5 Must-Buy Trader Joe's Items For First-Time Customers

While I don't get to shop at Trader Joe's as often as I'd like these days because the nearest one's across town and parking is iffy (why are those lots so small?), I've long been a fan. So long, in fact, that when I first discovered the store in the late '90s, it was just beginning to expand out of California and the southwest. As I only briefly resided in the Golden State, I didn't rediscover the store for another decade and was surprised by all the changes. In its earlier years, it seemed to be more budget-oriented like Aldi, and my one must-buy was a type of generic beer that I vaguely recall resembling the one seen in the movie "Repo Man." (It was not only super cheap but flavorful and I liked it a lot more than Two-Buck Chuck.) Trader Joe's prices for both booze and food have gone up over the years to the point where it's no longer such a bargain shopper's paradise, but I nevertheless appreciate the unique variety of relatively affordable indulgences it offers.

One of the exciting things about shopping at Trader Joe's is the constantly rotating stock of new items as well as the ever-entertaining "Fearless Flyer" that showcases them. (The annual holiday guide is especially entertaining.) The items chosen for this list, however, seem to be more or less on the permanent menu. This means that if you'll be visiting Trader Joe's for the first time, you stand a fair chance of being able to find them even if you don't make it to the store before the next flyer comes winging its way to your inbox.

If there's one thing Trader Joe's really excels at, it's providing high-quality, upscale frozen entrees. Sure, these are going to cost a bit more than Banquet or Michelina's, but they're also the kind of thing you'll actually look forward to eating for dinner. While you can hardly go wrong with just about anything in TJ's frozen food aisle, one tried-and-true favorite is the butter chicken with basmati rice.

Butter chicken is one of India's favorite dishes, although its origins may be actually Pakistani as it predates the separation of the two nations. Whichever country claims credit, it's become a global favorite over the past century, and Trader Joe's does it justice with its heat-and-eat version. The tomato sauce is rich and buttery, as the name implies, while the garlic, ginger, and onions really bring the flavor, and there's just enough rice to sop up the sauce. So popular is this product (and deservedly so!) that it was named one of the store's Customer's Choice Award winners for both 2024 and 2023.

Way back in 2017, Trader Joe's kicked off the "everything bagel" craze when it debuted its "Everything But the Bagel" seasoning blend. Not content to rest on its laurels (even though bay leaves may be one of the few spices left out of the mix), the company followed up with several seasonings including the popular Everything but the Elote that debuted in 2020.

Everything but the Elote combines dried chiles (including chipotles) with cilantro, cumin, Parmesan cheese, and salt, plus there's a touch of sugar for sweetness. Sure, you can sprinkle it on an ear of corn to get that Mexican street corn flavor, while it's equally at home in elotes casserole or cornbread or sprinkled over popcorn. It also works great in non-corn related dishes like chicken tenders or potato salad, though, and can be used to rim the glass for a margarita or michelada. You could also use it to spice up a batch of michelada ice cubes, then toss these in your beer for an instant cocktail. If you're feeling especially experimental, you might even want to sprinkle it over sugar cookies for an interesting sweet and savory twist.

Salad is often thought of as a summertime meal, but a hearty entree salad can be satisfying at any time of year. Trader Joe's offers a wide selection of salad kits that come complete with vegetables, seasonings, dressing, and other embellishments. On the more seasonal end of the spectrum, these include an arugula salad with a summery basil-lemon vinaigrette and a fall-flavored harvest salad with apples, pecans, and an apple vinaigrette dressing.

Other Trader Joe's salad kits would be welcome at any time of year, including the "Dill-icious" with its pickle chips and cucumber dressing, a sweet chili mango salad with Thai-inspired dressing, and a Mediterranean-meets-Deep South mashup featuring black pepper Toscano cheese along with cornbread croutons and barbecue dressing. I'm particularly fond of the spicy southwestern salad with pepitas, cotija cheese, and poblano-avocado dressing. One of my newest favorites, though, is the popular Pizza Ranch. This salad really does have a pizza-like flavor to it with its herbed bread strips and cheesy crumbles, although I prefer adding pepperoni and mozzarella chunks to turn it into an awesome antipasto salad. I'm not ordinarily a ranch fan, either, but the tangy tomato powder in this kit's dressing really won me over. Even so, it retains enough of ranch dressing's signature creaminess that Hidden Valley fans should have no objections.

Ice cream may be the best dessert ever invented, and it's even more enjoyable in a cone. I don't know if this is something that's been drilled into us since childhood, or it's just the contrast of the crunchy wafer with the soft scoop that makes the two a perfect combo. The thing is, though, committing to an entire ice cream cone is something I don't do on a regular basis, since it seems like the kind of slightly messy indulgence that's best saved for a trip to the ice cream parlor. Trader Joe's Hold the Cone minis, however, are an entirely different story, and it's all because of two magic words: portion control.

Yes, each magic mini-cone has only about 85 calories, which is less than you'd find in a small banana. With just that much room in my daily budget, I know which one I'd pick! Plus, these cones bring all the fun of eating tiny food. This product, which won Trader Joe's 2023 Customer Choice Award for best dessert, comes in several different flavors including strawberry, chocolate, and chocolate chip, and there's even a vegan version made with coconut milk. Sadly, my favorite peppermint ones seem to be a holiday-only thing, but I always try to snag a few boxes when they're in season.

I've never been much of soda drinker, so I really was into seltzer back before it was cool. Despite my fondness for sparkling water, though, I'll admit it can be a bit boring since in most cases, the flavor is more hint than genuine presence. I was pretty pleased, therefore, to discover Spindrift a few years back, but even so, I never found that one perfect flavor. Trader Joe's, however, nailed it on the first try with a product that some described as a Spindrift knockoff.

Trader Joe's Seltzers with a Splash were first released in 2018, and they came in three different flavors: blood orange and orange, cranberry and lime, and lemon and ginger. Seven years later, the website still shows images of all these flavors but only lists the lemon and ginger variety as being currently available. While I seem to recall seeing the other two flavors within the past year or so, I admit I haven't really been looking. Spindrift, after all, has both blood orange and cranberry flavors (admittedly in different combinations, since the first is paired with tangerine and the second with raspberry), but the brand has never ventured into ginger. To me, the lemon-ginger combination is practically perfect, at least the way Trader Joe's pulls it off. It's not at all sweet (I've never been a ginger ale fan), but instead is spicy and tangy and oh-so-good. Best seltzer I've ever tasted, and that's saying a lot. I hope TJ's keeps it in the lineup forever.