Trader Joe's Pumpkin Vinaigrette

This finishes up two solid weeks of new products. Back to the regular randomness of daily reviews tomorrow. 


There exist certain categories of food products that you can feel deep in your bones should not contain a large portion of pumpkin. You would naturally--and correctly--include in that list juice, tortilla chips, soup, sweet rolls, and chocolates. However, you might also naturally--and incorrectly, as it turns out--include ice cream, pasta sauce, salsa, cornbread, and toaster pastries. So your instincts about what should and should not be pumpkin-based will sometimes be right, sometimes wrong.

Salad dressing is definitely in the list of things that I immediately think should not be pumpkin-based. My one prior experience with a TJ's pumpkin vinaigrette, as part of a specialty bagged salad, confirmed this. So I was braced for this new product to be equally terrible--especially when Nina tasted it first and said, "You won't like it."

But for once she was wrong. I do like it. To be sure, it's never going to be a favorite, not even preferred enough for a second purchase. It's too sweet and too thick, primarily. But it's edible--even modestly enjoyable, rather than awful. I've had it on salads five times already, and I'll be able to finish off the bottle without feeling oppressed.

If nothing else, I think it's worth a try just so that you can cross off of your bucket list, "Try a pumpkin-based salad dressing." After all, if you hate it, you can return it to the store for a full refund.


Will I buy it again? 

No.