Introduction
Trader Joe’s is an American grocery store chain. It has over 530 locations throughout the country. The first Trader Joe’s store was inaugurated by the founder of the chain, Joe Coulombe, in 1967 in Pasadena, California. Today, the chain’s headquarters is located in Monrovia, California. Trader Joe’s is not only a grocery store chain that sells products from other brands but is also a brand in its own right. Trader Joe’s manufactures many packaged food products such as cereals, ready to cook meals, sauces, snacks, condiments, salad dressings, beverages, desserts, spices and seasonings, and so on. One such Trader Joe’s product that is extremely popular among the masses, and for good reason, is their Cacio e Pepe sauce.
Cacio e Pepe is a pasta sauce that finds its roots in Rome. It is a very simple yet popular pasta sauce that has cheese and pepper as its primary ingredients. Trader Joe’s produces its own version of this delectable pasta sauce and sells it, packaged in glass jars. It is a very popular item not only for its amazing taste and texture, but also for the convenience it brings to your food prep. Using this sauce not only keeps you from doing the hard work but also saves your time.
What is Cacio e Pepe?
Cacio e Pepe literally translates to “cheese and pepper”. It is an age-old Roman pasta sauce that is made using grated Pecorino Romano cheese and crushed black pepper. The cheese and pepper are infused with pasta water to make a simple yet creamy and delicious sauce. This sauce is traditionally paired with spaghetti or tortellini pasta. It is a very easy to make sauce and especially comes in handy when you’ve run out of the ingredients needed to cook up a regular meal.
How is Trader Joe’s Cacio e Pepe made?
Unlike the homemade version of the sauce which is made by combining just a couple of simple ingredients along with pasta water, Trader Joe’s Cacio e Pepe comes prepared in the form of a creamy, thick, and viscous sauce, packed in a glass jar. It tastes delicious and all you need to do to make Cacio e Pepe pasta is add some of this sauce to al dente spaghetti or tortellini or whatever pasta you like. Besides that, the sauce can also be added on top of baked vegetables or potatoes or poached eggs etc.
The ingredients list for the sauce is given on the bottle and reads as follows:
- Water.
- Pecorino Romano cheese, which is made using sheep’s milk, sea salt and animal rennet.
- Sunflower seed oil.
- Modified corn starch.
- Crushed black pepper.
- Sodium Citrate.
- Xanthan gum.
- Sea salt.
Nutritional information.
According to fooducate.com, one serving (¼ cup or 2 Oz) of the Trader Joe’s Cacio e Pepe sauce contains the following:
| Amount per serving | %age of daily allowance | |
| Calories | 110 Kcal | 6% |
| Total Fat | 10 g | 16% |
| Saturated Fat | 3.5 g | 21% |
| Trans Fat | 0 g | 0% |
| Cholesterol | 10 mg | 3% |
| Sodium | 510 mg | 22% |
| Potassium | 0 mg | 0% |
| Total Carbohydrate | 2 g | 1% |
| Dietary Fibre | 0 g | 0% |
| Sugars | 0 g | 0% |
| Added Sugars | 0 g | 0%< |
| Protein | 3 g | 6% |
| Calcium | 130 mg | 13% |
| Iron | 0 mg | 0% |
| Vitamin D | 0 mcg | 0% |
How can Trader Joe’s Cacio e Pepe sauce be used in cooking?
One of the best advantages of this sauce is the convenience it brings to your kitchen. To make a delicious and creamy pasta, all you need to do is cook any pasta of your preference to al dente, and add a couple of heaped tablespoons of the packaged sauce to it. You can also add in some pasta water to thin the sauce out if required and voìla, your pasta is ready. Easy and simple. The only downside to using this sauce is that it can only be used for a limited period of time after removing the lid from the can.
Trader Joe’s Cacio e Pepe doesn’t come only in sauce form. It is also sold premixed with both spaghetti and ravioli in ready to cook boxes. The recipe used for the sauce in these boxes is almost identical to the recipe used for the packaged sauce. All that needs to be done to prepare Trader Joe’s ready to cook Cacio e Pepe pastas is either heat the contents of the box in the microwave for a couple of minutes or add a bit of water to a sauce pan and dump the content of the box into it and cook for about ten minutes. This is a yet easier alternative to the already easy to use Cacio e Pepe sauce.
FAQs
- How much does Trader Joe’s Cacio e Pepe sauce cost?
Answer: The Cacio e Pepe sauce from Trader Joe’s will cost you a humble $3.49 for a 14.5 Oz jar.
- What is the recommended serving size for the sauce?
Answer: One serving of the Trader Joe’s Cacio e Pepe sauce equals about one quarter cup and there are about 7 serving portions in each jar.
- Is Trader Joe’s Cacio e Pepe sauce vegan?
Answer: Since the sauce contains Pecorino Romano, which is made with sheep’s milk, as well as animal rennet, it is not vegan friendly.
- How long can a jar of Trader Joe’s Cacio e Pepe sauce be stored in the fridge once the lid is opened?
Answer: The sauce stays well in the fridge for upto 3 days after the lid has been opened.
Conclusion
Trader Joe’s sauce stays as true to the original version as possible while being both affordable and delicious. For anybody who has to manage both their housework and office work, this sauce can be a lifesaver as it requires practically no preparation time and is really simple to use. If used creatively, this sauce can also be very useful for college students as it is cheap, convenient, and delicious. All in all, this sauce is an amazing product and is definitely worth the hype.
