I Tried The Plant-Based Scrambled Eggs You've Probably Seen At Trader Joe's, And We Need To Have A Conversation About These
As a very loyal Trader Joe's shopper and as someone who really enjoys trying new foods — including vegan ones — I was very excited when I spotted Simply Eggless plant-based eggs at my local TJ's.
To give you a little context, I'm not vegan, but I am always fascinated by new plant-based products, and I try them often. In fact, I've found some of my favorites at Trader Joe's. For example, I love Trader Joe's vegan feta cheese alternative, and I pretty much use it in place of real feta all the time in salads and more.
A while back, I reviewed Just Eggs plant-based scramble, and they sort of blew my mind. The way that they both looked and tasted like real eggs was really startling.
So when I spotted a new vegan egg alternative at Trader Joe's, I was excited to give them a try. These plant-based eggs aren't made by Trader Joe's, (the brand is Simply Eggless) but the fact that they're sold by TJ's made me think they must be worth a shot, as the store rarely lets me down.
I decided to compare the Simply Eggless "eggs" to the gold standard of vegan eggs — Just Eggs — and also to regular scrambled eggs to see how they really stack up.
According to the packaging, three tablespoons of the Simply Eggless mixture is the equivalent of one real egg. In addition to being egg-free, they're also entirely vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and free of cholesterol as well. Here's a closer look at the ingredients:
As for the Just eggs ($3.99 at Target), the biggest difference I noticed is that the main ingredients are mung bean protein (which is also one of the main ingredients in Beyond Meat products) and expeller pressed canola oil.
With that housekeeping aside, it was time to try the Simply Eggless "eggs." I melted some Trader Joe's vegan butter in a skillet and added the plant-based eggs.
The Simply Eggless eggs appeared to be pretty thick and viscous, as if you were to scramble only egg yolks. They solidified and turned into scrambled egg consistency very quickly, in less than 30 seconds.
Hannah Lowentheil
As far as the end product? Let's start with the one good thing: The color itself is similar to that of scrambled eggs.
But as for the taste....sheeeesh. These were, unfortunately, nasty. There's no way to beat around the bush here. I actually spit them out. Honestly, the flavor was almost nonexistent and the texture was worse. It felt like grainy and dense mashed potatoes in my mouth. Super off-putting, and the whole bite was just a terrible experience.
With that behind me, I decided to go back and retry Just Eggs.
Thicker than normal eggs but more watery than the Simply Eggless version, the Just Eggs also scrambled quite quickly (in under one minute).
Hannah Loewentheil