Considering you probably won’t eat a full bag in one serving, this really isn’t that bad. That means a full bag weighs in at around 420 calories and 175 mg of sodium. One bag is supposed to contain about seven servings, and a serving contains about 60 calories and 25 mg of sodium. It seems clear to us that these aren’t designed to be eaten without a topping of some sort. We fixed ours with a side of ketchup, and they ended up tasting great. The downside to this simplicity, of course, is that they’re kind of bland on their own. If you like that salty flavor, you can always go ahead and add some salt, but if you don’t, you’ll definitely prefer these over the patties. And secondly, they don’t have the salty flavor that the patties have. Firstly, they don’t come out of the bag feeling greasy. Now, dextrose aside, the simplicity of these hash browns really works in their favor, since they don’t have the flaws of Trader Joe’s Hashbrown patties. According to Medical News Today, “It is similar to fructose and chemically identical to glucose, which is blood sugar.” We can’t tell if that’s a good thing or not, and even Medical News Today seems hesitant to commit to saying it’s strictly a good or bad thing. Now, the addition of dextrose puzzled us here, so we did some very light research on the topic. That’s even fewer ingredients than are in the Trader Joe’s Hashbrowns. The ingredients simply list potatoes and dextrose. These hash browns are a thing of true simplicity. Our first effort ended up not cooking all the way through, and our second effort (shown below) ended up a bit overcooked on one side. It’s a bit difficult to flip these without having them break into pieces.Įven though we followed the instructions to the letter, we struggled to get the timing just right. A large spatula is a must here, since these don’t stick together as well as a proper patty would.
The hash browns will sort of form into a loose patty on their own, and you’ll want to flip the whole thing over about halfway through to make sure both sides are properly browned. Heat up a pan to medium/hot, pour three tablespoons of oil into it, then dump in your hash browns no more than 1/2″ thick. (We’re not sure why Trader Joe’s is struggling to decide whether hash browns is one word or two.)Īt first glance, these seem pretty simple to cook up, though making the perfect plate of hash browns is an exercise in patience and precision. Today, however, we’re looking at the Trader Joe’s Shredded Hash Browns. Now, we’ve reviewed Trader Joe’s Hashbrowns in the past, which is what they call their hash brown patties, and we found them to be quite good. You see, we tend to fancy ourselves as breakfast connoisseurs here at Freezer Meal Frenzy, and hash browns are a breakfast essential. Trader Joe’s makes a variety of hash brown styles, and we’d love to try all of them.