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

Because I have one in my neighborhood now and because I can't afford to shop much in the foodie shops.

Great stuff I have tried:

The trail mixes (especially "Simply the Best" w/cranberries, cherries, cashews, almonds, pineapple, etc.)
The tamales (cheese > chicken > beef imo)
Seeded Whole Wheat Bread (the one that looks kind of like a knockoff of "The Baker")
European Style Whole Milk Yogurt (plain)
Swiss Dark Chocolate
Gyoza Dumplings (esp. pork)

Good/Decent:
Hofbrau Bock beer
Pollo Asado (the pre-marinated one you cook yourself)
Salmon Roulettes (frozen)
Fajita Burrito
Enchiladas Verdes
Crab Patties
Quesadillas (the non-frozen ones)
Natural peanut butter (hard to fuck this up)
Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
French Vanilla Ice Cream

Meh:
Wild salmon
Vegetable Burrito
Some kind of frozen vegetable medley with weird flavored-butter melty clumps
Most of the other jarred pasta sauces

It's a bit disturbing how easily Trader Joe's has lulled me into eating so much frozen food. But I guess law school is partly to blame for that.

classic: lb bag of pecans for $6
sourdough bread
hard-to-find red-label california style sourdough bread
focaccia ($2.99)
seasonal spiced apple drink with cloves and things
dud: recalled peanut products
not selling individual avocados
some weird kind of carrots that sound delicious but you get them home and they're just more frozen carrots with weird lumps of ginger infused butter that you eat on their own, just a bowl of carrots whose refined charisma you thought might carry them.

chili mango slices <3

some weird kind of carrots that sound delicious but you get them home and they're just more frozen carrots with weird lumps of ginger infused butter that you eat on their own, just a bowl of carrots whose refined charisma you thought might carry them.

― deveraux billings (schlump), Tuesday, March 10, 2009 11:16 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark

Yeah, that! It was gross!

classic:

salmon patties
peanut butter filled pretzels
i will second gyoza dumplings and seeded whole wheat
one of the bacons they sell, can't recall details

dud:

andouille sausage (this made me feel fucked up)

i don't have a microwave so large swaths of their frozen stuff is useless to me.

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.

do you have to microwave that?

s: that white cheddar w/ the carmalized onions in it (<---- my favorite shit ever)

s: mango mochi

classic:
vege medley w/balsamic butter dressing
vege medley w/potato wedges
^both great tossed with spag and oil
vegan choc chip cookies
almond caramel clusters
chocolate ice cream (some of the best ice cream and it's CHEAP)
hashbrowns
frozen vege lasagna

i wish trader joe's was not so crowded so i could go more often and buy cheap delicious things.

their fresh fruit is shit - every time we get stuff from there it goes rotten in a couple of days

no one's mentioned the dark chocolate ginger pieces...they're...delightful

oh i had a party and put out the dark chocolate covered almonds rolled in dark cocoa and ppl were like omg nommmmm

lacey cookies A++++++ not sure if they're TJ brand though

Yeah, produce is generally hit or miss. I like buying their big bags o' mixed chard or "southern greens." I love cooking greens and cleaning/cutting them is such a pain, especially in my tiny-ass kitchen.

As far as crowds -- best time to go is 10AM or earlier on a weekend (well, excluding going on a weekday during work hours, which you probably can't do). Another good time -- dinner hours, Friday evening.

their fresh fruit is shit - every time we get stuff from there it goes rotten in a couple of days

the way they treat their apples makes me want to cry. you can paw through a whole shelf of apples and find none that aren't bruised

i always feel sorry for the people who are holding the signs that shepherd the line. at first i thought it was a pretty good lazy job, then i realised that it's queueing, ALL DAY LONG, never getting anywhere. when you're at the bank and there's a massive line, you always rely on that schadenfreude of other people piling up behind you and having to wait longer. but if you're the trader joe linesman ... always at the end of the line.

they also call it 'twelve items or fewer' which is nice

I always find the cashiers super nice -- do they pay unusually well or something?

their bagged greens do seem to last really well - we get the baby spinach a lot, it's a big bag and stays fresh for close to two weeks.

dinner hours?? no way. that is also known as 'after work' when everyone in the world goes!

omfg
http://justinsomnia.org/images/trader-joes-chocolate-croissants.jpg

dinner hours?? no way. that is also known as 'after work' when everyone in the world goes!

But Friday night it seems to work, like maybe 7:30 or later.

good:

bread
peanut butter (also almond butter)
three cheese frozen pizza
sole filets
sharp cheddar (cheap!)
chocolate-covered edamame
tomato soup (okay, not as good as Amy's)

always disappointing:

anything salsa-related
produce

i stay away from the frozen dinners and pre-marinated crap too, and the overpriced meats.

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

cheeapest clif bars off the net!

"good:

bread"

But not good, the plain-old "Whole Wheat Bread" (the one with very small slices) -- cardboardy. Same with the bread that comes in imitation Alvarado Street Bakery packaging.

It's funny how TJ will have like five different brands of the same product that are all TJ's and all knockoffs of other brands, and then they compete against each other.

classic x100:
free samples of coffee

i always feel sorry for the people who are holding the signs that shepherd the line. at first i thought it was a pretty good lazy job, then i realised that it's queueing, ALL DAY LONG, never getting anywhere. when you're at the bank and there's a massive line, you always rely on that schadenfreude of other people piling up behind you and having to wait longer. but if you're the trader joe linesman ... always at the end of the line.

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― deveraux billings (schlump), Tuesday, March 10, 2009 10:02 PM Bookmark

I have never seen this

I like the "New Zealand Grass Fed Organic Cheddar" -- very cheap! (not as yummy as Cabot, but, you know, in this economy...)

i have never bought any of the cheese/fresh meats because the line wraps around the store and makes it impossible to get to anything in that case

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

ok i thought this one was an internet hoax, like tide pod flavored pop tarts. but nope, this really happened
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Ftma3333owsoa1.jpg

gah
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c4/6a/c4/c46ac42cb54581634bd87a789e6ad67a.jpg

that is seriously kind of adorable. the little bug sprinkles! somewhere someone must make realistic insect sprinkles for entomologist celebrations, and if not there is a gap in the market crying out to be filled by an enterprising entomology entrepreneur

a cherry pop tart vs. cherry jolly rancher pop tart vs. cherry jolly rancher taste test must have occurred at some point in history but we will probably never know because the judges pancreaseseses would have immediately exploded

[raw hamburger cone]
― the cruelest moth (cat), Thursday, May 1, 2025

Take it to the cursed images thread, buddy.

i have been foolish. my idle curiosity led me astray and at last i have googled too far. you must promise me that you will never, ever read this article, nor gaze upon its pictures or video.

wtf @ wisconsin btw, home to these unspeakable monstrosities as well as the meat cone variant "cannibal sandwich" aka tiger meat aka wildcat aka raw ground beef with raw onions on rye with salt and pepper, like, guys. wisconsin. y'all okay over there?

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fuivj1hnh7ox81.jpg

nickn is probs just goofin but it’s still pretty funny how committed ppl are to policing the *trader joe’s* thread for topical integrity.

cat u r really talented at googling! i think frogbs is from wisconsin, in conclusion it is a beautiful cheese garden replete with ween records.

I just wanted to say that that picture is one hell of a cursed image.

I was in a TJ's earlier today and almost bought a box of their pop tarts based on this discussion, but restrained myself.

Their Mediterranean Hummus was one of my go-to items because it had a really nice smooth and creamy texture. Now they've gone and updated the recipe, and it tastes like trash. Very disappointed.

I used to happily buy their basic toothpaste, but they found a new supplier and now it's for 'sensitive teeth' and stains the sink, no thanks

Got back to LA after a month away and wtf!

https://laist.com/news/los-angeles-activities/two-trader-joes-in-sherman-oaks

Old TJ’s is out of cilantro but I can try the new TJ’s across the street, they might have some left.

Nyc'ers who've been here for a bit will remember the Astor Place Starbucks location opening directly across the street from the other Astor Place Starbucks location (with a third Starbucks inside the Barnes and Noble on the same corner).

This arrangement was not as short lived as you might expect.

“We’ve had a great relationship with our customers in Sherman Oaks for 52 years,” said Nakia Rohde, the grocer’s public relations manager. “And we plan to keep both stores open.”

"... until our lease at the old store runs out."

There's some highway exit I used to take that had a gas station across from a gas station, which isn't unusual, but they were both the same chain. Works in two ways: Traffic was such that turning across traffic would be tricky, so each served a different traffic flow. And in reality, if they didn't own the second one, some other chain would have built one there anyway.

in my neighborhood there are two gas stations of the same chain around the corner from one another, but one is always 5-10c cheaper per gallon than the other, which i find interesting

Years ago I read an investigative article about gas station pricing in a local weekly … it was super interesting.

In SOMA San Francisco there's a Starbucks right across the street from a Starbucks as well (4th & Mission?)... you can sit with your latte and watch someone else enjoy theirs

there were 2 SBux 22 steps away from each other at one point in SF (one inside the Castro Safeway and one next door to the Safeway)

there are probably still uptight yuppies who fall in love and mistreat their purebred dogs in sf too, i'm guessing

mistreating dogs is kind of built in to a lot of purebred breeds though

Starbucks hasn't had great coffee for a long time, but replacing all the brewed coffee with vending machine coffee seems like they're not even trying any more.

If you’re looking to stuff your face with reckless abandon while high, Trader Joe’s is your store and the new Hot Honey popcorn is an excellent option

on a different tip, if you're looking to get swole, tj's frozen chicken tenderloins are probably the best bang for your buck for protein from meat you can find just about anywhere. i fry them up and add them to the canned lentil and vegetable soup or the prepackaged kale/chicken salad. i always feel good after eating that salad and it's pretty tasty too. both great ways to get your macros on a budget.

are you talking about breaded tenderloins or unbreaded? the ones that are basically pre-sliced chicken breast apparently have an insane markup compared to chicken breasts at most grocery stores, something I hadn't paid attention to but was kind of shocked when I saw the average prices called out. tj's might be more economical, though

I keep a big bag of frozen chicken breasts in the freezer as a generic meat protein. Costco seems to carry a halal brand off and on and it's actually a step up from the Kirkland ones

TJ's are the masters of shrinkflation... the price stays the same year in and year out, but the package gets smaller and smaller

manchego, bresaole are both excellent, as is the goat cheddar

The new apple shortbread cookies are delicious and since they’re made in the UK there’s NO GODDAMN CINNAMON in them, hallelujah!!!

I just had one of these last night and clicked this thread expecting to see a positive post about them. They are very good.

There were raw cinnamon stick roughly 1m long in the corner of my local and it made 1/3 of the store smell like a giant Hot Tamales factory.

These sweet and sour apple gummies with liquid centers are pretty good too, although I’d prefer a bag of just the sour ones.

Shout-out to their rosemary bread, especially toasted with a lil butter

rosemary mixed nuts also a joy

beef birria is 👌

cosign on the rosemary mixed nuts, very moresome

timely revive! for some reason I couldn't find the rosemary mixed nuts but the beef birria is now in my freezer 😌

nice. it's good with rice ftr though it's very saucy.

Their booze egg nog for $7.99 is awful tempting.

It's kind of a pain for us to go to the one here, so we limit it to occasional trips. Lately those have been mostly to buy their tinned smoked trout, which is really good on a salad. But it is so crazy in there, just always packed, they really maximize the use of their floorspace lol.

My understanding is that congestion/chaos (as well as that of the notorious parking lots) is intentional, a way to imply urgency, like something might run out. Every once in a while I'll go to the rare TJs with ample/extra space, and it's a totally different vibe. But yeah, the tinned trout is great!

the smoked trout is a staple for us, usually a salad with their polenta as croutons, but used it in a pasta the other night and it was an excellent smokey alternative to tuna.

I have been eyeing the smoked trout for a while and will try it

I love to eat salads. The thing I discovered recently that is a great addition to an everyday salad is Tuscan kale (also known as black kale or lacinato kale). Don't get the small pieces in the big bag which they also have, but the whole leaves in a taller thinner bag (it's orange and green on the outside). When making a salad I take a few leaves out, set them on a cutting board with the inside facing up, and use a sharp knife to cut down on either side of the fibrous central rib to remove it. That is an essential step, and it's easy to do once you get used to it. You can then chop the kale leaves up and use them with other greens as part of a salad. It is mild and delicious and it doesn't require cooking like most other kale

My TJs gets crowded in the afternoon, but is somewhat serene if I go there between 8 and 10 in the morning

that’s around when i used to go to that TJs, Dan. nice and empty in the mornings.

cosign the smoked trout. haven’t been to a TJs in months, gonna resolve that soon

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.