Trader Joe's [1] is my Disneyland [2]. When I walk in, I'm instantly happy, greeted with so many delicious and nutritious foods — it makes eating healthy so easy. If you're obsessed with meal prepping like me, here are some of the best Trader Joe's products [3] that will save you time and allow you to create wholesome meals for yourself and your family — without breaking the bank!
Baked Tofu
Save time marinating and baking your own tofu [4] and buy this — it's firm, perfectly salty, and each square offers 16 grams of protein. Cube it to add to salads or sauté in a quick evening stir-fry.
Organic Baby Kale
Much easier than dealing with bunches of regular kale that you need to wash and chop, just add handfuls of this baby kale to mason jars for your week of salads [5].
Butternut Squash Zig-Zags
Look for this package in the fridge section by the other veggies. You can sauté this quickly to use in place of pasta.
Sprouted Whole Grain Pizza Crust
This is much easier and less messy than making your own dough, or rolling out a ball of premade pizza dough — and healthier, too, since it's made with sprouted grains [6]. Just add toppings for a quick dinner.
Meatless Meatballs
A fast and delicious source of plant-based protein, these taste like real meatballs! Just microwave quickly, and add to pasta or whole grains, or pack for snacks. No need to spend time making your own.
Frozen Cooked Quinoa
Heat this quinoa up, and use it in place of oatmeal for a fruity, nutty, mapley breakfast.
Rice Cauliflower
Found in the fridge section, just cook up a couple bags to use as rice in your lunch meal prep.
Hard-Boiled Peeled Eggs
These are more expensive than buying fresh eggs, but they're cooked AND peeled, saving you tons of time. Enjoy them for breakfast, add these to salads, or use for snacks.
Soycutash
Add this bag of plain corn, edamame, and diced red pepper to a can of black beans, and use as a simple burrito filling for a quick dinner.
Shredded Carrots
Love carrots in your salads? Forget taking out the cutting board — just use these shredded carrots. You can also sauté this as a pasta alternative [7].
Rice Broccoli
If you love cauliflower rice, you'll love broccoli rice. Sauté a few bags to add to lunch containers instead of rice.
Carrot Spirals
Found in the freezer section, carrot spirals are a fun and sweet alternative to spaghetti.
Broccoli Florets
Steam a bag, and add to your lunch containers — no knife and cutting board needed!
Roasted Chicken Patties
Found in the fridge section, these are fully cooked and ready to eat.
Vegetable Fried Rice
Just add one package of diced super-extra-firm tofu (or two packages of the marinated tofu from Trader Joe's), half a cup of frozen corn, half a cup of frozen edamame, and two cups of frozen broccoli. Dinner is ready in fewer than 10 minutes!
Tropical Fruit Blend
Consider your smoothie already made!
Courgette Noodles
Found in the fridge section, cook up courgette noodles as a spaghetti alternative, and it's a quick, easy, and healthy dinner.
Frozen Steelcut Oatmeal
Steel cut oatmeal [8] is filling and delicious, but this one cooks up in minutes (compared to 40 if you do it yourself).
Trail Mix Packets
For a quick protein-packed snack, Trader Joe's makes a few varieties of premade trail mix packs, so you can grab these instead of making them yourself.
Rice Medley
For a supersimple meal, just add a can of pinto or kidney beans seasoned with cumin, garlic, and a little cayenne pepper, chopped broccoli, a little shredded kale, and that's it! Sauté in a little oil, and you're done. Not a glamorous meal, but it's quick and packed with protein and fibre. Or use in your lunch meal prep.
Frozen Vegetable Medley
No washing or cutting needed, you can do so much with these frozen veggies! Season a few bags, and they'd be a great side dish for lunches.
Just Chicken
Fully cooked, you can season this any way you want to add to salads, or to make chicken salad.
Gluten-Free Rolled Oats
Make a week's worth of overnight oats [9] with a bag of this. Or cook up some protein bars [10] to use as snacks for the week.
Frozen Peppers
Sauté a bag of these to add to cooked grains for lunches for the week.
Rainbow Cauliflower
No cutting board and knife needed to battle heads of cauliflower! Steam or bake this — it has four different varieties of cauliflower! Find it in the frozen section.
Brussels Sprouts
Found in the freezer section, just add to a roasting pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and it's a cinch!
Sugar Snap Peas
Add these to containers with hummus [11] for easy snacks.
Frozen Brown Rice
Forget cooking brown rice on the stove for 40 minutes. When you want rice with dinner, this cooks up in minutes!