12 Frozen Pastas From Trader Joe's Ranked Worst To Best
Trader Joe's frozen aisles are full of convenient ways to put a quick and tasty dinner on the table, and their frozen pastas are some of the easiest items they offer in this regard. With everything you need in one bag (or box), most are ready in a snap and take just one pan, or sometimes none at all, to prepare. Compared to the multiple pots, pans, ingredients, and steps you need to craft a pasta dinner from scratch, it's hard not to be tempted by the simplicity and affordability of Trader Joe's frozen versions.
They're convenient, sure, but how do they taste? I'm something of a pasta purist, but I'm also a Trader Joe's fan, and a big proponent of tasty and easy dishes that fit into a modest budget. I was curious to see how these pastas stack up to similar homemade dishes, and how they stack up against each other. I selected a dozen of the grocery chain's frozen pasta offerings, tasted them, and ranked them here worst to best.
12. Linguine with Pesto & Tomatoes
This pasta takes the bottom rung not because of its flavor, which was fine, or its texture, which was also fine. I'm ranking it last because it was an absolute nightmare to cook. The whole shebang — noodles, tomatoes, and pesto — was frozen into a solid block. With the other Trader Joe's frozen pastas that include long noodles like spaghetti, fettuccine, and linguine, the noodles are frozen into smaller nest shapes, but for whatever reason, that wasn't done here. The massive block of icy pasta and sauce was too tall to be covered by my pan's lid, so I had to let the block of food melt a bit over low heat before I could fit it on as instructed. Once I did, I let everything cook for the allotted length of time, and when I checked under the lid, over half the lump was still frozen solid.
It took at least three times the cooking duration on the package to get this dish to an edible temperature and texture, and I had to watch it like a hawk the entire time. When it was finally heated through, the tomatoes were nothing but skin, and the pesto was quite roasted. I thought this dish would be light and fresh, but it didn't exhibit any of those qualities. That said, the noodle texture was surprisingly elegant and silky, the only saving grace. I wouldn't put myself through the misery of trying to make this again.
11. Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe
When it comes to classic Italian pasta dishes, making cacio e pepe is one of the simplest. Besides salt, the only ingredients it requires are noodles, cheese, and black pepper. With a dish this minimalist, every element needs to be perfect, or the entire thing falls apart. I've traipsed around Rome and the larger region of Lazio seeking out various versions of cacio e pepe, and have been lucky enough to taste some that are truly transcendent, so I'd say my bar for this dish is pretty high — perhaps too high, you could argue, for what I expected from a frozen bagged version.
While the flavors of Trader Joe's spaghetti cacio e pepe actually taste pretty good, this pasta had to rank towards the bottom because the noodles were close to disastrous. The spaghetti is frozen in small nest shapes, but these thick strands had a tough time in the pan. While some of the noodle nests cooked and separated beautifully, about half of them remained stuck in a clump. I have a fairly high-end pan that cooks very evenly, so I suspect this wasn't equipment failure. I waited until the absolute last second before the sauce burned to pull it off the heat, but several of the spaghetti clumps remained stuck together at the ends. With a spaghetti overhaul, this could be a success, but as-is, it's a bit of a mess.
10. Fettuccine Alfredo
There's not a whole lot to say about Trader Joe's fettuccine alfredo. It cooked easily and evenly, and the texture of both the sauce and noodles was perfectly satisfactory. It's enjoyable for what it is — it just isn't much. The sauce is sweet and creamy — while an authentic alfredo doesn't include cream, this one is packed with it — and there's a buttery texture to the noodles that's pleasing, but that's about it. I was expecting a little garlic flavor, a salty component from cheese, something to give it a little bit more dimension, but it's pretty one-note.
That said, it's fine, and could work quite well as the base for a more interesting dish. Throw some protein, veggies, and herbs and spices in here and you could come up with a very tasty dinner. However, that kind of negates the whole idea of a super-easy, one dish meal. I imagine this pasta might be a hit with kids whose usual go-to is noodles and butter.
9. Spaghetti Carbonara
The pasta purist in me wanted to put this spaghetti carbonara dead last, accompanied by a scathing diatribe calling out the audacity of Trader Joe's to even call this carbonara. It barely resembles the classic Roman recipe that requires few ingredients — spaghetti, cured pork, egg, and grated cheese — yet demands a command of the specific technique required to turn these simple components into an elegant, silky, and savory culinary masterpiece. There is no cream in classic carbonara, but Trader Joe's opted for an incredibly rich and heavy cream sauce here. The pancetta (which should really be guanciale if we want to be sticklers) is chewy rather than crisp, so there's very little textural difference between it and the noodles. Typically, carbonara is laden with lots of freshly cracked black pepper; here, there are maybe a few discernible specks that provide barely any flavor.
As someone who's worked on perfecting a carbonara recipe for years, if not decades, I found this dish supremely disappointing. However, despite my principled indignation, I have to admit that it tasted pretty good. If you can separate it from the concept of "carbonara" and just think of it as something closer to mac and cheese, it's a pleasantly over-the-top, rich comfort dish. Just don't let any Italians know I said this.
8. Ricotta & Spinach Filled Ravioli
There's nothing wrong with Trader Joe's ricotta & spinach filled ravioli with tomato basil sauce. It offers everything that's advertised on the bag, and looks pretty much identical to the photo on said package. This dish was a cinch to cook, with very little time and effort involved, and the resulting ravioli was pleasant and satisfying, if not very exciting. The pasta cooked to a nice even texture, which can sometimes be tough with ravioli because of its crimped edges that tend to be thicker than the rest of the pocket. The sauce was bright with punchy tomato flavor.
The main thing that could improve this pasta is the filling. The flavor is there, with a mix of fresh ricotta and earthy spinach, but there's just not enough of it. You mostly get pasta and tomato taking over your palate. I had to scrape off the sauce and surgically open up a piece of ravioli in order to really get a good assessment of the filling, which is too bad, because it's pretty tasty.
7. Spicy Farfalle Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage
I love a tomato sauce-based pasta dish that packs some heat, so I had high hopes for Trader Joe's spicy farfalle. It didn't end up as one of my favorites, although I did enjoy it as a nice change of pace compared to most of the other much milder tasting offerings. It's definitely not shy in the flavor department, with a decent kick of chili that honestly took me by surprise with its intensity.
The small crumbles of chicken sausage had a great classic Italian flavor — I only wish there were more of them. I found myself digging through the sea of bowties to try and find more bites of meat. After I exhausted all of the sausage, the pasta and bright spicy sauce became a bit boring. This is an oven-baked dish, which I appreciated for the simple hands-off preparation and the fact that it comes in its own baking container. Because of that, though, it does take a little longer to prepare than the other pastas on this list, excluding the lasagna.
6. Rigatoni alla Contadina
Trader Joe's rigatoni alla contadina has a lot of good things going for it. The best part of this dish is the pasta itself. The tubes of rigatoni have a great weight, thickness, and texture, and after cooking have the perfect toothsome al dente consistency. Each tube has diagonal grooves along its exterior, which work with the hollow middles to hold little pockets of creamy, cheesy white sauce.
The vegetables are where this pasta dish falters a little. Compared to the heftiness of the rigatoni and the richness of the sauce, the tiny bits of delicate green vegetables had a hard time adding much to each bite. The broccoli and asparagus were cut so small and thin that they're barely recognizable, and I'd never seen smaller bits of green peas in my life. Some were too minuscule to be pierced with the tine of my fork. The combination of veggies had a fresh, pleasant springtime flavor, which I wish had been more front-and-center.
5. Penne Arrabbiata
Arrabbiata means "angry," but thankfully Trader Joe's frozen version of this dish didn't elicit anything resembling that emotional response from me. Actually, I had quite the opposite experience. While it heated up on my stovetop, a bright tomato and chili aroma filled the air, which made my mouth water despite the fact that at the time I wasn't really in the mood for spicy pasta. That mood shifted forcefully and quickly once I took a few bites of this deceptively simple dish.
Of all the frozen Trader Joe's pastas, the penne arrabbiata has the shortest ingredient list. You've got the penne pasta, which cooks nicely and has a great bouncy bite to it, and there's the tomato sauce, which is very simple, made with onion, garlic, parsley, and chili pepper. That's pretty much it. The secret to this recipe's success is that in its simplicity, every element shines. The sauce cooks down to a concentrated glaze that sticks to the pasta's grooves and fills the hollow middles. There's just the right building sensation of chili — I'd call it more of a tickle of heat than a kick, but it's definitely present. As a bonus, this pasta is vegan-friendly, the only one out of the dozen that doesn't include cheese, meat, or egg products.
4. Cheese Filled Fiocchetti with Pink Sauce
This was my first experience with the stuffed pasta shape fiocchetti, and I must say it's a delight. These are small pasta pouches with frilly edges, and while they're super cute, their shape is also functional. The pockets are perfect vessels for a good bit of cheese, which in this case is a mix of ricotta, taleggio, Parmesan, and mozzarella. It's a flavorful blend and the golden, eggy, rich pasta purses are filled with plenty of it. The frilly ends capture just the right amount of sauce to complement the cheese and pasta in each bite.
The only thing keeping this very tasty pasta dish from reaching the pinnacle of perfection is the pink sauce. It has a wonderfully rich, creamy texture, but the tomato component that makes a pink sauce pink is a little too subtle. If there was a more pronounced tangy, acidic bite, the balance would be ideal. Still, this is a top-tier Trader Joe's frozen pasta. It's just fun to eat.
3. Mushroom Ravioli with Mushroom Truffle Sauce
Of the two Trader Joe's ravioli dishes on this list, I greatly preferred the mushroom ravioli in mushroom truffle sauce to the ricotta and spinach option. The shape, size, and texture of both pastas is exactly the same, and they both suffer the same issue, which is an inadequate amount of filling. In the mushroom ravioli's case, though, this flaw isn't as noticeable. That's because every element of this pasta dish is so flavorful, so deeply rich and earthy and complex, so packed full of umami, that any issue you think you might have is washed away in a flood of deliciousness with each bite.
How are there so many porcini and truffle ingredients in a pasta that costs $4? I have no idea, but I'm not one to question a good deal. The sauce is silky, the pasta is tender, and the autumnal vibe is immaculate. Despite the fact that I wanted more of it, there's enough of a fresh tang from the ricotta filling to balance the savory mushroom melange, creating a complex meld of flavors in each bite. I'd happily have this pasta for dinner any night of the week.
2. Family Style Meat Lasagna
Of all the Trader Joe's pastas, the family style meat lasagna offers the most bang for your buck. This slab of deliciousness runs just under $7 at my local store, and I'm not joking when I say this lasagna could feed me for a week. Homemade lasagna can be wonderful, but it's a massive undertaking, even if you follow these chef-approved tips, so frozen is often the best way to go. Sadly, many are underwhelming at best, and disgusting at worst, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. I was pleasantly surprised to find it not just edible, but intensely flavorful and satisfying.
While I had a hard time cutting and serving it, since the noodles were fairly soft and didn't provide much structure, once I took a few bites, I didn't care how sloppy it looked on my plate. The meat, a mix of both beef and pork, is well seasoned, savory, and plentiful. There's a nice combination of layers of fresh ricotta on the inside and melted mozzarella on top. Just a hint of chili heat perfectly complements a blend of Italian herbs and spices. Everything is in balance, not too much or too little of any particular ingredient. Trader Joe's achieved a lasagna that's decadently rich and hearty, yet doesn't sit like a rock in your stomach. This dish does take the longest to cook, so it requires a bit of planning ahead, unless you opt to microwave it.
1. Garlicky Pasta
Trader Joe's garlicky pasta was the first of these dozen dishes that I tried, and I kept waiting for another to knock it off its pedestal, but it's just too good. Folks who know me will be unsurprised by the fact that I put the most garlicky dish at the top of the list, but it's not just my deep love of the pungent bulb that propelled this pasta above the rest. It took the crown for flavor, texture, balance, ease of cooking, and value. I almost finished the entire bag's worth of noodles before I remembered I was supposed to be taking notes.
While garlic and noodles sounds simple, there's a depth of savory flavor to this dish that's addictive, and a complex and alluring aroma that makes it almost impossible to stop going back in for another swirl of the fork. Soy, oyster, and fish sauces add layers of umami to the subtly creamy, silky sauce that tenderly clings to each noodle. The pasta itself cooks to absolute perfection, each strand separating cleanly and maintaining an al dente texture. Garlic and onion flavors abound in every bite, along with a little hit of chili heat. The salty bite of Pecorino Romano cheese punches up the flavor even further. Another great thing about this pasta is its versatility — you can use these garlicky noodles as a base for other ingredients, but they're so good straight from the bag that you don't need to change a thing.
How we ranked Trader Joe's frozen pastas
As a hardcore Italian cuisine enthusiast, I've eaten, studied, and made all kinds of pasta over the years. While having all of the elements frozen in one bag is far from traditional, the same principles still apply to judging the finished dish. I cooked each pasta as directed on the bag or box, using the stovetop and oven instructions.
First, I looked at the pasta itself. The texture: Is it al dente, too hard, or too mushy? Did it cook properly in the time allotted? The shape: Does it match up well with the sauce? Then, I looked at the sauce and other elements: Is the texture of the sauce too thin, too thick, or just right? Is it flavorful, well seasoned, and balanced? Then I assessed how well all of the ingredients came together, and whether they created a satisfying dish. I also took into account the price, to judge how good of a value each pasta offers. Lastly, I assessed the convenience factor. How easy was it to prepare? How many steps did it take? Was it a breeze to make, or more trouble than it's worth? All of these elements went into the final ranking.