We’re switching things up this month but don’t worry—I’ll fly in on my cinnamon broom with a full pumpkin-spiced rundown next time. After shopping at Trader Joe’s for the past 18 years (!), I have a useless photographic memory of the store’s entire inventory, and I rely on it often to throw together easy dinners when I don’t have the mental or temporal resources to cook.
“Trader Joe’s easy meals” is a genre on TikTok too, where you can find tons of inspiration like the birria tacos here. However! I have some rules for what makes them “easy meals.” An easy meal doesn’t involve cutting things. Once you’re chopping, time starts to add up. And remember, you don’t have time—that’s why you need emergency meals thanks to your overly friendly favorite grocery store. The only other rule is that a meal has to have vegetables, but sometimes I break that one and I’m still kickin’, so. Make room in your fridge, we’ve got to stock up.
I stand upon a mountain of frozen shrimp. When you need easy dinner protein, it’s the fastest to defrost and get going. This red Argentinian shrimp has a sweet succulence that some (my cousin Annmarie) compare to lobster, which might be a stretch, Annmarie. After a 20-minute soak in a sealed bag in room temp water to defrost, I toss it in a pan with Tikka Masala Curry Sauce (Trader Joe’s best shelf-stable sauce IMO), add spinach or whatever greens are wilting in the fridge, and heat up a naan or paratha in another pan.
Swaps for the shrimp: chickpeas, defrosted cod, jackfruit, etc.
This is a meal I get from Trader Joe’s when I’m in need of a carnival-worthy mood lift. It’s nostalgic for me, because it reminds me of when I was in high school and my mom vowed to never cook again and stocked our freezer with corn dogs, coconut shrimp, and pizzas. (If you’re wondering how I ended up writing for Bon Appétit, so am I.) The cornbread coating gets nice and crisp in the air fryer, while the rubbery hot dog inside is…juicy. It’s everything it needs to be—it’s a corn dog. The salad is an adult choice, because I need to be able to poop tomorrow. I’m sorry, but that’s why it’s there. Air fry or bake the corn dogs for 7 minutes at 400°, toss the salad, call it a good night.
Swaps for the corn dog: Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic & Pesto Pizza with Deep Fried Crust, Mac and Cheese Bites, Mushroom and Black Truffle Flatbread.
Always add a package of this gnocchi to your Trader Joe’s cart. Then make this classic sheet-pan recipe with the “Campari” tomatoes (so sweet, thanks corporate cross-breeding!) and serve it in a bowl with arugula and olive oil for your greenery moment. Please tell me you always have parm or Pecorino in your fridge? Not pictured but obviously recommended. If you have garlic, roast it with the gnocchi, then smash and toss it all together—or just sprinkle the gnocchi with garlic salt and be happy.
Swaps for the tomatoes: Sliced mushrooms or small cubed butternut squash (when in season). Or don’t even turn the oven on and pan-fry the gnocchi with greens.
Mix the Bomba Sauce, which is just fermented Calabrian chiles, with butter—like this recipe from cookbook author Molly Baz—and generously smush it into a roasted sweet potato. While the tater will take ~45 to roast, it’s so hands off I still consider it an “easy” meal. WARNING: The Bomba Sauce is hot. If you can’t handle that, do butter and TJ’s pretty tame hot honey instead.
Non-spicy swaps for the Bomba Sauce: tahini, miso, Chimichurri Sauce.
For some reason Trader Joe’s carries like 17 flavors of chicken sausage and they all have a super juicy texture, but even my beloved frozen shrimp will work here too. I heat up a pan over medium and cook TJ’s Cruciferous Crunch salad kit until it’s wilted, then add chopped up sausage and cook until browned. Trader Joe’s instant polenta is good here (prepared on the side), but I’ve had trouble finding it lately, so the Cacio e Pepe of Cauliflower Gnocchi will have to work instead (you can cook that in the same pan; I just cook the veg and sausage first, scrape into bowl, then sauté gnocchi and toss together when ready).
This soup is a ride-or-die for me, especially when you feel a germ taking over your insides. It’s sweet and creamy, which is why I like the spicy bread with it, but I’ve also paired it with a quesadilla to great results.
In a riff on this iconic (to me) Andy Baraghani recipe, grab TJ’s pre-cooked lentils, a bag of baby broccoli or cauliflower, a chunk of feta, and a spice of choice—I typically stick to just red pepper flakes or Momofuku Chili Crunch. (I know this is a Trader Joe’s list but the Momofuku one is better.) If you have time, olive-oil-roast the baby broccoli and feta for ~20 minutes at 400°, but when I’m in a rush I steam the broc in the microwave with a damp paper towel over a bowl, and top with cold feta. You can either microwave the lentils or eat them cold, just know that they have a mild herb seasoning that you’ll want to doctor up with something, anything, like Bomba Sauce, lemon and olive oil, garlicky yogurt, or a tadka.
The way my heart yearns for good Texas breakfast tacos and cinnamon-spiked coffee. The closest I can get to recreating them is with Trader Joe’s great flour tortillas, the frozen hash brown patties (halved lengthwise to fill the tortilla), reheated soy chorizo, scrambled eggs, and chunky guacamole if it’s in stock—but if you’re really thriving, a avocado is better.
If you have Trader Joe’s garlic and ginger cubes in your freezer (which you should!), this is a good use for them. I riff on this salt and pepper pork rice cake recipe by adding TJ’s frozen cabbage, which I cook first, then do the pork and rice cakes in the same pan and mix everything together before serving. Maybe you’re thinking, but don’t I need to chop the scallions? No! Use kitchen shears to snip them right over your bowl.
Swap for the cabbage: Frozen Fire-Roasted Bell Peppers & Onions, which I also love with plain ol’ rice and beans.
I stole this idea from my friend Anthea Levi, who is coincidentally a registered dietitian. You’re paying a markup for pre-cooked frozen rice, but it’s worth it when time is precious. (The frozen jasmine rice is always sold out at my store—that one’s better.) Baby cauliflower is not only adorable but again: no cutting. Air-fry or roast the cauliflower (maybe with a sprinkle of curry powder or your favorite spice mix), microwave the chickpeas and rice, and give everything a big squeeze of lime and plop of yogurt to serve.