Yay Trader Joe’s!
Trader Joe’s is…my favorite grocery store ever. In fact, we pass at least seven different grocery stores on the way to Trader Joe’s, yet we go there every single week.
It’s been a hot second since I’ve done one of these roundups, but I secretly love finding out what other people like to buy at Trader Joe’s because posts like this one often lead to a new favorite item or two of my own!
I hope you enjoy this unconventional post today – and if you have any faves that I didn’t mention, please let me know in the comments! I’d love to check out some new TJ’s goods!
ps. I definitely buy more vegetables and fruits at TJ’s every week – bananas, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, oranges, apples, etc. etc. etc -, but I tried to highlight some TJ’s-specific products that you can’t necessarily find at all mega marts. Woo!
Meal Essentials
Organic Shredded Green & Red Cabbage with Orange Carrots
$1.69/10 oz. bag – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★★
Perfect for: my Vegan Tofu Quinoa Tacos or my Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad
Okay, I understand that this is a super random way to start this list, but I couldn’t be more obsessed with this mix! It’s super crunchy, making it the perfect topping for tacos, yet it tastes great sautéed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and tons of garlic. A super easy way to add some veggies to your lunch or dinner!
Organic Tuscan Kale
$2.49/10 oz. bag – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★
Perfect for: my Easy Mashed Cauliflower with Kale and Chickpeas or my Hummus Kale Toast
I love buying my greens from Trader Joe’s, and this Tuscan Kale is a new fave of mine! I always bought TJ’s curly kale, but I was really excited to try this version. I actually like sautéing it with the Organic Shredded Green & Red Cabbage with Orange Carrots for dinner. I frequently make big sautéed veggie bowls for a quick dinner, and this kale add a nice dose of health and flavor to the mix!
Teeny Tiny Potatoes
$2.29/1 lb. bag – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★
Perfect for: my Lemon Roasted Potatoes with Fried Sage or my Big Vegan Rainbow Bowl
I mean…the only way you can make potatoes more fun is by making them teeny tiny. I’m a huge potato fan, and while I usually reach for sweet potatoes, these Teeny Tiny Potatoes make an awesome side to our dinners. They’re great simply tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, but you can really make them shine with some garlic and lemon. Plus, they’re pretty much the most adorable things ever.
Roasted Corn
$2.49/16 oz. bag – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★
Perfect for: my Honey Mustard Lentil Vegetable Salad or my Vegan Black Bean Ceviche
I am a hugeeeee corn freak. Fresh corn on the cob? There’s nothing better. BUT whenever I’m craving corn in the dead of winter or spring, I love having a bag or two of this Roasted Corn in my freezer. I’ve been having my Black Bean Ceviche every single week for at least two months now, and this Roasted Corn gives it that great fresh off the grill taste. So much yes.
Organic Black Beans
$1.99/16 oz. bag – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★
Perfect for: my Mexican Rice and Bean Skillet or my Vegan Black Bean Ceviche
Why it has taken me this long to try cooking beans from scratch, I’ll never know. Trader Joe’s recently started selling dried (+ organic) black beans, and I couldn’t be more excited! You know Mexican food is an absolute staple in our household, so I’m typically buying a can or two of black beans a week. These dried beans are a much more economical way to bean up any meal.
Breakfast Essentials
Raw Shelled Hemp Seeds
$5.99/8 oz. bag – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★★
Perfect for: my Ginger Banana Green Smoothie or my Feel Good Superfood Grain Bowl
One of my ALL-TIME favorite vegan proteins! I love these hemp hearts in salads, smoothies, and more because they give an awesome creamy, nutty flavor to anything they’re added to. I seriously have them every morning in my Ginger Banana Green Smoothie!
Acai Puree Packets
$4.49/4 servings – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★
Perfect for: my Ginger Banana Green Smoothie or my Heart Beet Smoothie
This was a splurge product for me, but I’m so glad I tried it this weekend! I love getting acai bowls out at restaurants but dang girl…they’re expensive. I typically stick to only one kind of fruit in my smoothies, but I loved adding these frozen acai packets to my Ginger Banana Green Smoothie. TJ’s acai isn’t sweetened, so it’s an awesome way to add some antioxidants to your morning without packing on the sugar.
Everything But The Bagel Seasoning
$1.99/2.3 oz. – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★★
Perfect for: my Easy Gluten Free Vegan Soft Pretzel Bites or my Hummus Kale Toast
Surely you’ve seen this seasoning on Instagram in the past month or so. I can’t tell you how much I love this stuff! While it’s awesome on soft pretzels (see above), I’m a huge fan of it on avocados! Jazz up your morning avo toast with this stuff, and I promise you will never look back.
Snack Essentials
Organic Popping Corn
$2.29/28 oz. bag – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★★
Perfect for: my Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn or my Chocolate Caramel Popcorn Chews
Mark and I are popcorn people. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve referred to him as my “popcorn equal” at one point on this blog. We love making it Sunday nights in the summer when we’re watching Game of Thrones or when we’re just hungry for something salty and crunchy. Love love love.
Cowboy Caviar & Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips
$2.79/13 oz. jar & $1.99/9 oz. bag – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★★
Perfect with: my Lentil Pecan Taco Meat or my Vegan Tofu Quinoa Taco Meat
TJ’s Cowboy Caviar is.so.addicting. It’s smoky! It’s sweet! It’s full of texture! It’s perfect. I can’t leave that store without picking up a jar…or two. And these tortilla chips are my new fave! TBH, most of the tortilla chips I’ve bought at Trader Joe’s have been totally stale. These ones are super thick and crunchy, plus they have a subtle lime flavor I just love!
Black Mission Figs
$4.49/12 oz. container – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★
Perfect for: my Whole Food Bark or my Vegan Rice Pudding
I definitely don’t buy these every week, but man, oh man I love these things. They’re super sweet and chewy and perfect for that after-dinner sweets craving. Plus they’re great as part of a vegan “cheese” board!
Capital Kombucha
$2.79/12 oz. bottle – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★★
Perfect for: drinking in the morning before breakfast or as an afternoon pick-me-up
Okay. Truth time. The first time I tried kombucha, I H A T E D it. It was too vinegary and fizzy for me. But I slowly got used to the flavor, and it really has made a difference in how I feel, considering I’ve always had stomach issues. I don’t drink one every day ($$$), but I love getting one for Monday morning after I’ve had a weekend full of food and/or alcohol. I really love the Mint Lime flavor!
Organic Coconut Cream
$2.29/13.5 fl. oz. can – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★
Perfect for: my Strawberry Coconut Cream Pie or my Vegan No-Churn Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream
This coconut cream is thick, making it the perfect vegan “whipping cream” alternative! It has minimal ingredients, and it’s awesome whipped up as a pie filling or topping. You can also make ice cream with it (see above). Perfect for coconut lovers like me.
Green Pitted Olives
$1.99/6 oz. can – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★★
Perfect for: my Vegan Greek Chickpea Lettuce Wraps
I have always been an olive freak, and these olives are so cheap! Every once in a while, I’ll get a big craving for something salty and briny, and these totally satisfy that craving every time. We also like using them as part of our vegan “cheese” plate dinners, which we have more often than I care to admit. ;)
Dolmas
$2.49/9.9 oz. can – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★
Perfect for: vegan cheese plates (stay tuned!) or snacking
So, in my 24 years on this earth, I had never once had a stuffed grape leaf. What a wonderful, beautiful world I was missing! I tried these Dolmas for the first time at my friend, Gretchen’s, house, and I’m pretty sure I ate the whole can myself. These things are perfectly herbed, super flavorful, and way too addicting. I love these!
Organic Dark Chocolate
$1.99/3.5 oz. bar – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★★
Perfect for: my Chocolate-Covered Vegan Cookie Dough Bars or my The Best Damn Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies
This is it. THE chocolate bar I use for everything. It’s great for snacking (let it melt on your tongue!) or for baking, and I just love this bar to pieces. It’s slightly fruity which I really enjoy in a chocolate bar. Plus, you can’t beat that it’s organic and only $1.99 per bar!
To The Power of 7 Organic Juice
$3.99/33.8 fl. oz. bottle – Alexa’s Must-Buy Rating: ★★★★
Perfect for: my Naturally Dyed Icing or for drinking
So, I’m typically not a juice person. BUT I sometimes have trouble remembering to drink water throughout the day. Kinda crazy, but it’s true. I love adding just a tiny splash of this juice to my water to jazz it up a bit. It’s really delicious, and full of antioxidant goodness. Plus, you can use it as a food dye for icing!
Gah, I just love TJ’s so much! Have you tried any of these goodies?! Super interested to hear your faves!
TJs is the BEST! I have so many staples too (those restaurant style tortilla chips- all the yes), but I love seeing what’s new every week as well! Another favorite of mine are the already roasted beets- they make enjoying beets so much easier.
Hi. Trader Joe’s is a fun place. Great spot to discover cool things. My favorites are the wine, Bruschetta (great), gazpacho (only there in warmer months), the rosemary Parmesan, goat milk, tuna fish (not fishy). But, I’m careful about what I do buy as I’ve had bad experiences with spoiled things! Empire brand chicken – spoiled because it sat out in the refrigerated truck for HOURS with the doors open on the hottest day!!! This was at the N. Wilmington, DE store where I shopped when I lived there. Spoiled gazpacho (lid was swollen). Spoiled yogurt and cottage cheese (here in Indianapolis where I live). And these were way before the expiration dates! Yes, fun stuff but they don’t seem to keep things refrigerated from inception to the store!!! As someone with a food mktg background I find these issues concerning! I think their produce is priced high. But I will go to TJ’s for ‘fun stuff’.
Oh no! :( I’ll have to keep an eye out for that kind of stuff. Gazpacho sounds so yummy, but I might just try to make it myself this summer ;)
Can’t wait to round up those goods this week at TJ!
Woo hoo! Let me know if you try any of them! :)
The everything bagel seasoning is ah-mazzzing! I sprinkle it on my avocado toast:)
So so SO good, right?!
The problem I have with TJ is they don’t have enough Organic, nonGMO vegan products. SOME yes, but not enough. Corn, potatoes, many things MUST be organic nonGMO or you are risking your health! Big time.
Totally get that, Patricia! I like to try to buy organic when I can, and I feel like our TJs has a decent selection of organic goods. Their organic sweet potatoes are on my list nearly every week!
How fun! Thanks for this list. I shop at Trader Joe’s every week but somehow seem to go on auto-pilot and never try new things. I will be picking up nearly everything on your list!
Yessss! Give them a try and let me know how you like them :)
Off topic, I know but have you considered making your own kombucha. It’s super easy (and cheap!). Check out these articles:
https://food52.com/blog/search?q=kombucha
Great post!!! There’s a TJ about 1 hour drive away from me. It’s so far!! I just had Dolma’s grape leaves this weekend at a birthday party. Goodness! They are worth that drive! So delicious! I also like TJ organic blue corn tortilla chips and quinoa bean chips. They hit the spot when I want something salty and crunchy :)
I feel like we need “Will drive for Trader Joe’s” shirts or something ;) I’ll have to check out those blue corn tortilla chips this weekend!
Great Salsas too! Lisa in Indy
Alexa,
Your blog looks great in this black and white touch. What theme are you using right now? I always atrracted towards B/W combo
Blog is looking fabulous now
Thank you so much, Smitha!! It’s a child theme for Genesis called Twenty Seven Pro :) I’m loooving it!
Thank you alexa for the twenty seven pro info
Love their Greek olive oil. My stepmother lived in Greece and she won’t use anything else for her Greek recipes.
OOH! I’ll need to try that. We’re huge olive oil lovers in our house :)
Oh my gosh i have SO many loves at trader joe’s!
Always in my cart are the cruciferous crunch blend (i massage it with vinegrette for salad or use for a quick sauté), the Soyaki sauce, high protein tofu (!! Never press tofu again!), frozen cooked quinoa, the vegan cream cheese is fabulous, the kale cashew pesto is a new favorite, canned cuban black beans are delicious for tacos salads straight from the can, the super seed and ancient grain blend, and those newish seedy crispbreads that are sturdy and dense- perfect for a schmear of avocado or some nut butter!
I can go on and on…. hands down my favorite store :))
The cruciferous crunch blend is my fave! So good!