Updated! Everything You Should Buy (and Pass On) at Trader Joe's This Month

Trader Joe's has several pasta alternatives (the brown rice and quinoa fusilli is one of my favorites), and this new black bean rotini is a must try if you're looking for a lower-carb pasta option. With only one ingredient (black bean flour), you can feel good about eating it, and while it doesn't taste exactly like pasta, it goes well with your favorite sauce and takes care of the craving.

These organic chia bars are a sneaky and tasty way to incorporate raw chia seeds into your diet if you're not a fan of their gelatinous texture in smoothies or drinks. The bars are pleasantly sweet and salty from a combination of dried cranberries, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and agave.

This Kung Pao Tempura Cauliflower is definitely going to be added to the list of the best frozen foods from Trader Joe's. The tempura-coated cauliflower gets as crispy as you'd hope when baked in the oven, and the sweet and spicy sauce makes it even better. This is like a vegetarian version of kung pao chicken, but even meat-eaters would love it.

These dark chocolate cacao nibs are for serious chocoholics only (hello, cacao nibs covered in a 66-percent dark chocolate shell). If you're obsessed with chocolate, you'll love 'em — they give a quick sugar rush and satisfy your postlunch sweet tooth.

When you're sick and definitely don't have the energy to make chicken soup from scratch, pick up this kettle-cooked chicken soup instead of a can. It truly tastes homemade and has a flavorful, rich chicken-stock base with plenty of carrots, onions, celery, parsnips, and both white and dark meat chicken.

As far as jarred black olives go, these organic kalamata olives deserve an A. They're preserved in olive oil and have just the right amount of salt, and they get bonus points for snackability since they're pitted.

I'm a fan of all the Trader Joe's coffee I've tried, and the new Joe's ground coffees didn't disappoint. Whether you prefer medium or dark roast, these offer an affordable way to get a flavorful, strong cup from your own coffee maker.

The new chicken spring rolls are a solid choice in the frozen section at Trader Joe's. The filling is flavorful (there's chicken, cabbage, carrots, green onoins, basil, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil), and when you bake them in the oven, they get nice and crispy on the outside.

The best way to describe these blueberry breakfast biscuits is they're a combination of a blueberry muffin and a crispy cookie. They're on the sweeter side (the dried blueberries are sweetened), but their buttery finish rounds out the amount of sugar. If you're a blueberry fan, pick these up for a quick breakfast or midday snack.

Fans of mint tea will want to give this new Moroccan-style mint tea a try. It's on the sweeter side because of the addition of cane sugar (and a little acidity from lime juice), but the overall flavor is smooth and enjoyable. Pro tip: serve this cold or make ice cubes out of it to add to lemonade.

While it's not the best lemon meringue pie you'll ever have (homemade is obviously better than frozen), this lemon meringue tarte is quite tasty and was approved by everyone who tried it. The pros are that it's a good combination of sweet and tart and the crust-to-topping ratio is on point, but the cons are that it could use more lemon and the meringue is a little dense. Overall, this is a solid dessert to pick up if you stop by Trader Joe's before a dinner party (you just defrost it and it's ready to serve in a couple hours).

Tasters who tried this cinnamon raisin bread couldn't even tell it was gluten free. While it's a little dry, the flavor is on point and the consistency of the thick slices of bread is similar to brioche.

I was a little skeptical of Trader Joe's new seafood paella, but it turned out to be really good. The store's version of the traditional Spanish dish has shrimp, calamari, mussels, peas, onions, and peppers, and the seafood mixed with the saffron-spiced rice yields great flavor. If there's no way you'd take the time to make paella from scratch, this would be a fine substitute.

Just . . . no. Even bacon-lovers aren't fans of Trader Joe's uncured bacon jam, mostly because it's way too sweet and not savory enough (there's turbinado sugar and dark brown sugar in it). The trend of bacon jam is kind of over anyway — everyone knows a perfectly cooked piece of bacon is better than a chopped-up, mushy, and sweet version.

Canned mushrooms can only be so good, but these Trader Joe's sliced mushrooms aren't even worth buying. Himalayan pink salt is the third and final ingredient (behind mushrooms and water), but they are not nearly salty enough and taste completely bland and watery. Canned mushrooms make for a good addition to pizza or salads, but skip these and stick with a brand you already like.

There are so many things wrong with this sriracha tuna salad . It's not salty enough, it's too crunchy, and the sriracha flavor doesn't come through enough. Unless you want to share food with your cat, definitely pass on this one.