Trader Joe's Crunchy Chili Onion Toscano Cheese

I'm no cheese expert, but we've had good luck with Trader Joe's selections in the past. This is at least the fourth toscano cheese we've seen from TJ's, in fact. We enjoyed the cinnamon dusted variety in particular.

This one is sill nutty, creamy, and faintly sweet, but now we've got the savory flavors of Trader Joe's Chili Onion Crunch. It adds a little heat for sure, but it's not nearly as spicy as I'd want it to be. Just like the cinnamon toscano, this one is far more flavorful around the rind. The center of the wedge is pretty much just plain toscano, which is delicious in its own right, of course.

The cheese is semi-firm, texture-wise. It's crumbly, compact, and pleasant to chew. It softens even more after it's been out of the fridge for a while.

The cheese is great by itself or it's nice when served with crackers. Sonia put some on her morning eggs, and it tasted great. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking grilled cheese served with some kind of peppery, spicy soup..?

It's $11.99 per pound in the cheese area. Our wedge was just under half a pound. Would buy again. Eight out of ten stars from both Sonia and me on Trader Joe's Crunchy Chili Onion Toscano Cheese.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Sesame Crusted Hardwood Smoked Ahi Tuna

I never had lox until I was an adult. I'm not sure if I would have appreciated it as a kid, to be honest. I mean, I've always liked most fish, salmon and tuna included. But the way it's served cold, often with cream cheese on a bagel was weird to me until I started eating bagels regularly.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that we tried this product served in exactly the same way you might serve lox. That wasn't my smoothest segue into the review part of the blog post, but hey, it was actually Monday morning when I was composing this, so cut me some slack. This whole blog post will likely be clunky, but I promise it'll have good info like always. It might even be vaguely entertaining. Now what was I saying?

Back to the tuna. It's ahi tuna. There's a spiel about what "ahi tuna" means in Hawaii on the packaging, so I assumed the fish was sourced in Hawaii. But then I checked traderjoes.com and it says it's caught "off the coasts of Micronesia." Wait. Micronesia is a real country? I thought they made it up for Zoolander. Just kidding. I knew it was real. But why doesn't the packaging say "product of Micronesia" I wonder..? Seems like there might be some nefarious fish poaching going on here but I won't dime you out, Trader Joe.

Anyway, we can confirm that Trader Joe's Sesame Crusted Hardwood Smoked Ahi Tuna works at least as well as lox when placed on a bagel with cream cheese. Sonia added tomatoes, onions, and arugula to hers and she enjoyed it that way. It's very similar to lox in terms of texture, but you know tuna is less fishy than salmon, so it's more neutral. Also, the sesame seeds add a nice nutty flavor. There's a smokiness to the product, but it's nice and subtle.

I also threw together a makeshift poke bowl with this smoked tuna, some greens, rice, and yangnyeom sauce. I don't know if that's a legit poke bowl but it was pretty tasty. Sonia liked it, too. I should have added avocado. That would have made it even better.

Complaints? We wish there were more fish in the package. We wish each slab were just a tad bigger. We wish the bag were resealable. Still a winner in our books.

$6.99 for the 4 oz non-resealable plastic bag, found in the refrigerated section. Kosher. Would buy again. Nine out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Sesame Crusted Hardwood Smoked Wild Caught Ahi Tuna.

Bottom line: 9 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs

This blog post completes what will inevitably be known as the What's Good at TJ's Meatball Trilogy of June 2025. The series began with Trader Joe's Meatball Calzone. The adventure continued with Trader Joe's Homestyle Angus Beef Meatballs. And now we find our heroes returning to poultry with a Japanese flair as our story concludes with teriyaki meatball subs and pineapple stir fry rice bowls.

We heated these puppies in the air fryer. They weren't dry in the slightest. Their flavor wasn't overbearing at all. It was a typical chicken taste but also slightly sweet with plenty of teriyaki tang. I think I liked the meatballs by themselves as much as I liked our meatball sub and stir fry dishes.

They went well with every sauce we tried them with. It's just a matter of what you're after. Soy sauce gave them extra saltiness. Soyaki sauce gave them saltiness as well as sweetness. Yangnyeom did the same but with a bit of spiciness, too. I don't think I'd throw them in any tomato based sauces, but if you've tried that and liked it, let us know in the comments.

What else could you do with these? I've heard good things about pineapple teriyaki chicken meatball pizzas and flatbreads. I've heard you can just throw them in a bowl of noodles, spicy or otherwise. It might be easier to ask what you can't do with them rather than what you can.

$4.29 in the refrigerated section for about 24 meatballs. Fully cooked. Gluten free. Would buy again. Eight out of ten stars a piece from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Breaded Shrimp

On special occasions as a kid, if my parents asked me for any input about where I'd like to go for a big meal, I'd almost invariably choose Bonanza Steakhouse at the local mall. They knew before we even got to the restaurant that I'd order fried shrimp with cocktail sauce. I loved that stuff. The fact that my favorite video arcade, Aladdin's Castle, was right next door was also a bonus. I mean, Ponderosa and Hoss's offered scrumptious seafood and salad bars too, but the promise of blowing my entire weekly allowance on Golden Axe or Double Dragon before my parents even finished their dessert tipped the scales in favor of Bonanza every time.

My love of fried shrimp followed me into adulthood. Popcorn shrimp, coconut shrimp, honey walnut shrimp—you name it. If it has breading and shrimp, I'll eat it and most likely love it. 

Enter: Trader Joe's Gluten Free Breaded Shrimp. Having sampled many, many gluten free offerings from TJ's throughout the years, I had a pretty good idea I'd be fine with their GF shrimp, even if the batter wasn't wheat based.

And I was right. Tapioca and coconut flours do the trick just fine. Six minutes in the air fryer had these delicious morsels sizzling and ready to be thrown into our shrimp soft tacos with corn tortillas, salsa verde, feta cheese, and freshly chopped onion. I did try them on their own, as well, and they're just as good as wheat-battered shrimp. They go great with sweet Thai chili sauce.

Ten bucks is a little steep for a 3 serving Trader Joe's product, but decent shrimp is pricey anywhere these days. Add to that the fact that these meet a very important dietary requirement for gluten intolerant folks, and the price tag seems downright reasonable. 

Sonia and I would buy this product again. Imported from Thailand. Eight and a half out of ten stars from both of us on Trader Joe's Gluten Free Breaded Shrimp.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Tres Leches Cake

Tres leches is without a doubt my favorite style of cake, so we actually picked up this specimen from Trader Joe's for my birthday last week. It comes frozen, but it's quite simple to prepare: thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature for three hours.

Predictably, I was ready for cake before the beautiful wifey, so I simply started eating the product straight out of the cardboard container that it comes in. It was still a bit frosty on the inside, so I had to wait a bit longer to finish my piece. Like the recently reviewed macarons, this is another one you actually want to thaw fully before consuming.

Sonia skipped the part where she scolds me for eating straight out of the product packaging since it was my birthday and all, and she managed to salvage an only slightly mangled piece from the cardboard container. She's been eating tres leches pretty much her whole life, while I only came to know and love the spongy Latin milk cake as a young adult.

We both agree this selection from TJ's is great. It's not the number one best tres leches we've ever had, but it's definitely up there. 

Considering the convenience and price: $8 for four servings, it's definitely something to check out if you're not familiar with tres leches or if you need an easy dessert for a small gathering or family meal.

Kosher. Found in the frozen section. Would buy again. Sonia and I will go with eight and a half out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Tres Leches Cake.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Homestyle Angus Beef Meatballs

Honestly, I don't eat meatballs of any kind all that often. Sure, Sonia made some of her own to go with our pasta and Red Pepper & Almond Pesto a couple weeks ago. And we recently reviewed Trader Joe's Meatball Calzone, which is absolutely packed with meatballs. Furthermore, we may have yet another Trader Joe's meatball product on deck for a review in just a week or so...

But I mean, other than that, I really haven't had meatballs in a while and I've never eaten them with any regularity at any point in my life. June 2025 has been the meatballiest month of my entire life thus far. Some of you might be quick to point out that "meatbally" as well as its comparative and superlative forms are not even real words. Well then, friends, you must not have been following this blog for very long. Making up fictitious adjectives is a thing we do here.

These all-beef meatballs are scrumptacular. Maybe it's the high quality Angus beef in them. Maybe it's the stellar spice blend and panko crumbs. Maybe it's the way Sonia prepared them with love...but they're probably the best meatballs I've ever had. Certainly, they're the best pre-made, store-bought ones I've ever had.

For nine bucks, you get a dozen big beef meatballs. They've got a nice texture that's meaty and bready, soft and juicy. Garlic and onion purees give the product a uniformly savory flavor in every bite. Romano cheese, parsley, basil, and cherry powder round out the spices and secondary flavors for an outstanding overall taste.

We at ours with some elbow macaroni, marinara sauce, and cheese—but honestly they're quite noshable on their own. We'd love to try an all-beef calzone with this product inside. We'd also try a simple meatball sub with these the next time we pick them up. They're absolutely delicious.

$8.99 in the refrigerated section. Would buy again. Sonia and I will both go with nine out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Homestyle Angus Beef Meatballs.

Bottom line: 9 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Peaches + Cream Cream Cheese Spread

You'd think peaches and cream cream cheese would have, you know, peaches in it. And it does. It's right there in the ingredients right after milk, cream, and sugar.

But it's sooo faint. It's like, why even pretend this is flavored cream cheese at all? There are no discernible chunks or even pieces or even bits of peach in the whole tub. I mean, look at the picture. The entire package was like that. No peaches.

There is just the vaguest whisper of peach flavor in the cream cheese. It's nice what little is there I guess. But even the cream cheese itself isn't very interesting. It almost tastes like light cream cheese or a diet version of full calorie cream cheese. It's not indulgent at all. It's a weak flavor and the texture is indistinguishable from traditional cream cheese.

Crank up the peach presence by a hundred fold and we'll try this again. Apparently this product was around a couple years ago and then it disappeared for 2024 and now it's back again. I'm wondering if Trader Joe's didn't find a new supplier..?

$2.79 for the 8 oz tub. Kosher. Found in the refrigerated section. Would not buy again in this current format. Five out of ten stars from Sonia and me on Trader Joe's Peaches + Cream Cream Cheese Spread.

Bottom line: 5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Teeny Tiny Strawberry Rhubarb Pies

Does rhubarb actually exist outside of berry pies? I don't think I've ever even seen a rhubarb plant. I've never laid eyes on rhubarb in a culinary context either except for little red bits inside already-made baked goods. I mean, I've gathered that rhubarb is red, so it's hard to tell where the strawberries end and the rhubarb begins.

I guess it's more sour than a strawberry. Strawberry rhubarb is always nice and tangy. This product is no exception. It's sweet, tart, and like all of TJ's mini pies, there's a soft, flaky, buttery crust around the outside of the pastry.

I found my pies to be oddly lacking in filling. Other Trader Joe's mini pies seemed to absolutely burst with fruit filling. These? They had enough fruit juicy sweetness to still be delicious, but I wanted more berries and 'barb.

We air fried ours and they came out great. Three minutes at 350° seemed to do the trick. We added vanilla bean ice cream to our sweet little treats and as you might have expected, they were even better a la mode.

$5.49 for four small pies. Kosher. Found with the baked goods. Supposedly they'll be in and out of stores until the onslaught of fall stuff later in the year. We'd buy 'em again. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Teeny Tiny Strawberry Rhubarb Pies.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.