I'm not a TJ shopper but my other cooking forum is gaga for the scallion pancakes. Used many ways especially breakfast with eggs.

(SeriousEats has a great recipe so we make our own)

Not new, but excellent nuts and dried fruit.

tangerine juice

everything but the bagel seasoning

yellow Thai curry sauce

Mediterranean hummus (cuz I'm lazy and theirs is as good as mine)

lemon rosemary spatchcock chicken

^Agree with the nuts and dried fruit. Some good prices on dried herbs, too.

These aren't new but I like some of their prepared salads, such as the Pasadena Salad and the Crunchy Slaw. If it appeals, you might try their Orange Chicken. I tend to keep some in the freezer for easy meals. Some great prices on liquor and wine, too. Just take your time to look, and maybe try something if it looks good. Opinions vary and there are definitely hits and misses. Sometimes you just have try something yourself.

I've been a TJ's shopper for a very long time. When I first started going there they only had one store in the country here in Pasadena. These days I could pretty much shop there blindfolded.

Dairy products - kefir (esp. mango), organic milk, yogut 6-pk mango / peach combo, shelf stable whipping cream

corn salsa + tri-color corn tortilla chips,

crackers-norwegian flatbread & the little toasts made with dried fruit,

cookies - almond butter thins or triple ginger,

yes to nuts, and dried fruits especially unsweetened mango & unsweetened cherries, dehydrated berries.

if you use chocolate in baking, the 1lb 72% cacao bar is good

harissa and chili crisp

White wine - Emma Reichart riesling ( pleasantly dry) @6.99 or Espiral vinho verde @ 5.99 - both are great warm weather cocktail wines.

Every trip I make to TJs includes: cereal; vitamins; pre-made Oatmeal in freezer section; Blintzes in freezer section; apple juice in fridge section; and frozen entrées of one kind or another. Those are standard but I look at all sorts of other things and usually check out with a basketful.

Yes to lisaam's suggestion of the Butter Almond Thins.

Also, I found this list I once posted on another forum. It's been awhile, so some items might not be available now.

Lettuce (various)
Potatoes (try the baby Dutch)
Baby bell peppers
High Lycopene Tomatoes (from Holland)
Butter Almond Thins
Sesame Thins, Multigrain Crackers
Nuts
Cheeses
Dried fruits (I buy their cranberries and cherries most often...try their dried white peaches)
Dried spices/herbs
Artisan breads
Organic Orange Juice
Greek style yogurt
Sour Cream
BBQ Sauce (their "Carolina Gold" is nice)
Frozen veggies (I buy a lot of spinach, peas, corn, broccoli)
Frozen grilled teriyaki chicken
Frozen Mandarin chicken
Frozen shrimp (uncooked)
Frozen berries
Olive oil (I like their President's Reserve and California Estate)
Canned artichoke hearts (much better than the frozen)
Capers
Mandarin oranges
Organic Marinara Sauce (good in a pinch - not too sweet)
Lemon Artichoke Pesto

Garlic Spread-Dip (great with grilled lamb, beef, pork, poultry)
Wines/liquor
Flour (they no longer carry King Arthur but TJ's brand is good IMO)

I love their Mushroom Truffle Ravioli/Triangoli in the fresh food section. Their other stuffed pastas are yummy, too. I can get my grandson to eat the Spinach Cheese Tortellini and sneak a little spinach into his diet.

The Butternut Squash Ravioli, the Lobster Ravioli, Ricotta and Lemon Zest Ravioli are all really good. I like their organic Persian cucumbers, the bags of organic Pink Lady Apples, organic fresh Blueberries. We really like the Precooked Uncured Bacon. It's not quite so fatty or salty and crisps up in the microwave in about 3 minutes. I also buy the Mandarin Chicken once in a while and the frozen cooked Brown Rice to go with it. Easy, fast meal! My grandson loves the Black Bean Tacquitos (frozen) and I like their Chicken Soup Dumplings -a Chinese style steamed dumpling, as well as their Chicken Cilantro Pot Stickers - both also in the frozen food section.

tj mayo, and the spices. zhoug sauce is really good too

I buy certain things at TJs, but I don't think they'd all be considered special by everybody. A lot are because TJ's has the best price.

Things unique to TJ's that we like a lot:

Their Chili/Lime seasoning is really good. I use it on roasted sweet potatoes and chicken. Everything But The Elote seasoning is great on popcorn - which reminds me their Corn Dippers chips are yummy and come in plain and Elote seasoned.

We also really like the organic Naan crackers. I haven't tried the garlic ones yet.

I like their sesame sticks.

We went there a couple of days ago to buy a basil plant. They have decent sized plants in what I think is a 4" pot, and I've had these plants supply me with enough basil to last a month. For $3.95, that is a bargain for fresh basil. It is almost too hot right now for me to leave the plant outside all day, but if I water it enough, it is okay. It's warm at night right now, and so I leave it out all night also.

I buy biscotti there, and I used to buy ice cream. They used to have a coffee flavored ice cream, but I don't know whether they still do. I buy their pound+ chocolate when I need it.

One disappointment was their toffee, and I noticed later that it has milk in it! This makes it taste like caramel instead of toffee.

I also bought some Harissa.

The stores here have nice orchids for cheap.

I haven't been to a TJs in two years, since the pandemic started. Maybe soon, things are calming down a bit with fewer cases.

I always buy nuts and dried fruits and stock up on their PoundPlus chocolate for baking. I usually get some Dubliner cheese, but I've found that at my local Aldi recently. I like their Triple Ginger Gingersnaps and Elery likes their Chili Lime seasoning on fruit. We never buy anything from the frozen section because it thaws before we can get it the 60+ miles home, even with ice packs. They do have some seasonal items and I always pick up some gluten free pancake mix for my daughter.

Annie

I also love their gingersnaps, but I try to avoid the temptation of buying them.

Thanks everyone! My octogenarian parents just went ape over the tangerine juice. The first thing they eat every day is a tangerine. I also got some very nice looking Greek extra virgin olive oil some bleu cheese, tomato feta soup and a few other odds and ends. That everything but the elote seasoning looks good. I'll definitely pick up some of that next time. My sister-in-law, Noelia, had never been to a Trader Joe's so she had a good time too. Thanks again for all the suggestions, and Happy Valentine's Day to all!

The best thing that I have found are their Chocolate Covered Pretzels.... and the Praline Pecans. Try and not to buy every trip though~ they call my name if I have them at home!

One problem with Trader Joe's is that they are constantly discontinuing items we love. in the past year they've discontinued their delicious rice crackers, the sweet potato bisque, the mandarin orange chicken, and a cranberry nut bread which was outrageously delicious.

The turkeyless turkey and cranberry loaf which appears around Thanksgiving is tasty.

Their chocolate and nuts are well priced and delicious. And the little avocados are consistently great.

blubird, the orange chicken has not been discontinued. It continues to enjoy a popularity that I fail to understand. I finally bought it last week and tried it. So disappointing after reading all the rave reviews.

Favorite Overall Product and Favorite Entree: Mandarin Orange Chicken

There are few items at Trader Joe's as iconic as the Mandarin Orange Chicken, so it's no surprise that the product won in both the Favorite Overall Product and Favorite Entree categories. The brand's Vice President of Marketing, Tara Miller, noted in the podcast that this item has received an award every year since the Customer Choice Awards were founded, so it just may be deserving of a Lifetime Achievement Award.

https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7943813/best-trader-joes-products-2022/

FWIW, I think, over the past 2 years of this pandemic, many items have become unavailable, rather than discontinued. At our local TJ's, I've noticed some regular/popular items disappear for awhile and then return.

Based on some posts here, I decided to look for something with elote, which I was unfamiliar with - settling on their dip with Elote seasoning. Boy, I do not share the love. It was like thousand island dressing with some heat and corn added. Not to my taste at all, and I truly don't understand why it would be a favorite, but, of course, we are all different.
Won't be on my shopping list again!

Olychick, I'm not much for actual elote. It's messy, I'm not fond of cilantro, and rarely butter corn let alone mayo-ing it. But the standard flavor profile, chili powder, lime juice and cilantro, is enough to make people, especially those with the cilantro lover gene, very happy, setting even without the corn and mayo, Sorry the dip didn't work out, but you might like chili-lime-herby in a different setting.

Hmm, I didn't get any cilantro flavor at all; that might have saved the dip, as I usually love it. Thanks.

I don't think you should assume the seasoning blend is the same as the dip. Definitely not like 1000 island dressing. It's more of a spicy cheese sprinkle with some sweetness and plenty of heat. Pretty sure it's the same seasoning as on their Elote chips.

• olychick, I don't know how you get Thousand Island dressing out of the dip. Greek style yogurt, corn, garlic, Parmesan, and chipotle pepper powder. Are any of those ingredients in the salad dressing?

Maybe because of the color? It was spicy, it was creamy with chunks of corn. Not a fan.

@Judi, you are correct that the Mandarin chicken hasn't been discontinued. It was the Tempura chicken which we liked better that was discontinued.