Cheesecake is absolutely delicious — we don’t think you’ll find many who disagree with this statement. Of course, it’s also a dish that uses cheese (usually cream cheese but occasionally ricotta) as a crucial component. This puts cheesecake out of reach for anyone who’s avoiding dairy.
Thankfully, Trader Joe’s has found a solution. The Trader Joe’s Cheese-Less Cheesecakes attempt to provide all of the glory of cheesecake, yet without the dairy part. Is such a feat even possible? Well, the Freezer Meal Frenzy crew wanted to get to the bottom of this, so we picked up a package so we could try them out.
There are two cheesecakes in the box, and they come individually wrapped and placed inside plastic cups. We assume the cups are there to ensure these won’t bust apart before you get them home.
To thaw one of these, you’ll have to open up the box, pull out a clear plastic packet, open that, and pull out the cheesecake cup. You’ll want to flip the cup upside-down and sort of tap the bottom until the cheesecake plops out onto your plate. Flip the cheesecake right-side-up and place the plate in the refrigerator. You’ll need to let the cheesecake thaw in the fridge for a good two and a half hours or so.
After all that time (which is an excruciating wait if you’re craving cheesecake), your dessert will be ready to eat.
This is a surprisingly authentic cheesecake. If you plopped this in front of us and told us it was a plain-old dairy-based cheesecake, we wouldn’t ever suspect the lie.
Of course, this does taste a little bit sweeter than your average cheesecake, and it has a subtle citrus flavor to it (which we suspect comes from the lemon juice that’s added to this). Still, there’s enough variance in authentic cheesecake flavors that this one doesn’t stand out as unusual.
The crust is great as well. As you’d suspect, this is a crumbly graham cracker crust, and it’s the perfect bottom for a great piece of cheesecake, whether there’s real cheese in it or not.
If you can resist the urge to scarf down both pieces of cheesecake in a sitting you’ll be consuming 300 calories and 250 mg of sodium. That calorie count isn’t super bad for a piece of cheesecake, though these are certainly not big slices or anything. Plus, this is a dessert, so you’ll have to add it on top of anything you may have eaten for dinner that day. These are extra calories, not meal calories.
The Trader Joe’s Cheese-Less Cheesecakes are absolutely fantastic, and they’re authentic-tasting enough to fool even the most dedicated cheesecake snobs. Whether you’re avoiding dairy or not, we think you’ll love these tiny treats!
If you want to know more about the preparation instructions, nutrition facts, or ingredients for these frozen cheesecakes, check out our package scans below.
