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    33 Things You Absolutely Need To Be Buying At Trader Joe’s (and 3 You Can Skip)

    Trader Joe's products in a grid of images.

    Trader Joe’s is one of the all-time great grocery fun-run stores!

    Sure, you can buy great produce, milk and yogurt, pantry essentials, and normal practical things at Trader Joe’s.

    But for this post I wanted to convince you to try some of these unique “fun run” items – the things that, if you’re making a special trip from out of town or stocking up on your quarterly trip, you should absolutely be buying here.

    I split this post into three sections:

    • 20 things you should absolutely be buying at Trader Joe’s
    • 13 things that our Instagram community recommended
    • 3 popular items that I think you can skip

    For a total of 33 items that deserve a spot on your shopping list!

    If you love something that I didn’t mention here, let me know in the comments! I’m always eager to try the things that you all love and recommend.


    1: Sodas – In Particular, Strawberry Or Watermelon Soda

    Sparkling strawberry juice in a package.

    Why I love it:

    • Made sweet with real fruit juice and no added sugar.
    • Taste is so nostalgic to me!
    • Perfect little skinny can size with just the right amount in each serving.

    2: Nuts – In Particular, Chili Lime Cashews

    Thai Lime and Chili Cashews in a bag.

    Why I love it:

    • Tons (I mean tons) of seasoning!
    • A little spicy.
    • Great in a Thai-ish chopped salad (see here, and here).

    3 – Unexpected Cheddar

    Unexpected cheddar cheese.

    Why I love it:

    • Tastes hard and salty and aged, like a Parm.
    • Eats really nicely with crackers.
    • A little slice melted over the air fryer chicken is *chef’s kiss* amazing.

    4 – Frozen Roasted Corn

    Roasted corn in a bag.

    Why I love it:

    • It’s hard to find frozen corn that is *roasted*!
    • Only need a little bit in each recipe so the bag lasts forever.
    • Perfect in the red chile chicken taco corn dip topping (which, conveniently, is also great for eating with chips).

    5 – Frozen Vegetable Fried Rice

    Vegetable fried rice in a bag.

    Why I love it:

    • Great basic meal starter that is, as advertised, ready in 5 minutes!
    • Plays really well with a shot of soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, some scrambled eggs or tofu, and a few more fresh veggies.
    • My kids love it!

    6 – Frozen Chicken Wontons

    Chicken cilantro mini wontons in a bag.

    Why I love them:

    • These ones are mini-size which I absolutely love.
    • They’re deliciously chewy / tender and the chicken isn’t weird.
    • They are a must for saucy wontons.

    7 – Frozen Brown Rice

    Microwaveable brown rice in a box.

    Several of you also recommended this and guess what? I LOVE IT. It’s a new staple for me – thanks for the recommendation! Why I love it:

    • It’s extremely convenient.
    • This is truly some of the only brown rice that I actually like – it is very soft and tender and eats more like a white rice!
    • Organic!

    8 – Sea Salt and Turbinado Sugar Dark Chocolate Almonds

    Sea salt turbinado dark chocolate almonds in a container.

    Why I love these (and have loved them for years):

    • THE TEXTURE ON THESE IS AMAZING.
    • I think they also recently may have increased the amount of chocolate around each almond? They are hefty and chunky.
    • They are a perfect grab-a-handful-for-a-hit-of-chocolate moment.

    9 – Sun Dried Tomato Focaccia

    Roasted tomato focaccia bread in a bag.

    Why I love this:

    • For this specific turkey sandwich.
    • It’s heavy and dense but also has a good amount of squish and bounciness to it? Is that possible?
    • The roasted tomato topping is elite.

    10 – Everything Crackers

    Everything but the bagel seasoned crackers in a box.

    Why I love them:

    • They go with everything (get it?)
    • Such great texture.
    • My favorite is loading these bad boys up with the olive tapenade. I buy them specifically for that purpose.

    11 – Multigrain Crackers

    Multigrain crackers in a box.

    Why I love them:

    • These are an actually delicious basic cracker.
    • They have sunflower, flax seeds, and other good stuff in them.
    • My girls love them and they make a perfect kid-friendly snack starter.

    12 – Trail Mix Crackers

    Trail mix crackers in a bag.

    Why I love them:

    • They’re just fun.
    • They’re loaded with seeds, nuts, and dried fruits and they eat almost more like a buttery cookie but still salty?
    • They don’t need any toppings whatsoever (although these with a slice of Unexpected Cheddar is a next-level combo).

    13 – Salt and Pepper Chips

    Salt and pepper ridge cut potato chips in a bag.

    Why I love them:

    • Salty, peppery, and max amount of textured ridges.
    • They make any sandwichy / grilled hot dog / burger meal feel just a little more special and fun.
    • Amazing with a creamy dip – like, dare I say, the bacon cheddar ranch dip!

    14 – Dill Pickle Chips

    Chips in a pickle dill pickled chips bag.

    Why I love them:

    • Best dill pickle chips of all time.
    • Extra seasoned – like, TONS of dill pickle flavored powder on each chip.
    • Very substantially cronchy.

    15 and 16 – Zhoug and Chimichurri

    Containers of zhoug and chimichurri sauce.

    Why I love them:

    • 99% of the time I don’t like pre-made herb sauces, but these are my two exceptions to the rule.
    • The chimichurri is more of a fresh and zingy herb sauce (yum)…
    • Whereas the zhoug has warmish spices and tends to be spicy (also yum).

    17 – Olive Tapenade

    Container of traditional olive tapenade.

    Why I love it:

    • This is hands-down the best olive tapenade I’ve ever bought.
    • It’s not cluttered with any raw onions or anything else we don’t want in there. Just lots of olives, herbs, olive oil and little flecks of pimento.
    • It is SO DELICIOUS loaded onto those Everything crackers.

    Serving size is 7, but it only takes me 2-3 passes at this to finish it all off myself. Woopsies.

    17 – Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

    Container of roasted tomatillo salsa verde.

    Why I love it:

    • Great as a salsa.
    • But also great as a semi-homemade sauce starter!
    • I like to whisk it with their mashed avocados to make an avocado-tomatillo sauce. Add a bit of extra salt, maybe some fresh garlic if you’re feeling sassy, and it’s an amazingly fast, actually good sauce shortcut.

    18 – High Protein Tofu

    Package of high protein organic super firm tofu.

    Why I love it:

    • It doesn’t require much pressing.
    • It’s super high protein.
    • It’s my go-to tofu for Air Fryer Tofu!

    19 – Non Alcoholic Beer

    Package of non-alcoholic beer.

    Why I love it:

    • It’s non-alcoholic!
    • It’s mild-tasting, wheaty and golden, and just really good.
    • Perfect end-of-night bev when you want to chill out without the alcohol.

    And The Most Loved Products By Our Community On Instagram:

    Bag of brookie caramel candy clusters.

    This is a list of a few products that didn’t make my best of list (and/or things I haven’t tried) but these were recommended over and over again by our community on Instagram!

    • Brookie clusters
    • Cinnamon Roll JoJos
    • Everything seasoning
    • Buffalo chicken dip
    • Elote chips
    • Frozen veggie birds nests
    • Dark chocolate peanut butter cups
    • Pizza crust
    • Kimbap / Gimbap
    • Scallion pancakes
    • Snacky clusters
    • Chili onion crisp
    • Cannoli dip

    Orange Chicken

    Why I DON’T love it:

    • The orange sauce is underwhelming. Too sweet, not enough contrast.
    • The fried chicken has dark meat. Not a fan.
    • The house always gets a weird smell when I make it.

    Bambas

    Bag of bamba hazelnut snacks.

    Why I DON’T love them:

    • Flavor is meh.
    • Texture is meh – very dissolve-y on impact.
    • Leaves a weird film in my mouth.

    Cauliflower Gnocchi

    Package of Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi.

    Why I DON’T love it:

    • I used to love it… so, the potential is there, but maybe I overdid it and now I’ve ruined it for myself. (Also it’s easy enough to make my own!)
    • Smells and tastes a bit too watery and/or cauliflowery.
    • Never really something I look forward to eating.

    Got anything to add? Give me all your best Trader Joe’s intel and I will note it for my next trip!

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