The Problem Some Trader Joe's Shoppers Have With These Steak & Stout Pies

Some of the most popular items at Trader Joe's can be found in the frozen food section. The quirky national grocer is famous for its unique frozen items, boasting such gems as the crowd-favorite cauliflower gnocchi (a healthier alternative to pasta), the crispy mac and cheese bites, and the orange chicken that rivals your favorite Chinese takeout option. There's even a bunch of frozen desserts just begging to be added to your cart (looking at you, Gone Bananas chocolate-covered banana slices!).

However, for as good as most of Trader Joe's frozen food selections are, not all of them are big hits with customers. A number of commenters in a recent Reddit thread consider the grocery store's frozen Steak & Stout Pies a real letdown. While Eat This, Not That has dubbed the product one of the least nutritious foods to buy at Trader Joe's — thanks to its high calories, fat content, and sodium — it's actually not the nutritional value that is upsetting people. Here's the real reason some shoppers are complaining about the pre-made savory pastries.

The Trader Joe's Steak and Stout Pies come fully cooked, so all you have to do is pop them in the oven when you're ready for dinner. The package shows a flaky pastry shell that gives way to a hearty beef filling in a stout-flavored sauce. As shown on the back of the box (via Reddit), the pies come complete with carrots, onion, and celery. However, Redditors say that the picture is misleading. "The one I had last night was about 60% crust with barely any meat," the original poster wrote — and many others agreed. Some say that the crust-to-filling ratio has worsened in recent years and that they would no longer buy the product again. 

They aren't the only ones who've been disappointed in Trader Joe's steak-filled pies, which have also been sold as Steak & Stout Pies. "We purchased 4 of them and there was no meat in 3 of them and the 4th one had 2 small very rubbery pieces of some kind of meat," one displeased customer on Trader Joe's Reviews wrote, while another agreed, "Extremely disappointed. There is no meat at all in these pies. If there is, it's unrecognizable. I found one 1/4-inch cube piece of unknown material. Maybe a potato? Such a waste of time and money." But it probably goes without saying that taste is subjective. Some Redditors are fans of the product, and one suggested that this particular box was an outlier.