It’s no secret that I love Trader Joe’s. I have been shopping there for years so I definitely have my all time favorite items. My friend, Ashley, has been asking me to do a list of what I would recommend to buy from TJ’s. So here is my attempt to keep this a somewhat concise but handy list of products that I stock up on. Remember, that they are always adding new goods as well. If you are new to Trader Joe’s, I hope this helps get you started in the right direction. They also have a guarantee that if you don’t like the food item then you can return it. Here it goes…….
Breads- love the ciabatta.
Chicken sausages
All beef/no nitrate hotdogs
Santa Maria tri tip beef
Bacon
Fully cooked bacon strips
Organic broccoli slaw
Organic apples
Fresh pizza dough
White bean and basil hummus
Horseradish hummus
Goddess dressing
Salsas
Pita bite crackers
Pretty much all their cheeses but LOVE the marinated braided mozzarella
Pesto dried tomato torta Yummy!
Raspberry and brie fillo rolls
Blueberry and cream/banana and cream yogurt cups
Black cherry natural jello
Pasta sauces, especially the Arrabiata and the marinara
Packaged pastas: the spinach and chive linguine, garlic and basil linguine and lemon pepper pappardelle
Bruschetta
Island Soyaki Sauce, great for stir fry and use the broccoli slaw with it
Pomegranate limeade
Organic peanut butters
Maple syrup
Brownie Truffle Baking Mix
Mini peanut butter cups, add these to the Brownie Mix above, mmmmmmmm
Nuts
Trail mixes
Frozen shrimp and fish, surprisingly FANTASTIC for frozen seafood.
Breaded cod and tilapia fillets, think fish tacos….or do blackened or grilled with above
Frozen pasta meals, pretty darn good for $3 a bag and easy in a pinch for time.
Shrimp primavera frozen pasta meal
Potstickers
Vegetable fried rice
Frozen meatballs, turkey and regular flame broiled. Kids love them!
Frozen Thai jasmine rice- again, it’s great when you are in a pinch for time and don’t have the 40 minutes it takes to cook it on the stove
Lemongrass and coconut curry chicken stix- great for appetizers
Frozen pizzas, kids (and me) love the Bambino pizza formaggio mini pizzas
Mini beef and chicken tacos (frozen)
Chicken chili verde (frozen section)
Frozen waffles, I do NOT recommend their frozen pancakes. Go next door (if you are on Rea Rd) and get some pancake mix from Great Harvest Bread company!
I will end with desserts…….most are in the frozen section.
Apple blossoms
Chocolate lava cakes
Mini mint ice cream mouthfuls
All natural vanilla creme sandwiches cookies- They have chocolate too. Think a natural, good for you, version of an Oreo.
Sublime ice cream sandwiches; do NOT pass these by…….
Chocolate covered pretzels
A lot of the stuff I mentioned was frozen but you will find a bunch of great produce as well. Plus I figured the choices for produce are pretty basic once you get there. Great selection on wines. Oh, and don’t forget their flowers. Great deal! Now this is just a portion of what I would recommend. Please share any TJ’s items that you think are smashingly FAB and wouldn’t leave the store without. It’s great to get recommendations because frankly, most of us don’t have the time to be returning items we weren’t satisfied with……. Thanks for reading and Happy Shopping!
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17 comments
Lavender bar soap, Shea Butter bar soap and kitchen antimicrobial liquid hand soap.
Maybe I missed it, but you gotta have the Trader Joe's Treasure (Pirate Booty) yummo!
Thanks SO much, Dana! I'll print your list and keep it handy for my next grocery shopping trip to TJ's! – Ashley
Here's a couple of others I really like to pick up there: dried and freeze-dried fruit – great on-the-go snacks for the kids. frozen tilapia meals – delicious, healthy and enough for 2-3 servings!
Love their regular hummus, the tabouli, whole wheat couscous, , the handmade whole wheat tortillas (my favorite), freeze dried fruit, cereal bars, fruit leathers for kids,Two Buck Chuck-of course
We like these items:frozen BBQ pizza (like Amy's)frozen corn dogs (like Morningstar)frozen Vegetable Bird's Nests appetizerorganic strawberry fruit spreadwhole wheat penne pasta with meatballslasagna bologneseApplegate Farms deli meatsmultigrain tortilla chips
We love Trader Joe's individually wrapped cashew and dried cranberry mix, fruit leathers- Great for lunch boxes (nice to have healthier choices)Also love the small servings of sugar snap peas, zap the bag in the microwave for 2 minutes- fresh veggies the kids love!Also for a treat, try the gummy tummy penguins!
Their unsweetened green tea with mint is fabulous!!
I never leave without whole wheat pizza dough, TJ Pizza Sauce (in refrigerated section by dough) and fresh mozzarella cheese. The kids love making their own Home Made Pizzas! I love the sesame cashews too. They are sweet and YUMMY!
Try their oatmeal and honey soap! Also love the no-boil lasagna noodles – great flavor and not gummy like some others. Fruit leathers are great. They also have a package with all of the fresh ingredients to make guacamole – about the same price as buying just one avocado anywhere else!
Thank you so much for the very helpful post! I really enjoyed it. My kids love the frozen turkey meatballs. Thanks for all of the wonderful suggestions! Great post.
Love almost everything on your list. Just discovered two new things, pita chip crackers dipped in edamame hummus & then their fresh tabouleh. And the indian simmer sauces, simmer chicken, a bag of their broccoli/carrot/cauliflower mix, chickpeas & serve over their brown jasmine rice with frozen naan bread – yum! Gourmet meal with almost no work & no chopping!Also love convenient snacks like dried fruit & trail mixes. Always keep a canister of dark chocolate mints in my purse now too!
We never leave without their Alfredo Sauce or their canned tomatoes (low sodium) to make our marinara sauce. Our kids will eat up some brocolli alfredo and what mom does not feel a wee bit like a nutrition queen when their kids scarf down brocolli?Also their whole wheat tortilla wraps. Great for burritos, lunchmeat wraps or for a veggie wrap. That store rocks!
Our favorites: in the frozen section, any of the pizzas, the fully cooked edamame (only takes 2 min to reheat), the chocolate croissants (let rise overnight and bake in the morning- warm and yummy!), the Indian meals are great, the brown rice (cooks in 4 min!)Their French Roast coffee is great and inexpensive, love the fresh pizza doughs and you can't beat their prices on wines (try the Vinho Verdo from Portugal) and cheeses. The Trader-0's are yummy (like Oreos) as are the sea salt brownies! Many more things I love there; TJ's ROCKS, especially for Moms!
the frozen pineapple chunks (in a bag) and frozen cherries (also sold in bag) are wonderful as well!
The frozen Orange Chicken is great! I'm also a big fan of the 3pk of dark chocolate bars at the checkout.
Szechuan Chicken and the fire roasted corn and tomato salsa—yummy on fish.