I’m a dietitian who shops at Trader Joe’s. Here are 8 of the best things I got there this year.

As a dietitian and former Trader Joe’s employee, the store is my go-to for tasty, satisfying ingredients. 

Before I became a dietitian and intuitive-eating counselor, I worked at Trader Joe’s. To this day, the retailer is one of my favorite places to find new food options that keep things varied and exciting in the kitchen.

As a dietitian, I encourage people to follow an intuitive-eating framework, which means I don’t put clients on restrictive diets or meal plans.

Instead, I use the principles of intuitive eating — an evidenced-based approach that encourages clients to listen to their body’s natural hunger and fullness cues — to help them decide what, when, and how much they should eat.

Throughout my own intuitive-eating journey, I’ve found some great snacks and ingredients at Trader Joe’s. Here are some of my favorite things I grabbed there throughout 2024.

Trader Joe’s farm-raised smoked-trout fillets are delicious in salads or on a cracker.

Trader Joe’s farm-raised smoked-trout fillets are a must-buy for me.

Eating protein-rich foods, like this smoked trout, is an excellent way to create an energizing, filling meal.

Trader Joe’s smoked trout has become a staple in my home — it’s a great shelf-stable item to have on hand when I want to add more sustenance to a meal.

This flavorful fish makes a great addition to a greens-and-feta salad, though the fillets are also delicious simply paired with a cracker.

I have the organic tea and lemonade when I want to make my meals more satisfying.

I love that Trader Joe’s organic tea and lemonade doesn’t taste too sweet. 

When I followed restrictive diets, I was afraid to have sugar-sweetened beverages because I felt guilty about drinking my calories.

Now, as an intuitive eater, I know that adding fun drinks to meals can be a great way to enhance satisfaction. When our meals are satisfying, we can move on without dwelling and decrease our chances of bingeing or overeating later.

This tea-and-lemonade beverage has the perfect level of sweetness. I love having it with a turkey sandwich, a hearty salad, or cheese and crackers.

I was recently introduced to the Italian Bomba hot-pepper sauce, and I love it.

Trader Joe’s Italian Bomba hot-pepper sauce adds flavor to pasta and soups.

A friend recently shared a recipe for spicy-vodka rigatoni, which called for Calabrian chiles. She recommended using Trader Joe’s Italian Bomba sauce, a Calabrian-chile-based flavoring, and it has become an instant favorite.

It adds a flavorful punch to pasta dishes and soups, though it’s also tasty when smeared on crusty bread or mixed with mayo.

Trader Joe’s Silver Goat chèvre is perfectly creamy and crumbly.

I use Trader Joe’s Silver Goat chèvre to add a creaminess to various dishes.

I’ve tried many different kinds of goat cheese, but this one from Trader Joe’s is my favorite.

It’s the ideal mixture of creamy and crumbly, making it a perfect addition to fall salads or a roasted-root-veggie dish. It also adds richness to pasta dishes when I don’t have milk or cream.

I recommend spreading this goat cheese on toast and pairing it with different toppings, like walnuts, honey, and sea salt, or caramelized mushrooms and onions.

I love adding the organic toasted-sesame dressing to my salads.

Trader Joe’s organic toasted-sesame dressing is delicious. 

When a craving for salad strikes, I enjoy using Trader Joes toasted-sesame dressing.

Having a premade dressing lowers the workload of making a salad, which is another reason I love keeping this delicious dressing stocked in my fridge.

Trader Joe’s broccoli-and-kale slaw is a convenient way for me to get my veggies.

I usually pair Trader Joe’s broccoli-and-kale slaw with pizza.

Some days, I crave fresh flavors but don’t have the bandwidth to cut up lettuce and veggies — which is why I appreciate this broccoli-and-kale slaw with dried cherries, slivered almonds, and sunflower seeds.

Even when I don’t have the time or energy to start chopping ingredients, I can almost always find it in me to dump the contents into a bowl and toss them with the kit’s premade, sweet slaw dressing.

Sometimes, I’ll doctor the salad up with goat-cheese crumbles. I typically pair the salad with a frozen pizza to add a source of carbs and fat and create a more filling meal.

I use the raw Argentinian red shrimp to add protein to simple dishes.

I like to add Trader Joe’s raw Argentinian red shrimp to either a pesto pasta or a scampi.

In my opinion, the Argentinian red shrimp tastes so fresh, you’d never know that it comes frozen.

During the summer, I add this shrimp to a simple pasta dish with pesto, pine nuts, and tomatoes for a protein-rich meal with lots of staying power. In the colder months, I make a shrimp scampi with simple ingredients like lemon, broth, wine, and Parmesan cheese.

Like the smoked trout, this frozen shrimp is great for adding a protein boost to my meals.

Trader Joe’s hot-and-sweet pepper jelly is the perfect flavor combination.

I spread Trader Joe’s hot-and-sweet pepper jelly on crackers and sandwiches.

When I ask new clients which foods they enjoy, many of them have been dieting for so long that they no longer know what flavors they authentically enjoy.

In my intuitive-eating experience, I discovered I love the combination of sweet and salty flavors. In particular, I adore Trader Joe’s sweet, spicy pepper jam with savory cheese and crackers.

It’s also delicious spread on a grilled-cheese sandwich for that same flavor contrast.

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