Uncovering the Truth Behind Trader Joe's Product Labels

The Disappointing Lemon Flavor

A poorly crafted label on a container of prepared food can lead to a sense of deception. When opening a tub of such food, one might be shocked to find that the contents don't align with the information on the packaging. While most brands strive to accurately represent a product's essence in its descriptive name, there are instances where they fall short of encompassing its most prominent flavors. This is precisely the situation with Trader Joe's lemon herb macaroni salad. In our taste test, we discovered that it was less lemon-y and more overwhelmingly briny.

As soon as we lifted the lid of this mac salad, we could detect the vinegary dressing. On the first bite, the most dominant flavor was the dill relish in the recipe. Alongside other sour ingredients like pickled capers and tangy buttermilk, the lemon promised on the label seemed to be lingering in the background, in the form of lemon juice brine and zest. However, it was the piquancy of these other acidic flavors that took center stage. While a mac salad paired with relish can be acceptable, these tangy flavors do not mirror the product's "lemon herb" name. In fact, it would be more appropriate to label it as a dill pickle mac salad. Nevertheless, the relish did add some textural crunch to the soft elbow pasta, and we could taste the dill in the dressing (there's also supposed to be parsley somewhere in there).

The Well-Dressed but Tangy Salad

On a positive note, Trader Joe's lemon herb macaroni salad has a good balance of noodles to dressing. Made with a combination of mayo and buttermilk, it is lighter than a traditional mac salad recipe that typically only uses mayo. There are also cucumbers and celery flecked through the dressing, which gives the tang of the finished dish a vegetal bite.

However, if you're in the market for a prepared salad, we would recommend choosing the number one item in our ranking, the Waldorf salad. Bursting with delightful crunch from the apples and walnuts, this salad comes with an amazing brown sugar maple dressing. The chicken provides a good amount of satisfying protein, and the grapes add moisture and sweetness to the leafy greens. It's important to note that a green salad will eventually wilt once dressed, while a mac salad will maintain its structural integrity for a longer time. This makes it a safer option for picnics and cookouts where dishes are kept out for an extended period and served family style. In such cases, Trader Joe's Mediterranean orzo salad is a suitable alternative to its mac salad, which ranked at No. 10 in our taste test.