Trader Joe's Whipped Strawberry Cream Cheese

We've already reviewed this product on video, so I guess it's time to get a written review up here on the blog. It's a whipped cream cheese with strawberry flavor, found in the refrigerated section of TJ's, and it'll run you $2.79. Most name brand cream cheese costs significantly more than that, so we're already looking at a pretty decent value.

The texture is fairly standard as far as whipped cream cheeses tend to go. Trader Joe's Whipped Strawberry Cream Cheese is light and fluffy and super easy to spread. We had ours with Trader Joe's Strawberry Brioche Style Liège Waffles. I kind of expected both products to be tasty but not necessarily bursting with strawberry flavor.

Lo and behold, I was right. That's really my only complaint about this product. It could be more strawberry-ish. If it's too difficult to load the product up with strawberry bits or strawberry puree, one would think freeze-dried strawberry would do the trick. Far from strawberry overload, the strawberry waffle/strawberry cream cheese combo yielded a perfectly adequate level of strawberry scrumptiousness.

Of course, we did try the cream cheese with plain sourdough toast. It's nice. It gets a thumbs up. But there's only a whisper of the fruit flavor.

The sweetness level is pleasant and restrained. Some fruit-flavored cream cheeses lean heavily into the dessert category, but this one manages to stay firmly in breakfast-spread territory. It's creamy, mildly tangy, and just sweet enough to keep things interesting without tasting artificial or candy-like. In that sense, Trader Joe's got the balance right. I just wish they'd turned the strawberry dial up a notch or two.

As it stands, the texture is on point and the flavor is there, but you'll probably find yourself searching for strawberry more than savoring it. Still, for less than three bucks, it's an easy way to add a little something extra to your morning toast, bagel, waffle, or whatever carb delivery system happens to be on the menu. Kosher. Found in the refrigerated section. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia on Trader Joe's Whipped Strawberry Cream Cheese Spread. I'll go with seven out of ten.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Surimi Imitation Crabmeat

Trader Joe's Surimi is one of the best imitation crab meats I've ever had. It's made with top-shelf Alaskan pollock fish, it's lightly sweet, and the texture is on point. Like your typical "krab," it's got those pinkish edges that resemble real cooked crab fresh out of the shell, and the rest of it is beautiful unblemished white fish.

The product is only four bucks for 12 oz, and it comes in a resealable bag. Our best by date was a full month and some change after the day we bought it. Of course, it's been in the fridge the whole time, but that's very convenient to be able to keep it that long.

It's perfectly edible straight from the bag, but we did find a recipe online that we wanted to try out. I guess we'll give ChatGPT the credit for this one. It's simply chopped cucumbers, Kewpie brand mayonnaise, lemon juice, and Trader Joe's Everything But the Bagel Seasoning. Stir it all together, and you can serve it in the manner of a "tartine" open-faced sandwich or as part of a snack bowl with crackers and veggies.

We opted for the former selection and ate ours with sourdough toast on camera for our illustrious YouTube channel. Although Sonia intended to make some ceviche with the remainder of our surimi, she actually wound up making another batch of that same crab salad—this time with less EBtB and more lemon juice and mayo. The second batch was even better than the first. In an attempt to drive some of our YouTube viewers to this written blog, I did promise to share Sonia's ceviche recipe on here, so...for you folks, here it is. Enjoy.

There are zero grams of fat in this surimi, but it packs eight grams of protein per serving. The pink dye comes from tomato lycopene, a natural pigment with antioxidant properties. There's a bit of sea salt in the ingredients, but honestly, the sodium isn't even that bad. Added sugar? Sure. But it's not excessive. From a health perspective, this is one of the better offerings from TJ's we've reviewed in quite a while.

This product gets a solid thumbs up from us. As far as seafood goes, Trader Joe's Surimi Imitation Crabmeat is convenient and tasty. It's not quite as fancy or sumptuous as the recently reviewed Black Cod Sablefish or the Patagonian Scallops but we would definitely buy this product again. $3.99, found in the refrigerated section. Eight out of ten stars from me. Eight and a half out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey.

Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants

Four bucks gets you two pre-baked croissants in a cellophane wrapper. I emphasize "pre-baked" because most of the other croissants we've seen from Trader Joe's not only require you to bake the pastry yourself, but they also need to be proofed for up to 12 hours prior to going in the oven. See:

Trader Joe's Double Chocolate Croissants

Trader Joe's 4 Almond Croissants

Trader Joe's 4 Pumpkin Croissants

That's a plus. You don't have to wait a ridiculously long time to eat Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants. You can have them straight from the package or you can heat them up a bit. But I mean, those previous croissant products were all delicious. I'm telling you they might be the best croissants I've ever had in my life. So these pre-packaged traditional all-butter croissants have their work cut out for them.

And unfortunately, they simply don't hold up to the high standard we've come to expect from Trader Joe's croissants. The bread is good. Flaky, buttery, and airy, the bread tastes fine. But by that same token, it's nowhere near as good as the bread on those other croissants. It might not be fair to compare something that's fresh from the oven to something that's been sitting on a shelf for a few days. But even heated up for a spell, the texture simply can't compete with the croissants you proof and bake yourself.

And the filling? The filling is even worse. Look at that picture. There's barely any chocolate in there. At four bucks, these two croissants didn't exactly break the bank, but I feel totally ripped off. You can barely call these "chocolate" croissants. The aforementioned Double Chocolate Croissants were absolutely bursting at the seams with chocolate flavor.

In true Sonia fashion, she'll be extremely merciful with her scoring, focusing on the convenience and decent buttery bread. The lack of chocolate is really her only complaint. And I must admit I grumbled and moaned about the excessively lengthy proofing and baking process involved with those previous croissant products, but now I see why it's necessary. Good things come to those who wait. So much quality is sacrificed on the altar of convenience with Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants, and the lack of chocolate filling is just a slap in the face. Would not buy these again.

Sonia's score: 7 out of 10 stars.

Nathan's score: 5 out of 10 stars.