My Top 8 Favorite Trader Joe’s Products

According to Wikipedia, As of October 31, 2023, Trader Joe's had 564 stores across 42 states in the United States with stores being added regularly. Most locations average between 10,000 and 15,000 sq ft. California has the largest number of stores with 193 open in the state. The chain's busiest location is its 72nd & Broadway store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The smallest Trader Joe's location is in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts on Boylston St.

Each location is designed to represent its respective area, with staff members creating murals along store walls to represent the surrounding neighborhood.

As of February 2024, Trader Joe’s has 19 locations in New Jersey.

Trader Joe’s gets my business at least once a month. I discovered Trader Joe’s well over a decade ago when I was visiting my mom back home on Long Island.
She took me to the one on Jericho Turnpike in East Northport. That location has since moved a couple of miles up the turnpike to Commack.

OMG!! I have never seen so many unusual finds in one store.

They sell wine in that Long Island location! At the time, people referred to the wine selections as the “Two Buck Chuck.”

Charles Shaw is an American brand of bargain-priced wine produced in California. The  variety of wines were introduced at Trader Joe's in California in 2002 at the price of 1.99 per bottle, earning the wines the nickname "Two Buck Chuck."

Bottles of wine for just $2.00. I took a chance and purchased a couple of bottles. They weren’t bad. I’m no expert wine connoisseur, but for $2.00 it served its purpose.

In 2024, only 2 New Jersey Trader Joe's locations sell alcohol. The Trader Joe's in Princeton sells beer, wine, and liquor. The Westfield store sells beer and wine Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and spirits Monday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The days of the "Two Buck Chuck" are in the past. Although still inexpensive, you can grab a bottle at the current price of $3.99.

I shopped til I dropped. I schlepped an overfilled cart of goods back to my mom’s house and then had to repack everything for my trek back to New Jersey.

I purchased a bunch of those inexpensive insulated bags, then drove 2 hours to Manchester, New Jersey where I lived at the time.

Then, I strategically rearranged my refrigerator, freezer, pantry, and linen closet to fit hundreds of dollars of food, spices, toiletries and other cool finds.

When I returned to work the following Monday, I shared my enthusiasm with my co-workers, and discovered via Doug "The Promo Rat" that there was a Trader Joe’s in Westfield.

In recent years, Trader Joe’s opened a couple of stores not far from where I live and work. They have a store in Shrewsbury in Monmouth County and a store in Brick, N.J. in Ocean County.

I'm constantly finding new items on display, lots of them only for a limited time. Then there are the seasonal items. If I find things that are only available for a single season, I buy several.

Let's take run through my current favorite items at my local Trader Joe's.

I grab a quart of my homemade chicken stock from the freezer or a store bought good quality stock and add these fluffy flavorful dumplings.
To add a little more substance, I throw in some fresh baby spinach and maybe some leftover roast chicken to make it a meal.

I have also eaten them all by themselves as they are filled with broth. Be careful, they will be very hot after you pull them out of the microwave.

I also recommend the steamed pork and ginger soup dumplings.

Caution:  You will not want to share these once you've eaten your first square. There are 12 of them per box. They say to thaw them for 2 hours, but who has the kind of time?

Chocolate chip covered creamy squares sitting atop a chocolate crust. Get'em while you can for a limited time only.

If you're not in the mood to whip up a creamy vodka sauce, then use this version. I'm not usually big on jarred sauce, but this sauce knocked my socks off. It tastes as good as my homemade version. I add a little basil and a touch more cream, and toss it with grilled chicken and my favorite pasta.

Garlic is the blend's first ingredient, followed by citric acid, onion powder, salt, lime oil, and lime juice. Red pepper, bitter orange oil, and lemon oil build upon the flavor, and a host of herbs and spices (bay leaves, coriander, cumin, cilantro, black pepper...) round it out.  

I've used it to season salmon or chicken before roasting it in the oven.  I've also used it to jazz up a variety of sheet pan dinners.

It's a dry version of Cuban mojo marinade and it is terrific.

It's TJ's version of teriyaki sauce and it's exploding with flavor. Garlic and ginger are the predominate flavors with a soy sauce base.

I've made chicken & broccoli, grilled marinated salmon, and thin sliced beef and vegetables using this sauce.

I eat a whole can of chickpeas for a meal. I usually drizzle extra virgin olive oil, adobo, and a sprinkle of cumin over my bowl of chickpeas. Now, they come already seasoned. I would normally grab a can for a quick lunch because who keeps cumin and parsley in the office pantry?

My husband and I went to dinner at Bao Dumplings & Bao Tea in Hazlet a few months ago, and they had this crispy crunchy hot oil for dipping our dumplings. I fell in love!  I looked all over the internet for places I could buy it and found it at Trader Joe's.

It's loaded with dried onions, garlic, crushed chili peppers in an olive oil base.  It's not off the charts spicy, but it is a great dipping oil, and it can be added to ramen, pasta, and pesto for an extra kick.

People fight me on which is better, milk chocolate peanut butter cups, or dark chocolate peanut butter cups?

I may like the milk chocolate better, but the dark chocolate is better for you. I have baked them into cookies and I've decorated a cake or 2 with them as well.

Made with real peanut butter that’s made with slow roasted and ground Virginia peanuts. The luscious, smooth, rich, dark chocolate enveloping that peanut butter is crafted from high quality cacao beans.