We never know what we’re going to find when we explore the freezer section of our local Trader Joe’s. It’s a world of treasure, that freezer aisle, always an adventure!
During our most recent stop at Trader Joe’s (which have become less frequent ever since COVID-19), we picked up a batch of the Trader Joe’s Kibbeh (Middle Eastern Inspired Stuffed Meatballs) and we thought they looked pretty darn tasty. So we quickly whisked them off to our kitchen!
There are a few different ways you can cook these. The box lists instructions for heating these in a conventional oven, in a microwave, or boiled on a stovetop. We decided to go with the conventional oven for these. (If you want to read the full cooking instructions, check out the package scans at the bottom of this review.)
Our box contained six meatballs, and each one was a little bit smaller than an average-sized chicken egg, though one of ours was noticeably smaller than the others.
According to the Trader Joe’s website, the breading here is made with cracked bulger wheat that’s been mashed with ground beef. That means that even the breading is filled with meat. Or, as Trader Joe’s puts it, “it’s a meatball wrapped in more meat!”
The texture, however, is not super meaty. In fact, the outside feels almost like a crispy cornbread shell, while the inside has the crumbly consistency of falafel.
Flavor-wise, these don’t taste super meaty either. If you’re expecting an American Italian style meatball, or a Swedish style meatball, you might be surprised by the Middle Eastern flavor profile here. There’s a blends of paprika, coriander, and cumin, which provides a much more seasoned flavor than your standard ground beef. Each meatball is a little dry (we’re guessing they would be more moist if you used one of the other cooking methods), but that’s nothing a little bit of sauce can’t fix.
The package says that these are good with a spritz of lemon juice, though we unfortunately didn’t have any lemons on hand so we couldn’t try it. These also seem like they would pair really well with a cucumber sauce (which we also didn’t have on hand!)
There should be six meatballs in a box (that was the case for our box), and each meatball contains 100 calories and 350 mg of sodium. You could probably eat two or three of these without feeling too guilty, though once you get past that point those calories start to soar. These are pretty hearty, though, and we think they’re filling enough that you won’t need to eat the whole box in one sitting. We should point out, of course, that it wouldn’t actually be that difficult to eat a full box if you were really hungry.
The Trader Joe’s Kibbeh (Middle Eastern Inspired Stuffed Meatballs) are quite excellent. We don’t review nearly enough Middle Eastern inspired food here at Freezer Meal Frenzy, so these stuffed meatballs were an absolute joy to have on our plate.
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for these Trader Joe’s stuffed meatballs, check out our package scans below.
