Diet Food Reviews
Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo
By: | Sep 10, 2009
While picking up chicken sausage at Trader Joe's, I saw a product I hadn't tried: Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo. I often need chorizo for stew recipes, and usually just substitute spicy chicken sausage, but seeing a vegetarian option made me curious. Would the extra spice give my stews more flavor? I decided to find out.
Each package contains two large links with five servings each. For my recipe, I wanted to use just one link, but I found the packaging a little difficult to maneuver. First, there was a dark red juice in the package that got everywhere when I cut the package open. Next, I tried to slip one link out of the stiff plastic, but after struggling for a bit, I found that the two casings were tied together. Finally I cut them apart and put the chorizo on my cutting board.
The outside of the package said to remove the casing before cooking, and my recipe said to slice the chorizo. I started by pulling the casing off one end - only to find that the soy chorizo crumbled upon removal of the casing that held it together. On the other side, I tried to slice it with the casing still on, removing the casing after slicing, but even slicing it made the soy crumble out the sides of the casing. Finally, I just put it into my stew as crumbles instead of slices.
In its raw form, the chorizo was quite spicy, but once cooked, it didn't really add much heat to my dish. Unfortunately, it did give a lot of that telltale soy aftertaste, common in products like soy yogurt or ice cream. I was really disappointed with the flavor and consistency.
The nutrition stats, while better than regular chorizo, are still not great. Each 70 gram serving of Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo (about 1/5th of the package), provides 140 calories, 10 grams of total fat of which 1.5 grams of saturated fat (15% and 8% of the daily value respectively), 700 mg sodium (29% of the daily value), 9 grams of protein and 8 grams of carbohydrates which includes 4 grams of fiber (16% of the DV) and 2 grams of sugar.
I paid $4.99 for this two pack of soy chorizo, and was ultimately pretty disappointed with the taste, consistency, and nutritionals. While I'll finish off what I have left, I won't be buying this again.
See more on: Condiments
, Vegetarian
, faux meat
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I just went to Trader Joe's for the first time last weekend. I'll avoid the Chorizo when I go back! But those Luna Bars...they are magical! Ahhh.
how did this get all the available "stars" if it wasn't good? Is the rating system broken?
Thanks for the heads up. I will not be picking this one up.
thx ibgoalie - fixed the top rating.
Thank you! There's a Trader Joe's opening in my neighborhood this month, so I'm glad to know what's worth it and what's not!
Thanks for reviewing these- I've been eyeballing them during every TJ's trip, but haven't taken the plunge yet because I have no chorizo experience. Now I'll continue avoiding them!
I tried this and loved it with scrambled eggs!! Although the fat was higher than I had hoped.
I used this soy chorizo in making vegetarian sloppy joes. Mix them with sloppy joe mix, heat up, and put some cheese on top and dee-lish! It went over so well with my non-vegetarian friends that I will definitely use them in other recipes like spaghetti for that italian sausage like touch.
Let me say that the kind of chorizo you slice - Spanish chorizo - is VERY different from Mexican chorizo, which this soy sausage is a version of. Spanish chorizo has a texture like most other sausages, but the Mexican is very soft, crumbly, and staining. That, however, does not excuse off flavors.
I can usually find turkey chorizo for about 7 g of fat at my local WinCo.
I'll agree that pre-made faux meats are definitely over-priced, but we should also remember that for vegetarians/vegans, the point of eating soy products isn't necessarily to replace meat, and so many of us aren't bothered by the "telltale soy aftertaste" because to us, things that taste like dead flesh in general are nastier than any soy aftertaste.
Just a quick note. Mexican chorizo is very spicy and falls apart when you open the casing. If you recipe called for sliced chorizo, it most likely was calling for Spanish chorizo. It has more garlic and paprika and not so many chili peppers. The Spanish chorizo is great sliced in soups whereas the chorizo that falls apart is great for things like omelets because you don't have to work to break it up. There os also Portuguese chorizo but I've never tried it.
I really like this chorizo. I love to add it to the rice cooker with rice. Its also good in 7 layer dip instead of meat. I am a vegan so I never eat real meat.