The single serving quiches are really good; I’m a big fan of the broccoli and cheese. Their tartar sauce and cocktail sauce are excellent, and no HFCS. Their frozen mac and cheese is amazingly good. They also have these Gorgonzola crackers that are yummy; kind of cheese-its on steroids.
Oh, and non-food item winner: the Trader Joe’s brand kitchen hand soap? The bomb. Totally.
The Lemon-Ginger Echinacea drink. Man that’s good. Also, I have to hide the mango butter from my husband, who’ll eat it with a spoon.
I also love every one of the frozen appetizers I’ve sampled but don’t ask me Which ones.
Quinoa and Black Bean Tortilla Chips.
Don’t get the beer. It is as bland as spit.
Welp, now we know why it is so cheap…
I have their frozen burritos almost daily for lunch at work. They’re not great, but they’re good and cheap (2 for $3). Their vanilla clusters granola cereal is awesome, and my favorite item is their Inside Out Carrot Cake. It’s basically like a carrot cake version of an oatmeal creme pie from Little Debbie, but bigger and sweeter. I like their frozen vegetables, too.
TJ’s removed the line of peanut putter that went bad. They are working to get a new supplier, according to the manager of my local store, but there’s no date for resupply yet. I keep hoping they will still have the Valencia peanut butter with only sea salt added. It was *really *good.
TJ’s also has really good prices for eggs, butter and nuts which is very helpful as we head into the baking season.
I’m incredibly lazy, so I really love the bags of microwave-and-eat veggies.
Yes, and check out their monthly seasonal cheeses. I’ve never been disappointed.
I don’t recommend 2-buck Chuck (bleh), but they have a very impressive selection of wines that are both really good and under $5.
Ditto the Champagne Pear salad dressing. Also, their produce is much higher quality than your average big box grocery. They’re a good alternative when the farmer’s markets are closed for the season.
They also have good, inexpensive ice creams, and I especially love their seasonal varieties.
One caveat – there are occasionally some absurd gaps in what they stock. They have every juice known to man… except plain lemon or lime juice. Baking powder is a “seasonal” item. (WTF?!) They don’t have whole wheat flour, just “white wheat” (and how would that be different from the all-purpose flour right next to it?). Stuff like canned pumpkin is also seasonal – which at least makes more sense, but you can get it year round at big box stores or Whole Foods.
One nice thing for vegetarians – TJ’s is the only place I know that will list on the package what kind of rennet is in their cheese (animal, vegetable, or microbial).
Their olive oil is pretty good, certainly for a cooking oil, and it’s cheaper than anything you’ll find pretty much anywhere.
In my experience, the employees at Trader Joes are very well trained, so if you have questions on anything, or want recommendations, just ask.
Pumpkin Ice Cream
Joe Joes
Dark Chocolate Mints
Colby-Jack Slices, great for grilled cheese
Lettuce–99 cents
Cherry tomatos
Bananas–cheaper and last longer than the super’s
Dairy–all of it is better and cheaper, including butter
Eggs–fresher and cheaper
Rice Pilaf–better than Near East brand and 1/2 the price.
Joe’s O’s (Spaghetti-O’s), go ahead–you know you want to.
Dried pasta
Jarred Marinara
Beef Stroganoff
Blackened chicken Alfredo
Avocadro’s Number Guac
Pico de gallo is not bad for quick burrito fixin’s
Carnitas
Tortillas
Druid Circles oatmeal cookies
Tuna in Olive oil–more expensive than the super’s, but tastes like real food, not cat food.
Gourmet White Bread
Whole Wheat Hog Dog Buns–will stand up to chili dogs.
OJ–in the dairy section–in the winter it is good, other times too tart.
IMHO, Run away from…
Raisin Bran–dog awful, dreadful dreck
Mayo–tasteless grease
Merangues–tough, dry, tasteless
and at the risk of inciting a firestorm, I find that their Peanut Butter is awful, but then I like Skippy.
FYI, the Chowhound/Chains website has a long thread(s) about Trader Joe’s stuff.
Oh yeah - cooking with coconut oil/butter/cream is big now and the prices on coconut stuff at the grocery store is insane. IN-SANE. At Trader Joe’s a can of coconut cream is under $2.
Same with almond butter. It’s like $6 for a jar at a grocery store but under $3 at TJ’s.
Their 2% fat Greek yogurt is so good. So much more creamy than the 0% stuff you typically find at the grocery store now. I don’t think it’s insanely cheap - it’s on par with Dannon’s Oikos.
My wife is absolutely mad for their Candy Cane JoJos, which are seasonal, and only available now. Last year, she didn’t think to try to get some until it was closer to Christmas, and they were already out of stock. This year, she went last week, and bought three boxes.
Lots of great recommendations already.
Their Lip Virtuoso lip balm is the best chapstick I’ve ever tried and is ~$3.50 for a box of three tubes.
If you have a cat, their tuna for cats (on the cat food shelf, not on the tuna for people shelf) is great and only $0.49/can. Their cat food is not the best quality out there (all three flavors contain rice and/or oat bran), but is decently healthy and only $0.69/can.
Their panettone is wonderful and seasonal, so buy it now when you can. Once they’re out of stock, it’s gone until next year.
Their leeks in the produce aisle – two leeks trimmed to just the usable part, and the usable part is much bigger than the leeks you normally find at the grocery store.
Love their sweet apple chicken sausage.
Really, just go hog wild. They don’t have everything, and you will find something you fall in love with only to discover they never stock it again, but they’re a pretty fun place to shop. Go with a lot of time and some spare cash, look around at everything, and you will find a lot of delicious treats that are often not as expensive as regular groceries.
But let me be an object lesson: after I moved around the corner from a Trader Joe’s, I gained 15 pounds in a year. Direct causal relationship. Don’t be like me but practice moderation.
That’s what I was planning to recommend. 
There’s a ton of good stuff at Trader Joe’s, but these are my current obsession.
My old thread with reviews of TJ’s stuff.
Stuff I’ve liked a lot lately:
Dark chocolate covered caramel balls (at the checkout)
Cocobon red table wine (some say it’s a bit sweet, but to me it’s just a nice non-threatening red, not like white zinfandel or bad riesling sweet)
Nice cheap olive oil
Chicken enchiladas (in the fridge case)
Whole grain tortillas
Cookie butter - it’s pure dietary evil with no redeeming value, but it’s yummy as hell
What is cookie butter?
Reminded me though - Almond Windmill cookies. Best almond cookies ever made.
To make cookie butter, they take speculoos cookies (kind of a crispy caramelized shortbread with a hint of spice), crush them up, and mix them with enough palm oil to make a peanut butter consistency. It’s the next step into delightful nutritional hell after Nutella.
Cashews, Cashews, Cashews!!!
Tomato Basil Marinara - it’s like $1.75 and it’s honestly the best jarred sauce I’ve found.
Refrigerated pizza dough - $1.25! Use it with the marinara above and pizza night is cheap as heck!
Can’t remember the name but they have an imported French table wine that is fantastic for the price, it’s like 5 bucks!
The frozen chocoloate croissants are delicious. You proof them overnight, then bake them for 20 minutes.