What’s the deal with Trader Joe’s?

If I have one more person wax poetic about their love for Trader Joe’s and how it’s so great because they can get a whole bag of food for under $100 bucks, I’m going to scream. 

This week in the Wirecutter section of the New York Times was a review of their favorite things. So of course, I had to check out every item on the list with skepticism to see what the hype is all about.

I was sort of pleasantly surprised that my memory of Trader Joe’s over-processed, sodium laden, chemical products of yesteryear has been improved, slightly.

BUT let’s be clear, this is not a list of health foods. Many of the items on the list contain either palm oil, which is the number one threat to orangutans—the endangered species my husband has spent his life trying to save—or they have maltodextrin in them, which is linked to cancer, or enriched wheat flour, which has no nutritional value whatsoever.

Is it really as good as everyone says?

Please don’t be fooled into thinking that buying these products will improve your health. This is a list of foods based solely on taste and convenience.

And let me state for the record, I’m not perfect. I don’t cook every meal. But I do cook a lot, in fact you can follow me on Facebook, ahem excuse me, Meta, to see what I’m cooking and eating these days. I’m not a person that obsesses over everything I eat, but I do care about what I put in my body and that means reading ingredient lists.

And the thing is, reading the ingredient list on the foods you buy is a great first step to cleaning up your diet.

Let me pause for a second and say I LOVE grocery stores. So this may all seem a bit passive-aggressive for me to be mocking one of the largest grocery chains in the country. And to be totally honest, I haven’t been to a Trader Joe’s in a really long time, so it’s probably even worse for me to judge the list without seeing the store firsthand. I will try to get to one soon. This isn’t a post about the grocery store itself, it’s a post about the products themselves and their ingredients. This post is comparing these recommended processed foods which make up the SAD (Standard American Diet) — versus eating real, whole foods.

What this really is— a plea for humans to eat less ultra processed foods and more real food.

With all of those disclaimers out there, let’s get to the list from the New York Times top picks. And, if you don’t have a subscription to the New York Times, don’t worry, I’ll sum up the list for you. All of the items were packaged or frozen items that varied from a spiced snack mix, to flavored corn chips, cheese to frozen tikka masala. I’m not mentioning all the items on the list because there were too many but just highlighting a few.

Trader Joe’s Chicken Tikka Masala which happens to be gluten free.

I was surprised that the frozen meals were pretty okay, meaning mostly ingredients that I know. No eight-syllable ingredients that I can’t pronounce—which, by the way, is the first step to eating less ultraprocessed food and improving your health. Read the list of ingredients: if you can’t pronounce it, then don’t buy it.

I’m a huge tortilla espanola fan. My husband has encouraged me to learn to make them because a good one is amazing, but it’s a lot of effort and it takes time to make one. Homemade tortilla espanola is a labor of love. And while it’s made with four simple ingredients—eggs, potatoes, salt, and lots of olive oil—it can easily go wrong. The eggs can easily get overcooked and turn into a giant scrambled egg kind of deal. So, much to my surprise, Trader Joe’s tortilla espanola is on the list of products that were all clean ingredients. Will it be good? The New York Times writes, “But even though it’s tasty and filling on its own, it can seem a little plain.” So my guess is it's not worth the money, especially when you can cook potatoes in a pan and add scrambled eggs at home in 30 minutes or less—most of which is unattended cooking time.

This Kimbap is another item I would possibly try, it’s described as “a vegetarian meal all in one package”. I mean why not try an easy go-to vegetarian meal all in one package?

These sweet cinnamon filled Korean pancakes will not be making it into my cart. With modified tapioca being ingredient number two and whatever GLUCONO-DELTA-LACTONE is on the list of ingredients, I would definitely leave these behind. Modified starches and tapioca are major ingredients in frozen processed foods and easy ones to rule out. Modified basically means it’s been made in a lab by scientists.

While I was extremely disappointed that there weren’t any whole foods touted on the list, like maybe they have an amazing variety of beans or grains, I’m not a completely silly person thinking New YorkTimes is going to delight its readers with a list of beans as their top picks.

But really folks, my best advice is, if you shop at Trader Joe’s, or any grocery store for that matter, and you buy packaged foods, like we all do, read the ingredients. If you can’t pronounce it don’t buy it.

If you are looking for ways to avoid processed foods, then shop the produce aisle first. Buy as many items without packaging as possible (aka fruits and vegetables). Buy grains and beans to add to your meals. Crackers are fine but make sure they aren’t made with enriched wheat and that they don’t have any ingredients you can’t pronounce.

These are ALWAYS going to be better then packaged food.

Yes miso and peanut butter is magical!

If you want more ideas on what to eat, I’ve been posting many of my meals on Facebook so join me there for some food fun. You can see the weird breakfast combinations I eat, like this peanut butter, miso and banana breakfast.

If you are looking for ways to eat fewer processed foods so you can improve your health, let’s talk. I’d love to help you learn to eat healthier.

P.S. if you know someone else who loves Trader Joe’s and would enjoy this article pass it on.

P.S.S. If you know someone who could use help eating less processed foods, so they can feel better, share this article with them.