Trader Joe’s: Turkey Corn Dogs Batter Dipped Turkey Franks

Corn dogs are the quintessential carnival food, meant to be carried around while looking at people flying down rollercoaster tracks or marveling at games that are almost impossible to win. They’re a common sight at many a grocery stores, both large and small, both because of their popularity and their ease of preparation.

Aldi’s distant cousin, Trader Joe’s, sells corn dogs … including one with a twist.

Trader Joe’s Turkey Corn Dogs come in a pack of four, located in the grocer’s frozen section. When we bought them, the corn dogs ran $2.99 for the pack, which comes out to a little less than 80 cents per dog. In our experience, this is more per dog than you might get from Aldi, but the tradeoff is that these are turkey dogs, not hot dogs, meaning that they are lower in fat and cholesterol then an Aldi hot dog corn dog. (The Trader Joe’s Turkey Dogs appear to be higher in sodium, though.)

Making them is pretty easy, and can involve either the microwave, oven, or deep fryer. One of them can be microwaved on a microwave-safe dish for 60 seconds on high; you may need longer if you’re microwaving more than one at a time. To bake in the oven, you preheat the oven to 375 degrees and then cook for 20 minutes, turning them over halfway through. To deep fry them, you preheat the deep fryer to 375 degrees, cook them for 5 minutes, and then drain. Which method you use will vary — microwave is the fastest, while deep frying or baking gives it the best texture and flavor — but, in all cases, the packaging advises not thawing prior to cooking, and making sure the dogs reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

We opted to cook them in our Ambiano Deep Fryer. True to form, after five minutes they came out hot and crispy. Our family unanimously liked them, including members of our family who love hot dogs. In fact, we were hard-pressed to tell much of a taste difference between these and a traditional hot dog corn dog.

The Verdict:

With a crispy, tasty batter outside and a turkey dog that tastes like a hot dog inside, the Trader Joe’s Turkey Corn Dogs are a nice, and slightly healthier, way to experience a corn dog. They’re not the cheapest option for a corn dog out there, but they’re still worth a look.