Trader Joe’s Heat and Serve Cornbread Stuffing Review

Stuffing (also known as Dressing) has a long tradition in Thanksgiving meals across the country. People either love it or hate it. I am in the love column, that’s for sure. Many people find the texture offputting but I think that if Stuffing is done right, it’s no different than many other carbohydrates (rice, potatoes, etc) as a side dish. I love the rich, deep flavors that most stuffing has. One thing I do not like is fruit and nuts in my stuffing but that’s just me. I grew up eating it and my mother would slave over it and stuff the bird with it every year. I don’t stuff a bird anymore because of health concerns and bake it separately in muffin tins and I call them Stuffing Muffins. Much easier to serve and gives a lot of crispy edges. 

But, we digress… We are here for Trader Joe’s Heat and Serve Cornbread Stuffing with Roasted Apples, Dried Cranberries and Savory Herbs. This is not a frozen item, but one that you will find in the fridge section with the cheese and deli meats. (BTW, I have frozen this before and it still turned out good). Let me say up front that cornbread stuffing is not my thing, especially with fruit in it. Apples and Cranberries I find can make the dish too sweet for me. I like things on the savory side, but this is a very traditional preparation with the fruit added. 

This is not to be confused with the Trader Joe’s Cornbread Stuffing Mix, in which you actually have to do some prep work. I reviewed this years ago and found it meh. I doubt it’s gotten any better with the passing of time. But, it is open to more fiddling with than this heat-and-serve version. But that mix is mostly made up of white bread cubes so the name of the product is very misleading. While this stuffing has some cornbread, it does have more white wheat flour as the base for the croutons, but honestly, I can see them.

If you look at the picture on the packaging vs reality, you’d be like what the hell is that? The real product looks like a mushy mess, but I have generally liked Trader Joe’s Heat and Serve dishes so I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

I opted for the oven preparation because honestly, the microwave can just make a dish like this a mushy mess. As you can see below, I served this in conjunction with Trader Joe’s Brined Bone In pre cooked Turkey breast to have a mini early Thanksgiving meal for this review.

The temperature was the same for the Turkey reheating process so I put them both in the oven. The kitchen started to smell like Thanksgiving as everything was cooked.

Serving it was simple, I just scooped it out of the black plastic dish and put it on my plate. The nice thing is that in the oven, it did brown up a bit on the bottom. Next time I might pull off the top clear plastic for about 5-10 minutes and let it brown on the top too.

Like most stuffing, it was a bit of a gloppy mess. I couldn’t make out apple chunks but could see cranberries in there. I could definitely smell the herbs. It smelled really good.

As for the taste, it was quite good! I would like this to be dried out a little more and see individual croutons like on the packaging but flavor-wise it was spot on. I was worried it would be too sweet but it was savory. I couldn’t really taste the apples or cranberries. As you can see from my picture they are hard to see.

Final Verdict

While this Trader Joe’s heat and serve Cornbread Stuffing with cranberries and apples aren’t the most pleasing dish to look at, which is a common problem with most stuffings, it did hit the spot and taste quite authentic. I am going to rate this Stuffing dish a solid 8 Bells!

INGREDIENTS:

WATER, CORNBREAD CROUTON (UNBLEACHED
ENRICHED FLOUR [WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR,
NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN,
FOLIC ACID], DEGERMINATED CORN MEAL, SUNFLOWER
OIL. CANE SUGAR, SEA SALT: PALM SHORTENING, YEAST,
SUNFLOWER OIL [SUNFLOWER OIL, ROSEMARY EXTRACT {TO
ONION, OLIVE OIL, CORN, BUTTER (PASTEURIZED CREAM,
SALT), SWEETENED DRIED CRANBERRIES (CRANBERRIES, CANE
SUGAR, SUNFLOWER OIL), HONEY, CONTAINS LESS THAN 1%
OF CHICKEN FAT, CHICKEN BROTH, SEA SALT, PARSLEY, YEAST
EXTRACT, GROUND SAGE, GROUND BAY LEAVES, BLACK PEPPER,
TURMERIC (FOR COLOR), DRIED MARJORAM, ROSEMARY
EXTRACT (TO PRESERVE).

CONTAINS MILK, WHEAT.

DIST. & SOLD EXCLUSIVELY BY:
TRADER JOE’S, MONROVIA, CA 91016

SKU # 71889

HEATING INSTRUCTIONS:

CONVENTIONAL OVEN: Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove outer
sleeve. Lift one corner of film and place tray on baking sheet on
center rack of oven. Do not place tray directly on oven rack. Heat
for 25 minutes or until heated through. Remove film carefully
before serving
MICROWAVE (1200 watt): Microwave heat times may vary
depending on oven wattage. Remove outer sleeve. Lift one corner
of film and heat on high for 3 to 4 minutes or until heated through.
Let stand for 2 minutes. Remove film carefully before serving.

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