Trader Joe’s seasonal soups may not be frozen, but they’re the sort of meal that is right up our alley. We love seasonal dishes, and we love having a ready-to-eat meal in our fridge that we can heat up on a rainy day. Unfortunately, while Trader Joe’s Harvest Chili was a big hit with our staffers, the Pumpkin Butternut Squash Bisque failed to deliver.
We may not have enjoyed eating this meal, we didn’t have any problems preparing it. All we had to do was open up the container, toss it into a saucepan, and give it a few good stirs. Heating this soup would be even easier if you simply threw it in the microwave, which the instructions also allow.
Bisque is traditionally made with shellfish, but this soup is vegetarian-friendly. That said, one of our staffers thought it had a fishy flavor to it. Another staffer couldn’t detect any fish, but he swore he tasted chicken broth. We actually had to take a second look at the label to make sure this bisque was actually meat-free.
We don’t normally don’t mind vegetarian meals that taste a bit meaty. In fact, some of our favorite meatless meals are carnivore-friendly. However, the aftertaste here is strong, and it really detracts from the pumpkin flavor of the soup. We’re not sure what’s causing the flavor, but the taste is impossible to ignore. It could be the apple cider vinegar, and it could be the combination of garlic and brown sugar. All we really know is that it was a struggle to eat this soup.
Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butternut Squash Bisque is a simple pureed soup with limited ingredients. Because of this, it’s essential that every flavor in the soup works. Sadly, a mysterious and unpleasant aftertaste really ruins this soup for us. We shared this between two staffers, yet we still couldn’t finish one container of the stuff. We won’t be trying this soup again.
To learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in this Trader Joe’s seasonal soup, check out our package scan below.
I LOVE THIS SOUP! I was able to get only two containers of it before the “season” closed so I’m trying to figure out a way to make it myself. Any ideas?
This is disgusting? It tastes like crab. Odds they recall it in a couple months for missing ingredient: seafood
LITERALLY YES it taste like crab……so nasty… I’m so glad you validated my feelings
I bought the pumpkin bisque. It came in a glass jar, and it didn’t mention butternut squash. It tasted like it had like a half cup of apple cider vinegar in it. At first we couldn’t figure out what the weird taste was, so I pulled out the bottle and saw ACV and then I recognized that was the strong taste. It was unedible. We threw it away. I’ve see other good reviews and wondering if I got a bad batch until I saw yours.