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For the longest time, Trader Joes has been one of my favorite grocery stores. This is because they have a wide variety of items and they often carry things that are tasty and make healthy college cooking a whole lot easier. Here are some of my personal favorite items that I recommend you try the next time you make a quick trip.
The three Layer Hummus Dip is a combination of three different hummus flavors: Zesty Cilantro, Purely Traditional Hummus, and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. What makes this dip so incredible is just how well it is seasoned: it isn’t too spicy but it’s packed with so much flavor that just makes it so delightful to eat. Additionally, it is a versatile dip that can be eaten in your lunch wraps, breakfast omelets, and even with just some fresh carrots and celery as a replacement for dips like ranch. I recommend eating your scoops of this dip carefully, making sure that you get all three layers for the full effect!
2. General Tsao’s Stir Fry Sauce
I am not going to lie, this sauce has become my holy grail whenever I prepare any kind of stir fry or fried rice. It is a slightly sweet and tangy sauce. What makes this sauce a winner for me, though, is that it contains things like cornstarch and soy sauce which are essentials to re-creating that perfect Chinese takeout meal at home. This makes it so that I do not have to buy these ingredients separately nor do I need to measure them all out on my own in my kitchen, which makes both my mind and wallet at peace. Plus, this sauce is a much healthier alternative compared to Chinese takeout like Panda Express, but still hits the same, making it a healthy essential to keep in the kitchen.
Trader Joe’s has a wide variety of fun seasonings ranging from the “everything bagel” to the “pizza seasonings.” While I enjoy them all, there’s something about this simple onion salt seasoning that just makes it a kitchen essential. It is a simple blend of onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and chives, making it pair well with almost any kind of meal you could think of making. Believe me, I’ve tried it as a base for my Indian food when I ran out of fresh onions and garlic at home. I’ve put it on air fryer potatoes, my breakfast omelets, and fresh dinner side salads. I’ve even used it to season my chicken when I make stir fry! This is an item that you should not overlook.
4. Frozen Naans
Naan is an Indian flatbread cooked in a special oven called a tandoor oven. It is a very thick bread that is usually paired with Indian curries. What I love about Trader Joe’s frozen naans is that these naans remind me of my favorite Indian restaurants while also being so much more convenient for my lifestyle: they are so easy to warm up with either the frying pan or the toaster. Additionally, you do not have to just eat these with your favorite Indian curries (which you can also get at Trader Joe’s frozen if you don’t know how to make them), you can use them to make so many other things too. For me, my favorite non-traditional way of eating them is putting a pasta sauce and cheese on them and baking them in the oven, which helps to make a personal sized pizza!
And those are just a few of my favorite items to grab whenever I am at Trader Joes! Let me know what you think of them, along with some of your favorites for me to try.