The Trader Joe's Product Discussion Thread (S/D)

I have never seen this

do you live in somewhere with a breezy, unencumbered open plan trader joe's? like one in arizona where they test out new products?

i think there is a bit on the website dedicated to regional variations, if anyone is keen for more idiosyncratic tj innovation

I like the "New Zealand Grass Fed Organic Cheddar" -- very cheap!

That stuff's good -- it's a little earthy-tasting, though. I usually just get the Wisconsin sharp white cheddar.

You know what's pretty good, and new I think (at least in my neck of the woods)? The edamame hummus.

My favorite of their hummuses is the Mediterranean Hummus

should be its own thread/poll, but i have come to the conclusion that all other houmouses are bullshit. i have been burned too many times. original is BEST, though red pepper is sometimes acceptable.

Do you specifically mean Trader Joe's original or are you just against flavored hummuses in general?

The cioppino is the absolute most refined, delicious, and clutch frozen dinner I have ever had. Throw it on some spaghetti and you have an even bigger meal.

― throwbookatface (skygreenleopard)

One of my all-time faves too. I put it on rice at first but it's even better on pasta. And you can cook the seafood/sauce in a pan - no microwave necessary.

Also the Chicken Gorgonzola in the frozen section is classic. Make a sandwich with their cibatta.

A lot of their frozen stuff works in the toaster oven if you can wait around for a little while.

their veggie meatballs are awesome. also, their wheat tortillas are shit for everything EXCEPT making enchiladas, we discovered today, in which case they are the best tortillas you can possibly buy.

Do the frozen stuff (entrees & such) on the stovetop with a little oil, maybe a little water--set it on medium-low and stir.

best:
chocolate covered pretzels
chocolate mint hot chocolate
chocolate covered fruit
lacey cookies
brie - good price compared to Whole Foods
some of the frozen appetizers - mushroom turnovers I remember being pretty yummy, though I haven't had them in awhile
greek style yogurt
decent prices on fancy brand hard liquor
big jugs of juice
spiced apple cider

they have nicely prized frozen meats.
i prefer whole foods' frozen fishes.

agreed - Whole Foods has frozen soft-shell crab. They spent almost a year building a Whole Foods down my block, and I resented it a lot. Then I saw the frozen soft-shell crab. Best sandwich I've ever had was a soft-shell crab prepared burger like. Sorry to derail TJ thread with WF talk.

I fuck w/ the mushroom turnovers

i don't really buy stuff from the freezer aisle much, but the frozen naan is classic! dud: i bought some frozen egg rolls recently and they came out kinda mushy and greasy. but classic: frozen puff pastry. and their pizzas aren't half bad, esp. the roasted vegetable one.

i'm stoked that they have the winter loaf fruit and nut bread right now! it's super-delicious, esp. the bits of candied orange peel.

one of my other favorite things is the nitrate-free pastrami, which has a very beefy/briny flavor.

if i buy pre-sliced sandwich bread at all, i buy the milton's whole grain bread or the new repackaged TJ's version of it (it's cheaper).

the cheese selection is somewhat meh, but i'm all about that cotswold cheddar. and i've been keeping little hunks of their grana padano around to grate on pasta, etc.

they used to have these triple-shot cans of iced espresso at a very good price. i'm deeply dismayed that they've stopped carrying them.

so many things i've had from TJs were good or great the first time, horrible the second. the veggie chorizo, for instance. i hardly buy anything but staples there these days, the occasional lazy can of veggie chili... my wife loves their frozen pizzas. i find them pretty disgusting. they got rid of a lot of my favorite stuff in the past year or so.

quinoa bread - yum. not good for toast, though, just making sandwiches. everything bagels are okay. i'm really straining to think of anything exciting... um, chili-lime pistachios.

the balsamic veggie medley - blarrgh. canned soups - blarrgh.

when has something called a "veggie medley" EVER been good?

they had this half-round of sourdough bread, might've been whole wheat sourdough that was awesome.

when has something called a "veggie medley" EVER been good?

maybe if it was fried veggie medley, it'd be good. However, most things called "veggie medley" tend not to be fried.

veggie medleys/mixed vegetable mixes are never good, this is true

pretty good -
moroccan salted olives
greek yogurt
baby beets
ginger cookies, the small ones that come in a round plastic container
some of the frozen enchiladas (chicken chile verde)
relatively inexpensive walnuts, almonds, also almond butter

yes:
veggie meatballs (addicted to these)
garlic hummus dip
coffee

no:
produce (obviously)
"soy nuggets"

I'm still into soy nuggets, though my girlfriend has gradually lost interest in them.

Other likes, with caveats:

margarita pizza (though it's no substitute for the great goat cheese pizza, which has since been discontinued)

frozen mildly spiced vegetable burritos (though I stopped buying them after I realized how calorie-laden they are)

fresh mild salsa (though it tends to get overly acidic after a couple of days)

I guess I have no complaints about the frozen seafood I've bought there.

My gf also just walked into the room and said, "Did you mention BRITISH MUFFINS?" I said no because I don't give a shit about them, but for posterity, I should mention that she eats the cinnamon raisin variety pretty much every day.

^different from English muffins?

Not that I can tell.

Wait, I take that back: I guess they don't have Thomas-style nooks and crannies.

That's the Welsh influence.

Undoubtedly.

decent prices on fancy brand hard liquor

where do you live that they do this? i want to move there.

should mention that i've grown past charles shaw (hooray i am old!) but i still like to buy wines at their wine shop cause they're about $3-8 cheaper for most things than the shop in my neighborhood.

they dont have liquor or wine @ the bk outpost

tbh i have not really been feeling tjs lately after eating nothing but stuff from their store all thru college

will ride for the chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels tho

those Maple Cream cookies are out of control good.

that sounds absolutely disgusting

chili mango slices <3

These are not being appreciated enough.

I've ventured into Trader Joe's out of curiosity, but I always get frustrated and leave empty-handed. I can't stand the in-no-way-intuitive layout (soy sauce is stocked in the freezer section next to eggrolls?) and there are huge gaps in what they stock (Thai rice sticks were the only non-Italian noodles I could find). But I don't buy prepared foods or snacks, so maybe TJ wasn't meant for me.

ugh, we got the chili mango slices and found them GROSS.

BUT WHY TJ DID YOU STOP SELLING THE CHOCOLATE COVERED PEANUTS? My gf asked, they said they weren't selling. WTF

But I don't buy prepared foods or snacks, so maybe TJ wasn't meant for me.

Possibly. CHILXor dan m. has said the same. I don't really go nuts with all of the snacks and cookies and shit, either, but there are two things that I eat with a great deal of regularity -- cereal and sandwiches -- and TJ's is definitely good for things like cheese, soy milk, condiments, etc.

bread talk: quinoa bread is some crumbly shit.
the half-loaves of sourdough are great though. i don't really understand wholewheat sourdough, but the white loaves. also the tuscan panes and similar little seeded breads.

i remember someone speaking up for soy chorizo a while ago and being curious, because i don't really go in for faux-meat stuff. but the backlash has dissuaded me. are veggie meatballs good: for real?

also: little cherry tomatoes. can't really find them anywhere cheaper.

BUT WHY TJ DID YOU STOP SELLING THE CHOCOLATE COVERED PEANUTS? My gf asked, they said they weren't selling. WTF

― dan selzer, Wednesday, March 11, 2009 11:07 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark

Someone told me they have some kind of fairly strict system where they rotate out the bottom x% of products (in sales terms).

If you don't like prepared foods it's true that TJ doesn't have a lot to offer besides staples. It's definitely not a store for true foodies or cooking enthusiasts. Produce at the little green markets in the area is equally cheap and generally better. And Sahadi's and Damascus Bakery are good for specialty items.

got to chime in for this lemon pepper w/ grinder trader joe's sells. my mom bought it for us randomly and it took my wife and i a couple months to actually try it, but now we cannot live without it. which is a problem because we're running low and we live in a state with no Trader Joe's. Mom?

still so sad that tjs discontinued the flax pasta. brown rice and whole wheat is proving to be no substitute. the flax one ended up being just the right consistency -- not to chewy, but still on the firm side that let you know it was a bit more healthy than white flour. one of the managers told me a few months back they'd be trying out another flax variety, but no dice so far.

may god help me if they ever get rid of darrell lea black licorice

life without it would be bleak

omg that reminds me the 25 seasoning salute is like a gift from the heavens!

Third on the veggie meatballs...also:

-super lazy but the three-packs of frozen brown rice somehow microwave perfectly every time and are great on-the-fly

-boil-in-bag Indian dal (nice w/ their mango chutney)

-GARLIC NAAN (not frozen)

-strawberry kefir (drinkable yogurt)

-red pepper-tomato soup in the carton thingy

O yeah the carton soups have generally treated me well.

third the carton soups - the red pepper/tomato is a fave of mine too

chili mango slices <3

big fan of these.

Also, A ________ Walks Into a Bar

the red pepper/tomato is pretty good, but honestly i kind of live on Amy's low-fat cream of tomato.

Also:

Green apple granola
Vegetarian sushi
Lentil wrap

I'm currently on a soft food diet following stomach surgery, so now may be the perfect time to test out this trout everyone is talking about, will be a good break from the stacks of tuna cans I got from TJ's. We must really be hitting the holiday rush because they were absolutely mobbed on Monday afternoon, which is pretty unusual for my location. I grabbed the brie dip, which I hadn't seen before, and I have to say it is real good.

The smoked trout is verrry niiiice and I wish the package was 2x or 3x as big as it is (but I can buy a whole smoked whitefish and eat half of it in one setting, which is a thing you can do in Northern Michigan and also in Jewish delis, which is an unusual thing for them to have in common but here we are).

I like their tabbouleh salad - it’s a good base to add other things to like grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes etc

i also love the smoked trout! i add it to my old standby the premade kale chicken salad.

i'm also really into the beef braseole in the section with the salami etc lately. great with some of the also excellent manchego anejo on bread.

it's not a new product but the apricot jam is really good. i like swirling a little in the 0% greek yogurt, which is not as good unfortunately (nothing beats fage but it's so expensive now).

Apricot jam is generally pretty good, not just TJ's! But yeah, their version is where I first tasted it and I was immediately converted.

tj's got me spoiled with the gerolsteiner. last time i visited they had one (1) bottle left so i opted instead for the tj's brand grapefruit sparkling water, which i used to like, but no more - the grapefruit flavor additive tastes like the "scent note" you catch in trendy perfumes to me now.

truly tortilla chips - wow good chip a+

what the fuck is the deal with TJ tote bags? I don't get it at all

Are Trader Joe’s tote bags the last vestige of American soft power?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/16/trader-joes-tote-bags-america

I saw something about their totes and thought it was AI

Yeah, a couple of people we know are proudly toting their tote bags around the UK after a holiday in America.

We’re back in London now and all our stuff that got shipped over arrived this morning, including a TJ’s cool bag! It’s very practical and a good shape for the car boot though. And, er, a limited edition design, sorry (not sorry).

I walk a lot, and I carry two cloth Trader Joe's bags like the one featured in the article with me everywhere I go, just in case. It's surprising how useful they are. I carry my sunhat and mask in one and the other is empty except for maybe a couple of receipts or stray onion skins.

The only issue with them is keeping them open while you are packing your groceries, they are very floppy. The people at TJs are faster checking me out than I am bagging.

you double tote?

you could at least get creative and put a new yorker one on the other shoulder

:)

cherry pecan pistachio granola is very good, a cut above the others

fruit frenzy bars - 4/5. these are frozen fruit popsicles with three layers - raspberry, lemon and strawberry. the flavor is very good. (kinda hard to fuck up a frozen fruit popsicle in my experience - like i've never had a bad one?). the only issue is a structural one. the frozen pineapple is in the middle and it dissolves faster than the raspberry on top, so soon you have a separated chunk of frozen raspberry to deal with.