Wow – summer, where did you go?! It seems like just yesterday the heat waves started, the rain stopped falling, and all the summer foods at Trader Joe’s came out in full force (actually, if you live in California like me, it still feels like summer!).
While I’m finding it crazy just how fast time passes each year, I’m happy to bid summer farewell in favor of my favorite season – fall! But before I can delve into all the fall goodies this year, it’s time to do a little recap of everything new I picked up and got to try over the summer. The awesome thing about new products that release in the spring and summer is that many of them are not seasonal and are thrown into the regular rotation. You don’t have to worry about them going away within weeks of discovery.
Let me know what your summer favorites were in the comments!
Summer Hits
I decided to do “Hits” and “Misses” sections so I could separate out the good from the bad (because believe it or not, not everything from Trader Joe’s is magical – a sad but true fact that I have to face).
Here are the the wonderful new things I sampled over the summer!
Cauliflower Thins
These cauliflower thins are a low-carb dieter’s dream! I’ve used these for sandwiches and burgers, and they hold up pretty well. I’ve also seen people make mini pizzas with them. In my store, they are located in the refrigerated section by the pizza dough and sauce (I had a hard time finding them at first). I’m so glad these are sticking around and I will always have them in my fridge for when I need to cut back on the carbs.
Cheddar Garlic Focaccia Bread
Speaking of carbs, say hello to one of my new all-time favorite items! This focaccia bread is amazing! Not only is it super tasty, it’s also very soft and easy to eat. I recommend toasting it up for all kinds of sandwiches. We made Chili Onion Crunch chicken sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, and even breakfast sandwiches! It is pretty much the best sandwich bread I’ve ever had and is still available in stores now (hopefully this is a permanent item).
Just the Lobsters
The Scandinavian Swimmer gummies are one of my favorite sweet treats at TJ’s – and everyone knows the lobsters are the best flavor! I suppose that’s why they came out with a little mini pack – coming in at just 99 cents. I’ll probably still buy the regular Scandinavian Swimmers pack since I love all the gummies, but if you are a diehard lobster fan, these were made for you!
Meyer Lemon Hard Seltzer
Hard seltzers are all the rage this year as more companies are jumping on the bandwagon. I’ve been drinking them for years, so I’m always happy to try a new item when it comes out. These are very light and not overly sweet. However, I can’t really drink more than one or two in a sitting (as is the case with most hard seltzers for me), but they are really refreshing and worth having in your fridge for hot summer days.
Brioche Buns
Anything brioche = always acceptable to me! I love brioche bread, and these buns are super soft and just waiting for you to load them up. We used them for pulled pork sandwiches, and oh my lord, they were so good!
Lemon Wafer Cookies
The lemon baton wafer cookies were an absolute delight to eat and I wish I would have picked up more. I love lemon anything, and these were perfect – tangy with sweet cream on the inside, and a nice crisp from the wafers on the outside. Really addicting!
Peanut Udon Noodle Salad
The udon noodle salad was an item that I grabbed for a quick lunch after one of my shopping trips, and though it comes in a compact container, it is a lot of food! I had to put it into a bigger bowl and mix it up to be able to eat it. Overall, I thought it was a little dry so I added some rice vinegar to it to give it some extra “dressing” but definitely a repeat buy for an easy meal.
Oven-Baked Cheese Bites
These cheese bites are delicious! What are they? Oven baked cheese. That’s it! And flavored with black truffles. They were a little on the pricey side but you really don’t need to eat too many in one sitting with the richness of the truffle flavor. This is also an excellent snack for low-carbers.
Mochi Rice Nuggets
I grew up eating arare in Hawaii, which is a crispy rice snack, so I thought I might like these. The flavor is a little plain, but they are salty and have a nice crunch. These are on the “win” list because my husband loves them and always requests a bag when I go on my TJ’s trips.
Yuzu Hot Sauce
What a great flavor addition to Asian dishes! I’ve used this as a finisher for my fried rice dishes, and my husband has also incorporated it into his Sriracha sour cream dipping sauce. It’s not super spicy, and imparts a nice sweet flavor from the yuzu.
Romesco Dip
This Romesco Dip definitely had some bold flavors going on and has a really nice red pepper flavor. I used it for dipping veggies as an afternoon snack, but I also think that this would make a nice simple pasta sauce.
Peppermint & Tea Tree Shampoo Bar
I’ve been dying to try out a shampoo bar for ages in an attempt to reduce plastic waste in my household, so I was very excited to see this on the shelves! It does take some work to get it to lather, especially if you have thick hair. I also feel that it needs a little more moisture for my hair type so I won’t be using it daily. However, overall, I think this is a great item to take traveling so you don’t have to worry about an extra bottle of liquid. Plus it has a mermaid on it…
Chocolate Chip Granola Bites
These are a great little snack! The bites come in little individual packets with several nuggets in each and work perfectly for adding to a packed lunch, or even to take on a road trip as a snack.
Strawberry Oat Ice Cream
Trader Joe’s does a pretty good job with their non-dairy items, but this one is by far my favorite non-dairy ice cream they make. I really love strawberry ice cream in general, and this version is nice and creamy with tons of strawberry flavor. It also has a little almond brittle and candied strawberries mixed in.
Sweet & Spicy Pineapple BBQ Sauce
This BBQ sauce is a new favorite, and goes great with grilled chicken. It would also be really delicious with some grilled shrimp! I typically don’t enjoy pineapple flavored things (unless it’s fresh-sliced pineapple), but found this was not overpowering. It is on the sweeter side, so if you prefer your BBQ sauce more savory, you might not like this.
Almond Butter Cups
A very delicious alternative for people who don’t like peanut butter! These almond butter cups are creamy and the dark chocolate is a great companion for it to not become an overly sweet dessert. These little packs are 99 cents each and come with two cups.
Shredded Unexpected Cheddar
For all you sharp cheddar cheese lovers out there, this stuff will hit the spot. We melted it on hot dogs (weird, I know), and also on top of burgers. I know this would also make a great mac and cheese when given the chance because of how much sharp flavor you get from the cheese! TJ’s also sells this in blocks if you want to shred it yourself.
Brioche Hot Dog Buns
Thank you, Trader Joe’s, for making these babies! So far we’ve used them to make Asian style dogs (see below), hot dogs with A&H Kosher Beef dogs, and we even took them on a weekend trip to the coast and made homemade lobster rolls with them. I hope these stick around for a long time to come! They are so soft and just have a great flavor to them.
Cookies & Cream Protein Bar
Truth be told, I really only grabbed this because it was on the new item shelf and I like cookies and cream-flavored items. I am not normally a protein bar fan (ever since that one time I hiked Half Dome in Yosemite and ate way too many in one day). I was really surprised biting into this! It felt like I was eating a treat. This is hands down the best protein bar I’ve ever had. No lie.
Cacio e Pepe Spaghetti
Cacio e Pepe – where you been all my life?! Can’t travel to Italy this year? Trader Joe’s is expertly bringing a little bit of Italy to you. Cacio e Pepe can easily be found in Rome, and now it can be in your kitchen too. It’s creamy; it’s peppery; it’s rich as all heck; and it’s delicious! One bag would be enough for two people, especially if you add in some extras like broccoli, some grilled chicken, or even some tasty little shrimp! If we’re being honest here, though, I ate the whole bag by myself…
Cacio e Pepe Ravioli
Double whammy on the Cacio e Pepe! I took a cue from Dash of Mandi and simply tossed the cooked ravioli with some fresh-squeezed lemon juice and olive oil, and topped it with cracked pepper and Pepper Toscano cheese. So good, and so simple!
Cheese Fiocchetti
Trader Joe’s is really doing a great job with their new frozen pastas – and they are so easy to make! Just heat up in a pan with a little bit of water and voila! This fiocchetti is pretty darn good – cheesy and creamy with a hint of basil. I would definitely recommend this to anyone else who loves cheese pasta!
Sweet Corn, Basil & Burrata Ravioli
Nothing says summer like Sweet Corn, Basil & Burrata! This is definitely a seasonal item that only comes around during the summer, so if you got to try this, you’re lucky! I kept it light with some fresh lemon juice and olive oil like I did for the Cacio e Pepe ravioli, and it was perfect. I also topped it with some grated cheese and fresh basil shreds.
Asian Style Chicken Sausage
This Asian Style Chicken Sausage is truly unique! The color will definitely catch your eye, and that’s due in part to the beet root powder. The really pronounced flavor in this, at least for me, was the char siu , which totally reminded me of my days in Hawaii eating char siu pork manapua buns. It’s a little on the sweet side, so pairing it with savory items is your way to go.
We made Asian-style dogs with the brioche buns I mentioned above, kimchi, a little melted unexpected cheddar, green onion, Dijon mustard (Chinese hot mustard would be perfect too), and a Sriracha sour cream sauce that my husband concocted (mayo would also work if that’s your jam).
Black Pepper Toscano Cheese
You know all those pastas I sampled above? I put this on all of them! This is a nice sharp cheese that is perfect when grated on top of any warm pasta for a bit of a bite that is reminiscent of parmesan cheese. Delish.
Kimchi
Finally! It’s back! I used to buy the kimchi years ago at Trader Joe’s when it came in bags. They’ve brought it back in plastic containers now, which can be found in the meat section (near the fresh sauerkraut and pickles). It’s not spicy at all, but it does have a good flavor and I eat it alongside pretty much all of our Asian-style dinners.
A&H Hot Dogs with the Fixings
Are all hot dogs created equally? Certainly not! I really enjoyed the flavor of these A&H Kosher Beef hot dogs, especially with the brioche buns, a little yellow mustard, pickled jalapenos, pickle spears, and fresh onions. My husband pan fried them and then steamed them in a little PBR (Pabst beer) to infuse flavor and add moisture. So good!
Labneh Cheese
Lastly, Trader Joe’s has come out with labneh cheese, which is a Middle Eastern style kefir cheese. I love using this when we get our Blue Apron meals, so I knew exactly what to do with it when it came out at Trader Joe’s. I made a garlicky lemon labneh to go with our chicken shawarma pitas! I would compare labneh to Greek yogurt in the sense that it’s more of a tangy or sour flavored “cheese” and has the consistency of a thick sour cream.
Summer Misses
When you try so many different products, you’re bound to find a few that just don’t work for you. But that’s the fun of it all! Finding out what works, and what doesn’t.
Cauliflower Jalapeno Dip
This one might be surprising to some because it got really great reviews, especially in the Trader Joe’s Instagram community, but I just did not care for it at all. While nice and creamy, I found this dip to be incredibly bland (and not spicy even with the jalapeno) and I wouldn’t buy it again unless I planned on adding a lot of extra seasoning to it.
Tieton Strawberry Hard Cider
I’m not saying it tastes bad, but this hazy strawberry hard cider from Tieton was just a little too sweet for me. It does have a nice strong ABV though at 6.9%!
Lemon Strawberry Hand Cream
I really wanted to love this, but the Lemon Strawberry Hand Cream was just way too sweet smelling for me. I will likely use it in a pinch when I really need something and my other lotions and creams have run dry, but it really pales in comparison to my favorite rose hand cream I got from TJ’s in the spring. Keep rolling them out, Trader Joe’s, I need to find a replacement!
Honey Aleppo Sauce
Here’s an item that I’m on the fence about – probably because I should have utilized it on more of a variety of things. Straight out of the bottle, I thought the flavor was good – sweet and tangy at the same time, almost like a Chinese sweet & sour sauce. However, I used it to marinate tofu overnight and then fried it up for a stir fry bowl. Even though it sat overnight in the sauce, it wasn’t nearly enough to give my tofu the punch of flavor that tofu needs. I think this sauce would be better suited for something light like shrimp or chicken, and though it’s on my “Misses” list, I would be willing to give it another try with a different protein.
Smoked Ahi Tuna
This was another item that people really loved this summer, but I would probably not buy it again. I used it to top my bagel and cream cheese, as I normally do with smoked salmon. Right out of the bag, it was a little too fishy for my liking. You definitely also want to eat all of it the same day you open the package because it does not keep once the air gets to it. If you want to give it a shot, I’ve seen a lot of people use this to make poke bowls, or you could also make an attempt to make your own sushi.
Eggplant with Tomatoes & Onions
Last on my “Misses” list is this Grecian Eggplant with Tomatoes & Onions. I snapped one up since it was sitting next to one of my favorite items – Dolmas! I had a side of the eggplant with a Meditteranean-style tuna bowl I made for lunch and the roasted/smoky flavor of it all just really overpowered my palate. It’s also brown and slimy – so not visually appetizing!
The End!
And we’ve come to the end of my summer rundown! I cannot believe all the new stuff that Trader Joe’s put out this year, which was great because it kept me occupied through “quarantine” life.
I’d love to know what you thought of anything on this list!
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