppose steak wouldn't be out of the question. We used our soyaki as a marinade for salmon and it was scrumptious. We served it with rice and salad, and it was just perfect for dinner.

I hear it goes quite well with tofu as well, so if you're prepping a plant-based meal you're in luck because Trader Joe's Soyaki is certified vegan. It's also kosher. $3.99 for 21 oz. Would buy again. Eight out of ten stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Soyaki Sauce.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Enchilada Sauce

So...this might be the third time Sonia has ever made enchiladas in our 15 years of marriage. She works a full-time job, so it's not like I expect her to cook every day. And enchiladas aren't one of her specialty dishes. Sonia's mom only made them once in a blue moon back when Sonia was a young girl. But shoot, it's nice when she does whip up a batch. I'm tempted to try my hand at it myself, but I'm pretty sure it would be disappointing by comparison.

Having a pre-made sauce helps the process go quickly and smoothly. Trader Joe's offering is reasonably-priced, and it has a nice consistency and flavor. There's a bit more of a kick than I was expecting, to be honest. Fortunately, we both enjoy spicy foods. Sonia and I would put the heat level around a 6 on our spice-o-meters. A quick glance at the ingredients reveals that the product not only contains red jalapeño pepper puree but also ground red chile pepper and chipotle pepper powder.

It's not too thin and not too thick. It coats fairly easily and it's smooth and a nice dark shade of deep red. Our enchiladas had beans and shredded chicken wrapped in flour tortillas and topped with a Mexican cheese blend and Trader Joe's Enchilada Sauce. After baking for 20 minutes, the resulting entree was flavorful, filling, and satisfying.

What else can you do with this sauce? Chilaquiles are mentioned on traderjoes.com. If we try that, we'll report back with the results in the comments section. What have you made with this product? Let us know.

$4.49 for the 24 oz jar. Kosher. Would buy again. Eight out of ten stars a piece from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Enchilada Sauce.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Hoisin Sauce

Those of you who've been following us for a long time know that our whole schtick is basically that we're "foodie-hacks." We're not culinary experts. We're just normal folks who enjoy food and are generally curious and adventurous. I honestly think we're the type of customers Trader Joe's is perfect for. It's not optimized for health nuts or highfalutin highbrow food snobs as some may think at first. It's for people who see food as art and want to try novel stuff for reasonable prices. All that to say, in all likelihood, you the reader know more about any given item than I do. I'm just giving you the honest opinion of one man and one woman. No more, no less.

In that same vein, while I've heard of "hoisin sauce" before, I couldn't tell you much about it other than it's Asian and they sometimes put it in stir-fry. Sonia has made a few stir-fry dishes with other brands and I have to say I've enjoyed Trader Joe's the most so far.

It seems sweeter and also more flavorful than the other hoisin sauces that she's used. It pours thick and dark, and it coats everything it touches. It tastes like brown sugar, soy sauce, and sesame sauce all mixed together, with a hint of vinegar in the background. It went beautifully with the ground turkey, broccoli, onion, and noodle dish she whipped up recently. We're excited to try it with other stuff very soon.

A quick Google search will reveal that hoisin sauce is typically a Chinese ingredient used in Cantonese cooking, while this Trader Joe's product hails from Thailand. It's $1.99 for just over 10 oz. Vegan. We like it. We would buy it again. Eight out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Hoisin Sauce. Sonia will go with nine out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Aglio Olio Seasoning Blend

"Aglio e olio" apparently means "garlic and oil" in Italian. Never heard the phrase before looking into this product. I honestly don't know if this is a traditional spice blend from The Beautiful Country or not, but it's darn tasty.

If I were tasked with making my own ideal spice blend from scratch, I would undoubtedly start with garlic. It's the king of spices and herbs in my book. Red bell pepper and red chili pepper would most definitely be on the list as well to add some flavor and oomph to the seasoning. We've got both in Trader Joe's Aglio Olio.

Rounding out the list might be sea salt, parsley, and some kind of oil. My version might have onion in it as well, but I think you get the picture: my ultimate seasoning mix would be remarkably close to what we have here.

No point in purchasing it if you don't like garlic. It's quite allium forward. It's mildly spicy and very flavorful. My only complaint might be that it's a little saltier than I'd prefer it to be.

It's great with pasta, orzo, rice, or...in case you have any oddly bland pizza pockets on hand, it's Aglio Olio to the rescue. I'd add it to anything Italian. The shaker says you can toss it with spaghetti and olive oil, I guess in lieu of traditional pasta sauce, which sounds delightful. I bet it would go great with olive oil and bruschetta, too.

$2.49 for the 1.7 oz shaker. Kosher. Would buy again. This is probably one of my top three TJ's seasonings of all time. Eight and a half stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Aglio Oilo Garlicky & Spicy Seasoning Blend.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Syrah Soaked Toscano Cheese Spread

At this point, we're still kind of recapping a lot of the foods we were munching on throughout the holidays. This is another fancy cheese dip you might serve with fancy hors d'oeuvres or a charcuterie platter. "Soaked in syrah," you say? Yes, please.

Sonia and I went through a syrah/shiraz phase a few years back. It's generally a punchy, earthy red with peppery notes underneath. It's not a flavor you'd think would easily disappear in a tub of Toscano, but I was surprised how subtle it was in this instance. It's definitely there, but this is cheese with a whisper of wine and not the other way around.

It's tangy and herbaceous, creamy and savory. Sonia threw it into her omelets and sandwiches noting that it made them taste a lot more interesting than more common selections like Swiss or mozzarella. Truth be told, she liked it a lot more than I did.

Call me boring, but I don't think anything will ever dethrone the Unexpected Cheddar in terms of Trader Joe's spreadable cheeses for me. While we're on the topic, though, I should mention we bought the Holiday Cheer version again this year and both felt that the recipe had changed—like it was overloaded with cinnamon and wasn't nearly as good as the batch from 2023. Anybody else?

Trader Joe's Syrah Soaked Toscano Cheese Spread & Dip will run you five bucks for the 7.5 oz tub. Sonia will give it eight out of ten stars and a thumbs up. I don't give it a thumbs down exactly, but I wouldn't repurchase for just myself. Six out of ten from me.

Sonia's score: 8 out of 10.

Nathan's score: 6 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Olive Tapenade Hummus

This is about the tenth style of hummus we've reviewed from Trader Joe's throughout the years. I won't bore you with a recap of each one. Just head to our blog and type "hummus" into the search bar if you're interested.

I'd say this variety falls squarely in the middle of the pack for me, personally. I like the hummus element. Pretty standard. Whirled chickpeas and tahini for the win.

The tapenade portion of the product is very briny. I mean, yeah, many olives come packed in salt water, so a bit of brininess is to be expected, but this seemed a tad excessive to me. Not a dealbreaker. I like a good bit of sodium in my diet, and if you mix equal parts hummus with tapenade in every bite, you can effectively mitigate the brine factor.

Sonia is a fan of the combo. The saltiness didn't bother her much. She's very much into anything Mediterranean these days. I think it would be ideal with fresh bruschetta, but we enjoyed it with the random types of bread products we had lying around the house—pita, naan, and even just water crackers.

$3.49 in the refrigerated section. Kosher. Sonia would buy it again and I wouldn't stop her unless there were some newfangled hummus that looked more interesting on our next Trader Joe's run. Sonia will throw out seven and a half out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Olive Tapenade Hummus. I'll go with seven out of ten.

Bottom line: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Cranberry Ginger Chutney

Well, Thanksgiving is tomorrow and as always, there's a ton to be thankful for. Even in the darkest of times, there are always good people and circumstances that can be appreciated. My heart is truly filled with gratitude as Sonia and I focus on our blessings and prepare for our Turkey Day feast. And with that, I leave you with this mostly negative review.

Trader Joe's Cranberry Ginger Chutney tastes like a chunky-style apple cider vinegar beverage. I can see what they were going for but I'm not fond of the execution. It's way too vinegary for me. We both love Indian food and Indian spices in general, but this? Sonia was way more positive than I was, but I don't think either of us would buy it again.

The cranberry and ginger aspects work quite well. There are nearly whole cranberries in certain bites. The raw ginger and tart cran flavors offset the sweetness and there's just a whisper of bite from the cayenne. It's that sour acidity from the vinegar that throws me off.

It'll be just the two of us tomorrow. I don't know who I pity more: those of you who will be completely alone on Thanksgiving Day or those of you who have more than a handful of relatives to tolerate, LOL. Either way, we'll be with you in spirit. Thanks for reading and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Sonia's score: 6.5 out of 10.

Nathan's score: 5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Sweet Potato Habanero Hot Sauce

Cranking out review after review, day after day, week after week gets old after a while. Sometimes, I just lose inspiration and don't want to post on this blog at all. And then I'll fix breakfast or lunch and open up a TJ's product I haven't tried yet and it just absolutely blows me away and suddenly I remember the spirit that instituted this site in the first place.

That's what happened here. This sauce is delicious. I thought for sure it was going to be a repeat of last year's Chunky Garlic & Jalapeño Hot Sauce. For the life of me, I can't see what the fuss is about with that stuff. But this? Have you tried it? Holy cow. It's sweet like a sweet potato and spicy like a habanero pepper.

It looks just like the aforementioned garlic and jalapeño sauce, except that one was red and this one is an unappealing brownish-greenish color. I still wouldn't call this one "chunky," but it has tiny bits of veggies floating around in it much like its predecessor. But the flavor? Oh man, this has a wonderful bright zing to it and a burst of flavorful heat. It's got a significant amount of kick, but it's not over the top either. White vinegar is the number one ingredient but it's well-balanced with sweet potato and habanero deliciousness.

So far, we've tried it with eggs, chicken, and beef. We've used it in tacos, chili, and omelets, and it works quite well in every case. This is my new favorite hot sauce and quite possibly my new favorite condiment, period.

It might be a seasonal item. After all, sweet potato is a fall flavor. I better stock up if that's the case. If you don't like spicy foods, you might wanna sit this one out. It's also conceivable some folks will find it too sweet. Otherwise, I can't recommend it highly enough. The beautiful wifey loves it as well.

$2.99 for 5 fluid ounces. This looks like a pantheon product all the way. Let's go with nine out of ten stars from Sonia and me on Trader Joe's Sweet Potato Habanero Hot Sauce.

Bottom line: 9 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Oven Dried Red & Yellow Bell Pepper Crisps

In the tradition of other crispy, crunchy veggie snacks that Trader Joe's has offered throughout the years, bell peppers are getting their day in the sun...er, their day in the oven, as it were. If you don't know what I'm talking about, see:

Trader Joe's Contemplates Inner Peas

Trader Joe's Kale Chips

Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy Broccoli Florets

Trader Joe's Beet Chips

Trader Joe's Parsnip Chips

Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy Okra

Your guess is as good as mine as to whether any of those snacktastic veggies are still available at TJ's or not...

As a standalone snack, these oven dried dealies are definitely not my favorite, despite a general fondness for bell peppers of all colors. They're oddly bitter, crusty, and papery.

Crumbled on top of stuff, however, they're pretty neat. $1.99 for the resealable bag. Product of Turkey. Sonia and I will go with six out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 6 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Peanut Butter with Honey

I love peanut butter, but I don't have a lot to say about this product. The pros: It's good-quality creamy peanut butter. There are only three ingredients. It only costs three dollars.

The cons: It needs way more honey sweetness. It separates big time if it sits on the shelf for a spell. There is no crunchy version. Worse, traderjoes.com is full of absurd claims like "...this peanut butter falls somewhere in between creamy and crunchy." 

It's as smooth as any smooth peanut butter I've ever had.

Watch my video. It's only 42 seconds.

Much love. Peace.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Video: A Discussion About Our Favorite and Least Favorite Trader Joe's Spices and Seasonings

 

Trader Joe's Organic Italian Dressing with Romano Cheese

This is a really nice creamy Italian dressing with a surprising amount of Romano cheese flavor and good, quality organic ingredients. It's moderately robust and tangy, flavor-wise. As far as texture is concerned, it's medium thick—thicker than most oil and vinegar type salad dressings but not quite as thick as other cream-based condiments.

We've had it with spring mix, spinach, arugula, and cabbage slaw, and it works well in each case. We've tried it in sub sandwiches in lieu of typical mustard and mayo and it's great in that context, too. I'm sure it'd be fine if you used a thin glaze of this dressing on a pasta salad or maybe even something like the feta, pepper drop, and olive antipasto.

The cheese tends to settle on the bottom of the bottle so some agitation is required before pouring. The cheese bits are very fine—not chunky at all. For the most part, they don't separate from the liquid part of the dressing when poured as larger pieces of cheese might have.

$2.99 for the 12 serving bottle. Would buy again. Nathan and Sonia both give the same score for Trader Joe's Organic Italian Dressing with Romano Cheese

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organic Vanilla Bean Paste

For some crazy reason I was thinking this would be, you know, a paste. It's not. It's a syrup. In case you were wondering, yes, this is my first vanilla bean "paste" purchase. I realize Trader Joe's didn't invent this stuff. But a paste is somewhere in between solid and liquid. This is just a sticky fluid with bean bits in it. I dunno, man. That's my story and I'm sticking to it: vanilla bean paste is a syrup, not a paste. I'll die on that hill.

Not that it matters. It's still thick. It's still yummy. It's like vanilla extract but sweeter, thicker, tastier, and beanier—with way less alcohol flavor. Yes, it's much thicker than vanilla extract but not so thick that you'd call it a paste. But whatevs.

Apparently all vanilla bean "paste" is like this. It's very much on par with chocolate syrup in terms of thickness and sweetness, but with a distinctly vanilla aroma and essence. I guess it's kinda odd to review chocolate syrup and vanilla syrup in such a short span of time, but hey, what's done is done.

The best part about this product: the little vanilla bean specks. You can change regular boring vanilla ice cream to vanilla bean ice cream with just a teaspoon or two of this stuff. Or add it to smoothies, coffee, whipped cream, overnight oats, French toast, or cake mix. We did all of the above. Well, not the cake mix. Not yet. If there's any of this bottle still left in two months, I'll request a birthday cake with vanilla bean paste in the batter.

Five bucks for a tiny bottle of potent vanilla, complete with beanage. Comparable bottles from other brands apparently go for $20-$25. I like it. Sonia likes it. We would buy Trader Joe's Organic Vanilla Bean Paste again...even though it's clearly a thick syrup, not a paste.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organic Midnight Moo

The first five years of my life or so were spent in Hershey, just blocks from Hersheypark, Chocolate World, and the old chocolate factory. My family kept in touch with a few folks in the town for many years after, so we'd find ourselves there quite often even after having moved away. You'd frequently smell cocoa wafting through the air of the affluent Pennsylvania neighborhood, and of course much of the local economy revolved around the chocolate industry.

Even in a town about an hour away, it was hard to escape the influence of Hershey and their world-famous chocolate brand. Thanks to some food sensitivities, I wasn't allowed much, if any, chocolate in my early years. Nevertheless, as I was treated for and grew out of said intolerances, I was heavily exposed to Hershey's chocolate and Hershey's syrup as I grew up and they naturally became my reference points for all things chocolatey.

We've frequently been criticized for comparing Trader Joe's chocolate products to Hershey's since, in the opinion of many chocolate snobs, Hershey's isn't that great compared to, say, European chocolate. In fact, foreign chocolate connoisseurs are often inclined to say that Hershey's tastes like literal vomit. But I digress. All that to say I'll be comparing this syrup primarily to Hershey's because I'm not all that familiar with any other brands.

Let's start with the ingredients. Hershey's kicks things off with high fructose corn syrup. It could still be those childhood food allergies lingering around, but my body hates HFCS. Trader Joe's syrup uses organic cane sugar. Good stuff. From there, the ingredients in Hershey's get even more unpronounceable and artificial, while Trader Joe's sticks with organics and basics.

Still, I think I like the taste of Hershey's a little better than this Trader Joe's chocolate syrup. It's sad, but I think my palate is just used to consuming chemicals, dyes, and fake stuff. Hershey's is a bit sweeter and thinner, both of which make it just a tad more chuggable. Trader Joe's syrup is a "darker" cocoa and it has a heavier consistency, which makes it harder to dissolve in milk. It's much more optimized for topping vanilla ice cream or other desserts in my humble opinion.

TL;DR—Trader Joe's Midnight Moo uses much higher quality ingredients than Hershey's but there's still something familiar about the old standby that makes it taste slightly better to me.

$3.99 for the squeeze bottle. Apparently this product was around years ago, got discontinued, and then came back again somewhat recently. Would I buy again? Maybe. I think it's growing on me. Four stars from Sonia, three and a half from me for Trader Joe's Organic Midnight Moo.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Traditional Tunisian Harissa Paste

Everything I ever knew about harissa I learned from Trader Joe, which admittedly isn't all that much. We saw a decent harissa-based salsa some years back. And I vaguely remember trying some sardines packed in harissa during one of our short-lived podcast episodes. What is harissa? It's a spicy chili pepper paste that comes from the Maghreb region of North Africa. This item isn't shy about its origins. It's a proud product of Tunisia.

I remember liking the flavor and intensity of harissa, but I think this paste is a more concentrated format than either of my previous encounters with the spicy sauce. I like a good bit of heat with certain foods, but I definitely have my limits. Hopefully I'll be able to apply this paste so it's strong enough to enhance my meals but not to the point of pain. Let's dive in...

The harissa hits you up front with a rich, pungent fragrance. It's peppery, smoky, and faintly vinegary. There's a layer of oil around the edges of the jar, and a moderate amount of seeds can be seen throughout the mixture.

Flavor-wise, it's similar. There's a bit of garlic and coriander in the paste, but they're mostly overshadowed by the intense hot pepper flavor. I mean, this isn't the spiciest sauce I've ever had, but it's not for the faint of heart, either. I'd put it at the same intensity level as a jalapeño pepper—and definitely a good bit hotter than the gochujang sauce we looked at recently. You feel it in your mouth and tongue immediately, and over time it slowly warms your tummy internally.

So far, we've had it on chicken and fish, both of which worked really well. We've added it to plain hummus to give it a kick. And we've also put dollops in things like Asian-style stir fry. I've heard some people like to mix it with a bit of mayo to temper the spice level and add it to burgers and other typical American fare. Sounds good, but we haven't tried it that way yet.

$2.99 for the jar. Not a bad value considering it came from halfway around the world and it'll most likely last us a long time due to its potency. We're eager to experiment with it some more. Four stars from Sonia, four from me on Trader Joe's Traditional Tunisian Harissa Paste.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Korean Gochujang Sauce

Let me explain something about myself. I love condiments. I love sauces. When I eat French fries, I'm an absolute ketchup fiend. I like mustard, mayo, relish, onions, chili, and cheese sauces on my 'Murican stuff. On my foreign foods, I like sriracha, sweet Thai chili, garlic spread, tzatziki, zhoug, chutney...you name it.

I think places like Chick-fil-a are outstanding not because they have the best chicken, although theirs is definitely up there, but because they have the best dipping sauces. Freaking Polynesian sauce? Come on, man. You can't beat that. The only reason I ever patronize Subway anymore is to get my chicken teriyaki sandwich absolutely drowned in that sweet onion sauce. Why they took away the red wine vinaigrette, I'll never know.

I'm on record stating ketchup is my favorite condiment of all time, followed closely by sriracha. I'll stand by that. Like sriracha, this sauce is made with fermented red chilis, but it hails from Korea rather than Thailand. A purchase was inevitable.

We've seen Gochujang Paste from Trader Joe's before. That's more like the unadulterated source material while this product is truly a sauce ready for application and implementation. It's not quite as potent, spice-wise, since it's mixed with rice vinegar and soy sauce. While that previous product was a thick paste, this condiment is thin and smooth like ketchup or sriracha.

Heat-wise, it's right in the middle of the spectrum. It provides a kick, for sure, but you don't have to worry about wasabi-like sinus-clearing pain, even if you use a bit too much. As far as flavor goes, it tastes more fermented than sriracha to me. It's almost like a kimchi made with red peppers. Also, the vinegar flavor is much stronger in this particular sauce and it's not nearly as sweet. For those reasons, sriracha will easily maintain its position as the second best condiment in existence for me.

Sonia? She likes this stuff better. She's a bigger fan of kimchi than I am and of fermented flavors in general. She also enjoys vinegary stuff more than I do. She thinks of it like an Asian version of Tapatio or Cholula. I'll admit it does go well with tacos and sour cream. Mexican-Korean fusion for the win. We also mixed it with mayo and tried it on a cheeseburger. Not bad, not bad. Sonia also LOVES this product with eggs.

$3.49 for the 9.17 oz bottle. Would buy again. I'll throw out three and a half stars. Put the beautiful wifey down for four and a half on Trader Joe's Korean Gochujang Sauce.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Sri Lankan Organic Mango Chutney

So this totally wasn't what I was expecting. But I'm not going to let my preconceived notions ruin my experience with this product, because it's a unique and delicious condiment in its own right. Was I expecting Indian-style chutney while this specimen is uniquely Sri Lankan? Possibly.

I fell in love with chutney many years ago. There was a place close to my apartment that had the best chicken tikka, and I'd always get naan and samosas on the side and they came with two little dishes of red and green chutney. Before I'd even start on the entree, I'd finish both types of chutney completely. I'd later find out the green one was mint chutney and the red one was tamarind chutney, neither of which would have appealed to me if I'd only heard the names of the sauces. Both were heavy on sweet coconut flavor and were very watery and thin—no bits of fruit or chunks of anything.

This product is more like a marmalade in terms of look and texture. It's quite thick. And there are indeed mango bits floating throughout the little jar. It's sweet like the aforementioned chutneys, but this one is more fruit forward and has a lot less coconut taste, despite the fact that it does contain "organic coconut sap vinegar."

There's an unexpected though not entirely unwelcome spice blend here, as well. In addition to chili powder, which gives the product a modest kick, we're also looking at cinnamon, cardamom, clove, and nutmeg. They're oddly strong, too. If it were me, I would have dialed the spices back just a tad and let the fruit flavors do the talking, but it makes for a very exotic taste combo.

This chutney went well with pan-fried chicken and rice. It complements naan bread, samosas, and charcuterie type foods. I'm sure you could use it with sandwiches, wraps, or as a glaze for meat or white fish.

Sonia says she's had chutney very similar to this one at other Indian restaurants. She's a fan. $2.99 for the 8.5 oz jar. Product of Sri Lanka. Organic. Kosher. Would buy again. Four stars a piece from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Sri Lankan Mango Chutney.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.