Trader Joe's Savory Squash Pastry Bites

Let's see...apple and pumpkin spice have had their days in the sun, so now it's time for a third party candidate to take a turn. Savory squash. Heck yes. A quick glance at the ingredients lets us know we're talking about butternut squash in particular. Love it.

It's ALSO talking about pumpkin. That's right, we've got pumpkin puree in these people-pleasing pastry puffs. Don't worry, there's nothing pumpkin spice about them. Just pumpkin in its most squash-ish sense...

The breading is pretty standard for Trader Joe's appetizer fare. Those feta and onion doodads come to mind. It's pretty yummy—flaky, buttery, and crispy—especially when heated in the air fryer, and it holds the squash and cheese right where they're supposed to be. Speaking of cheese, I guess I should have said "cheeses," because we're looking at mascarpone, ricotta, feta, and parmesan. That's quite a quartet.

And the only thing Sonia and I don't like about this product is that...it's a little too sweet for something that is so boldly deemed "savory." There's brown sugar in there. And I mean, you can get away with ricotta in something like this, even though it can also be dessert-ish. But mascarpone? That's a thing you put in tiramisu or cheesecake. Along with molasses and caramelized sugar syrup, there's a moment where you forget you're eating squash and think you might be snacking on sweet potato instead.

But still, the effect isn't unpleasant in any way. I just think the product would be stronger if it were less sweet and they'd boosted the garlic and onion essences to the foreground a little more. But I'm being picky...

$5.49 for a dozen decent hors d'oeuvres, found in the frozen section. It's another nice fall flavor. Sonia would buy it again. I don't dislike it, so I wouldn't fight her on a repurchase. She'll throw out eight out of ten stars. I'll go with seven out of ten on Trader Joe's Savory Squash Pastry Bites.

Bottom line: 7.5 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 Pumpkin Spice Mini Sheet Cake

And NOW it's time for the pumpkin spice parade to proceed. Sheet cake with cream cheese icing and some pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger doesn't sound too outlandish to me. Sounds like a downright delicious fall flavor, in fact.

And it is. Remember that vanilla bean sheet cake? Of course you do. There's also a lemon one we haven't tried yet. Anyway, it was pretty tasty thanks to the generous amounts of sweet vanilla icing on top. We've got just about that same amount of cream cheese-based frosting here and a very similar soft, moist texture.

The pumpkin spices are nicely blended, not too strong and not too subtle. The pumpkin puree gives the cake a distinctly squash-ish vibe underneath the indulgent dessert flavors. It works the same way pumpkin pie works, but you know, more bready than that, like a classic pumpkin roll except flat instead of cylindrical and swirly. The cream cheese frosting is sweet and tangy, buttery and velvety. There's a generous amount of it on the cake. I thought Sonia would say there's too much, but she raved about it. She and I agree that the overall effect is satisfying, scrumptious, and distinctly autumnal.

$5.49 for the six serving dessert, found with the other baked goods. We would buy Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Mini Sheet Cake again. Eight out of ten stars from me. Perfect ten from Sonia?? I didn't see that coming. Wow.

Bottom line: 9 out of 10.

Trader Joe's All Butter Apple Shortbread Cookies

I'm not sure if it's always been this way since I've only lived in this region for five years or so, but seasons here in the Upper Midwest seem to change from summer to winter in fairly short order, practically skipping over the fall season. Things go from too hot to too cold virtually overnight some time in mid-October. Leaves start changing on some of the trees while it's still warm enough for swimming. Others wait until there's snow on the ground.

For this Pennsylvania boy, it's a bit disorienting. I'm used to autumns that creep up on you week over week, month over month. Usually by this time in mid-September, there's a crispness to the air that signals that it's time for warm cinnamony apple flavors and pumpkin spice desserts. Don't get me wrong, I like it here. The climate is just a little different than what I'm used to. And don't even get me started on the weather in Los Angeles. If there are only three seasons here in the Midwest, there's only one and a half in Southern California.

Even though my sleeveless tank top tells me that it's way too early for this apple shortbread treat, it is indeed that time again—time for the first new fall food review of 2024. If you're new here, please note that most of the "new" autumn products at Trader Joe's are actually seasonal items returning from previous years and the vast majority of them have already been reviewed on this blog. You can find them by thumbing through the Blog Archive in the right side bar or by using the Search This Blog bar near the top of the page.

First thoughts? The box is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It was $3.49 for less than five ounces. These better be some darn good cookies...

...and they're just okay. In our humble opinions, these cookies don't hold a candle to last year's all butter shortbread cookies with raspberry filling. These cookies are harder, crunchier by comparison—not nearly as buttery. Instead of a gelatinous, syrupy fruit filling, they have actual pieces of dried apple baked into them. While I like the idea of flavoring these morsels with real apple bits, there's just not enough apple flavor to make these cookies super memorable.

I can't imagine anybody disliking these cookies to the point of not being able to finish the box, but there have been many more interesting shortbread confections at Trader Joe's throughout the years. We probably would not buy Trader Joe's All Butter Apple Shortbread Cookies again. Seven out of ten stars from Sonia. Six out of ten stars from me.

Bottom line: 6.5 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 Celebration Cake & Baking Mix

It's time to watch my lovely wife bake stuff again! Join us as we mix, heat, eat, and review Trader Joe's Celebration Cake Baking Mix. What are we celebrating, you ask? Another day of life and living...or something like that. And our 15th anniversary isn't too far off, so we'll just go with that.

Sonia doesn't have a big upright mixer so she had to beat the butter for the frosting mix by hand. It took a while. Don't worry, I edited it so there's not like one ten minute long shot of poor Sonia pressing butter down in her bowl over and over and over.

This baking mix requires milk, oil, a couple sticks of butter, and two eggs. The whole process takes about a half hour and the finished product is nice to look at and pretty yummy, too, although we wish there were more sprinkles in the batter.

If you're into birthday cake flavored stuff, also check out: Trader Joe's Celebration Cake Gelato.

We'd buy Trader Joe's Celebration Cake Baking Mix again for a special occasion. $4.99 for the ten serving box.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Grilled Chimichurri Chicken Thigh Skewers

I really liked those chimichurri chicken empanadas, so I figured I'd give these a try. Word on the street is that these are already discontinued, so...this review is largely moot. But there's always a possibility they'll be reinstated at some point in the future.

Conventional oven, microwave, and grill heating options are specified on the box. I was tempted to wing it with the air fryer but then I wondered if the little wooden sticks would burst into flames or something. I mean, logically, if they don't catch fire at 400° in the oven, they'd be fine in the air fryer at the same temp, but there's all that air whooshing around so...I just played it safe and used the regular oven. It took about 15 minutes to go from frozen solid to fully heated.

In terms of appearance and texture, these reminded me a lot of the jerk chicken skewers, which reminded me a lot of wild-caught gophers on sticks. Yum. Not appetizing if you ask me. Sonia and I both found the chicken to be a little chewy and fatty, which we're not fans of. There was even a bit of gristle here and there. I would have preferred breast meat over thigh, but I know some folks like that dark meat.

Flavor-wise, these had a nice spice blend. It's obviously a chimichurri type flavor, similar to the chimichurri sauce we looked at a couple years back but with less cilantro and parsley. In the end, I think I prefer the taste of the jerk seasoning since it had a slight bit more of a kick, and those other skewers actually came with a mango chutney dipping sauce.

$7.49 for six seasoned chicken thigh skewers. Don't think we'd purchase this product again though we had no problem finishing the box in a single sitting. Six out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Grilled Chimichurri Chicken Thigh Skewers.

Bottom line: 6 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 & the Art of the Still Organic Gin

Far from an aficionado, I do tend to gravitate towards gin over whiskey, rum, or vodka. This product is widely available at TJ's locations that carry hard liquor, so it was inevitable that I'd eventually try and review it, despite it not being a top-shelf gin product.

The only thing that could be considered truly offensive about this beverage is its harsh alcohol flavor that tends to overshadow any botanicals or spices that might be lurking in the depths of the tall, thin bottle. That's to be expected when you're looking at a $15 product with 40% alcohol by volume. (Price may vary from time to time and place to place).

When I first started sampling different liquors, I would always describe gin as "tasting like a forest." That foresty flavor I'd later find out was, in fact, juniper. There's a faint bit of it here in Trader Joe's Art of the Still Organic Gin, but it's not as juniper-forward as more expensive gins tend to be.

I taste something akin to clove at the finish of this drink. I couldn't say if that's what it actually is, but there's a whisper of something along those lines in this gin. It serves well as a mixer, with even something as simple as tonic water covering up many of this product's imperfections with its subtle sweetness. 

If you're looking for something that's sippable in its own right and a bit higher quality overall, I'd recommend House of Suntory Roku Gin, also widely available at Trader Joe's stores, retailing for about ten bucks more per bottle than this offering.

Bottom line: 7 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 Giotto's Penne Arrabbiata

I feel like there are more Italian folks in the northeast than anywhere else in the country, and thus the northeast is absolutely brimming with authentic Italian restaurants. Every town with a thousand people or more has at least one decent sit-down Italian place run by a family that's passed down recipes from father to son or mother to daughter for many generations.

The midwest has some Italian restaurants, for sure, but they're a bit farther and fewer between, and the real gems might be a little harder to find. Maybe it's the lack of a single Italian restaurant in our current neighborhood, but you might have noticed we've been picking up a good many Italian dishes from TJ's these past few months. I'm not sure how I've missed so many "Trader Giotto" products over the years, but better late than never, I suppose.

All that to say I've never tried arrabbiata pasta prior to this dish, so I have no idea what I'm talking about. If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you'll know that's never stopped me in the past and it certain won't stop me today. First thoughts? It's good but not great, IMO.

The spice blend that's there is nice, namely garlic, chili pepper, and white pepper, but it's pretty tame by our standards. Sonia and I both felt the Calabrian Chili Pasta Sauce had more tongue-tingling heat and a more interesting overall flavor profile than the sauce on this pasta. How authentic this arrabbiata sauce is, we can't say, but while it's nothing to write home about, it's nothing to complain about either.

The pasta was pretty run-of-the-mill penne. It was just a tad more al dente than either of us would have wanted but it was still pretty decent for having been so recently frozen. We found parmesan cheese added a nice creamy tang that was very welcome, and we also added some red pepper flakes to give it more of a kick.

In the end, it's a thumbs up overall, but we'd still gravitate towards boiling our own pasta and adding our own sauce. $3.49 for the 3 serving bag. Imported from Italy. We would possibly buy Trader Giotto's Penne Arrabbiata again.

Bottom line: 7 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 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 Crispy Battered Calamari

I'm well aware all squid can be a bit chewy, but this one was borderline rubbery IMO. Sonia agrees. I've had calamari a handful of times at Italian restaurants, and I don't think this selection was quite up to par in the texture department.

I wish it came with a sauce, too. We made our own with peri peri sauce, mayonnaise, and lemon juice, and it worked great. The flavor of these morsels is very good and isn't the problem, but sauce helps almost any fried appetizer.

Our second batch we left in the air fryer a good bit longer than what was called for, and it came out a little better than the first. The batter was even crunchier...and the squid? Really just about the same. It was difficult to cut even with a very sharp knife.

$5.49 isn't a bad price for how much you get here. Product of Italy. We still can't completely get over the excessive chewiness and lack of dipping sauce.

The beautiful wifey and I are both torn between six and seven stars, so we'll go with one of each for Trader Joe's Crispy Battered Calamari.

Bottom line: 6.5 out of 10.

Spizzico di Beatza (Full Song)

AI Generated Music Inspired by Trader Giotto's Spizzico di Pizza

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 Chile Chicken Bowl

Shockingly, this chicken bowl did not come from Canada, as so many other selections from Trader Joe's did. I guess we're to assume it's a domestic product despite its Mexican-inspired-ness. Although, I suppose they might not tell us each time an item is imported. Either way, it's a tasty dish. Let's take a look.

There's quite a lot of dark meat chicken in this bowl. I might be on the record saying I only like white meat, but in this case, I'll make an exception. The meat isn't greasy or low quality at all. It's finely shredded and has a very soft, succulent quality even after heating in the microwave. There's honestly just as much chicken in the bowl as rice, if not more. They didn't skimp.

The flavor is nice, too. There's a modest amount of heat from the green chiles and spices, which include black pepper, chili pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and oregano. Sonia and I both really liked the seasoning combo and didn't even feel the need to add our own spices.

Drawbacks? There's not enough cheddar cheese—what little was there was very nice. The whole thing is mushy. We both thought the mix could have used some crisp veggies like corn or chunks of bell peppers. Neither issue is a dealbreaker by any means.

$4.49 is about a dollar more than I'd want to pay for something like this, but it's decent food and very convenient. You can heat it in the oven but we opted for the microwave and weren't disappointed. Sonia will go with eight out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Green Chile Chicken Bowl. I'm down for seven out of ten.

Bottom line: 7.5 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