6 Best New Trader Joe’s Items (Plus 1 to Skip)

I live alone, save for my dog. Which, honestly? It’s for the best — especially when I have to sample new grocery items. This is mostly due to how particularly loud my Trader Joe’s taste-testing was this month. 

As I hovered over new pastries, appetizers, and dinner options, anyone near my kitchen window could likely hear me shout anything from “You’ve got to be kidding me!” (complimentary) to “They can’t keep getting away with this!” (also complimentary). 

You see, the bulk of the 26 new items this month (so far) might have been the best batch of winners I’ve gathered in my four years of professionally eating my way through Trader Joe’s inventory. I’m talkin’ GOATs of their sections, MVP all-stars in the making — the kinds of items you actually write an email to corporate about if/when their season runs out or there is a lengthy production delay. 

Without further ado, here are the six best new Trader Joe’s groceries this month — plus one to skip.

Who was I before Morning Buns? I don’t care to dwell on it, because one bite of these incredible pastries has changed me. I’m different now. This is due mostly to the power I yield knowing I can have a French patisserie-level baked good in my house in 14 minutes flat (okay, plus an overnight proof). It makes my apartment smell incredible (Morning Bun-scented candle incoming, please?).

These orange-hinted, tender-yet-flaky, spicy-sweet buns are such a delicious reminder that we should not accept pastries with any fewer than 20 buttery layers. Only 19 layers? Throw it out! True story: I had an 18-hour layover in Paris last month (long story) during which I mostly ate pastries, and this one could have easily snuck into the bunch.

Trader Joe’s, as we all likely know, can be a real schlep, but I’ll brave that parking lot any day for the fried rice varieties alone (I literally eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). So, imagine my joy when a new bombshell bag of rice entered the chat: BBQ Pork Fried Rice. 

This fried rice? Absolutely not shy. It’s loaded with cubes of smoky-sweet barbecued char siu pork, savory green onions, and bright-green peas. I usually will stir in a bit of soy sauce or scramble in an egg towards the end of cooking, but this guy needs no embellishment whatsoever. It hits all the savory-salty-sweet-rich notes you’d want in a meal that does not taste like it came out of one bag.

TJ’s has got to slow down on making new flavors of these not-too-sweet, just-rich-enough, mostly-cream-cheese-frosting-covered cakes. Like, I have a life! I should probably eat something besides this cake for breakfast! 

But, alas, the Trader Joe’s Powers That Be nailed it again with the Cookies n’ Cream flavor. Folded into a vanilla cake batter you’ll find a motherlode of cookies n’ cream wafer cookie pieces that get all the more cakey, moist, and fluffy after baking. On top of that? You guessed it — a cookie- and cream-speckled cream cheese frosting with a signature tang that will have you saying “This is basically coffee cake, and thus totally meant for breakfast,” per my logic. 

January showers seemed to have brought February Onion Flowers this year, and we are all the better for it. Imagine a lightly battered, more open-ended version of an Outback Bloomin’ Onion, and you will have this adorably shareable appetizer. 

In truth, these palm-sized fried onion halves remind me of tempura-style vegetables in all the best ways: They’re not too salty, the sweetness of the onion shines through (and isn’t hidden by too much seasoned batter), plus they crisp up like a dream in the air fryer. For Valentine’s Day I would not be mad about getting a bouquet of these flowers (especially with some ranch dressing or Bang Bang sauce). 

I’m really lucky in that I get to go to Italy at least once a year for work. Inevitably, I have some post-trip doldrums due to how disappointing (and often overpriced!) American pizza can be. Well, Trader Joe’s seemed to have sensed my thoughts and said, “Hold my beer.” 

The grocer’s new frozen pie not only matches Italian pizzeria quality (it comes from an Italian pizza maker), but also Italian-level pricing (only $4.99 for this personal-sized pizza). The crust is delightfully airy and crisp, with rosemary sprigs dotting the nutty Parmesan sauce, mozzarella, and frizzled onions. In truth, this pizza’s flavor profile gave me a bit of déjà vu; I realized it’s suspiciously similar to a particularly famous pizza made by a Chef’s Table alum. So if you can’t make it to the OG restaurant in Phoenix, this will more than hold you over.

Some might think that the warmer days of spring usher in only lemon- and strawberry-flavored items, but let’s be real: The real flavor of spring is DILL. This cream cheese is about to be a Big Dill for the dill-truthers out there. 

The dense cream cheese spread (like, it bent my spoon back a little) is loaded with tangy, grassy dill, and has an allium-forward backbone. I immediately sunk many different dippers into it — baby carrots, tiny cucumbers, rice crackers, the aforementioned bent spoon — and I can’t wait to keep on experimenting. Next up? It’s going in some smoked salmon roll-ups, homemade (yet pickly) Philadelphia sushi rolls, and creamy scrambled eggs.

Trust me — I wanted to love these (I love everything heart-shaped). In fact, I spent a lot of time watching them bob in the saucepan thinking, “Surely they’ll change to a more pleasant color soon,” but this fresh pasta loses its vibrant hue once they’re al dente. I could totally get past its looks if the ricotta filling had not tasted so plain. The fruitiness of the balsamic vinegar does pop, but it varies too wildly for this heartbreaker of a pasta. 

What new Trader Joe’s items are you most excited about? Tell us in the comments below.