Balanced Faves: Top Trader Joe's Picks

I don't know about you, but whenever I go to Trader Joe's, I'm SO overwhelmed by all of the amazing things I want to try. So I asked all of YOU your top Trader Joe's picks and some examples of what you do with those things. I put together this list of your top picks separated into categories: frozen, produce, drinks, snacks, meats/seafoods, dips/sauces/seasonings, desserts, and miscellaneous.

My Top TJ's Picks

It feels impossible to narrow my top Trader Joe's picks down because I truly love everything there, but here are the things I personally most consistently buy:

• Frozen jasmine rice
• BBQ cut salmon
• Chicken cilantro wontons
• Hashbrown patties
• Guilt-free mac and cheese
• Southwest salad
• Dolmas
• Chicken shawarma
• Carne asada
• Salsa verde
• Unexpected cheddar
• Light mozzarella cheese

Your Top Trader Joe's Picks

Here were the most-recommended top Trader Joe's picks from my Instagram community:

frozen

• Jasmine rice!! (My absolute favorite)
• Hatch Chile mac & cheese
• Cauliflower rice: mix with fried rice to bulk it up or do cauliflower mac and cheese
• Mexican Style Roasted Corn w/ Cotija Cheese
• Butter chicken with basmati rice
• Green onion pancakes
• Mac n Cheese bites: appetizer for get-togethers
• Kung Pao Chicken for a quick meal. Add to their veggie fried rice with a bag of frozen veggies!
• turkey corn dogs: pairs well with salad for an easy lunch!
• Vegetable spring rolls
• Black Bean & Cheese Taquitos: cook them in the air fryer!
• Vegetable fried rice and chicken fried rice
• Orange chicken
• Chicken cilantro wontons
• Lightly salted edamame
• Chicken Gyoza Potstickers: mix with their frozen fried rice for a low-point meal!
• Sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter & sage: add their vegan basil pesto!
• Shredded hashbrowns: add their soy chorizo, onion, Mexican light cheese for a breakfast skillet!
• Beef and broccoli: add their frozen jasmine rice for an easy dinner!
• Chicken soup dumplings: pan fry them as an appetizer or add to frozen rice with soy sauce as a meal!
• Pastry Bites with Feta Cheese & Caramelized Onions
• Guilt-Free Mac and Cheese: add tuna for a high-protein lunch!
• Hashbrown patties (I swear they taste just like McDonalds!)

produce

• Southwest salad (refrigerator section): pair with taco night or add protein (you can do this with any of the bagged salads – the Harvest Apple Salad Kid and Vegan Ranch Crunch Salat Kits are another great one!)
• Mini avocados
• Coleslaw: add Greek yogurt, cilantro, garlic and lime in food processor to add to tacos (especially shrimp or fish), but you could also do their cilantro salad dressing to make it even easier!
• Broccoli slaw: make egg roll in a bowl

drinks

• Cold brew concentrate: do one part cold brew, one part oat milk, one part water with vanilla sweet cream!
• Spicy chai tea latte mix
• Organic green tea and lemonade
• Coconut cold brew

snacks

• Bamba puffed peanut & corn snacks with hazelnut crème filling
• Cookie butter: put on top of apples!
• Dolmas (I second this – my favorite!)
• Elote corn chip dippers
• Crunchy lentil curls
• Orange wheels
• Canned Greek chickpeas: add to salads and wraps
• Rosemary marcona almonds
• Truffle marcona almonds
• White truffle potato chips

meats/seafoods

• Grilled lemon pepper chicken (refrigerator section)
• Frozen turkey burgers
• BBQ-cut salmon
• Frozen Argentinian red shrimp
• Carne asada
• All of their chicken sausages! Add them to roasted veggie rice bowls, salads, etc.
• Spatchcock chicken
• Chicken shawarma: add to Cava bowls (like my recent Copycat Cava Chicken Bowls!), put it in naan or pita for a sandwich with their tzatziki sauce, or just have it on its own!
• Frozen battered fish nuggets or lightly breaded fish sticks: make fish tacos!

dips/sauces/seasonings

• Chipotle black bean dip: great with veggies or bean and cheese taquitos or quesadillas!
• Spicy honey sauce: put on top of roasted Brussels sprouts
• Spicy taco sauce
• General tsaos stir fry sauce: mix with chicken tenders, rice and broccoli, or green beans
• Bruschetta sauce: put on top of grilled chicken and add fat free feta & balsamic glaze
• Yuzu hot sauce
• Salsa verde: use as salsa for chips, or use in crockpot with chicken breasts for an easy shredded chicken (not spicy!)
• Vegan kale, cashew and basil pesto: add to pasta or pasta salad, potato salad, pizza, or sandwiches. Mix with alfredo and add to pasta!
• Green goddess dressing: Mash avocado and chicken with seasoning and salad, add dressing
• 21 Seasoning Salute
• Green dragon hot sauce: add to their dumplings!
• Red pepper jelly (on cream cheese with crackers)
• Eggplant garlic spread
• Chili onion crunch: on top of eggs and guacamole for breakfast
• Garlic spread dip: on veggies and chicken
• Buffalo chicken dip (refrigerator section)
• Pepita salsa
• Cowboy caviar

desserts

• Frozen Mini Hold-the-Cone Ice Cream Cones
• Dark chocolate peanut butter cups
• Cold Brew Latte Dessert Bars
• Chocolate-dipped almond biscotti
• Chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches
• Frozen chocolate croissants
• Chocolate sea salt graham crackers
• Frozen chocolate covered banana bites
• Dark chocolate pretzels
• Sea salt dark chocolate almonds

misc./other

• Buratta: put on top of spaghetti squash and roasted tomatoes
• Cauliflower thins: toast them in the air fryer and make sandwiches or mini pizzas
• Pancake bread
• Light mozzarella cheese
• Unexpected cheddar (the best cheese ever!!)
• Mini brie bites
• Marinated mozzarella balls
• Ravioli: Cacio e Pepe and Mushroom & Truffle
• San Francisco Style Sourdough Bread
• Throw-together lunch from Trader Joe’s: pita, frozen falafel, tzatziki, feta cheese & vegetables
• Almond butter chia overnight oats (refrigerator section)
• Chicken sausage breakfast burrito (refrigerator section)
• Mozzarella and tomato salad (refrigerator section)
• Cheeseburger burrito (refrigerator section)
• Goat’s milk creamy cheese: add to jalapeno poppers!
• Canned peaches