Ah, we must be getting close to Thanksgiving time, these Trader Joe’s Thanksgiving Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips just popped up on the shelf again at my local Trader Joe’s. They’ve been making a yearly appearance (along with all the pumpkin stuff) in the middle of October. Every time I wanted to do a real review of them, either my kids ate the whole bag before I could do a proper review, or the season was gone and they were off the shelf. But not this year, I finally snagged a bag sat down, and did a serious review.
(Update: These chips were formerly known as Turkey and Stuff Seasoned Potato chips, but there must be some confusion because there is no Turkey in this product and they are actually vegan)
Clearly, Trader Joe’s is trying to emulate Lay’s potato chips and who are we to say that Lay’s isn’t making these for Trader Joe’s? Trader Joe’s does have its own raft of wacky potato chip flavors so why not these? It says right on the bag “all the flavors of Thanksgiving in a potato chip”. All of course, except actual Turkey flavorings, which are not in there. People swear they taste turkey but I can’t taste it myself. I think what they are tasting is everything else and projecting that turkey flavor into their minds.
A careful review of the ingredients does show lots of flavors you associate with Thanksgiving, like onion, sage, pepper, and garlic and I think Trader Joe’s has done a great job of bringing it all together.
When I first opened the bag, I got a heady whiff of the melange of flavors you think of when you sit down at the Thanksgiving table. Black pepper, celery, sage, thyme, salt, garlic, etc.. I was already transported to my family’s Thanksgiving table of years past.
The chips look like any of the normal kettle chips you find everywhere. That just means they are thicker and are fried a bit longer. Try tasting the crisp skin of a turkey right out of the oven and I bet it tastes very similar to kettle chips. Both are kind of fried. Add in the spices and herbs and you have an instant Thanksgiving snack in one bag.
I can already see a plethora of uses for these. Forget putting the herbs in your stuffing, just smash a bunch of these and stick them in your stuffing. Why not? You could crush these up and sprinkle them all over a bunch of stuff. Maybe you should just forget about serving the stuffing and just serve these chips instead. They are that good! I’ll be eating these as much as I can during the holidays until the elves carry them away to hide for another year.
Final Verdict
Clearly, these Thanksgiving Stuffing Seasoned Chips are a seasonal hit every year for Trader Joe’s because I think they have been releasing them for many years. I love seasoned potato chips and especially some wacky stuff that Lays does with their chips. These aren’t all that wacky and I think Trader Joe’s has hit the spice/seasoning blend perfectly here. It’s not too much or too little. They obfuscate the seasonings in the ingredients list but you can taste some sage and maybe some thyme and rosemary in there. Also a bit of garlic and onion round out the blend and bring it home.
I know people who buy bags of these chips and store them for the rest of the year they love them so much. I won’t go that far and just enjoy them in the season with my Turkey. What could be better than a Turkey and cranberry sandwich with gravy and a side of Trader Joe’s Stuffing Seasoned potato chips?
I highly recommend them if you are a potato chip lover. I am going to give them 8 out of 10 Bells!
INGREDIENTS:
POTATOES, SUNFLOWER AND/OR CANOLA OIL, SEASONING BLEND (MALTODEXTRIN, SEA SALT, SUGAR, SPICE, YEAST EXTRACT, ONION POWDER, NATURAL FLAVOR, GARLIC POWDER, SALT, CITRIC ACID)
NUTRITION FACTS:
Servings per container 7 | Serving size about 8 chips (28g/1oz) | Amount per serving: Calories 140
Total Fat 7g (11% DV), Saturated Fat 0.5g (3% DV), Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 0mg (0% DV), Sodium 130mg (5% DV), Total Carbohydrate 17g (6% DV), Dietary Fiber less than 1g (2% DV), Total Sugars 0g, Protein 2g, Vitamin A (0% DV), Calcium (0% DV), Iron (2% DV), Vitamin C (4% DV).
The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Product of Canada
[…] seasoning blend that somehow tastes like a Thanksgiving turkey, along with stuffing and gravy (via Club Trader Joe’s). The company says it "just may be the most economical Thanksgiving dinner… you can […]
Mmmm good
Not as good as I expected/hoped.
[…] bean casserole and mac and cheese. And whereas now we have to agree with their evaluation that “any stuffing is nice stuffing,” that’s actually put to the check with recipes that embrace much more onion than your typical […]