Trader Joe's Corn Dogs--Meatless

I saw somebody mention these on Twitter the other day, and they instantly went on my TJ's shopping list. I had no idea any such product even existed. It's a great concept. The execution, however, is kind of a mixed bag.

The corn bread/batter outside is excellent. 20 minutes in the oven (for once, TJ's has the heating instructions right), and they end up with a crisp shell and a soft, tasty, breaded layer underneath.

But the soy-meat center leaves much to be desired. My first reaction was, "This is about as unconvincing an imitation of a hot dog as I can imagine." But I ate three of these (Nina had the other one), and I gradually warmed up to them. Nobody is going to be fooled into thinking these have a beef or pork hot dog in the middle, but what's there isn't bad. It has a bit of that odd soy taste, but mostly it's kind of neutral. Dipped in some ketchup, the sensory evidence that this is not real meat fades.

Others have been more enthusiastic about this product. The good folks at the What's Good at Trader Joe's blog say that they're "amazing," and the "Adventures in Fake Meat" blog assigns them a solid "A" grade.


Will I buy it again? 

Yes. I think TJ's could find a better meat substitute than they're using here, but they're still a perfectly acceptable, painless way to replace one little niche of meat from my diet.

Nina's View

My first and probably last corn dog.

There were never such things as corn dogs in my vicinity when I was growing up. I suspect the regional power of the corn dog had not reached deeply into yankee territory in my youth—or maybe it's just that my Mom would never have considered such an item to be food.

Bob is correct that the breading is good and the texture of this item is excellent. The giant fail is the dog portion of the package. There are some pretty decent vegan hot dogs and sausages out there, so there's no excuse for the complete tastelessness of this item. Seriously, I could not distinguish a flavor (pleasant or otherwise).

If I'm going to eat junk food on a stick, I require it to be tasty. Really tasty, through and through, not just cornbreading tasty.

Back into the kitchen with you, TJ's, and insert something with some actual flavor into this travesty of a food product. Then I will consume it with gusto.