Five Trader Joe’s Items We Tested and Recommend

Following the remarkable reception and the standout find of Trader Joe’s Guava Paloma Agua de Kefir a few weeks back, we were especially eager to sample this new flavor.

Although the beverage’s overall quality remains impressive—an even balance and a gently fermented profile—the drink faltered in one key area. The orange note clashes with the peach and mango, producing a somewhat medicinal tang. It evokes more of an Emergen-C sachet than a refreshing drink. In short, we’ll likely continue choosing the Guava Paloma variant instead.

We enjoy exploring Trader Joe’s ready-to-cook meats, and it surprised us that we hadn’t yet sampled the Carne Asada beef with its broad appeal. The marinade’s flavor is solid, yet it’s noticeably under-seasoned with salt. For raw meat, under-salting isn’t fatal since we can add seasoning ourselves; however, for a pre-marinated product, one would expect adequate saltiness. Fortunately, it’s an easy adjustment.

It’s odd that the whole package comprises a single long slab of sirloin. It’s so long that it won’t fit in a standard skillet, necessitating pre-cutting or trimming you’d expect the package to have eliminated. Grilling could have let you cook it in one go, but as shipped there’s no way to cook the entire piece at once without breaking it into portions first.

I found these to be a satisfying, savory snack. It isn’t often that Trader Joe’s highlights a salty snack that isn’t frozen or merely another chip variety, so these, with their heftier cheese and meat composition, offered a refreshing departure.

They’re a recent addition to TJ’s lineup and they were tasty. They’re straightforward—mozzarella paired with salami—but I still devoured the entire pack and would buy them again. Our lone gripe is that the fresh mozzarella didn’t stray as tender or juicy as premium fresh mozzarella usually is. Still, I’d buy them again.

I appreciated a seasonally festive butter option that avoided cookie butter, fruit-forward flavors, or pumpkin spice. In fact, the maple butter contains a single ingredient: organic maple syrup. It makes an ideal addition to autumn toast as a spread.

I’ve been using it as a substitute for my morning sourdough toast that’s usually fried in butter and finished with creamed honey. Instead, I’ve swapped the honey for this maple butter, which has put me in a true autumn mood without invoking pumpkin flavors or apple toppings. Only wish: the jar were larger.

These aren’t the newly released Sweet and Spicy Picanté Peppers that Trader Joe’s recently added. In fact, we didn’t realize they had the sweeter variety until after the spicy version debuted. So we proceeded to try the original ones first. We’re glad we did, because they’re utterly delicious. They’re not overly salty or vinegar-forward, and the cheese filling strikes a balanced note of creamy, salty, and tangy. Moreover, they aren’t truly spicy; they don’t read as distinctly sweet peppers on their own.