Review: Trader Joe's Protein Patties (Plant-Based Burgers)

I love that plant-based burgers are so trendy right now and so many companies are making their own version.

Trader Joe's has a lot of great vegan products so I had to try their plant-based burger patties. The packaging and ingredients are similar to Beyond Burgers, but unfortunately the taste and texture weren't on the same level.

These were oddly hard when uncooked and then too soft when cooked. They stuck to the pan and fell apart during cooking. I don't know if these would work on a grill because they fell apart so much.

Another difference is these are sold in the refrigerated section and say not suitable for freezing, so they don't last as long as the frozen plant-based burgers.

Trader Joe's Protein Patties Plant Based Burgers ingredients:

Hydrated pea protein blen (water, pea protein, pea fiber), sunflower oil, beets, natural flavors, methyl cellulose, oat fiber, fruit juice (color), onion powder, sea salt, vegetable juice (color). 

Review: Trader Joe's Protein Patties Plant Based Burgers

First impressions: Harder than I expected when uncooked

Taste: Close to Beyond Burger but a little bland

Texture: Fell apart, kind of soft and mushy

Can you tell it's vegan? Yes

Better than other vegan options? No

Worth buying again? Probably not

Overall: 3/5

Review: Trader Joe's Vegan Caesar Dressing

Trader Joe's has a few different vegan salad dressings in the refrigerated section of the produce, including green goddess and turmeric ginger. Their new vegan Caesar dressing is the first one that's a plant-based version of a traditionally non-vegan salad dressing.

This was highly recommended on vegan Twitter and even by the cashier when I bought it.

So maybe my expectations were too high, but I didn't really like this. It has some similar flavors to caesar dressing and is a little creamy, but it wasn't close enough for me.

The capers are close to the taste of anchovies, but were a little overpowering. It's also missing the cheesy parmesan taste. I just tasted the tofu and capers.

Luckily there are tons of other vegan salad dressings to choose from. My go-to is Brianna's French vinaigrette. If you're looking for a creamy vegan salad dressing, you might like Trader Joe's green goddess dressing or a tahini salad dressing.

Trader Joe's Vegan Caesar Dressing ingredients:

Tofu (water, soybeans, glucono-delta-lactone, magnesium chloride), olive oil, water, lemon juice, organic white miso (organic soybeans, organic rice koji [organic rice, koji spores (aspergillus oryzae)], sea salt, water), garlic, organic dijon mustard (water, organic mustard seeds, organic vinegar, salt, organic turmeric, organic cinnamon, organic ginger), capers (capers, water, salt, distilled vinegar), white wine vinegar, sea salt, shiitake mushroom powder, black pepper. 

Review: Trader Joe's Vegan Caesar Dressing

Taste: Tofu + capers

Texture: Creamy but not very thick

Can you tell it's vegan? Yes
Better than other vegan options? No

Worth buying again? Not for me

Overall: 3/5

Review: Sweet Rose Coconut Whipped Topping

I've been looking forever for a vegan coconut whipped cream in an aerosol can. Finally Trader Joe's started carrying one! The brand is Sweet Rose but I've only seen it at Trader Joe's.

This dispenses just like non-vegan aerosol whipped cream. It even makes the same fun noise as you spray it.

I could taste the coconut but it was subtle. It didn't overpower the flavors of my ice cream. 

You could use this for anything that you would normally use whipped cream for. I made a sundae with Alden's Nondairy Muddy Brownie and Caramel Almond Crunch, and Ben & Jerry's vegan cookie dough pieces. 

Sweet Rose Coconut Whipped Topping ingredients:

Coconut cream, water, sugar, glucose syrup, inulin, mono and diglycerides, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, carrageenan.

Propellant: nitrous oxide.

Review: Sweet Rose Coconut Whipped Topping

First impressions: Resist temptation to spray directly into my mouth

Taste: Sweet, hint of coconut

Texture: Light, airy, fluffy

Can you tell it's vegan? No, unless you hate coconut

Worth buying again? Yes

Good enough to replace the non-vegan version? Yes

Overall: 5/5

Review: Trader Joe's Soft Baked Snickerdoodles

Trader Joe's has a lot of great vegan products. Their vegan soft-baked snickerdoodles are also gluten free and allergen friendly. 

These plant-based cookies are very soft and a little chewy. They're not dry or crumbly at all. 

They have some unexpected ingredients to keep them so soft and allergen-friendly (full ingredient list below). I can taste a subtle hint of fruit from the dates and fruit juice. 

These are so soft it's hard to compare them to other cookies. They're very good, but not what I picture when I think of snickerdoodles. They remind me more of molasses cookies even though they don't have any molasses in them. 

I was disappointed by how much plastic packaging there is. It doesn't seem necessary to have them in a tray. It was hard to open and not resealable. 

Trader Joe's Soft Baked Snickerdoodles ingredients:

Sorghum flour, brown sugar, dates, sunflower oil and/or safflower oil, pear juice concentrate, water, rice syrup, grape juice concentrate, flaxseed meal, baking soda, xantham gum, salt, cinnamon, vanilla extract (water, ethyl alcohol, vanilla bean extractives), natural flavors, rosemary extract (to preserve).

Review: Trader Joe's Soft Baked Snickerdoodles

First impressions: Soft baked is accurate, they are very soft. 

Taste: Sweet with a subtle fruity taste

Texture: Very soft, a little bit chewy

Can you tell it's vegan? Maybe
Better than other vegan options? Close but I think Sprouts has some better vegan cookies

Worth buying again? Yes

Overall: 4/5

Review: Trader Joe's Vegan Kale, Cashew & Basil Pesto

As usual, Trader Joe's does not disappoint with their vegan options. This vegan pesto sauce might be new. I love that that it's right next to the non-vegan pesto along with the other sauces, and not in a separate vegan section. It also happens to be next to the Zhoug Sauce that I love. 

Traditional pesto has parmesan cheese, and this has cashew butter instead. It changes the texture a bit and makes it more creamy. It's also not as oily as other pestos. 

Trader Joe's Vegan Kale, Cashew & Basil Pesto ingredients: 

Kale, olive oil blend (olive oil, extra virgin olive oil), water, basil, cashew butter (dry roasted cashews, safflower oil or sunflower oil), garlic, lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper.

I made this with pasta and like how it turned out. It smelled so good when I stirred it into the pasta. 

You could also use it as a dip or as a spread on sandwiches or pizza. 

I thought it was not quite as good as traditional pesto, but that could be because of the kale. It's good enough that I would eat it again, but not my new favorite.  I'd like to try another vegan pesto with more basil (or try making my own).

Review: Trader Joe's Vegan Kale, Cashew & Basil Pesto

First impressions: Looks creamier than I expected. Lighter in color and less oily than other pestos. 

Taste: A slightly blander version of traditional pesto. 

Texture: Thick and creamy. 

Can you tell it's vegan? Maybe

Worth buying again? Yes, but I want to try other kinds of vegan pesto too. 

Overall: 4/5

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: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Sunflower Seed Butter Cups

Usually what makes chocolate not vegan is the milk in milk chocolate, and most dark chocolate is vegan. These sunflower seed butter cups are also allergen friendly on another level by replacing the peanut butter with sunflower seed butter.

I hadn't tried sunflower seed butter at all before and wasn't sure what to expect. But it tastes a lot like peanut butter. Overall these were very similar to Reese's peanut butter cups. The sunflower seed butter was a little creamier than a peanut butter cup, but that could also be because it's less processed. I would definitely eat these again.

I'm not the biggest fan of dark chocolate, but the sunflower seed butter helped balance it out so it didn't taste as bitter.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Sunflower Seed Butter Cups ingredients: Dark chocolate (cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter), sunflower seeds, powdered sugar (cane sugar, tapioca starch), cocoa butter, sea salt.

Review: Trader Joe's Sunflower Seed Butter Cups  
Taste: Tastes like a peanut butter cup. The sunflower balances the dark chocolate so it's not as bitter as dark chocolate by itself. 
Texture: A little creamier than Reese's peanut butter cups and the chocolate is a little bit thicker. Otherwise very similar.
Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan versions? I haven't tried any other vegan peanut butter cups but this will be hard to beat. 
Worth buying again? Yes
Overall: 5/5

Product Review: Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs

Shown with Vegetable Marinara Sauce

Spaghetti is one of my favorite foods. Since I grew up eating it with ground beef, I am always looking for ways to make it vegan. I thought vegan meatballs would be a good way to go and so I tried Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs. 

These are made from Texturized Soy Protein. 

I really wanted to like these. They didn't look weird...

But when I took a bite I was overwhelmed by the mushy texture. It might have tasted good, but I couldn't tell because I was so put off by how gross the texture was. 

I waited a little bit and tried another bite thinking, "It couldn't have been that bad." And yes, it was that bad. I couldn't finish one meatball. 

Review: Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs

First impressions: When cooking: "looks good and smells good." After first bite: "omg gross." 

Taste: Honestly, I can't give an accurate taste description because I couldn't get past the texture. 

Texture: Disgustingly soft and mushy. I couldn't finish a whole one. 

Does it look like the picture on the package? Yes.

Can you tell it's vegan? Absolutely. 

Worth buying again? No. 

Overall: 1 out of 5. If you are not texture sensitive and don't mind the mushiness of some veggie burgers, then you might like these better. 

Product Review: Trader Joe's Soy Creamy Mini Vanilla Sandwiches

I love Trader Joe's! They have a lot of vegan products that I am looking forward to trying. I started in the dessert section with Soy Creamy Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert Mini Vanilla Sandwiches, aka vegan ice cream sandwiches. These are made from tofu, but don't have a soy aftertaste like most soy products. 

Review: Trader Joe's Soy Creamy Mini Vanilla Sandwiches

First impressions: "This is good... This is soy? I couldn't tell"

Taste: It doesn't really taste like ice cream, but it's still good. It's kind of like comparing cool whip to whipped cream. They are different but both good in their own way.

Texture: The texture is similar to a non-vegan ice cream sandwich. The cookie part is chocolately, soft, and sticks to your fingers. The ice cream part is smooth and a little softer than non-vegan ice cream. It doesn't melt as fast as a standard ice cream sandwich.

Does it look like the picture on the box? Yes

Can you tell it's vegan? No. It tastes different than ice cream but there is no soy aftertaste.

Worth buying again? Yes, especially to try the other flavors. There is also a chocolate and maybe strawberry.

Overall: 4/5. Good but not amazing.

Have you tried these? Write your own review below!