Trader Joe's $16.99 Turkey & Stuffing En Croute is back — 297 upvotes and a 24-hour wait
Trader Joe's $16.99 Turkey & Stuffing En Croute is back after disappearing in 2021 or 2022, feeding eight for about $2.12 a serving once you give it a 24-hour thaw; here is what is in the box, what 297 Reddit upvotes rest on, and where it has reached shelves.
The pick
Trader Joe's has a brown box back in its freezer case after a few years away. Turkey & Stuffing En Croute costs $16.99 for 40 ounces. 1
The shopper who posted it to r/traderjoes on October 27, 2026 says the item was discontinued in 2021 or 2022. She had looked for it every Thanksgiving since. 2
By the next morning that thread held 297 upvotes, a 97.1% positive rate and 43 comments. 2
Trader Joe's lists the item under What's New at $16.99 for 40 ounces, and its product page carries a Limited Time badge. 13
The week's biggest Trader Joe's post belonged to a different box. Morning Buns drew 1,007 upvotes and 108 comments on October 24, roughly nine months after the chain launched them in January. 45
What is in the box
A boneless seasoned turkey breast, wrapped in cornbread stuffing, wrapped again in all-butter puff pastry. 1
The ingredients read like a Thanksgiving shopping list. The turkey is seasoned with rosemary, oregano, sage, ginger, marjoram, thyme and black pepper. The stuffing is built on cornbread croutons with carrot, celery and onion. 1
The pastry is flour, butter, water, salt and a splash of vinegar. Egg goes into the coating, and an herb oil of olive oil, garlic powder, rosemary, black pepper, oregano and thyme finishes it. 1
One line on the label matters before the box goes in the cart: contains milk, egg and wheat. 1
The wait is the tricky part
Trader Joe's instructions run to two steps and a day of waiting. Thaw the whole thing in the fridge for 24 hours, then bake it on a baking sheet for about an hour, until the pastry turns golden brown. 1
The package repeats the same warning in its own print: keep frozen, cook thoroughly. 2
A box bought on the way home from work is a dinner for the following night. Give it a day of lead time, and clear fridge space for a two-and-a-half-pound brick.
The numbers
Trader Joe's prints eight servings on the label, at one-eighth of the package, or 142 grams a portion. That works out to $2.12 a serving. 1
Each serving carries 330 calories, 15 grams of fat, 440 milligrams of sodium and 18 grams of protein. Total sugars stay under a gram. 1
Eight servings at 18 grams comes to about 144 grams of protein across the whole box. Pastry and stuffing account for a good share of the 40 ounces, so a table where turkey is the main event should plan around that.
The price moved by about a dollar. The poster notes that the 2021 version was $15.99, and one reply called a $1 increase "pretty incredible for something in this price range." 2
What shoppers are saying
Most of the thread is people who already know this box. "I have looked for this every thanksgiving for the last few years. It smells so good when it's baking. I hope the taste is the same," one shopper wrote. 2
A reply agreed: "I have looked for it every year, too! Always got a couple to cook throughout the winter." 2
Two shoppers priced their own Thanksgivings in the replies. One college student called it "the perfect budget Thanksgiving meal." Another, spending the holiday alone, said they might pick one up. 2
One shopper remembers the old version without affection. "I love the idea of this but I remember I didn't care for how it was seasoned when I tried it in the past. It's been long enough though that I'm willing to try it again!" 2
The poster asked whether the 2026 box comes from a new supplier. The question stayed open, and a reply pointed at what a supplier change would mean: "the spices might be different this time too." 2
Another shopper hoped the item had survived the two years away unchanged. 2
What the thread still lacked as of October 28 was a first-hand taste report of the new version. The excitement in it runs on memory.
Where it turned up has been patchy. A shopper in Westchester County, New York saw it on the shelf and passed, because "it's chock full of gluten." Another said a celiac partner ruled it out for their house. 2
In Santa Rosa, California, someone looked and found nothing yet. Another shopper reported the box landing on the overnight truck at their store, along with two other new items. 2
Buy it or skip it
Buy one if you want a Thanksgiving centerpiece that needs a fridge, a baking sheet and an hour. It suits a table of two to four that wants the holiday flavors without a 15-pound bird.
Buy two if eight people are eating and turkey is the main event. Eight 142-gram portions is a modest first helping.
Skip it if anyone at the table avoids gluten or dairy, since the pastry carries wheat, milk and egg into every slice. Skip it if you need dinner tonight, or if you want a lot of meat for the money.
Find it in the freezer case under product code 085033 or on the Trader Joe's product page. Trader Joe's says it stays in freezers through the holiday season, October through December.
What else came off the same truck
Several other new Trader Joe's items landed this week, all listed under What's New: 3
- Sweet Corn Ravioli, $4.49 for 16 ounces, frozen, with a creamy corn sauce in the bag. 36
- Spicy Pork Kimbap, $4.99 for 8 ounces, a rice roll with gochujang pork that goes crisp in a pan. 36
- Three Cheese Mini Pide, $3.99 for 8.45 ounces, a small Turkish-style flatbread. 3
- Chicken & Chickpea Tikka Burrito, $4.99 for 9.5 ounces, a chicken and chickpea wrap. 3
None of the four had drawn enough comment yet to call a community favorite. The ravioli and the kimbap are the two the en croute thread named as arriving alongside it. 2
Foodie's roundup of October's new Trader Joe's items picked up the en croute at $16.99 and suggested a jar of gravy poured over the top. 6
References
- 1Trader Joe's: Turkey & Stuffing En Croute
traderjoes.com
- 2
- 3Trader Joe's: What's New
traderjoes.com
- 4
- 5Allrecipes: Trader Joe's Just Released a New Treat
allrecipes.com
- 6
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