Trader Joe's Unexpected Cheddar Cheese & Turkey Sausage Egg White Bites

When I complain about these egg bites being too small and too expensive, Sonia is quick to remind me that they sell pretty much the same thing at Starbucks for nearly double the $3.49 price tag at Trader Joe's.

And while I'm complaining, let me just say I wish there were a whole egg version of this product. Sure, egg yolks have some cholesterol, but it's good cholesterol. I always feel like I'm missing something when I eat yolkless egg.

But now that I've gotten those trivialities off my chest, let me say that all things considered, I like these egg bites quite a bit. You can't beat unexpected cheddar in the cheese department. If I'm gonna eat sausage, I prefer turkey sausage, so there's that. It's nicely spiced and flaunts a rich, savory flavor, even though the sausage pieces are quite tiny by my standards.

It's undeniably unexpected cheddar we're tasting here, but there could always be more of it. Littles pieces of vegetables wouldn't have been unwelcome, either. These aren't the first egg bites we've looked at on this blog. See: the spinach and kale variety from about a year ago. Those greens worked well in egg bites, although, all things considered, I have to admit I like this version just a tad more.

Sonia will give Trader Joe's Unexpected Cheddar Cheese & Turkey Sausage Egg White Bites eight out of ten stars. That sounds about right. Gluten free. Made with eggs from cage free hens. We would buy these again.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Hot Smoked Salmon Fillet

Sonia and I grabbed this product from the fridge at TJ's in haste, neither of us remembering that it had already been reviewed on this blog. In our defense, it's been over five years since the post went up, and we weren't the ones that reviewed it.

I thought about simply bumping that old post and plopping a short video at the bottom, but I think I'll just let that one stand on its own since we've got a significantly divergent take on this item. If you care to read the review from my esteemed former colleague just click here:

Trader Joe's Hot Smoked Salmon Fillet Take One

It's quite possible suppliers have changed in the past five years or that the quality of the fish has improved or simply that my erstwhile Pittsburghian counterpart "got a bad batch," but we found a much smaller layer of dark gray salmon next to the skin on our specimen. Also, we found our salmon to taste pretty good overall.

My biggest gripe would be that the smokey flavor was just a little overbearing. Some folks love that smokey flavor, but I can only tolerate it in moderation. Sonia was fine with the smokiness here.

We found a salmon spread recipe on thekitchn.com involving this salmon, mayo, onions, and lemon/lime juice. That combo was absolutely superb. The acidity of the lime juice and the creaminess of the mayo counterbalanced the smoke flavor nicely, and it made an extremely satisfying appetizer that actually wound up being our dinner.

We finished the product in a single sitting that way, serving the salmon spread on both water crackers and white rice. Get a look at the actual product by checking out the YouTube Short below.

$8.99 for the 6 ounce ready-to-serve package. In the end, I'd prefer unsmoked salmon for most situations, but this product is convenient and has plenty of potential when mixed with other ingredients. Would buy again. Seven and a half out of ten stars from me. Eight and a half out of ten stars from Sonia.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli

Some products just don't need a pumpkin version. And other things seem like they were created for the express purpose of being stuffed with the large orange gourd. In my humble opinion, this product falls into the latter category. That is to say, "Why the heck haven't we tried pumpkin ravioli before?"

Pretty sure this and a gluten-free variety have been floating around Trader Joe's seasonally for a few years now. Can't remember if it wasn't available or if we just passed it over on purpose in favor of other fall flavors, but I'm glad we're getting around to it now. It's good.

Pumpkin is actually the number one ingredient in this unique fall pasta. After that, we've got ricotta and mozzarella, along with a subtle and appropriate blend of spices and sweeteners including both brown sugar and honey. We do have nutmeg, allspice, clove, and cinnamon in the mix, but the product manages to avoid becoming a pumpkin pie spice product somehow and maintains a savory, squashy essence despite its honey sweetness.

Sonia and I ate our ravioli with just a touch of butter and salt. I can't imagine a sauce that would enhance this product rather than clash with it, but some folks say it goes well with Trader Joe's Autumnal Harvest Pasta Sauce. As much as I like that sauce, I think I'd rather reserve it for more neutral pasta products. This pumpkin ravioli has a really nice taste just on its own and I wouldn't want it to compete with any additional flavors. A sage brown butter sauce might be an exception.

$3.99 for the 9 oz pack. It comes refrigerated but you can freeze it if there's a chance you won't use if before the best by date. We would buy this product again. Eight out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey and me for Trader Joe's Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organic Pasture Raised Large Brown Eggs

Well, I mean, shoot. If we can review stuff like arugula and red pepper on this blog, eggs are certainly worth a looksee, right? Sure.

These puppies are organic. $6.49 for the dozen. That makes them about $1.50 more expensive than their non-organic yet still pasture-raised counterparts. But they're still a buck or two cheaper than organic eggs I've seen from other grocery stores. Is the organic-ness worth it? I have no idea in this case. Sonia apparently thinks it is. I'd probably just grab the cheap stuff.

They are indeed large brown chicken eggs. They look pretty pristine inside and out. With 70 calories each and a good amount of protein, eggs are still one of the most cost-effective foods on the market—even the organic kind.

I've mentioned before that I kinda have to be in the mood for eggs. I'm not someone that's ever had them for breakfast every day. Sonia, on the other hand, not only eats eggs almost every single day, but she'll often have them for breakfast and a mid-day snack.

For their high quality and overall decent value, we'll both go with eight out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Organic Pasture Raised Large Brown Eggs.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organics Arugula

Just a quickie today. Arugula. It's currently my favorite vegetable. Or, as Steve Martin put it in My Blue Heaven—it's a ve-ge-ta-ble. Like Vinnie Antonelli, Sonia and I find ourselves living in a town that doesn't sell arugula anywhere, so we have to drive to the big city to get any and it feels like a luxury every time we procure a bag.

I find arugula to be almost like a cross between spinach and romaine lettuce, but nuttier than either of those. It's faintly bitter but it's also a little peppery in a weird way. I like baby arugula too, which is a bit more mild than the normal kind.

This Trader Joe's offering is organic, which is good I guess. It started getting goofy just a couple days after we bought it. That's a common complaint about Trader Joe's produce in particular—it goes bad quickly. I don't know if that's a testament to the fact that it really is organic or whether it's not stored at the proper temperature in the store or what.

But anyway, this stuff was great while it lasted. We made salad after salad and piled it on each sandwich we had. We even threw it on our pizza slices to help balance out the carbs and grease.

$2.49 for the 7 oz bag, which is an excellent price for this amount of organic arugula. We'd both buy it again, but we wish it lasted just as long as the arugula we get from Hy-Vee or Walmart. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Organic Arugula.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Peach Raspberry Crisp

Peach crisp? With raspberry, you say? I thought we were doing fall stuff this week. Ah, well, there are still a few stragglers from summer slipping through for review. This product is undoubtedly on its way out for the season, but it was still available this past weekend, so...here goes.

At first, I started poking around at the cobbler with my fork wondering where all the fruit was. It seemed mostly just bready crumble and whatnot. But once you get down to the bottom, there's not only some fruit, there are entire peach slices. Yes, there's a raspberry jelly—like a purplish glaze throughout, but I thought the entire thing was fairly peach forward. I mean, there must be an entire can of peaches in light syrup poured into this pan. Of course I don't know if they used canned peaches here. The ingredients just say "peaches," but since they're drowned in all manner of sugar and stuff, they remind me of slices that come canned in that sweet thin sauce.

Sonia thought the overall flavor was more raspberry-ish, despite the raspberries not being as obviously represented in terms of whole fruits floating around in the mixture. I guess raspberries can have a fairly pungent taste that could theoretically overpower peach in a cobbler like this. At any rate, you can taste both fruits and the whole mess is sweet, fruity, and there's plenty of crunch from the wheat and oat based crumble.

It's even better served hot. And it's better still when served hot with vanilla ice cream on top. Or so we assume. We really didn't try it a la mode because we didn't have any ice cream on hand when we tried it. Oh well, there's always next year.

It's an enjoyable dessert that hits that sweet tooth sweet spot nicely and doesn't feel too over-the-top sugary. I mean oats, berries, and peaches are downright healthy, right? It's practically diet food...as long as you don't glance at the added sugars.

$5.49 for the four serving box, found with the baked goods. We might buy Trader Joe's Peach Raspberry Crisp again. We'll both go with eight out of ten stars on this one.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chocolate Hazelnut Ground Coffee

Alrighty then. We've got a quick coffee review for today. Chocolate hazelnut sounds pretty scrumptious, but when it's java, I'm always skeptical.

Sonia made this ground coffee in her Keurig. She has a reusable metal K-Cup that you can put ground coffee into if you're not using one of the pre-made pods. See video below.

The beautiful wifey says she distinctly tastes chocolate in the brew. I feel like I taste something nutty behind the "full-bodied" light roast coffee beans, but I wouldn't say I detect chocolate in any significant way.

We were both okay with drinking it black, but I didn't enjoy it more than any non-flavored coffee I've ever had. Sonia liked it fine plain but she appreciated it far more with vanilla syrup and half-and-half added.

Seven bucks for the 12 oz bag. Sonia would buy it again. I'll let her do the honors today. She gives Trader Joe's Chocolate Hazelnut Ground Coffee eight out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Atlantic Salmon with Lemon Herb Butter

Considering the fact that I love salmon and it's kinda been "my thing" for the past 15 years or so to scour Trader Joe's for new items that need reviewed, you'd think I would have stumbled upon this happy frozen fish dish earlier. It's been around for at least three and a half years and I'm only now discovering it.

Looks like iterations from the past were more like rectangular slabs of salmon, like the ones you might use for grilling. This specimen is more like a big long fish stick. Weird. Impractical. But it's still salmon so it's still ostensibly delicious.

There are three discs of lemon butter frozen on the fish when you get it. The instructions aren't super clear, but I guess you're supposed to put them on the side while you cook the fish skin side up and then drop them on the non-skin side once you flip the fish in the pan. There are anecdotes of heating this fish in the air fryer all over the web, but I wasn't brave enough to try that method this time around.

The stove top method worked great. It took a little longer to get the internal temp of the salmon to 145° than the instructions indicated, but that's no surprise. I added a bit of salt and pepper in addition to the pats of lemon herb butter.

The verdict? Near perfection. Lemon and garlic tang cooked into rich, fatty salmon. In fact, the single serving pack has 80% of your daily saturated fat, and it tastes like it too. Sonia and I shared the dish and supplemented with salad and snacks before and after.

We would definitely buy Trader Joe's Atlantic Salmon with Lemon Herb Butter again. $5.99 for 7 oz of yummy farm-raised Norwegian salmon served with a gourmet condiment. Salmon is pretty pricey, so six bucks is more than reasonable, especially considering the exceptional flavor and convenience. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Spanish Style Rice

I'm down with white rice. It's the primary staple for over half the world's population. Brown rice? Check. Fried rice? Sure. Basmati rice? You know it. And this here Spanish rice? It's tasty.

But isn't it more like Mexican rice than Spanish rice? If you do a quick search, the internet machine will tell you Spanish rice is yellow and Mexican rice is orange. This looks orange-ish to me.

Sonia says it's pretty close to the rice her aunt would make when she was young, and it's certainly a dead ringer for the rice they serve in all the mom and pop's Mexican restaurants around here. At any rate, Spanish rice and Mexican rice are pretty similar, and this particular Trader Joe's offering is quite delicious. The seasoning blend is on point, featuring garlic, onion, paprika, and tomato powder.

Microwave and stove top heating methods are given. We nuked ours and it came out just fine.

Vegan. $3.69 for the four serving box, which comes with two separate plastic pouches of two servings each. Would buy again. Sonia and I will both throw out eight out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Spanish Style Rice.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chiles Rellenos con Queso

It's been quite a while since I've had any chile relleno, but the biggest problem I've had with it in the past is sub-par chiles used for the base. I've had ones that contained odd, tough regions that were very hard to chew. This product did not suffer from that malady at all. My poblano pepper was pristine, flavorful, and uniformly soft all throughout.

The other problem I've had with chile relleno, in general, is that the fluffy breading is somewhat crispy to start, but then it quickly gets soggified by the melted cheese and sauce surrounding it. This product did have a bit of that going on, which resulted in another very tasty but overall mushy dish.

The spice level was great. The mild to moderate amount of heat came from the poblano pepper as well as the tomato-based sauce. The asadero cheese, though nearly liquid and difficult to wrangle with a fork, was absolutely scrumptious and complemented the batter, pepper, and sauce elements nicely.

Supposedly, chile relleno used to be one of my mother-in-law's specialty dishes, but alas, I have not been able to try it yet <hint, hint, suegra.> As it stands, I think this is among the best specimens of the entree that I've ever had. 

Eight out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Chiles Rellenos con Queso.

Sonia's entire family, in fact, either makes some form of chile relleno themselves or is a chile relleno connoisseur. 

Because it's a dish that's relatively easy to mess up, the convenience factor, and reasonable price ($5.99 for two) Sonia gives this product of Mexico 9 out of 10 stars.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Meatless Breakfast Sausage Patties

I've never really been a fan of traditional sausage. I just don't like the taste of most pork products in general and there's something off-putting about the texture to me. Interestingly enough, this product found a way to emulate that off-putting texture fairly accurately. There are like little bumps of...something here and there that feel just like the weird bumps of animal meat in real sausage.

The spice blend is nice and hits pretty close to the spices you'd taste in pork sausage without the actual taste of meat. I'm not thrilled that the base is soy protein and wheat gluten. I'd rather have some other type of bean base, but I guess most fake meats are still made with some amount of soy or soy byproduct.

If you dress these puppies up with cheese, bread, and condiments, they're quite edible and unoffensive. I'd easily pick out that this was fake meat even in a blind taste test. Sonia agrees, but neither of us would prefer traditional sausage over this option in terms of taste or texture. 

We'd both gravitate towards turkey or chicken sausage as our first choice. But if you do Meatless Mondays or just mix things up for the heck of it, this vegan sausage is a passable breakfast option.

There were seven patties in our bag despite the packaging specifying there should be six. About four bucks for the whole thing. The patties are oddly small and don't really fit inside a bun or bagel or even an English muffin. There's excess bread on all sides. 

Sonia would probably buy Trader Joe's Meatless Breakfast Sausage Patties again while I probably would not.

Nathan's score: 6 out of 10.

Sonia's score: 8 out of 10.

Trader Giotto's Spizzico di Pizza

Alrighty then, it's another quickie today. Spizzico di Pizza. Apparently, "spizzico" means "bit by bit." That makes sense. Although, Google Translate comes back with "sketchy" when "spizzico" is input. Hmmm...?

These mini pizzas beg comparison to Bagel Bites for obvious reasons. I'd say these are a tad higher-quality in almost every respect. Granted, I haven't had Bagel Bites for a hot minute, and I don't think I've ever tried them in the air fryer.

The bread gets crispy and the sauce and cheese come out soft and melty. There's some tomato, onion, and garlic flavors, and the overall vibe is quite pleasant.

$3.49 gets you 12 of these little snackalicious bites. If they're serving as appetizers, they'll do fine for a family of four, and I must say they were plenty filling as a standalone dinner for just the beautiful wifey and me. Would buy again. Sonia and I will both give Trader Giotto's Spizzico di Pizza eight out of ten stars.

The video is under a minute. There's about 40 seconds of food review and then a mini music video at the end. Enjoy. Or not.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Green Olive Flats

When I first found out Latinos eat "lengua," I was like, "Oh, is it a beef patty shaped like a tongue or something..?" Then I found out it's, you know, like actual cow tongue. So when I saw that these were "lingue crackers," I was like, "Oh no! Please tell me the Italians don't eat crackers made of dried cow tongue!" And sure enough, they don't. These crackers are named after the Italian word for "tongue" simply because of their shape. Phew.

And they're pretty good, you know? They're nothing to write home about in and of themselves, but by that same token, these are the first crackers I've ever tried with olives baked into them. No, wait. Scratch that. These are the second crackers I've tried with olives baked into them. But these are significantly better in my honest opinion.

They're salty and savory with just enough briny olive flavor to keep it interesting. Fancy folks might pair them with expensive creamy cheeses like Brie and exotic charcuterie stuff, but I can confirm they pair well with lowbrow toppings like cheddar or cream cheese. 

We also experimented with Swiss, havarti, and feta, and there's really no wrong answer when it comes to what cheese you should pair these crispy crackers with. They also go great with olives, surprise, surprise—Trader Joe's Garlic & Jalapeño Stuffed Olives worked pretty well.

There's a pleasant crunchiness to these crackers. They might be slightly brittle, but I'd say they're neither too soft nor too hard. They don't shatter the way some other crackers do, and they're thinner than other comparable wheat flats.

$2.99 for 5 servings, which come in a resealable plastic box. Imported from Italy. We would buy Trader Joe's Green Olive Flats Italian Lingue Crackers again. Sonia gives them nine out of ten stars, stating "These are some of the best crackers TJ's has ever put out." I don't disagree. I'll go with eight out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Tortilla Española

Over 20 years ago, I visited Spain briefly. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything quite like this during my few days there. I was able to sample some paella in Madrid, but I mentioned on this blog that I actually liked Trader Joe's Seafood Paella more than the dish I had in Spain.

Sonia didn't grow up with anything quite like this either. It's new to both of us, and it's nothing like a "tortilla" in the way we both think of the word. This item is more like a dense omelette made of potatoes, eggs, and onions, primarily. In fact, that's it. Except for a bit of salt and oil, those are the sole ingredients.

The product isn't too oily, even after adding a bit to the pan we cooked it in. It's a nice, clean, hearty breakfast food, filling and simple. It darkened a bit around the outside edges of the "tortilla" and got just a tad crispy by the end of the heating process. The rest of the dish was soft, warm, and moist, but not so damp as to feel wet or soupy at all. If anything, I would have wished for more of the onion flavor. It wasn't pungent enough if you ask me.

I ate mine without any toppings or condiments, though it had crossed my mind to dabble a bit of hot sauce here and there. Sonia added cheese, garlic, hot sauce, and black pepper to hers yet still insisted she enjoyed the plain product even before dressing it up.

$5.49 for the 6 serving omelet. Product of Spain. Would buy again. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Tortilla Española.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Shrimp Scampi

Confession time: despite my love of shrimp, I've only had scampi once or twice in my life prior to this Trader Joe's dish. The carbivore in me generally chooses breaded, fried shrimp over shrimp cocktail or garlic butter shrimp. Still, I've enjoyed shrimp scampi each time I've sampled it, and this instance was no different.

The frozen shrimp all come in a big plastic bag. I neglected to count them, but I'd say the total tally was somewhere in the ballpark of 20-22 shrimp. They're surprisingly large, and they're coated in what appears to be a batter of some sort. At first, I thought TJ's stuck the wrong bag inside my shrimp scampi box. Appearance-wise, they looked very similar to the frozen Shrimp Boom Bah we tried a couple months ago.

Alas, the "batter" was nothing but frozen garlic and lemon butter sauce, which melts off the shrimp and into the skillet as you heat them. These shrimp specimens are indeed unbattered, and the garlic butter and lemon essences give them all the flavor they need. We heated them on the stovetop for about ten minutes, all said and done.

They went great with the Barilla fettuccine we paired them with. I didn't even add any extra seasonings or toppings—not even salt and pepper. The shrimp were flavorful but not fishy—just garlicky and buttery, with a hint of citrus and Romano cheese.

Texture-wise, they were near perfect. Neither rubbery, chewy, or hard, these shrimp were prepared properly, and they had exactly the right mouthfeel. I'd say they were restaurant-quality in almost every way.

$8.99 for the three serving package found in the frozen aisle. Would buy again. Eight out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey. Nine out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Shrimp Scampi.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Rainbow's End Trail Mix Bars

We've really had excellent luck with Trader Joe's products this month. We've only had one or two products that weren't very good or great. After a while, I feel weird giving positive scores to everything and I start to look for a product I can write a negative review about just to break things up a bit. I thought, "Rainbow themed granola trail mix bars? How good could they possibly be?" and I yoinked this product out of the pantry hoping to shaft it and prove to everyone once and for all that we don't work for Trader Joe's and are super duper objective and have all kinds of nasty things to say, at least once in a while.

But dangit if these aren't freaking delicious snack bars. They're kinda like KIND bars but way better tasting and they have little generic M&M things all through them. They're probably not as healthy as KIND bars, but hey, you only live once.

As evidenced by our picture of the product, some of the M&M dealies are smashed up on the outside of the bars. I like them that way. It's like the chocolate is more evenly distributed and they're somehow easier to chew. 

There's plenty of nut flavor from the peanuts and almonds, and the whole conglomeration is held together by agave syrup and a thin layer of dark chocolate. Daddy likey...though milk chocolate would have done just fine if not better.

Looks like you can buy these individually for 99¢ or you can pick up a box of 5 for $4.99. You'd think they could throw you a bone and knock a nickel or a dime off the price if you buy the whole box, but whatevs. Still a decent product. 

Kosher. Would buy again. Apparently TJ's sells a non-bar form of the mix in a bag, and the rainbow reference is a nod to the pathway that connects the human world to Asgard, home of the Norse gods. Buckle up for Ragnarök, kids.

Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Rainbow's End Trail Mix Bars.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Dill Pickle Mini Falafel

In case you're new here, I should mention that I really love chickpeas and chickpea derivative products like hummus and falafel. Neither Sonia nor I are vegan or vegetarian, but we both enjoy Mediterranean dishes and we've reviewed numerous other falafel products from Trader Joe's right here on this very blog. See: Trader Joe's Heat & Eat Falafel, Trader Joe's Falafel Chips, and Trader Joe's Falafel Mix. And we've reviewed a bunch of pickle-flavored stuff, too.

Evidently, this pickle falafel has been around for at least two years. Not sure how it evaded my sights all this time, but we're finally getting around to buying and trying it now. Better late than never, I always say.

Only conventional oven and microwave heating instructions are listed on the bag, but a quick internet search revealed that 390° for 7 minutes in an air fryer works just fine too. The product smells faintly of dill pickle and other falafel spices like garlic and onion. They're called "mini falafel" because they're about half the size of your typical falafel ball. They're still a bit too big to be considered "bite-sized" but they're headed in that direction.

The pickle taste is faint but there. It compliments the flavor of the garbanzo bean base. Anything you'd pair with traditional falafel would work with this product—tzatziki, hummus, tabouli, tahini, or zhoug. You could serve it with rice, pita, or a salad. Or you could do like we did and make falafel soft tacos with tzatziki, shredded cheese, and arugula in a flour tortilla. Yum.

They're crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and quite dense. They're not too dry, not too oily, and plenty versatile.

They contain canola oil, as many TJ's products do, which we're not thrilled about, but all things considered they're tasty and convenient and we'll each throw out a score of 8/10. $4.29 for the 12 ounce bag, found in the frozen section. Vegan. We would buy Trader Joe's Dill Pickle Mini Falafel again.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.