I decided to sautée the gnocchi in a stovetop pan with a small amount of butter. This gnocchi absolutely has to be sautéed while completely frozen. Otherwise, the flour coating will become soft and stick to the pan.
While the texture of the sweet potato gnocchi was good after being sautéed, I was surprised to find that I preferred the flavor of the cauliflower gnocchi.
This didn't happen, and I found the gnocchi to be generally bland and underwhelming. I don't see myself using this as a pasta alternative like I would with the cauliflower gnocchi.
The highly talked-about product not only won the second-place spot for customers' favorite entrée in 2018, but it was also voted as customers' second-favorite product overall.
Cauliflower gnocchi has been touted as a lower-carb alternative to pasta or potato gnocchi — it has 22 grams of carbs versus 40 grams of carbs found in regular gnocchi. I was excited to see if it could hold up against its pasta predecessors or regular potato gnocchi.
It took longer than expected for the water to evaporate, but in about 10 minutes my gnocchi balls were fluffy and ready for sauce. I added in some vodka sauce, which I also found at Trader Joe's, and gave them a stir to fully coat them in the tomato goodness.
They looked very potato-like in the pan. However, even with some extra time in the pan, they didn't get as crispy as they appeared in the photo on the front of the bag.
The gnocchi themselves had little to no flavor, and the texture bordered on gummy. Next time, I plan to lightly sautée them with either oil or a little butter, like I did when I taste-tested the chocolate lava gnocchi, to see if they get a little crispier and more flavorful.
While this is undeniably a good pasta or potato gnocchi for people trying to live a little healthier or cut back on heavy starches in their diets, the cauliflower gnocchi simply didn't live up to the expectations I had for it.
In Trader Joe's 10th Annual Customer Choice Awards, the dish was ranked as customers' third-favorite entrée, but I found the dish to be middle-of-the-road.
The box claimed that the dish was an "authentic Indian recipe." The meal was described as "roasted chicken breast in a robust cream sauce with cumin-flavored rice."
Among the items I tried, this dish was also the easiest to make and tasted delicious even out of the microwave. For a microwaved meal, it also looked surprisingly delicious.
The long grains of rice looked fresh and large chunks of chicken breast could be seen emerging from the pool of red, spicy sauce.
The chunks of white meat chicken were juicy and flavorful. Despite being a relatively small and low-in-calorie dinner option — the whole thing comes to 360 calories — I found the dish to be very filling.
It wasn't the best chicken tikka masala dish I've ever tried, and even takeout versions of the dish could definitely best it, but for a cheap, frozen version, I couldn't see it getting much better.
It was voted by customers as their fifth-favorite frozen entrée in Trader Joe's Annual Customer Choice Awards.
Included in each bag is chicken, vegetables, sauce, and a packet of peanuts. Directions say you can make this dish in the microwave, but in order to get the best possible results, I decided to try it on top of the stove stir-fry style.
The green and red bell peppers and onions added freshness, while the peanuts provided a crunchy texture that balanced out the thick, savory sauce.
You would definitely need to eat more of this frozen meal to be full, making me question its value. I preferred the crunchier breading of the mandarin orange chicken but found this dish to be more flavorful overall, due to the sauce, vegetables, and crunchy peanuts. In the end, the texture prevented this dish from coming out on top.
Ranked by The Daily Meal as their favorite frozen Trader Joe's appetizer, these gyoza dumplings can also function as a dinner.
To achieve the perfect level of doughiness on top and crispiness on the bottom, I sautéed them in oil in a stovetop pan and then lightly steamed them by following the directions listed on the back of the package.
This was by far the easiest frozen meal to make — it only took about five or six minutes for the small doughy dumplings to be done.
The dumplings looked similar to ones I've gotten from takeout restaurants, but I was anxious to see how their taste compared.
However, once I dipped the small pork-filled potstickers into some soy sauce, I was much more impressed. These definitely could use a little seasoning or added flavor — and they still don't compare to homemade or even most takeout dumplings — but I would definitely buy them again for a quick, easy dinner or pack lunch.
On the bag, it's described as "a savory dish of tender battered chicken with mandarin orange ginger sauce."
The ginger added zest, and the sauce added a strong soy flavor to the chicken. I found that the sauce wasn't too salty, but added the perfect amount of flavor to the dish.
This was better than any takeout orange chicken I've tried. I definitely recommend baking the chicken in the oven to ensure that the breading doesn't get soggy, as the balance of textures between the thick sauce, juicy chicken, and crispy breading was truly great.
The Burrata, Prosciutto, and Arugula Flatbread is well known among fans of Trader Joe's frozen section.
Reviews online tout the flatbread as one of the chain's best items and according to the Trader Joe's website, the flour used in this fancier take on a frozen pizza comes from "an ancient town near central Italy's Mount Sibillini National Park."
Prosciutto and burrata are both relatively upscale ingredients, so I was excited to see how this frozen pizza would turn out.
To cook the pizza, the directions say to remove the plastic wrapping and set the prosciutto aside before popping the plain pizza in the oven.
The crust looked perfectly done after the recommended 12 minutes in the oven, with bubbles of browned, crispy dough lining the edges. The cheese had an almost aged smell to it.
While many cheaper store-bought kinds of cheese have an almost artificial smell to them, this cheese smelled authentic. The excitement to dig in was growing.
The prosciutto was delightfully salty. Biting in, the fat of the cheese mixed with the saltiness of the prosciutto. The bottom of the flatbread was perfectly crispy, but the inner layers of the flatbread had just a touch of softness — something I don't mind when it comes to pizza.
The slices were slightly oily, though I wouldn't say the pizza was necessarily greasy. This small criticism didn't take away from the pizza being highly impressive — especially for coming out of the freezer.
It's fancy enough to serve at a party, but lowkey enough for a Tuesday night in front of the TV. Served with a little Two Buck Chuck, what's not to love?
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