![](\"https:\/\/www.simplyrecipes.com\/thmb\/TXQlwAPqmXzrmxzvdXeeXQNrvIM=\/4032x3024\/IMG-9833-bd6dd50aebf244e2a80a877cd59cb701.jpg\")
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I\u2019m a frequent Trader Joe\u2019s shopper, regularly visiting my local store to pick up snacks, flowers, cards, cheese, and wine\u2014just about everything. And while there are a plethora of ready-made meals available in the cool case and freezer section that end up in my cart from time to time, I\u2019ve found the key to creating a memorable meal from Trader Joe\u2019s is to create your own.\n<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve started making my own shortcut dinners using a handful of TJ\u2019s ingredients. They feel fresher and more special than a frozen meal, but they\u2019re just as easy and cost-effective.\n<\/p>\n
One dinner I keep coming back to is Meatball and Tortellini Pesto Soup<\/strong>. It combines a few ready-made ingredients with fresh veg for a one-dish meal that couldn\u2019t be easier. It\u2019s also packed with flavor coming directly from the ingredients themselves. My husband goes ga-ga for this soup and it feels fancy enough that I wouldn\u2019t hesitate to serve it to guests.\n<\/p>\n Simply Recipes \/ Laurel Randolph<\/p>\n <\/span> <\/p>\n To make this soup, you\u2019ll need to make a quick trip to the frozen section, grab a couple of things from the pantry aisle, and snag the pasta and spinach from the cold case. It\u2019s also easy (and even cheaper!) to make vegetarian. This hearty, one-dish dinner will cost you less than $4 per serving and takes just 15 minutes to throw together. <\/strong>Serves 4 as a main.\n<\/p>\n Add the broth to a 2.5-quart or larger saucepan along with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Add the meatballs (no need to defrost), bring to a simmer, and cook until warmed through, about 10 minutes. If desired, skim off any scum from the top.\n<\/p>\n Add the tortellini and simmer until they are all floating and puffed up, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add half of the jar of pesto and half of the baby spinach. Stir to combine and wilt the spinach. Taste, adding more pesto as needed (I usually add about 3\/4 of the bottle). If desired, add more spinach and stir to wilt.\n<\/p>\n Serve hot. If you want bonus points, grate the top with Parmesan cheese or sprinkle with fresh parsley, although it\u2019s not necessary.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n For a vegetarian version<\/strong>, use vegetable broth, skip the meatballs, and simply cook the pasta. Add all of the pesto and spinach and salt to taste. <\/strong>A drained can of white beans is a nice addition and makes it heartier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #5Ingredient #Dinner #Husband #GaGa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Key Takeaways Make this soup with just chicken broth, frozen meatballs, tortellini, jarred pesto, and baby spinach. We love the ingredients from Trader Joe’s but you can find similar products at any grocery store. For a vegetarian version, swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth and skip the meatballs. I\u2019m a frequent Trader Joe\u2019s shopper, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[130,319,825,824],"class_list":["post-1027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dinner","tag-5ingredient","tag-dinner","tag-gaga","tag-husband"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Trader Joe\u2019s Meatball and Tortellini Pesto Soup Recipe <\/span> <\/h2>\n
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