06-08-2025
This Crunchy, Tangy and Spicy $5 Trader Joe's Find is My New Lunchtime Obsession
This Crunchy, Tangy and Spicy $5 Trader Joe's Find is My New Lunchtime Obsession originally appeared on Parade.
As someone who works from home and tries his best not to eat out too often, living in New York City doesn't exactly help. With worldly cuisine on every corner and the familiar comforts of franchised chains always within reach, it's hard to settle for your modest grocery haul back home.
That said, Trader Joe's always manages to come up with a few intriguing ready-made options that tend to end up in my cart. Because as much as I love cooking from scratch at home, the reality is that some workdays only allow time for something quick and week, after being won over by its growing popularity online, I made it a point to get my hands on Trader Joe's Korean Style Bibim-Guksu. It's a light and refreshing cold noodle salad inspired by the treasured staple of Korean cuisine. It's sold in a decently sized 9.81-ounce clear container and is packed with fresh ingredients for a cool $4.99.
As a newcomer to this Trader Joe's find, I was instantly impressed by how well it held up in the fridge days after purchase. I didn't get around to opening the container until the day of the suggested 'Use By' date, and I was shocked by how fresh, green and inviting everything still looked inside.
Like much of Asian cuisine, the packaging is impressively efficient—no space wasted, with every inch of the compact container put to good use. Inside, a variety of textures and bold flavors await, including a hearty mix of spicy somen noodles, napa cabbage, carrots, cucumber, scallions, kimchi and two (yes, two!) packets of gochujang dressing.
After emptying one gochujang dressing packet and giving the vegetable and noodle medley a good mix, I quickly realized I had a new lunch option to add to my rotation. Even four days after purchase, each bite was still fresh, crispy and crunchy. The noodles were soft and plentiful, while the sauce itself was tangy and delicious, with a gentle heat that lingered as a background kick rather than hitting you head a review shared online by @traderjoeslist, one fan suggested adding TJ's pineapple teriyaki chicken meatballs as the protein, saying, 'It's sooo bomb together.' Another chimed in with a tip to add sesame oil and sesame seeds, claiming, 'It will brighten the flavor,' while a third recommended the classic addition of a boiled egg for protein.
Whichever approach you take, you'll be impressed by the excellent mix of healthy ingredients, firm and juicy cucumber chunks, plenty of tangy gochujang dressing and the fact that you only spent $5 on lunch. Stock your fridge for a few days and enjoy a fresh alternative to the all-too usual delivery app Crunchy, Tangy and Spicy $5 Trader Joe's Find is My New Lunchtime Obsession first appeared on Parade on Jul 30, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 30, 2025, where it first appeared.
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