Trader Joe’s is always one of my favorite spots for groceries because they have the quality of a Whole Foods, the prices of a Target, and the playfulness of a farmer’s market. Plus, they have some of my repeat favorite treats: dark chocolate peanut butter cups and Jalapeno-Limeade.
However, the best time for a good scrounge through the grocery store is fall when pumpkin spice everything hits the shelves. I live for anything limited edition, and if it’s seasonally orange, there’s bonus points involved. So, when Trader Joe’s dropped a list of new fall finds, I didn’t hesitate.
Honey-Roasted Ravioli (~$4.99):
You’ll find this pre-prepared pasta in the fridge section. It’s a fresh pasta, so chuck this in the fridge when you make it home!
You don’t get a lot of ravioli for the money, but they do have a lovely flavor of fall.
Fall Zucchette Pasta ($1.99):
You’ll find this dried pasta in the pantry section, and this one will last a bit longer in your cupboard. While adorable, the Fall Zucchette Pasta isn’t really that unique as it’s just shaped pasta made of durum wheat flour and colored with paprika, but between regular pasta and cute pasta, the choice is clear.
Fall Harvest Salsa ($2.99):
You’ll find this salsa lingering somewhere on the edge of the store, but you need to hunt it down. I’ve been waiting for this salsa to return since I fell in love last year with this fleeting option.
According to the trader Joe himself, this little pantry gem is made with a tomato base with fire-roasted tomatillos, red bell peppers, and lime juice along with apples and butternut squash for the seasonal flare. Overall, the combination of the two is a mild, balanced salsa that is more like a sauce than a true salsa. The tomatoes aren’t the key flavor, rather the autumnal squash is.
My favorite way to eat this is on top of a steamed sweet potato for a sort of campfire style, survival meal that is under 200 calories, warm, and delightfully seasonal.
Autumnal Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce ($3.49) and Autumnal Harvest Alfredo Sauce ($4.99):
There’s a couple options for a pasta-topper with a harvest-kick at the shop right now, and because I’m dedicated to my cause, I picked up two: the autumnal harvest creamy pasta sauce from the pantry aisles and the pumpkin alfredo sauce from the fridge section.
The Autumnal Harvest sauce is a tomato-based sauce with pumpkin, butternut squash, carrots, and creamy to thicken it up. The seasonings lean towards savory with fall classics rosemary and sage.
While they share a nearly identical name, the alfredo sauce from Joe’s is instead a cream and cheese base with butternut and pumpkin puree (that makes up 40% of the sauce!). This one will run you a higher cost (and it won’t last as long). As good as alfredo usually is, the additional flavor imparted from the fall produce here is weak and underpowered. For $5, I’d have been better off grabbing more salsa or another jarred sauce that’d both last longer, give me more sauce, and have more pumpkin punch.
Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese Freezer Meal ($2.99):
While not usually an advocate for any sort of frozen meal, it’s hard to pass up a combo that has both squash and cheese (my soul foods). The dish is a rigatoni pasta topped with a three cheese blend of cheddar, gouda, and parmesan in a bechamel style sauce, squash, and seasonal spices (think nutmeg and sage). Trader Joe’s brought back Butternut Mac & Cheese this year to the freezer section to be met with repeated praise.
Online dedicated reviewers (they exist), praised the quick meal option once again: “If you’re not a fan of butternut squash, Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese probably isn’t for you, even if you love mac & cheese. However, if you have a weakness for winter squash, this meal is a must-have. It’s a creamy bit of goodness that will make you appreciate the change of season.”
While the Freezer Meal Frenzy team did ding the dish for having incredibly high sodium content (nothing new for freezer packaged meals), they were right that it was shockingly good!
Whatever it is that calls to your palette, either way it’s clear that Trader Joe’s is knocking it out of the park with some of these new (and old) favorites, so head in quick before peppermint everything takes over next!