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Trader Joe's Lentil-Bruschetta One-Minute Salad |  |
Reviews & a Recipe for Trader Joe's Canned Lentils & Bruschetta Sauce.
Salad kits are quick and convenient and often very good. This lentil salad? It's even quicker, even more convenient and wow, tastes great. It uses two Trader Joe's products, a shelf-stable can of lentils (I know, I know, but trust me on this, okay?) and a refrigerated container of a tomato-basil-garlic mixture called Bruschetta Sauce. Just stir them together (yeah, that's almost the whole "recipe") and gobble up as a quick pulse salad, a base for fish or eggs, a healthy lunch.
Ridiculously Easy Homestyle Whole Food, No Measuring, No Chopping. Little Effort, Big Reward. Mere Minutes to the Table. An Easy, Healthy Side Dish. Not just easy, Summer Easy. Budget Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free. What're you waiting for?! So Good!!
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Here You Go: Instant Salad
Instant coffee. Instant oatmeal. Instant yeast. Instant milk. Instant rice. Instant potatoes. Instant gravy. Instant pudding.
And now? Instant salad!
Knock me over, how good canned lentils can be. Knock me over, how the combination of canned lentils and a spiced tomato mixture can be.
And in five freaking minutes.
But first, let's take a look at the two Trader Joe's products used in this easy, easy salad. You know, the instant one.
Product Review: Trader Joe's Canned Lentils
This Is NOT a Sponsored Review, it's just me, Alanna sharing my thoughts on a favorite Trader Joe's ingredient that I think my fellow cooks might also find useful!
DO I RECOMMEND the CANNED LENTILS? Yes!
But Trader Joe's actually has two lentil products. I've tried both.
TJ STEAMED LENTILS
- Recommended: Yes but with reservations.
- Packaging: Vacuum-packed in 17.6-ounce (500g) pouches inside a printed cardboard wrap.
- In-Store Location: In the refrigerator section near the hummus.
- Price: $3.29 per pouch.
- Cost per Ounce: About $.19 per ounce, $.187 to be exact.
- Shelf Life: Oops, sorry, forgot to check this. But these will be more perishable than the canned lentils.
- Simple Ingredient List: Just lentils, salt and essential oils (cloves, laurel, thyme, pepper and garlic).
- Sodium Content. The sodium content is 14g per ounce.
MY THOUGHTS Taste-wise, I cavalierly assumed the steamed lentils would be notably better than the canned beans. Right? Wrong! The steamed lentils taste good and have good texture. But they're also a little dense and dry, thanks to the vacuum pack, you kinda have to pry them apart. Plus, the grayish color is a little off-putting. I'm not sure I would buy these, not when it's so easy to cook lentils.
Or because the canned ones are so good!
TJ CANNED LENTILS
- Recommended: Absolutely.
- Packaging: Packed in 15-ounce (425g) cans.
- In-Store Location: Near the canned beans.
- Price: $.99 per can.
- Cost per Ounce: About $.11 per ounce of drained lentils, that's about 75% less than the steamed lentils. ($.107 to be exact)
- Shelf Life: Keeps in pantry for about 18 months (based on Best By dates on my own purchases). After opening, should be stored in a different container, refrigerated and consumed with three or four days.
- Contains: 9.2 ounces / 261g / 1.5 cups of edible lentils plus a generous 1/2 cup of liquid (liquid is drained off for the salad below but may not be for other recipes)
- Simple Ingredient List: Just lentils, water and sea salt.
- Sodium Content: ??? per ounce. I tried to finagle a calculation but just had no confidence in the label information. Read on ...
Label Issues: As an aside, for the record, the sodium content issue is because Trader Joe's nutrition label is misleading at best, wrong at worst. The can's label states that a serving is 2/3 cup (130g) with 3.5 servings in each can. Really? Not by my math. First, that maths out to 455g per can when the can only holds 425g. Second, that maths out to 2.3 cups in each can when by my measurement, a can only holds a total of 2 cups, 1.5 cups of lentils and 1/2 cup liquid. Together the two calculations reveal the possibility that either the label is wrong or the contents are misrepresented.
STILL, MY THOUGHTS Label issues aside, taste-wise and texture-wise, the canned lentils are tender and plump, more "obviously" lentils and a pretty brown color. Lentils may be quite quick to cook but really, these lentils taste good and aren't the least bit mushy, instead are really pretty perfectly cooked. I intend to "stock" these in the pantry, just as I stock canned beans.
Recipe Ideas for Canned Lentils
Ready to give canned lentils a shot? Here are a few recipes that I think would work great with canned lentils.
Product Review: Trader Joe's Bruschetta Sauce
This Is NOT a Sponsored Review, it's just me, Alanna sharing my thoughts on a favorite Trader Joe's ingredient that I think my fellow cooks might also find useful!
First, what is bruschetta, exactly>
Bruschetta [pronounced broo-SKEH-tuh though in some places it's pronounced more phonetically, [broo-SHEH-tuh]. Anyway. It's an Italian mixture of finely chopped juicy tomato (and often garlic and onion) spread across thick slices of rustic bread, grilled then rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil.
Fun Fact: The word bruschetta is for the bread, not the tomato topping. Really? Really! That said, I think that for many of us, when we hear bruschetta, we think of the tomato mixture.
Done right, bruschetta is one of the best simple food on planet earth. (Why stop there? Let's just say in the entire universe.) It's been decades and yet I still remember my introduction to bruschetta, not in a cozy Italian taverna but at my dear friend's table in Toronto. Her husband was the "chef" and dang, he was a master at bruschetta.
Anyway.
TJ BRUSCHETTA SAUCE
- Recommended: Absolutely.
- Packaging: Packed in 14.5-ounce (411g) plastic tubs similar to plastic containers used for ricotta or sour cream.
- In-Store Location: Refrigerator section with the cured meats.
- Price: $3.99.
- Shelf-Life: Very perishable, must be refrigerated and (based on expiration dates on my own purchases) used within a week.
- Ingredient List: Tomatoes, EVOO, white balsamic vinegar, basil, canola oil, sea salt, garlic, sugar, black pepper. (Apparently ingredients do vary, according to the Trader Joe's website.)
- Nutrition Info (2 tablespoons): 50 Calories; 5g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 180mg Sodium; 2g Carb; 0g Fiber; 2g Sugar; 0g Protein.
MY THOUGHTS I like it! It seems like a really versatile convenience product. So far, I've only used it for the One-Minute Salad and for slow-roasting salmon but can also imagine putting it to work for tossing with pasta, for poaching eggs, for stirring into sautéed greens and absolutely, surprise, for making, um, bruschetta.
Why I Love This Recipe & You Might Too
- TWO SIMPLE INGREDIENTS Just two containers from Trade Joe's, one shelf-stable for the pantry, the other for picking up on the fly.
- EVERYDAY INGREDIENTS Both products are among my favorites for "whole food" at Trader Joe's.
- CONVENIENT It's great to have a quick, wholesome salad just a minute from the table.
- USEFUL The salad is flexible as a side salad; as a base for a protein; as a quick lunch; as an ingredient in other dishes.
- Ready to get started? Here's your recipe!
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TRADE JOE'S LENTIL-BRUSCHETTA ONE-MINUTE SALAD
Time-to-table: 1 minute
Makes about 3 cups salad
- 1 15-ounce can Trader Joe's Lentils, drained well
- 1 14.5-ounce container Trader Joe's Bruschetta Sauce, drained a bit
- Feta crumbles, to taste, very optional, omit for vegan
Drain the Lentils in a colander, transfer to a serving bowl.
Drain the Bruschetta Sauce, transfer to the serving bowl.
Stir well and refrigerate if made ahead.
Just before serving, stir in the feta, if using.
TIMING TIP The salad looks the prettiest and tastes the freshest if stirred just before serving. That said, I'm very happy to nibble on leftovers over the course of a few days.
I prefer draining the Bruschetta Sauce as well but gauge for yourself, what will work for your own taste. On occasion, I think about amending the salad with more fresh basil, more just-chopped mini tomatoes. But all the "extra" effort kinda defeats the whole idea of a one-minute salad, right? You do you, of course.
FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more.
Confused about salt, these days? No wonder, it is confusing. Check my FAQs for an explanation. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2025/05/trader-joes-lentil-bruschetta-one-minute-salad.html .
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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna