Trader Joe’s “Meatloaf Muffins”: Predictably Unpredictable

Published on Friday, April 8, 2011, by James Norton / Edit Post

Trader Joe's Turkey

Trader Joe's Turkey "Meatloaf Muffins"

I Paid: $5.99 for four muffins (prices may vary by region)

Taste: 1 stars

Marketing: 4 stars

Review mass-marketed food for even a short period of time and you learn that you can't ever judge a frozen meal by its cover—quality of ingredients, balance of seasonings, and performance under heat are all difficult to control, and impossible to quantify in a box-top photograph.

But even by the unpredictable standards of the genre, guessing at the quality of Trader Joe's food is a game of Russian roulette. Entrées come and go seemingly at random, and good theories sometimes yield poor results.

Case in point: The oddly appealing-looking Turkey "Meatloaf Muffins." At 220 calories a pop, these big-snack-/small-meal-sized frozen entrées look like a terrific balance of relatively healthy ingredients: a small amount of mashed potatoes plus spinach plus a lean turkey meatloaf, stacked into a muffin shape to be microwaved or oven-baked back to warm, hearty goodness.

No such luck, however. The spinach is everything you remember about not liking spinach as a kid: soggy, metallic, and unpleasant, squished under a mound of slightly gluey and underseasoned potatoes. A real kick of heat or spice or anything (fruit? salt and/or pepper? bacon? kimchi? Doesn't matter!) would have saved the turkey meatloaf, which was bland and slightly depressing in a hospital-food sort of way.

A for concept, C-minus/D-plus for execution, and another object lesson in the impossibility of predicting what you'll get at TJ's.

James Norton edits the Upper Midwestern food journal Heavy Table. He's also the coauthor of a book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers. For his Supertaster Daily videos, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus. (Click here to see all of James's previous Supertaster work.) You can follow him on Twitter and fan him on Facebook.

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POST A COMMENT |9 Comments

COMMENT

  • Good to see some negative reviews of TJ's, many people look at me strangely when I say it is not all good there. I have not had an entree that was any good. But the pasta, cereals and some of the nuts (but not almonds or pistacios) are good... I have been underwhelmed by the dairly aisle (not notably cheaper than Fairway), the bread aisle and the meat aisle. And the UWS location has way short...+READ

    Good to see some negative reviews of TJ's, many people look at me strangely when I say it is not all good there. I have not had an entree that was any good. But the pasta, cereals and some of the nuts (but not almonds or pistacios) are good... I have been underwhelmed by the dairly aisle (not notably cheaper than Fairway), the bread aisle and the meat aisle. And the UWS location has way short lines except at the worst few hours...-COLLAPSE

  • I agree TJs has many things I can not live with out but many that are so bad I ca't see why they continue to carry them. There are good things in the freezer. The gyoza are great.

  • For so many products, Trader Joes has ruined me for regular store brands, cereal, tuna, tater tots, chocolate, cheese, even my beloved cheese puffs, but I haven't had one entree, prepared food item, or dessert item that I would even consider passable. It must be two different divisions and the person in charge of the prepare food division should be replaced!

  • Yeah we tried them when they were introduced. The review above is pretty much spot on. Looked lots better than they tasted.

  • My folks said these were gross, so I am passing. Then again we are all spoiled by my stepdad's awesome meatloaf which he is always experiementing and improving on!

  • and i thought i was being funny when i made meat muffins... i just didn't want to freeze my loaf pans. haven't tried mine yet, but willing to bet they're better than these, though the idea of topping them "cupcake style" with mash and veg is very inspiring :)

  • I make turkey meat muffins all the time and... uh, yeah, they rock!

  • I find most TJ's shoppers fall in one of two camps - those who buy the ingredients to make meals and those who gravitate towards the "heat and eat" side of the equation. As the former, I can't say I've every really been impressed - or even satisfied - when I stray into the latter category. Cooking/heating instructions are often way off the mark and spices and ingredients are combined in...+READ

    I find most TJ's shoppers fall in one of two camps - those who buy the ingredients to make meals and those who gravitate towards the "heat and eat" side of the equation. As the former, I can't say I've every really been impressed - or even satisfied - when I stray into the latter category. Cooking/heating instructions are often way off the mark and spices and ingredients are combined in unappetizing combinations. Like Boston_Otter said, thanks for taking one for the team!-COLLAPSE

  • Thanks for taking one for the team. TJ's is always a fun crapshoot; I'll skip this one.