Prior to this, the only time I've ever eaten edamame was straight out of the pea-pod at sushi restaurants. I'd dip them in the soy sauce bowl, slurp the beans out one by one, and then discard the pod in a nearby bowl and try as hard as I could not to confuse the already-eaten bowl with the non-eaten one. (It's totally gross when you stick an empty pea-pod in your mouth that's just recently been in someone else's mouth).
Aside from the misleading photo on the packaging, featuring some exotic, delicious Asian sauce that totally doesn't come with this product, I was quite delighted with these snacktacular hors d'oeuvres. They're different. We've seen plenty of veggie dishes that blatantly try to rip off the real thing, such as chickenless orange chicken. But these don't seem to be imitating something with meat. They just are what they are. Delicious. And they happen to be meat-free.
There's a crispy outer-shell that's kind of reminiscent of the breading on a normal nugget...yet somehow better. Inside, there are whole edamame beans and...well, some other meatless stuff. There are bits of thinly-sliced carrots. There's tofu. It's a great balance of nuggetiness and bean/carrot/veggie-ness.
We ate them with a sauce that Sonia made out of mayo, lime juice, hot sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder. And also, in a separate bowl, we dipped them in soy sauce. Both sauces = yumtastic.
Definitely prepare these nuggets in the oven. Makes them happy, crispy critters. Sonia gives them a 4. I agree. Although, they totally would have gotten a 4.5 if they had come with that Asian-looking sauce in the picture. Maybe even a 5 if the sauce were any good...
Bottom line: 8 out of 10.
Looks like a sweet and sour sauce on the package. Probably go good with some ranch. They look so good.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, you reviewed something I *just* bought but haven't eaten yet. I'm looking forward to trying these now - and I may try to recreate that mayo dipping sauce. Nom.
ReplyDeleteHumm!!! I will need to give these another look. Thanks for sharing. :-),
ReplyDeleteSusan Cooper
I was in Trader Joes today and this was the free sample. They were pretty darn good.
ReplyDeleteThese look so good.
ReplyDeleteRawrr--yeah, if you're into ranch, that would probably work...Susan, I wrote these off the first time I saw them, too, but fortunately my wife picked some up!
ReplyDeleteJust ate 5 of 'em. Tried half in barbeque sauce (yum) and half in ginger flavored soy sauce (also yum). Thanks for the tip. I would NEVER have bought them without your review. And 5 filled me up, for 200 calories and a ton of protein. Not bad for a dieter.
ReplyDeleteI just had these last night! They were great with TJ’s General Tso’s Stir Fry Sauce, I put half a tsp on each nugget before I baked them too.. My house smelled devine!
ReplyDeleteThese are amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteare they pretty large? i was a little surprised by the nutrition facts and the serving size being only 5 nuggets! (and only 15 in a bag!)
ReplyDeleteyep! they are pretty large, and also delicious!
ReplyDeleteI served these for the picky toddler I nanny. He won't touch a vegetable so I liked that they contain edamame and carrot, even in small amounts. I called them "nuggets" and he ate them with ketchup. Picky toddler approved!! (I liked them too.)
ReplyDeleteThese are my favorite Trader Joe's item... and apparently have been catching on here in town (recent opening of the store). The last two time I went they were completely out.
ReplyDeleteAs a former fast-food eater, these things remind me of McDonalds Chicken McNuggets BEFORE they switched to the less-bad-for-you white meat. I could eat these every day (and have for several days in a row).
I loved these nuggets! As did my 5 year old daughter. However, the last few times I have been into TJ's (I'm fortunate there are 2 in my area), neither store had them. Are they carrying them anymore?
ReplyDeleteAfter being gone for months while TJ looked for a new producer, Tofu Edamame nuggets are back. They are not quite as good as before, but they are better than not having them at all.
ReplyDeleteI bought a bunch of these since I was afraid that they'd disappear again. What a mistake. the recipe has changed so much that not only do I not like them anymore - I find them sickeningly sweet. The nutrition info also shows that they're much less healthy for you as they once were. Yuck.
DeleteThat sucks they changed the recipe...
DeleteI've tried these as well and they are delightful! They remind me of something I used to get at my used-to-be favorite Chinese buffet (before going vegan) Only problem I have with these is that I somehow overlooked the egg factor because I was so excited that they were a familiar comfort from my omnivore days! So I may have these once in a blue moon but can't justify adding them to my regular repertoire. I made a dipping sauce with soy sauce, miso paste, mustard, hot sauce and lots of fresh garlic and black pepper. Delicious!
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