Trader Joe’s spices up life with vegan, gluten-free Soy Chorizo

Product: Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo – $3.99+

Vegetarian/vegan meat-replacement products that are additionally gluten-free are not easy to find. In fact, it’s nigh on impossible at times to find one. Most contain gluten as companies claim it gives the right texture to their products. Of the varieties I have been able to find, I say that these companies need to rethink this as those that I’ve tried that are gluten-free are amazing.

To add to my slowly growing list of vegetarian/vegan, gluten-free faux meat…Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo.

First of all, my area finally got a Trader Joe’s. I had been wishing and hoping and praying for years now that we would get one. The supermarket gods finally smiled upon me and one opened at the end of October in Louisville, Kentucky. So, a short drive into Kentucky and I’m a happy grocery shopper. On my first trip there, I spotted the Soy Chorizo immediately. The first thing I noticed was the symbols showed it to be not only vegan…but also gluten-free.

It was like it was made for me.

I had some Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Pizza Crust mix sitting in my pantry, so it was time for pizza night. With that in mind, I made sure I picked up some of Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo for my toppings.

Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo crumbled onto pizza

Here’s the interesting part of this product. It is in a casing. Yep…just like real sausage meat. So, I sliced off what I was going to use of the Soy Chorizo and did as instructed by the package…removed it from the casing. I had every expectation that I would be slicing this up to put on the pizza, but it crumbled instead. No problem…I just gave it a scattering over my crust, topped it with my vegan cheese, and boshed it in the oven for 20 minutes to allow it to bake up to perfection.

I was so excited about this product and my expectations were not let down. Trader Joe’s offers a fantastic product here. The Soy Chorizo is fantastic in texture and taste. In fact, the hit of spice is not overwhelming at all. In fact, it’s provided a pleasant kick that other faux meat products haven’t offered. Take that all you glutinous vegetarian products!

Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo is a hit in my books. No strange aftertastes, not too hot, and the perfect filler for any taco, burrito, or topping for a pizza. Honestly. The heat element was at the right level. The way it blended with the other toppings on my pizza (in this case, mushrooms and Daiya vegan cheese) meant that it didn’t steal the show from either the crust or what it was paired with. It was a nice hit of spicy deliciousness for my first attempt at homemade, gluten-free pizza (done vegetarian style!).

I can’t wait to try the Soy Chorizo in other dishes now. I have a feeling a taco night is in the future and I will definitely brown some of this up to include as a filling for mine. Absolute spicy goodness! Thank you Trader Joe’s…for catering to the gluten-free vegetarian with this amazing product. Proof once again that gluten-free is delicious and that vegetarian/vegan options are not at all hindered by being gluten-free. To me…this is a vast improvement over other options I’ve seen on the market.

You won my heart, Trader Joe’s.