Vegan Food Review: Trader Joe's Organic Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth
Trader Joe's Organic Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth was not the broth I wanted. I generally prefer the "better than broth bullion" vegan beef or chicken flavor broth concentrate, but the last time that I went shopping I couldn't find it anywhere (Shaw's was out, it seemed), so I just got this broth-in-a box. I prefer paying for the concentrate because otherwise you are really paying for a lot of water with flavoring, but I figured I should review this anyway.
You get 1 qt of broth. It's fat-free, low-cal, and gluten free. It also has *way* less sodium than their normal vegetable broth, at only 6% sodium. Some nutrients, but not enough to rave about. I think I picked up the organic kind without really noticing; I don't even know if TJ's carries non-organic vegetable broth or what it tastes like.
Mostly, it's water with a lot of vegetable juices. It tastes vaguely sweet because of the carrot juices they put in. If you're like me and love the taste of celery but hate the texture, you will like this broth, because you can really taste the fact that celery is the third broth on the list. Unfortunately, it does have tomatoes and onions in it, so this is no good for people who are sensitive to those vegetables. It is also slightly seasoned, but not overwhelmingly so.
It has recipe suggestions, like "omit oil and use broth instead," in the back. This does in fact contain a slight bit of olive oil, so it is a little bit oily--you don't need to add a lot of extra oil.
How else does it taste? Mostly of celery, with a slight hint of tomato and onion, sweetness from the carrots, and a little bit of parsley flavor. There is a slight olive oil aftertaste, and it has a nice feel in your mouth. I will probably use the rest of it to make miso soup; it's light and tasty without being overwhelmingly like "I'M BROTH!!" which is an effect you can sometimes get with broth concentrate pastes, or non-low-sodium broths, which I sometimes find too salty.
The only drawbacks are that you are essentially, again, paying for flavored water, and you have to use it up within 10 days after you open the box. Thankfully (or maybe not), if you are making a good deal of food, 1 box of broth will not last you too long (I used about 6/8ths of the box in the cheesy green bean couscous casserole, but that is an entire medium-sized casserole dish full of food and should last for several days).
You get 1 qt of broth. It's fat-free, low-cal, and gluten free. It also has *way* less sodium than their normal vegetable broth, at only 6% sodium. Some nutrients, but not enough to rave about. I think I picked up the organic kind without really noticing; I don't even know if TJ's carries non-organic vegetable broth or what it tastes like.
Mostly, it's water with a lot of vegetable juices. It tastes vaguely sweet because of the carrot juices they put in. If you're like me and love the taste of celery but hate the texture, you will like this broth, because you can really taste the fact that celery is the third broth on the list. Unfortunately, it does have tomatoes and onions in it, so this is no good for people who are sensitive to those vegetables. It is also slightly seasoned, but not overwhelmingly so.
It has recipe suggestions, like "omit oil and use broth instead," in the back. This does in fact contain a slight bit of olive oil, so it is a little bit oily--you don't need to add a lot of extra oil.
How else does it taste? Mostly of celery, with a slight hint of tomato and onion, sweetness from the carrots, and a little bit of parsley flavor. There is a slight olive oil aftertaste, and it has a nice feel in your mouth. I will probably use the rest of it to make miso soup; it's light and tasty without being overwhelmingly like "I'M BROTH!!" which is an effect you can sometimes get with broth concentrate pastes, or non-low-sodium broths, which I sometimes find too salty.
The only drawbacks are that you are essentially, again, paying for flavored water, and you have to use it up within 10 days after you open the box. Thankfully (or maybe not), if you are making a good deal of food, 1 box of broth will not last you too long (I used about 6/8ths of the box in the cheesy green bean couscous casserole, but that is an entire medium-sized casserole dish full of food and should last for several days).