Trader Joe's Hops On The Mushroom Trend With New Umami Seasoning

Mushroom everything is one of the food trends we told you to look out for in 2019, and lo and behold, Trader Joe's has released a new seasoning that sounds mushroom-tastic. It's called Mushroom & Company Multipurpose Umami Seasoning Blend and we anticipate that TJ's customers are going to be sprinkling it on everything.

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The $2.99, 2.1-ounce jarred mixture of kosher salt, porcini and white button mushrooms, onion, mustard seed, red and black pepper, and thyme is meant to have an umami flavor. If you don't know about umami, it has been called the "fifth taste" after sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. It's the flavor that gives foods like nicely seared steak and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese that pleasing, delicious flavor that's otherwise pretty difficult to describe. 

According to food website TheKitchn, when dusted on chicken, Trader Joe's umami blend "seemed to bring out all the saltiness and, true to the label, umami from the marinade, giving the tenders an extra layer of flavor."

It's creating a lot of buzz online too for how well it seems to pair with everything. According to one Instagram user, "It's really good. I used it the other night to make a veg fried rice."

Another Instagrammer used the blend in a soup and found that it perfected the flavor. "I just made mushroom soup and added a few dashes of the seasoning to round out the flavors and it legit tastes just like a cream of mushroom soup," they said.

Sounds like this new mushroom-y umami blend could replace TJ's Everything-Bagel seasoning as the new cult-favorite spice. Maybe we'll see it next year on the 62 foods Trader Joe's customers loved most.