Trader Joe's is my Disneyland. When I walk in, I'm instantly happy, greeted with so many delicious and nutritious foods [1] — it makes eating healthy so easy. If you're obsessed with meal prepping [2] 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! Read on to see how you can make a week's worth of meals [4] with minimal ingredients, all from Trader Joe's.
Prices and products may vary by Trader Joe's location.
— Additional reporting by Lauren Harano
Trader Joe's Dairy-Free Mozzarella Style Shreds
Use these vegan cheese shreds in tacos, soups, salads, and more. You can also put them on a light pizza, too.
Trader Joe's Frozen Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Perfect for whipping up on a chilly night, these frozen sweet potatoes can be made into a variety of different meals [6]. Try using them in bread recipes, for veggie burgers, and even in pancake batter!
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.
Zucchini Noodles
Found in the fridge section, cook up zucchini noodles as a spaghetti alternative for quick, easy, and healthy dinner.
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 to salads, or use for snacks.
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. Just add toppings for a quick dinner.
Frozen Cooked Quinoa
Heat this quinoa up, and use it in place of oatmeal for a fruity, nutty, mapley breakfast.
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 an easy-to-make salad base.
Roasted Chicken Patties
Found in the fridge section, these are fully cooked and ready to eat.
Just Chicken
Fully cooked, you can season this any way you want to add to salads, or to make chicken salad.
Baked Tofu
Save time marinating and baking your own tofu and buy this instead — 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.
Frozen Peppers
Sauté a bag of these to add to cooked grains for lunches for the week.
Shredded Carrots
Love carrots in your salads? Forget taking out the cutting board — just use these shredded carrots. You can also sauté them and use as a pasta alternative.
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.
Meatless Meatballs
A fast and delicious source of plant-based protein, these taste like real meatballs! Just microwave and add to pasta or whole grains, or pack for snacks. No need to spend time making your own.
Carrot Spirals
Found in the freezer section, these carrot spirals are a fun and sweet alternative to spaghetti.
Frozen Steelcut Oatmeal
Steel cut oatmeal is filling and delicious, and this one cooks up in minutes (compared to 40 if you do it yourself).
Tropical Fruit Blend
Consider your smoothie already made!
Frozen Brown Rice
Forget cooking brown rice on the stove for 40 minutes. When you want rice with dinner, this cooks up in minutes!
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 fiber. Or use in your lunch meal prep.
Brussels Sprouts
Found in the freezer section, just add to a roasting pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and it's a cinch!
Rice Cauliflower
Found in the fridge section, just cook up a couple bags to use as rice in your lunch meal prep.
Broccoli Florets
Steam a bag and add to your lunch containers — no knife and cutting board needed!
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.
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!
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.
Rice Broccoli
If you love cauliflower rice, you'll love broccoli rice. Sauté a few bags to add to lunch containers instead of rice.
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.
Sugar Snap Peas
Add these to containers with hummus for easy snacks.
Gluten-Free Rolled Oats
Make a week's worth of overnight oats with a bag of this or cook up some protein bars to use as snacks for the week.
