Grocery
53 Trader Joe’s Snacks We Could Polish Off in One Sitting
Our staff picks their all-time favorites.
Walking into Trader Joe’s can be an overwhelming experience. For so many reasons. First, there are all the charming, helpful employees with their breezy Hawaiian shirts and delightful smiles. And then there are all the the products: bags and boxes and containers of food that seems to extend for miles and miles and miles. The sheer amount of options is dizzying.
Because we’re creatures of habit, we tend to stick to what we know, that which brings us comfort. We’ve all got our favorites and that’s totally okay. But I was curious to know about—hungry for, if you will—everyone’s go-to Trader Joe’s purchases.
So I asked the staff, posed a simple question: What are your favorite Trader Joe’s snacks? Goodies you couldn’t live without? Munches you could devour a whole bag of in one sitting?
What I received in turn was a maelstrom of energy and answers. The Slack channel practically crashed from pure excitement. It seemed everyone had something to say, some snack to profess their love for. And so, I share with you all this list of favorites. They range the gamut from salty to sweet and back again.
I’ve edited and condensed the list for clarity and flow.
Rob Strype: Milk Chocolate–Covered Peanut Butter Pretzels, amazing!
Jackson Fust: SALTED PEANUT BUTTER PRETZELS… The unsalted are trash.
Jeremy Beker: Their Pita Crackers, and always the Unexpected Cheddar.
Joanna Sciarrino: Crispy, Crunchy Mochi Rice Nuggets. They're always near the line to pay and get me every time. I've come reallllly close to finishing a bag in one sitting. Also the wasabi almonds—they're just nose-tingly enough without blowing your head off.
Amanda Hesser: Merrill introduced me to their Peanut Butter Cups. Damn her!
Eric Kim: An entire jar of Speculoos Cookie Butter for dinner!
Sophie Corwin: Omg their Sweet & Spicy Pecans are everything… Also their Chocolate Cat Cookies dipped in coffee for dessert… Also any of their mini cookies… Basically all of Trader Joe’s.
Brinda Ayer: Zesty Nacho Kale Chips and their Popcorn in a Pickle. Or their Popcorn with Herbs and Spices.
Megan Güntaş: Does the Flax and Chia Seed Crunchy Peanut Butter count? I eat that literally every day. Oh!! The Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips are so addicting. They are so much better than the usual tortilla chip. Oh, also the Pistachio Pomegranate Crisps! Also, the Mediterranean Hummus is so yummy.
Erin Alexander: I don’t even like them that much, but I could eat a thousand of the Inner Peas Baked Peas and Happy Trekking Nut Mix!
Danielle Curtis-Williams: I buy 2 of the Chipotle Garlic Salsas at a time because I ran out once and it was a sad, sad day. Also their Bollywood Popcorn.
Eunice Choi: The Mini Mint Ice Cream Mouthfuls, Hold the Cone Mini Ice Cream Cones, dried mangos, veggie chips, mango gummies, and so much more.
Jackson Fust: Double Roasted Salsa deserves a shout out too.
Sophie Corwin: Cowboy Caviar, too!
Danielle Curtis-Williams: And the Green Goddess Salad Dressing is good on ANYTHING (salads and meat)!
Erin Alexander: I will forever love the Pistachio and Pomegranate Crisps. My mom always buys them during the holidays for dips, cheese spreads (they taste incredible with a goat cheese and a drizzle of honey), and of course, eating straight out of the box.
Hana Asbrink: The Sour Cream & Onion Corn Puffs!
Caroline Harris: Their Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chips Cookies are my downfall.
Sarah Yaffa: Their Bamba Peanut Snacks: the best snack for babies.
Lindsay-Jean Hard: Scandinavian Swimmers and all of their seasonal varieties (vegetarian-friendly gummies for the win!) and their berry and strawberry Soft Licorice Twists.
Erin Sanders: Peanut butter-filled pretzels, and the dark chocolate peanut butter cups...lol, anything with peanut butter!
Eric Kim: I always stock up on roasted seaweed snack when I’m there.
Danielle Curtis-Williams: Chili and lime-flavored rolled corn tortilla chips for the win.
Eric Kim: OH, and I j'adore the green bean chips.
Annalee Leggett: Frozen mango!
Megan Guntas: Their Norwegian Crispbread Crackers with Trader Joe's almond butter.
Danielle Curtis-Williams: Oh! Their mozzarella with their balsamic glaze and a tomato and salt....a beautiful snack (add an avocado if you're feeling fancy).
Merrill Stubbs: I know Ryan Charles likes their unsweetened dried cherries—not so easy to find, though. +1 on dark chocolate peanut butter cups, and my kids love their animal crackers.
Eddie Barrera: Cats cookies but NOT the chocolate kind.
Rebekah Daniels: I love the maple leaf sandwich cookies. Those have to go on a very high, difficult-to-reach shelf whenever I buy them.
Brette Warshaw: The multigrain pita bite crackers and the frozen dark-chocolate-covered bananas.
Funmi Ojo: Belgian butter almond thins.
Erin Alexander: Their dark chocolate-covered mini pretzels are SO GOOD it's impossible to put down the bag.
Written by: Valerio Farris
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