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

I was at a friend's house today and friend brought out the TJ french fry spud snacks and Mrs. Broccoli immediately wondered if they were rebranded Calbee crisps... Good to check in on this thread and confirm some suspicions.

I ran out of everything but the bagel and won't be able to get to a TJ"s for a bit. I've had to try to make my own and I just can't get it right.

buy the bagels and shake em over your food

recipe:
ingredients: everything

😫

they now have these organic chicken sausages which are not-bad (which is to say not great, but decent.)

at least at my local TJ's their avocados are all either hard as rocks or extremely soft and easily puncturable to the touch, like a drifter's corpse left in the sun.

i like their frozen pizzas a lot. They used to have those very cheap and excellent $1.99 pints of organic grassfed ice-cream but they're all gone now.

everything-but-the-bagel + scrambled eggs = victory

like a drifter's corpse left in the sun.
lol
true

Occurs to me that TJ exists in my part of the U.S. because they slip under the Whole Foods price point. Now that Amazon's owns Whole Foods, I'm not sure that will last.

I just had the Sicilian pizza. Regardless of any authenticity, I think it's a lesser pie than their other Italy-sourced vegetarian pizzas. Cheese all on one quadrant, no evidence of wood smoke, and a dollar more. Best TJ pizza IMO is the roasted vegetable, which has been absent from my local TJ for the past month.

TJ's has a pretty devoted following. I would equate it to people who go to Target. I used to look forward to my weekly trips there on Saturday morning after the gym.

Buying TJ's was a brilliant sidestep for ALDI US. Smaller footprint, high throughput shops selling exclusively store label/higher margin product, and pretending to be a 70s co-op with newsprint marketing. There's only one within 60 miles of me, and every register has a line 3-8 pm. I like it, but I tend to buy the exact same things (lavash flatbread, hummus, a bag of greens, a bag of potatoes, a bag of apples/citrus fruit, pesto sauce, a frozen pizza, a bottle of wine) every visit. Anything else is a snack for the drive.

TJs seems to make its reputation on convenience food, snacks, and wine. Of those three categories I mainly buy wine there, plus a few snack foods like chips or hummus, because their price point is better than anywhere else near me.

otoh, I buy olive oil, nuts, dried fruit, dry pasta, cheese, bagels, vitamin supplements, and laundry soap there regularly. Those are comparatively cheap and decent quality, although truthfully their bagels are pretty mediocre. The sad fact is that just about every bagel within five miles of my house is even worse than mediocre, so there's that to consider.

The above short list covers about 95% of what I buy at TJs. As an officially old person I am very set in my ways, which is how I like it.

I could get everything I need at TJ's for the week for about $40 (spinach, broccoli, avocado, hummus, guac/yogurt, one random cheese, brown rice pasta, tapanede, fresh ravioli, eggs, chicken, low carb tortillas, a couple of frozen things) and then all the extras that needed to be bought less regularly spanish olive oil, olive oil spray, siracha, coffee. I had this down to a science.

The Aloo Chaat Kati pouches are pretty A+ for a snack or quick meal. I call them my Indian hot pockets.

They used to carry tasty mache, another thing that was great that disappeared.

wine and beer now that they have those cheap fancy beers

If you have an Indian grocer nearby, you can taste the other flavors of DeepFood's "pizza pockets", sold under the Babu's Pocket Sandwich sub-brand, with the very same microwave crisping sleeves as TJs Aloo Chaat packages. The Aloo Chaat ranks above the Palak Paneer, but below the Pau Bhaji.

aloo chat ❤️

it's "Potato" "Snack". If you want ❤️, find your local Chaat stand.

No local Chaat stand where I am right now (South America), but I have been doing super good making tikka, dhansak and masala recently. At some point I have to try to make naan or roti, the flour here is terrible though.

oops i posted this in the wrong thread

I guess Dried Baby Bananas are TJ's Weird Banana Product of the year and they're great. Tiny whole bananas with a kind of vague caramel-y note to them.

Zhoug Sauce is VG. It's a cilantro/oil/green pepper/garlic/cumin/cardamom spicy pesto.

It's on the spicy side, but I imagine mixing with equal parts diced avocado and tomato would be a stellar party dip.

As I have an inexpensive Mexican grocer nearby, I think I'll try this recipe to make zhoug at home, subbing all cilantro, and using mustard oil rather than EVOO.

As good as TJ Zhoug: blend the hell out of 2 bunches cilantro (rinse and cut the excess stems), 8 jalapeños (remove stems), 4 cloves garlic, 2 tsp ea. cumin, coriander, 1 tsp ea. green cardamon, salt, juice of 2 limes, 1/3 cup any veg oil (you won't taste yer artisan EVOO under this green power drill).

I've come close to (re)inventing zhoug sauce on several occasions while making guacamole (before adding the avocados) or adding cilantro and peppers to hummus bi tahini. The TJ product just gave me the courage to go all out Indian Ocean pesto and add the coriander seed, cardamon, and oil.

that sounds delicious, also dangerously enticing to the invading hordes

the sumatra coffee brownies are not *inedible* but they do taste like something that your neighbor made from Allrecipes and brought to a church potluck. Like, it's just brownies covered in some sort of stale-tasting coffee powder that makes a mess everywhere. Not worth $3 for 4.

good to know. that does not sound enjoyable at all

many thanks to this thread for alerting ppl to the existence of Everything But The Bagel

The next time I am near a Trader Joes I am loading up on it to bring back. It's not quite the same when I try to make the blend.

For a while I didn't see it at my local TJs and asked about it. The employee said that one guy came in and bought them all up. I'm guessing perhaps dude was from a Pirate Joe's-type of operation.

Bought some zhoug on the way home tonight. Ate half of it with Triskets.

Me too! I recognize it now from falafel — they serve it at the Maoz chain

i like the norwegian crispbreads
ate them every day for breakfast with avocado and now that is my favorite breakfast
they're sturdy, tasty, & nutritious

and gluten-free if you care about such things

I miss Trader Joes so much that I am just looking at pics on their website.

I'm considering making a list of every product mentioned on this thread, whether the consensus was positive or negative, and the current production status as a shopping reference

not really, but it comes to mind every time I see someone have a solid opinion

They show the sumatra coffee brownies with a scoop of ice cream on top.

that sounds like a damn cheat to me

I am going to look at the TJ What's New tab every time I feel any sense of ennui creep in.

i love the fearless flyer, it's a good read

it is! I haven't gotten one in the mail for a while, so they must be distributing fewer of them further away from the stores (my local one is in a suburb) or I've fallen off a mailing list

I like the coffee brownies but you've gotta microwave them.

Zhoug is so good, thanks thread.

Since posting, the details of this item may have changed due to fluctuating market prices, federal regulations, currency rates, drought, pestilence, bandits, rush hour traffic, filibusters, clowns, zombie apocalypse, punctilious product developers

Okay hipster wing of Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Compagnie, oHG, take my wallet.

Kinda stole Sanpaku's idea and made guacamole with zhoug in it (delicious) and ate it as a side with the zucchini fritters or whatever they're called that come with pickled beets and tzatziki. Solid meal.

I had some of the zhoug with sweet potato fries (not TJs) and that's a good combo.

made taco with zhoug + fajita meat + mac&cheese + soft-boiled egg. thank you, zhoug.

Oh zhoug, is there nothing you can't improve?

^^^

Lol I had zhoug in a sandwich today

Those of you who don't like spicy hot should head to your nearest Indian grocer and seek out coriander chutney. Its fairly similar, and is evidently the expected sandwich condiment in Mumbai.

Sanpaku, when you made the zhoug yourself did you use coriander seed or coriander powder? Did you think the cardamom pods were necessary (I may only have powder)? I think I will try to make that this weekend. Did you only use cilantro leaves or some of the stem?

I will ask my coworker friend which grocery to go to, and expect a long nuanced explanation of the pros and cons of chutney sourcing

(good chutney tip, thanks!)