Trader Joe’s™ is a chain of grocery stores in the US with its headquarters in California. Being a subsidiary of the German ALDI CORPORATION,™ Trader Joe’s gained great popularity in the ‘90s with its large assortment of imported goods and groceries. As a chain store with over 500 locations, Trader Joe’s™ delivered a variety of “Ethnic” food products from all over the globe even to those neighborhoods that did not have those options in the past.
Vegan and Flexitarian options at Trader Joe’s
If you are vegan of flexitarian, TJ will not disappoint you. They always had meatless options in their frozen food isle. Their HI-PROTEIN VEGGIE BURGER was a popular item from the get-go, and it is favored by both, vegans, and non-vegans. HI-PROTEIN VEGGIE BURGER scored high on fooducate website as well as many other reviews.
TJ is upgrading their Plant-Based assortment of edibles
Trader Joe’s ™recently launched their own version of a meatless patty that resembles meat in taste and texture. They are called PROTEIN PATTIES. I really like how Trader Joe’s™ names their plant-based patties. Names of their products are as creative as the artwork on the walls of their store interiors. Many meatless patty manufacturers name their plant-based patties, burgers. Trader Joe’s names them properly, patties, and ads to those monikers a bit of creativity by either calling them PROTEIN PATTIES™ or TURKEYLESS PATTIES™, as their latest product that was launched just last week. Protein patties pack 18 grams of plant-based protein per serving and are made from a Pea Protein Blend. 290 calories per patty and 450 mg of sodium. I’ve taste-tested PROTEIN PATTIES™ and I liked them. They fry well, taste quite pleasant, and have a light feel. I did not find them overfilling or too salty. Aside from standard, lettuce, tomato, and onions, I did not add any additional dressing or mayo to my TJ Protein patties burger. Their newer counterparts, TURKEYLESS PROTEIN PATTIES™, I found a bit tastier and lighter. They are brighter in color and do resemble turkey meat texture and flavor, though not too strongly. TURKEYLESS PROTEIN PATTIES™ are slightly richer in protein content. 23 grams of plant-based proteins per serving is an excellent amount. They are also less caloric, 240 calories per patty, and have a bit less sodium. 450Mg of it per patty.
Takeaway
It seems that competition amongst food retailers on who will produce that perfect plant-based patty that resembles meat is just starting. Trader Joe’s™ was really at the forefront of ethnic foods imports and now with a wide selection of vegetarian and flexitarian choices, pioneering new flavors in the realm of plant-based proteins will make our trips to this fun store even more enticing. Trader Joe’s products can also be ordered and delivered through the Instacart™ app.