Trader Joe's Shakshuka Starter

This is a relatively new product that I haven't seen in stock for a while at my TJ's. When something appears budget friendly, convenient, and healthy you can expect it to sell like hotcakes. Another customer and I pondered whether or not to purchase this at the same time. She was like, "this is just tomato sauce. You can make this." and put it back. I, tired as usual, thought "frozen tomato sauce you plop into a pan to make a meal in minutes." Take my money. 


Shakshuka is a simple breakfast eaten in the Middle East and in parts of North Africa. It's a one-skillet dish of stewed tomatoes, spices, and other random stuff (I see this as a smart way to use up vegetables lying around) with eggs poached in the stew. I've had it a few times at restaurants but have never cooked it at home, which is why I picked up.

I opted for stove-top preparation. I don't like the idea of microwaving plastic. 

The amount of sodium isn't that bad considering that this is a processed frozen food. But yes, there's no extra fixings here - just the tomato sauce/stew, basic spices, and basic veg.


1) The actual taste is good. Good meaning it has decent flavor from the garlic, spices, and onions/peppers base. In other words, it's what I expect from a reliable store-bought sauce. It's also a tad bit salty for my taste but it should be fine for most people.

2) It is highly subject to user error, especially if you opt for stove-top preparation. The size of the pan matters - if the pan is too big, you won't have enough volume to use for poaching the eggs. Cooking the eggs is a bit challenging if you have no idea what you're doing (which I suspect is true of a sizable portion of the Trader Joe's clientele). You can't just crank up the heat to high to make the sauce heat up faster - the medium low heat is key to allowing the eggs to cook to the right doneness without being rubbery. The suggested cooking times for the eggs is ludicrous considering that the instructions want you to cook it low and slow- at 2.5 minutes the whites still looked completely raw. I think 5-7 minutes is a more realistic cooking time for a soft egg yolk with varying degree of doneness.

3) My skillet does not have a lid - a piece of aluminum foil works just fine.

4)$1.99 for a single serving isn't that expensive, if you're comparing it to a sandwich or anything else you might purchase for takeout or something. And if you literally have no time to cook, are traveling or working a 24-hrs shift and don't have access to a kitchen, or have some other circumstance where it is more economically sound to buy and use single servings of shakshuka, this isn't a bad pick. I'd probably repurchase, if I find myself in any of those situations.  But you can also get a whole jar of pasta sauce for the same price...sooooo I tried making my own "shakshuka" (not really authentic at all; mostly thrown together out of convenience) a few times.

5) I made a shortcut version of Cynthia's gochujang eggs in purgatory with storebought marinara. She adds gochujang (Korean fermented spicy red pepper paste) for flavor, and it's absolutely delicious. Just be warned that if you use a storebought sauce with a lot of salt, it's going to be salty. The cook time was maybe ~25 minutes if you add in the chopping and the 5 minutes it takes to saute the aromatics. But the results? Remarkably similar.

6) What is the difference between eggs in purgatory and shakshuka? Origin. Which means the difference lies in the types of spices. Eggs in purgatory originates from Italy - so think emphasis on olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, maybe some rosemary or basil, and an homage to Catholicism (I'm kidding :P). I don't know who can claim shakshuka as their own, but it's eaten predominantly in Israel, the Middle East, and North Africa - which means a bunch more spices like turmeric, coriander, and cumin among others.

7) With the exception of the cilantro (can't really taste it anyway), every other spice used in this shakshuka leans Italian or Italian American. There's no turmeric or other warmer spices used in a more traditional shakshuka in the ingredients. Can you really call it shakshuka? You tell me.

7b) Did TJ's just use the cultural diversity card to sell a new product??? Because TJ's is maybe woke-leaning and should be culturally diverse cuz we live in 2019 and we are all supposed to be embracing each other's cultures - when in fact they neglected to use any of the actual spices used in traditional shakshuka???

8) But isn't it all just eggs poached in tomato sauce? Well, yes. But are kimbap and sushi the same? Uh noooooo. They are prepared and assembled in a very similar fashion but the flavorings and fillings are entirely different. In any event, the spices used in this "shakshuka" are very safe for the American palate - nothing too pungent or out there. All very familiar. Some of us can't jump right into the deep end and try new things but trying a new-sounding thing that isn't too far from your palate allows you to try new things without really having to leave your comfort zone. Fine, whatever.

8b) Not that we need to be overly sensitive about this. But c'mon man. If you're going to claim to be something you're not, at least be upfront about it.

9) But back to taste. It tastes fine. I might repurchase in the event of an emergency. Which is fine. But making it yourself, even with shortcuts, produces something remarkably similar especially if you're using an Italian pasta sauce. :P

TL;DR: Trader Joe's Shakshuka Starter. Shakshuka, eggs in purgatory, hold on what is it? Safely flavored. To-MAY-to, To-MAH-to. 7 out of 10. Mantou Joe repurchase? Maybe in an emergency. 

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