Trader Joe's Garlic Potatoes With Parmesan Sauce

It's hard to beat the humble potato when it comes to side dish versatility. Whether cut into strips and fried to crispy perfection or boiled, sliced and sauced, the potato serves as the main ingredient for numerous tasty — and filling — entrée accompaniments.

Recognizing that today’s potato-loving, flavor-craving consumers also appreciate convenience, we asked our Test Drive panelists to sample the new Trader Joe's Garlic Potatoes with Parmesan Sauce offering. The product is microwavable (but also may be prepared in a skillet or a conventional oven). It already includes the cheese and garlicbased sauce and goes from freezer to table in mere minutes.

Monrovia, Calif.-based Trader Joe's packages the potatoes in a 16-oz. bag. We purchased three bags at a Chicago-area Trader Joe's store for $2.99 each.

Note: Test Drive delivers honest, yet totally unscientific feedback on a new store brand product and its packaging each month. Our panelists give a green light to items/packaging they like a great deal; a yellow light to items/packaging they deem "acceptable;" and a red light to items/packaging not meeting their expectations.