Plant-based eaters are huge fans of Trader Joe's because the grocery store chain offering tons of must-eat vegan products [1] like High-Protein Organic Super Firm Tofu [2] and High-Protein Veggie Burgers [3]. For your smoothie needs, they also have Organic Pea Protein Powder. We obviously want to know its nutritional info, but the main think we want to know is if it tastes good. I bought a tub to test it out — keep reading for my takeaway.
Trader Joe's Pea Protein Powder
Trader Joe's offers two varieties of its Organic Pea Protein Powder: Unsweetened and Vanilla. I bought the unsweetened version because I'm trying to avoid sugar. It costs $12 for the tub, which contains 15 servings — totally reasonable!
This protein powder is certified organic, vegan, and gluten-free.
Trader Joe's Pea Protein Powder Ingredients
As you can see, there's just one ingredient in this protein powder: organic pea protein isolate. No sugar, no preservatives — nothing but pea protein. On the Trader Joe's website [4], I found out that it's made with organic North American yellow peas and a purified water extraction process is used to concentrate the peas' protein. It's then pasteurized, and the starches and fats are separated from the protein. The protein is concentrated one more time, and the concentrated protein is dried into a smooth powder.
If you're like me, who's trying to eat a diet that's mostly whole foods, this is a great option compared to other protein powders that have 10 or more ingredients.
Trader Joe's Pea Protein Powder Nutritional Info
A two-scoop serving is 100 calories and offers 20 grams of plant-based protein. It's low in carbs with just one gram, and is also low in fat with just two grams. It contains zero grams of sugar. For comparison, the vanilla is 130 calories, has the same amount of protein and fat, but contains eight grams of carbs and five grams of sugar.
How Does Trader Joe's Pea Protein Powder Taste?
Trader Joe's Unsweetened Pea Protein Powder is simple, low in calories, low in carbs, and offers a powerful protein punch, but that doesn't mean a thing if you can't drink it! You'll be happy to know that Trader Joe's Unsweetened Pea Protein Powder tastes good! I even mixed two scoops with just plain water, and although it wasn't as delicious as making a fruit smoothie, it was smooth, bland-tasting, and drinkable.
Since this protein powder has virtually no flavour, once you mix it in a blender with frozen banana and blueberries, the sweetness of the fruit is what you'll taste. A smoothie made with Trader Joe's Unsweetened Pea Protein Powder isn't as sweet and dessert-tasting compared to using other popular vanilla-flavoured vegan protein powders [5], like Vega Sport or Orgain, but if you're not into supersweet smoothies, you'll love this protein powder.
Use Protein Powder in Other Recipes
Smoothies are probably the most common way to use protein powder. And just as I was pleased with those drinkable recipes, I also loved the results I had when using Trader Joe's Unsweetened Pea Protein Powder for baked goods like this sweet potato banana protein bread [6]. It tasted amazing in protein pancakes [7], I loved it in creamy and satisfying protein-packed overnight oats [8], and I also made some pretty tasty vegan protein balls [9]. For $12, it's totally worth it!