While Trader Joe’s makes plenty of items fit for carnivores, not everybody partakes in the act of eating meat. So it’s a good thing, then, that TJ’s also has a pretty robust line of vegetarian and vegan dining options.
Today, we’re checking out the Trader Joe’s Organic Veggie Bites, which the package describes as “Bite-sized tots with organic vegetables and sunflower seeds.” That sounds like a pretty interesting combo, so we’re really excited to check these out today.
There are a few different ways you can cook these, whether you prefer the stovetop, oven, or air fryer. All of those seem like good options, but we went with the oven for this particular review. (If you want to read the full cooking instructions for all three methods, you can scroll down to the bottom of this review and check out our package scans.)
Now, one thing we noticed right away is that these are kind of weird-looking. While the package shows round balls, these are shaped more like tater tots. But due to their dark brown color, they kind of end up looking like giant hamster pellets.
But if you break them open, you’ll notice that they’re actually green on the inside, and littered with orange chunks of carrot.
Despite these being slightly crispy on the outside, they remain soft and dense in the middle. the cube chunks of carrot add some texture, as do the sunflower seeds. The flavor overall is earthy, and they have an aftertaste that lingers for a bit.
These definitely seem like they need a good dipping sauce. We tried ranch dressing (as we are true midwesterners), and we found that this made a nice counter to the earthy flavor and slightly bitter aftertaste. If you really want to indulge, we think that a sour cream dip might go really well with these veggie bites. The official Trader Joe’s website suggest that these should pair with a ketchup or BBQ sauce, but we don’t think either of those seems like the right choice for these. Then again, we didn’t actually try it, so we could be wrong here.
The bag claims that six of these tots are a serving, and that there should be about four servings in a bag. Our bag contained 24 tots, so that math works out perfectly. If you stick with six, you’ll be looking at 180 calories and 380 mg of sodium. Of course, that means that a full bag contains 720 calories and 1,520 mg of sodium, and that doesn’t take into consideration any dipping sauces. Then again, we think that six is actually a decent number here. The aftertaste has a cumulative effect that hits critical mass at right around six tots. Plus, these are designed to be an appetizer, not a whole meal.
The Trader Joe’s Organic Veggie Bites are decent, though there are definitely better vegan-friendly items in TJ’s food lineup. The Chicken-Less Mandarin Orange Morsels, for example, are fantastic, and we’re big fans of the Yellow Jackfruit Curry with Jasmine Rice. But if you’re just looking for a vegan-friendly appetizer, you could certainly do much worse.
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for these frozen veggie bites, check out our package scans below.
