One of the things I like about Trader Joe’s is their wide selection of international dishes, especially in the freezer section. They’ve got Indian cuisine, Italian fare, and even some Thai food. Today’ I’m looking at a vegetable pad Thai dish from Aldi’s cousin.
Trader Joe’s Vegetable Pad Thai cost $2.99 at the time of publication for a 10.5-ounce package. The package states that this features “rice noodles, vegetables and tofu” that “are tossed with just the right amount of mildly piquant sauce and sprinkled with cashews.”
Ingredients are: bean sprouts, water, rice noodles, chives, palm oil, shallots, tofu, sugar, chili sauce, tamarind sauce, cashews, garlic, tomato sauce, radish, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and chili powder.
If you’re watching out for allergens, this contains soy, cashews, and wheat.
Trader Joe’s Vegetable Pad Thai nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
One package contains 1 serving (300 grams), which will net you 360 calories, 11 grams of total fat (14% DV), 4.5 grams of saturated fat (23% DV), no cholesterol, 950 mg of sodium (41% DV), 55 grams of total carbohydrates (20% DV), 5 grams of dietary fiber (18% DV), 27 grams of total sugars, 20 grams of added sugars (40% DV), and 10 grams of protein.
This can be heated from frozen in the microwave or on a stove top.
To microwave, remove the cardboard sleeve and lift a corner of the plastic film from the tray. Heat for 4-6 minutes or until heated through. Time will depend on the microwave. Be cautious of steam when removing the rest of the film and serving.
To heat on the stove top, empty the contents of the tray into a saucepan and heat over very low heat for about 10 minutes. Occasionally stir gently.
I heated this in the microwave for about 5 minutes. When I took it out and peeled off the film, it looked like this:
Trader Joe’s Vegetable Pad Thai after microwaving.
After giving the heated pad Thai a little stir, it brought up bean sprouts and other veggies.
Stirred up and ready to eat.
As for how this tasted, my experience with pad Thai is more limited, so other people who have eaten it more often may have a different opinion. I thought this was all right. I liked the noodles, the cashew bits, and the flavorful sauce. There are a few bits of tofu mixed in among the noodles and sprouts, and they’re okay. This seemed a bit heavy on the bean sprouts to me, but maybe that’s standard for a veggie pad Thai. Overall, it made for a decent weekday lunch for one, but there are other international dishes at Trader Joe’s that I like better.
The Verdict:
Trader Joe’s Vegetable Pad Thai features rice noodles, bean sprouts, and small bits of tofu in a sauce with small pieces of cashews. It heats up quickly in a microwave, and it’s a decent dish, although it doesn’t rank among my favorite international foods at Trader Joe’s. If you like Thai food, though, this might be worth trying.
