Trader Joe's front entrance shot from an angle
Food - Drink
17 Italian Foods At Trader Joe's, Ranked
By JUDY MORENO
Fork with Spaghetti Sprinkled Cheese and Pepper on Dark Background. Cacio e Pepe - Italian Pasta.
17. Cacio E Pepe Pasta Sauce
Trader Joe's Cacio E Pepe sauce on table
Trader Joe’s Cacio E Pepe sauce is your average jarred alfredo with a lot of black pepper. It's creamy, sure, but also bland and far too cloying.
Picture from tiramisu layers.
16. Tiramisu Torte
Trader Joe's Tiramisu Torte box on table
The texture of this dessert was pudding-like and less than stable, and the chocolate sponge cake is a little bland. Despite these flaws, the tiramisu-flavored cream tasted great.
Traditional Gnocchi Alla Romana Pasta. Lazio. Italy. Europe. (Photo by: Eddy Buttarelli/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
15. Gnocchi Alla Romana
Trader Joe's Gnocchi Alla Romana
This Gnocchi Alla Romana is made of semolina nuggets — dumplings, pretty much — flavored with a mix of cheeses and herbs, plus a dash of nutmeg for a little extra flavor boost.
Gnocchi in a bowl with powdered cheese
The supposedly fluffy insides got a bit wet and mushy when baked, and the flavors weren’t strong. If we'd baked these from scratch, we'd think it was a great first effort.
Italian focaccia bread with olives and rosemary.
14. French Onion Focaccia Bread
Trader Joe's French Onion Focaccia Bread
A traditional yeasted Italian bread, focaccia comes in many forms, and this TJ's product adds the flavors of French onion soup using cheese and other ingredients.
Italian focaccia flatbread with herbs
We had to dock points off of this bread because it was too dense and doughy. The bottom third of the loaf tasted almost underbaked, but the topping is deliciously flavorful.
Meatball and spaghetti on fork
13. Italian-Style Meatballs
Trader Joe's Italian style meatballs on table
These meatballs have a texture that's oddly spongy, and the sauce is also less than ideal. It's bland and sweet, not fresh with the flavors of ripe tomatoes and aromatic herbs.