Quickie for today: more or less what we have here is some traditional pico de gallo but with little mango and pineapple pieces tossed into the mix.
It's sweeter than regular pico, but it's not as sweet as you might expect. Despite some jalapeño pieces, it's not very spicy at all. It's a very light flavor.
This is a nice refreshing salsa with a tropical twist for chip dipping on a hot day, or it would go great with fish tacos, shrimp tacos, or even chicken tacos. At ten calories per serving, the nutritionals are perfect for summer snacking, too.
$3.99 in the refrigerated section. Would buy again. Sonia and I will go with eight and a quarter stars out of ten on Trader Joe's Mango Pineapple Pico de Gallo Salsa.
Not to be confused with macaroons, the macaron is a French sandwich cookie made with egg white, almond flour, sugar, and some creamy or fruity filling. We've seen a bunch of different macaron offerings from Trader Joe's steadily over the course of this blog's tenure. One highlight: the pumpkin macarons. Those are probably still our favorite (although we haven't had them in many years. Let's hope they didn't change suppliers or recipes or anything like that) but these would have to be a close second.
Preparation: you simply thaw the entire pack at room temperature for an hour or in the fridge for four hours. Pro tip: actually let them thaw the whole hour. As much as I love cold desserts and iced treats, the flavors of these macarons hit just a little nicer when they're fully unfrozen.
The blueberry flavor was our favorite by a pretty solid margin, the raspberry our second favorite, and vanilla—though not bad by any means—fell in third. The fruity flavors actually tasted like their namesake berries thanks to the inclusion of actual raspberry and blueberry puree. There's apple in there, too, since apple tends to just lend sweetness and rarely overshadows the tart intensity of something like blueberry or raspberry.
The vanilla cookies tasted nuttier and creamier than their fruit-based counterparts but perhaps not quite as sweet or indulgent somehow. Again, nothing to complain about, but if I had the opportunity to buy a dozen blueberry macarons all by themselves, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Texture-wise, like most good macarons, these were meringue-esque but also soft and slightly chewy. You could feel the almond meal, too, but they never came across as gritty or unpleasant in any way. Very pleasant mouthfeel.
$5.99 for 12 macarons. Product of France. We'd give the blueberry flavor nine out of ten stars. The raspberry and vanilla flavors would get eight and a halfs and eights, respectively. So, in the end, averaging all three scores, both Sonia and I would give Trader Jacques' <ahem> Trader Joe's Raspberry, Vanilla & Blueberry Macarons eight and a half out of ten stars. Would buy again.
Crispy jalapeños? Are they a topping? Or are they a snack? Trader Joe's is quick to let us know that they're whatever you want them to be. I mean, Sonia and I like spicy foods, but I don't think we or a whole lot of other people would be content simply noshing on these crispy critters straight from the bag.
Yeah, they're jalapeños, so they're hot. I mean, they're not Carolina Reaper hot, but that spice builds up on the tongue if you gobble down more than just a handful of these babies. You might be tempted to, however, because they're pretty tasty. They're lightly battered and slightly oily but there's plenty of jalapeño flavor. There's a nice crunch in each bite, too.
Certain pieces are much bigger than others. Some specimens look and feel like they might be a whole dehydrated jalapeño pepper and others seem to be little more than crumbs. They're quite versatile and add a bit of flavor and texture to everything from soup to sandwiches, salads to pizza.
Plus, they're imported from the land of jalapeños, Mexi...wait. What? Thailand? Who ever heard of a Thai jalapeño? Anyway, Sonia and I both agree Thai jalapeños aren't bad.
$2.99 for the resealable bag. Imported from Thailand. Would buy again. We'll go with eight out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Crispy Jalapeño Pieces.
A few months back, we looked at Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups for the very first time. They're just about as classic as it gets. The only product I can think of that might rival them in terms of enduring the test of time and maintaining a place in Trader Joe's candy aisle might be these happy morsels. I've only had them once before—and that was many years ago. I'm excited to try them again and see if they're as good as I remember.
About a hundred Dubai chocolate type fads will come and go while these peanut butter cups just sit quietly on their shelf outlasting and outshining and standing the test of time year after year, decade after decade. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against Dubai chocolate. Pistachio and chocolate is almost as stellar a combo as peanut butter and chocolate.
If you want our take on Trader Joe's Dubai Chocolate, we'll have one soon enough. Until then, everybody and her sister has put up a TikTok vid explaining why Trader Joe's four dollar Dubai chocolate isn't as good as the $80 version they had while partying with the Kardashians but it's still pretty good.
Know what else is pretty good? These milk chocolate peanut butter cups. For six bucks, you get a pound of milk chocolate and peanut butter goodness. Each one is just about exactly the size of one of Reese's miniatures—a great bite-sized snack. Or, if you're like me, you bite them in half and get two little bites out of each one. They've got the perfect peanut butter to chocolate ratio, and neither element is overly sweet or overly bitter. It's just nutty chocolatey bliss in every cup.
Sonia likes them a lot, too. She's a bigger fan of dark chocolate than I am, so she gave the dark chocolate peanut butter cups a slightly higher score than I did. But even she has to admit that the milk chocolate peanut butter cup is a timeless combo that's hard to beat. We both agree that they're just a tad bit better than the reigning champ Reese's. That's saying a lot.
$5.99 for the resealable tub. Kosher. Would buy again. Sonia and I will each throw out eight and a half out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.
Here's yet another non-traditional pesto from Trader Joe's. And it's yet another winner in our book. We've got a red pepper base that provides a nice pasty texture and bell pepper flavor. Then we've got pecorino romano cheese for some rich tang and earthiness. Throw almonds and a winning spice blend into the mix and you're looking at a very unique and tasty spread/sauce.
Sonia made some fettuccine pasta with beef meatballs and cheese—see video below. It was scrump-dilly. Any drawbacks? This product isn't as thin as marinara sauce, so it doesn't always coat as well. It's more of a chunky paste rather than a liquid. I wish it had just a bit of heat or spice.
Also, Sonia and I basically polished off the whole jar in a single sitting. They should sell a larger container, although we must admit this small one (9.8 oz) is a great sample size if you just want to taste and experiment with the product before committing to anything larger.
As well as it worked as a pasta sauce, I think I appreciated it even more as a spread on sourdough toast. I could taste all the ingredients quite well. The onion, garlic, basil, and paprika worked great with any savory, salty food. Any veggie and meat combo would be worth trying this with.
$3.99 for the jar. Product of Italy. Organic. Would buy again. Sonia and I will both go with eight and a half out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Organic Roasted Red Pepper and Almond Pesto Sauce.
It's a NEW kind of EBTB. This time we've got not one but TWO alcoholic beverages flaunting the delicious flavors of sesame seeds, minced garlic, dried onion, and poppy seeds! Er, wait. It's not that kind of EBTB. This is Everything but the Bartender, not Everything but the Bagel.
Makes sense. I don't think I'd want a cocktail with bagel seasoning in it. What we DO have are pre-mixed drinks that come in little 200mL cans. One is a cosmopolitan—a drink I'm not terribly familiar with, featuring vodka and triple sec. The other? A classic lime margarita—I'm somewhat more familiar with those. Proper margaritas are made with tequila and this selection is no exception.
The taste? Holy cow! They're both SWEET. Like bordering on too sweet, even for me. They have nice fruity flavors and you can taste all the constituent ingredients just fine. There's a bit more complexity and tartness to the cosmopolitan while the margarita is nearly candy-esque. For that reason, Sonia prefers the cosmopolitan. I enjoy them both about the same but I wouldn't seek either of them out for a repurchase.
The cosmo is $11 and the margarita is $12 for four cans each. We're looking at 15% alcohol by volume in both cases. The EBTB Cosmopolitan will get eight out of ten stars from us while Trader Joe's EBTB Margarita will get seven and three quarters.
Bottom line: Trader Joe's Everything but the Bartender Cosmopolitan: 8 out of 10.
Bottom line: Trader Joe's Everything but the Bartender Margarita: 7.75 out of 10.
These little candy bars are not individually wrapped, in case you were wondering like I was. That's good because it would be an incredible waste of materials since there are so many of the baby candies in the package. But it's also bad because the wrappers kind of slow you down as you're shoveling the chocolate into your mouth. In this case, it's just candy bar after candy bar flowing seamlessly from the plastic bag right into your belly. At least the bag is resealable.
They are indeed "teensy" candy bars. They're even smaller than your typical "fun size" candy bar like the kind you give out to kids at Halloween. These are maybe half that size.
They've got a really nice soft, chewy texture and a nutty, chocolatey flavor. Peanuts are the second ingredient, as a matter of fact, coming in just after sugar on the list. There's a healthy amount of nougat and just a touch of caramel flavor. They're not a far cry from Snickers in terms of overall flavor.
We've got palm oil in the mix, so there's a good chunk of your daily saturated fat. But hey, they're chocolate bars. They're not claiming to be diet food.
$2.99 is a pretty decent price for the amount of candy you're getting. And they're quite tasty. We'd buy 'em again. Product of Germany. We all know those Deutsch folk love their chocolate. We'll both go with eight out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Teensy Candy Bars.
"If you're gonna have carbs, have 'em first thing in the morning."
That's what Sonia always says. Makes sense. If you eat them early, you burn through them by the end of the day. It also helps optimize your metabolism and other good stuff.
Of course, it doesn't work if you keep eating carbs all day long and into the night. Not that I would know anything about that...
Anyway, we tried Trader Joe's Cinnamon Bun Inspired Pancake & Waffle Mix for the first time the other day and liked it for the most part. Sonia used the mix along with eggs, milk, and butter to whip up some batter and then poured it on her stovetop griddle to make pancakes. Yum.
There are little caches of cinnamon throughout the product, but both Sonia and I found ourselves pining for more cinnamon. The taste is quite reminiscent of a typical cinnamon bun but not nearly as indulgent. Add butter and maple syrup and you're getting a little more richness and sweetness, but it's still not on the same level as a true cinnamon bun in terms of comfort food status.
And for most folks, that's probably not a problem. It's just kind of a fun breakfast item that's not particularly decadent or fancy other than some cinnamon confectionery bits and brown sugar. But still, it's easy enough to make and the flavor is pleasant enough that we'd consider a repeat purchase.
$3.99 for the 16 oz box. We'll give Trader Joe's Cinnamon Bun Pancake Mix eight out of ten stars.
The base for most salsa verde is made from tomatillo. Meaning "little tomato" in Spanish, the tomatillo plant is not actually a type of tomato but a distant cousin, also a member of the nightshade family. As you can see, the first two ingredients in this product are tomatillo and green chili pepper, both of which are green, giving this salsa its signature earthy green hue.
The flavor? It's a refreshing, bright, lightly sweet yet tangy taste, not very spicy at all. It goes well as a topping for burritos, tacos, chimichangas, etc. It's not my favorite for chip dipping, though some may disagree.
Salsa verde is an integral part of Mexican cuisine, hence Sonia's proclivity for it. She often pairs it with black beans and rice and serves it as a side for just about any Mexican meal. She's even used it as a base for a very tasty white bean chicken chili soup.
There are plenty of seeds and tomatillo bits throughout the salsa, but I don't think anybody would call it "chunky" in any way. I'll admit it's nice to have a tomato-free option on the salsa shelf of our pantry. Also, both Sonia and I have grown more sensitive to spicy foods as we've grown older, so it's nice to have a milder option when we need it. This one shows about a 3/8 on the little chili spice-o-meter on the side of the jar. I might even put it a little lower than that, despite the presence of jalapeños.
$2.29 for the 12 oz jar. We both like Trader Joe's Salsa Verde but Sonia is definitely more into it than I am. She's purchased it many, many times over the past 15 years. Crazy we're just getting around to the review now. Eight and a half stars from the beautiful wifey for Trader Joe's Salsa Verde. I'll throw out seven and a half.
In all our years reviewing Trader Joe's products, I'm fairly certain this salsa has been sitting there on the shelves pretty much the entire time. We finally decided to try it during our big salsa roundup video. At around 12:20 into the discussion, we taste test this Salsa Autentica for the first time.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. It looked and poured a bit watery and thin—like your typical complimentary restaurant salsa. However, I found this one to be significantly tastier than most salsas of its kind. There's a smidge of heat, but I wouldn't say it's truly spicy. The little chili meter on the side shows it's 5/8 full. I think it's more like 3/8 on my chili meter.
It's not as good as the Pepita Salsa in terms of flavor and texture. And I'd generally prefer chunky selections like the Cowboy Caviar or Thick and Chunky Salsa over this one, especially for simple chip dipping, but the yellow chili pepper, onions, and garlic give it enough zesty flavor to make it worth a purchase. I think it works best when paired with beans or meat or poured over a taco so its thinness isn't quite so apparent.
Sonia says she'd like to play around with this salsa in some recipes she's eager to try. $2.29 for 12 oz. Not too pricey. Would buy again. Eight and a half stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Salsa Autentica.
So...apparently most apple juice has all the cloudy stuff filtered out of it while this selection from Trader Joe's leaves it all in. It's still pasteurized and all that. Obviously, it's made with organic apples and there's no sugar or other juices added, so it sounds pretty healthy if nothing else. Let's see how it tastes.
It's good. I'd say it's slightly richer than your run-of-the-mill apple juice if that makes sense. It almost seems a tad less sweet, too, but not in a bad way at all. It's almost like half way between regular apple juice and apple cider to my tongue.
TJ's website mentions that there was an unfiltered apple juice on their shelves for 20 years that got discontinued in 2022 due to an organic apple shortage. Never heard about the apple shortage and I don't know if I remember that older version of this product. Sonia says she remembers it, but I don't think we ever got around to reviewing it for some reason. If you remember that product, let us know how it compares to this one in the comments.
$5.49 for the 64 oz bottle. Did we mention it's organic? Kosher too. Shelf stable until you open the bottle, it's found with the unrefrigerated juices. Sonia gives Trader Joe's Organic Unfiltered Apple Juice nine out of ten stars. I give it eight out of ten.
Believe it or not, this is actually the third mole product we've reviewed on this blog. The earliest instance was back in 2012 in the form of a frozen dish that came with its own white rice. The second was a "pumpkin mole burrito" just five years back. The first was quite similar to this product and got a thumbs up from our team, and while the second wasn't a complete disaster, it was simply nothing like the mole that Sonia and I are used to.
For $6.99, you get a pound of mole here. It's similar to what Sonia would call "mole rojo" or red mole. The richness and color comes from a variety of peppers including pasilla and guajillo rather than chocolate or peanut butter. The packaging even states that "most moles don't contain chocolate." That was certainly not my experience in Los Angeles, with numerous co-workers and friends who grew up with the dish introducing me to chocolate or peanut butter-based moles almost universally—including Sonia and her family.
Nevertheless, this mole rojo will get a thumbs up from both Sonia and me despite it proclaiming so boldly that it's made with dark meat chicken. Sonia always grew up with mole that used chicken breast, and I'm a much bigger fan of white meat than dark meat.
The sauce is thick and bold enough that the type of meat doesn't matter much. It's mild to moderate in the spice department—I'd say about a 4 out of 10—and more importantly, it's quite flavorful and delicious. There are plenty of medium-sized chunks of shredded chicken throughout the dish and every bite has more than enough sauce. We served it with nothing but white rice and it worked out great.
Pick up this seven dollar product in the frozen aisle. It's a great introduction to the world of mole and less expensive than most restaurant offerings. We'd buy it again. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Chicken Mole.
Our dogs really like these treats. They both appear to be repackagings of some doggie snacks that have been around TJ's for years. We did a review of the chicken sticks long ago.
I'm really shocked at the number of comments on that review claiming that people's dogs got very sick after eating those treats. There are even reddit threads mentioning the same—that these dog treats make certain dogs very ill, giving them diarrhea for days on end.
Once in a while, our dogs will overeat and will be susceptible to a small amount of vomiting when they do so. We try to control their portions and not let them pig out too much. Obviously, since our dogs are little, we break treats like these into much smaller bites before giving them to our furry friends. For the most part, we've never had trouble with these or any other Trader Joe's brand dog treats throughout the years.
It's $3.49 for the chicken sticks and $2.99 for the beef strips. We pick these up not on every TJ's run but once or twice a year on average. We'll throw out eight and a half paw prints for Trader Joe's Organic Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe Jerky Sticks and eight out of ten for Trader Joe's Beef Recipe Jerky Strips. Let us know how your dogs handle these treats in the comments section.
Trader Joe's Chicken Recipe Jerky Sticks: Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10 paw prints.
Trader Joe's Beef Recipe Jerky Strips: Bottom line: 8 out of 10 paw prints.
If I go for a month or two without having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then out of the blue I decide to make one just out of desperation or lack of cold cuts in the fridge or whatever, there's this moment where I'm like "why do I not eat this every day?" Child-like wonder washes over me as I slurp the little dab of jelly trying to escape from the layers of bread, and I contemplate why I even buy meat and cheese in the first place.
A PB&J sandwich is sweet like a dessert, but the peanut butter has protein and it's just as satisfying and filling as a turkey and Swiss sandwich. Anyway, I guess I'm supposed to be reviewing Trader Joe's Organic Concord Grape Jelly and not a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But really, in our household at least, that's about all we use grape jelly for: good old PB&J.
Once in a while, Sonia will do cream cheese and jelly on bread or a bagel. The only time I ever do that is immediately after watching Sonia eat it because I always want what she's eating or drinking. It's uncanny. The only exception is coffee. She's constantly drinking coffee and it rarely looks or smells appealing to me. I digress.
I like the ingredients here. I kinda wish "concord grape juice" was higher than "sugar" on the list, but hey, at least they're both organic. The vast majority of other leading brands sweeten their jelly with HFCS, although a few—like Welch's—offer "natural" alternatives with real sugar. At any rate, this jelly is sweet and grape-a-licious. It's not as good as Bonne Maman, but I'd put it at least on par with all the typical name brand jellies you commonly find in grocery stores.
$3.49 for the 20 oz squeeze bottle. Would buy again. Eight out of ten stars a piece from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Organic Concord Grape Jelly.
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.
More Mexican food! How can you go wrong with comida Mexicana? We've seen our share of tasty Mexican dishes...as well as a good number of epic fails. This is a new-ish frozen product, so we had to pick it up and give it the classic WG@TJ's taste test.
Conventional oven, air fryer, and microwave instructions are given on the packaging. If you've been following us for any amount of time, you can probably guess which route we went. Air fryer, ftw!
And our burritos came out great. The tortilla was nice and crispy and the filling was piping hot after 18 minutes or so at 400°F. I can't imagine the microwave working quite as well.
The chicken was finely shredded but there was still enough to sink your teeth into. It was fairly mushy, but it wasn't just a mush. Though I'd have preferred all white meat chicken, the overall quality was very good.
The chile verde and seasoning blend made for a tasty flavor—not very spicy, but potent enough to keep us coming back for more. There was onion, tomatillo, garlic, jalapeño, and black pepper in the mix. While salsa or hot sauce wouldn't be out of the question, the flavor was adequate without it.
$3.99 for two good-sized burritos, found in the frozen section. Would buy again. Product of Mexico. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia. Eight and a half out of ten stars from me.
I wasn't expecting much from this product, but it's surprisingly sweet and chuggable. It's not boring like plain coconut water and it's not quite as thick as your typical coconut milk. It's actually coconut water blended with tiny bits of coconut meat. I was bracing myself for something terribly chalky consistency-wise, but it actually comes off as creamy and smooth despite the pieces of coconut.
At $2.69 for just 8 oz, it's on the pricey side. But as usual, you get what you pay for. This product is imported from Thailand and is made from Nam Hom coconuts—apparently a highly sought after variety—and it shows.
Many specimens I've seen online are pink. Even the ones on TJ's own website show a very pink liquid in the bottle. The description on the packaging says the product "may take on a rosy hue." Ours stayed decidedly white for some reason. I'm fine with that. Sonia is too. Eight out of ten stars a piece for Trader Joe's Organic Coconut Smoothie.
