Review: Trader Joe's Zhoug Sauce

It can be hard to find vegan sauces. There have been so many times where I made a vegan meal and had no problem with the main ingredients, but didn't know what sauce to use. It seems like almost every sauce at restaurants has mayonnaise in it. 

So I'm glad that I tried Zhoug Sauce from Trader Joe's. They call it "a very spicy green herbal sauce with Yemeni roots." It's made from cilantro and jalapeños blended with oil and spices. It's an herbs + oil sauce like pesto and chimichurri (both of which I also love), but in my opinion the cilantro and spices in Zhoug Sauce work with a wider range of foods. 

This vegan sauce is so flavorful and you can use it on everything. The different herbs and spices work well with a lot of types of food. So far I've had it with tacos and falafel. It would also be good on sandwiches or as a dip. 

It is very spicy, so only use a little bit at first. Definitely don't eat a big spoonful all at once like I did. 

Zhoug Sauce ingredients: cilantro, canola oil, jalapeño peppers, chile flakes, garlic, cardamom, sea salt, cumin seed. 

Review: Trader Joe's Zhoug Sauce

First impressions: Woah that is really spicy!

Taste: Bright and flavorful with heat that builds as you eat more. 

Texture: Similar to pesto, you might need to stir to mix in the oil thoroughly. 

Can you tell it's vegan? No

Worth buying again? Yes, this is a staple in my fridge now. 

Overall: 5/5

Review: Sprouts Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was pleasantly surprised to find these vegan chocolate chip cookies on display with the rest of the freshly baked (non-vegan) cookies at Sprouts. They were the same price too! They looked so good I had to try them. 

Some vegan cookies can be dry or dense. These were soft and chewy like chocolate chip cookies should be. I would not guess that they're vegan if I didn't know. 

The only downside to these is after a few days they seemed to dry out faster than non-vegan cookies. So that just means you have an excuse to eat them quickly.

The egg replacer in these vegan cookies is chickpea flour, which happens to be my go-to egg replacer for baking. Chickpea flour can be used as an egg replacer in a lot of recipes, from baking to crepes to quiches. Chickpeas are the same thing as garbanzo beans, so you might see it called garbanzo bean flour in the store. I've even heard that aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas) can be used to make a meringue, but I haven't tried that myself yet. 

Sprouts also has some prepackaged vegan cookies in the cookie aisle, including chocolate chip and vanilla wafers. 

Sprouts vegan chocolate chip cookies ingredients: 

Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, ascorbic acid add as a dough conditioner), semi-sweet chocolate (organic cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin [an emulsifier], vanilla bean seeds), palm shortening, sugar, brown sugar, water, chickpea flour, salt, natural vanilla flavor, baking soda. 

Review: Sprouts Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

First impressions: These don't look vegan.

Taste: Sweet, chocolatey, satisfying 

Texture: Soft and chewy

Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan options? Yes, my favorite vegan chocolate chip cookie so far. 

Worth buying again? Yes, I already have.

Overall: 5/5