What should I buy at Trader Joe's?
I've never shopped there (yes, I'm crazy apparently) and I'm wondering what is your favorite item(s) at Trader Joe's? We have one opening in my town in two weeks.
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38 Comments:
0% greek yogurt (Trader Joes brand). Almost indistinguishable from Fage, and about $4 cheaper!!
Also: wine, beer, organic milk (cheaper than elsewhere), cheese, veggie burgers/sausage, almonds
ChristineB at 1:11AM on 03/15/08
My husband loves the salted pistachio nut meats to snack on. I like their edamame. They have interesting dried fruits.
Stay away from the sushi. Whatever process they use to make their rice, it's horrendous. It's like biting into a smashed roll of rice. I hope it's not the same everywhere.
Above the freezer bunkers, they have nifty snacks, like wafers, biscotti, cookies, chocolates, etc. I usually give these away instead of eating them. During the holidays, you'll find tins as well.
Their tamales aren't that bad. I often buy their frozen asparagus spears when it is out of season.
There's more that I'm not remembering. It's a small store, but I'm sure you'll have fun. =)
Cassaendra at 1:16AM on 03/15/08
Italian Orange Soda, comes in one liter bottles, and sits on the shelf next to the Orangina and Pellegrino.
Cheeses.
Frozen gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce. Hubby brought home a pack and I figured it would be mediocre at best; however, it was surprisingly tender and pretty tasty. We sauteed some onions first and added some frozen peas and the resulting dish was quite good.
I've had good luck with their frozen convenience foods...When I haven't been able to cook, I hit their freezer section.
Oh, and I like their hand lotion.
Hubby likes TJ's 71% dark chocolate. I've been sampling the chocolate selection and am currently enamored of Ritter Sport with Hazelnuts.
Around Thanksgiving, I bought an apple pie that was really good.
wookie at 2:49AM on 03/15/08
snapea crisps! dried fruit-- i love the orange flavored cranberries. the wine is pretty decently priced as well. the granola is pretty good also.
machellebelle at 3:20AM on 03/15/08
Greek yogurt and goat yogurt. Also, dried lychee and persimmons.
KarynMC at 8:27AM on 03/15/08
I forgot about frozen artichoke hearts. I've become somewhat dependent.
KarynMC at 9:33AM on 03/15/08
Yay for Trader Joe's. Most things are well priced and good quality; here are some faves...I love their tomato-less corn salsa, and their version of pirate's booty is great. I can't live without a bag of their frozen haricot vert in the freezer, and their grozen gyoza makes a quick snack or nice addition to a simple soup.
JojoK at 11:22AM on 03/15/08
In my TJ cart is usually Niman Ranch applewood smoked bacon, hummus quartet, some sort of trail mix or dried fruit, prosciutto, two buck chuck (wine), and then I impulse buy.
rebeccakidd at 11:26AM on 03/15/08
...their asceptic quarts of broth are good, all varieties of their fresh mozzarella are great (I especially like the sliced)...
JojoK at 11:35AM on 03/15/08
orange muscat vinegar, saffron, goat yogurt and goat milk, super cheap plugras butter, olive oil, liquid glycerin soap, irish breakfast tea, good earth tea, sunflower seed butter, boysenberry preserves, frozen organic raspberries, udderly smooth moisturizer, french roast coffee, slab blenheim apricots...
cybercita at 11:38AM on 03/15/08
Black pepper cashews, Thai spiced peanuts, thaw and eat edamame, masala patties, chocolate/mocha European style yogurt, perlini, olives, low-sugar jams, blueberry frozen waffles, spinach dip (frozen), ready-to-eat grits, low-fat mini rye toasts, starter tomato sauce, freeze dried litchis & dragonfruit, cooked vacuum-packed lentils (in the produce section), frozen strips of yellow, red, & green pepper. Sorry, I'm only on my second cup of coffee, so that's all I can remember at the moment.
Frozen black raspberries...
Barbara Hanson at 12:23PM on 03/15/08
their vegetable flax tortilla chips. SOOO good.
luswim06 at 1:21PM on 03/15/08
Try out their chocolate. You'd be surprised at the offerings.
Boscompb at 1:28PM on 03/15/08
French chocolate truffles and Naan (in the freezer section)
paris221966 at 1:37PM on 03/15/08
It sounds like you already have a pretty full shopping list if taking the advice of the previous posters, but I'm letting my mind wander on a virtual shopping aisle tour and I'll add my 2 cents, as well.
Enormous brioche rolls, that are perfect buns for gourmet burgers. Most of their other artisan breads are very good. You will love their cheese section. I often get Maytag, triple creme brie and tiny perlini mozz balls (perfect to stuff into olives or in garden salad). German smoked proscuitto, pinot grigio salami, avocado's number guacamole (good to have in the freezer when fresh avocados aren't available), T Giotto pesto (also great if fresh basil isn't in). Champagne-pear gorgonzola vinaigrette, "this fig walks into a bar" whole grain cereal bars, Double Rainbow perfect pumpkin or coffee blast ice cream, mango bars, matcha green tea, mocha and chocolate yogurt.
In the main freezer section, walnut-gorgonzola tortellini, wild bluberries and black raspberries, and over head, dark choc covered raisins, cherries and espresso beans and TJ belgian choc "pound" bulk bars.
Next aisle - lots of energy bars, Italian lemon and blood orange sodas. Spices and canned - saffron, vanilla and beans, organic sugars. Basalmic; white and otherwise, a great selection of grains and pasta, Goddess dressing (tahini), French dijon, wasabi-sake mustard, sun-dried bruschetta tapenade, butternut squash soup. The snack (nuts and dried fruits) aisle is where I completely lose control. Veggie chips, Multi-grain/sesame pita chips, white cheddar popcorn, TJ sesame sticks, candied ginger, blue corn tortilla chps, honey roasted peanuts, freeze dried fruits (no fave but they all are delicious)-mango, pineapple & rambuttan, sweet and tart trail mix.
$2 chuck sav blanc and merlot are my favorites of the $2 group, but I do buy them all to keep in back stock, especially for cooking. Honey Moon viognier, J.W.Morris reisling or gevertz. Cheese crax and rice crax.
I 've discovered new items each time I shop there. And, I'm sorry to add, quite dismayed to find one of the faves discontinued (specifically yin-yang nuts and wasabi farmer cheese spread, to name two. I'm still pining away...) Have fun on your new adventure!
frederika at 1:43PM on 03/15/08
frozen broccoli, punjab spinach sauce, cheap tofu, cheap brie, mixed sixpacks of beer (if you're a ratebeers.com addict like i am, this is clutch), relatively good inexpensive organic/free range meats, precut veggies, greek yogurt, larabars, pound plus belgian chocolate, almond milk, I must be forgetting something.
be warned, they will discontinue at least 1 or 2 things you fall in love with (mint hot chocolate? chicken masala bowl? shirataki noodles? tagine sauce? oh the heartbreak!). trader joes will tear out your heart, but you'll keep coming back for more...
rllevy at 2:03PM on 03/15/08
Oh My Goodness! Thank you all so much. Feel free if you add more if you think of anything else. I guess I've really been missing out. Thanks for making my grocery list--I'm going to look for everything you've mentioned.
AriaB at 2:04PM on 03/15/08
@AriaB - You think I'm bad now - you should have seen my shopping list when I didn't live in a town with a TJ! The really bad thing is that most of the time I go in for a couple of things, with no list. pffuuh...yeah, right.
@rllevy - I feel your heartbreak. They'll hurt you every time, won't they? (also the jumbo golden raisins. damn them...)
frederika at 2:53PM on 03/15/08
Cheeses. We aren't fancy and can't afford the expensive shops around, but we do like a bit of variety and usually have half a dozen different cheeses in the fridge. Trader Joe's has a variety and reasonably priced.
Nursie at 3:55PM on 03/15/08
See if they have fresh pizza dough. I just made some pizza from the dough last night and it was delicious. Also, their spice section is awesome and pretty cheap, too.
toastykitten at 4:18PM on 03/15/08
Frozen 3-minute microwave organic brown rice.
Boxes of individually wrapped, 100-calorie dark chocolate bars.
Fresh black bean and corn salsa.
overw8 at 5:01PM on 03/15/08
For anyone interested, I run a site that tracks new product annoucements and other store info/reviews for TJ's, Whole Foods and the like.
http://www.friendwich.com
I'd love some feedback on the site.
asphaltjesus at 12:17AM on 03/16/08
Oh gosh - I knew I'd forget stuff! I am absolutely hooked on the peach salsa. Also, the green chile salsa is fabulous, especially on fish tacos or smoked turkey quesadillas. I got some baked potato crisps the other day and ate almost the whole bag for lunch. They're that good. I saw ready cooked black lentils that I'd like to try, too.
frederika at 1:16AM on 03/16/08
I love their frozen Tarte d'Alsace, with ham, caramelized onions, Gruyere cheese and creme fraiche. I always stock up on their whole wheat british muffins. The gorgonzola and walnut tortellini are fantastic too.
abs294 at 1:03PM on 03/16/08
All cheeses -they're a great price, usually
T.Giotto's pesto
Whole wheat British muffins
Lobster ravioli
Chili Verde Chicken Burritos - great on a night you don't feel like cooking
Chinese mustard wonton chips
Soft whole wheat bread and tortillas
Roasted red pepper soup in a box
T. Ming's peanut satay and pad thai noodles
McCann's oatmeal
Wine, of course :)
and if you like to have fresh flowers in the house, they are inexpensive and last longer than most, in my experience.
Mnemosyne at 3:00PM on 03/16/08
omg, you may have opened up the floodgates.
Wine. Lots of it. My favorites include Black Mountain Pinot Noir & the New Zealand sauvignon blancs. Most of my friends can't get enough of their Vinho Verdes & the sweeter German rieslings. I would say skip the Charles Shaw, but hey, its $2-3. Just grab a bottle of each, and if you like it, then you've got yourself a keeper. If you don't like it, at least you can have sangria.
Ale & beer. Lots of it.
Grab lots of cereal, their Indian sauce jars, some juices, and whatever dried & frozen things look appealing to you... but skip the produce section . Also, skip their teas (but their coffee is supposedly generally quite good).
cafepeach at 9:51PM on 03/16/08
@ cafepeach, your link didn't work for me.
i drink their irish breakfast tea and it's perfectly ok, especially with milk and sugar, but then again, i'm not very fussy. it's soooo much cheaper than my usual pg tips.
cybercita at 10:32PM on 03/16/08
oh, my server was having weird hiccups. its back up now though. its really just a review of their teas that i've tried and disliked. but their irish breakfast tea is pretty good. its cheap and wonderful with plenty of milk. i used to have a big pg tips infatuation, but then i remembered that brits really aren't known for their culinary taste. nowadays i swing back and forth between twinings english breakfast & irish breakfast. yum!
cafepeach at 12:46AM on 03/17/08
How could you all leave out their Mandarin Orange chicken.
I buy the Anjinmoto frozen rice to serve this on, and add some Sriracha sauce to spice it up.
PDXracer at 3:04AM on 03/17/08
WOW all that and easy parking at my store too. I am anxious to see what the question asker buys on that first trip. My faves of course the edamame and the tomotillo salsa and anything they have to dip in it, along with 99% of what everyone has mentioned.
Do let us know what you bought!
mscind at 3:53AM on 03/17/08
frozen mini chicken tacos are awesome and a great, easy, and quick appetizer to serve to guests
guacamole is cheap and good, also love the roasted garlic salsa
free range, organic, low-sodium chicken broth at 1.99/quart is a great bargain, good when I don't have time to make my own
frozen thai shrimp gyoza
almond butter (my favorite is the unsalted, roasted, crunchy).
TJ's brand Greek yogurt
the mozzarella perlini are a very good price and a great addition to salads
99% of the time, I make my brownies from scratch, but I like to have a box of the truffled brownie mix on hand b/c it is super quick and easy, no measuring, one bowl, and it's always a big hit.
that's all I can remember for now ... expect LONG lines and crowds, the one near me is always crowded, which is the worst part about TJ's, but I still love it. (:
mrsbao at 8:53AM on 03/17/08
I highly recommend the Cherry Cider - my absolute favorite. Breaks my heart when it's there and gone.
Anything dark chocolate-covered - pretzels, almonds, etc.
Also love the mini-pitas with garlic hummus. My friend swears by the crumpets, but think they're just OK. Enjoy!
sixsonnets at 1:51PM on 03/17/08
@cafepeach, just looked at your link. funny that the consensus is the same: irish tea good. tarted up tea, not good. {that rooibos stuff is just plain nasty!}
cybercita at 2:07PM on 03/17/08
I wish a Trader Joes was opening near me. sigh....I have my mom ship me the Trader Joes brand cream shave- in mango vanilla-(similar to Alba brands cream shave) I realize it's not really food related but wow (!!) is is great stuff and smells DELICIOUS!
bisbee at 2:15PM on 03/17/08
@cybercita -- oh gawd, you tried that nasty rooibos stuff too?? i don't even know what to do with it. i'd be wasteful if i throw it out, delusional if i drink another one, mean if i give it to a friend, and just a plain ass if i donate it to charity.
but i'll probably try tj's tea again. maybe plainer varieties. just b/c i'm a sucker for them :(
cafepeach at 2:28PM on 03/17/08
This post makes me want to cry :(
I had a major TJ dependency when I lived in Boston. I was ecstatic when they opened in NYC, and devastated when I moved back to Miami. No stores set to open in FL yet...
bitchincamero at 3:44PM on 03/17/08
Browse the freezer section! Most things are surprisingly good. TJs bread with Lemon Curd is fantastic. I love snacking on almost all of their dried fruit.
Unfortunately, I'm stuck in GR, Michigan, and I am TJ-less. So sad. Have fun! Shopping there is always exciting! ^_^
Skythe at 5:24PM on 03/17/08
The Trader Joe's in my "area" is not really convenient to visit. But, on my last trip to TJ, I was gifted with their signature TJ re-usable sack. I am very proud to have received this gift. I was in a silly mood and was mentally caught up in a Seinfeld episode. The one where Elaine danced. We were in the frozen food isle and apparently, my "performance" was observed by several TJ employees. And The Award Goes To?................................
crazyspice at 7:08PM on 03/17/08