We all know that Trader Joe’s products are fleeting—they’re there one day and gone without a trace the next. I’ve been burned too many times before (RIP vegan chickenless seasoning and the vegan meatless meat lover’s pizza), but that still hasn’t stopped me from running to the New Item shelf whenever I visit, or bringing home new products I can already tell are going to become my new personality.
My most recent obsession? Trader Joe’s frozen Kimbap. If you’re unfamiliar, kimbap (sometimes known as gimbap) is a Korean dish in which a sheet of seaweed (“gim”) is rolled around cooked rice (“bap”) and various fillings, then sliced into rounds. If you’re imagining sushi, you’re on the right track, but there are a few distinct differences: For one, the rice is seasoned with sesame oil, rather than vinegar, and kimbap is usually served hot or warm. While the temperature might be the most notable difference between the two, the most fun distinction is the fillings. Where sushi usually focuses on just one or two ingredients, kimbap goes wild.
Trader Joe’s only has one flavor (for now—nudge nudge, TJ’s), but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a ton of other options. Once my eyes opened to the world of vegan kimbap, I found different flavors all over the place, from bulgogi to tuna mayo. I HAD to try them.
I found three brands across the various stores I went to, with three or four flavors of each. I added in the TJ’s one as a sort of control flavor, and ended up with 12 options. I’ve only ever microwaved the Trader Joe’s version, so I stuck to that preparation method, though I have seen people pan-fry (sometimes egg wash and then pan-fry!) or air fry, so feel free to give that a try if you prefer. Of those, these were the best in each category:
The Best “Seafood” Kimbap
We tried three seafood kimbaps—Sunlit’s Shredded “Squid” and “Tuna” Mayo varieties, and Imone Orange House’s “Tuna” & Kimchi. The latter was praised for “really tast[ing] like tuna!” and it could win the day for that…except that there is real fish sauce in the ingredients. I’m all for people eating whatever they want, but including that and calling this plant-based feels misleading. Besides, there was something about the shredded squid (no fish sauce!) that was extra tasty. People weren’t really getting squid from the flavor, but were into the gochujang spiciness and the shredded texture, which makes the Sunlit Shredded Squid our official winner.
As for the Tuna Mayo, see below for our review in a category we added just for this flavor.
The Best Vegetable Kimbap
We tried three vegetable varieties, one made by Sunlit and two by Baba. Unfortunately, the Sunlit one was judged negatively for its “too sweet” radish pickles, and for including squeaky green beans as one of the vegetables. The vegetable flavor from Baba was also critiqued for its sweetness, though people enjoyed it nonetheless. The winner in this category was the Baba Mushroom & Japchae flavor. It had a “great texture,” and the warm mushrooms paired well with the other vegetables, rather than standing out.
The Best Tofu Kimbap
Apologies to the other brands whose tofu varieties we tried (both Baba and Imone Orange House had one), but Trader Joe’s reigns supreme. People praised it for being something they could eat over and over again (relatable!) because of its solid, straightforward tofu flavor.
The Best “Meat” Kimbap
We tried three “meaty” varieties of kimbap—Imone Orange House’s “Sausage” and “Bulgogi,” and Sunlit’s Spicy “Bulgogi.” Imone Orange House’s “Sausage” was an outlier of the bunch, and had people remarking that its extreme sausage flavor “felt wrong,” but then grew on them. The sausage itself was in one, for lack of a better word, chunk in each roll, which also made it harder to eat. Sunlit’s Spicy Bulgogi was criticized for being more sweet than spicy, but one taster did enjoy that the bulgogi was shredded (she was perhaps still reeling from the big piece of sausage from before). That all said, the winner in this category was Imone Orange House’s Bulgogi, simply because it was so “simple, but [with] good flavor.” It’s definitely one I’ll seek out again.
The Most Surprising Kimbap
I added this category just because of how wild this one seemed to me. I thought I knew what kimbap was, but Sunlit’s Tuna Mayo rocked my world as to what I could find inside. Other testers loved it because of the mayo, not only because it’s extra delicious, but because, unlike the other brands and flavors, it helped hold this roll together, making it a more cohesive bite. I know Sunlit isn’t the only brand out there making a tuna mayo version, so while it certainly stands out among other options, it’s definitely worth trying.
Have you ever tried any of these kimbaps? What’s your favorite flavor or brand? Let us know in the comments below.
Expertise: Vegan cooking and baking, holiday party foods, and grammar.
Education: Boston University College Of Communication / Natural Gourmet Institute
About Me: As the Digital Food Producer/Editor at Delish, Camille provides myriad insights into our new and existing content, juggles our newsletter offerings, and coordinates between teams to guarantee our recipes and recipe round-ups are the best they can be. Camille worked at/managed several New York restaurants and cafes, focusing on fostering good relationships between the front and BOH (IYKYK). She loves anything vegan, foods masquerading as other foods (hello, cauliflower), and a well-used Oxford comma. When she’s not writing, editing, or debating the appropriate ingredients in everything from beer cheese to Sichuan chicken, she reads any fantasy or sci-fi she can get her hands on, goes thrifting, and spends time with her wife and their dog, Bacon.
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