Justine Sterling
The best Trader Joe’s snacks can be a little bit elusive. See, there are a lot of snacks in TJ’s snack aisle, and they’re constantly coming out with new products. To find the good stuff, you inevitably have to bring home some duds that you’ll eventually try to pawn off on roommates or coworkers. Well, buy bad snacks from Trader Joe’s no more. We’ve rounded up 14 absolute bangers we’ve tried in our taste tests, from a Thai-spiced snack mix to snack packs that will please kids and grownups alike. Take it from us, the snack experts, these are the best snacks at Trader Joe’s.
- Trader Joe’s Super Seedy Cheese Snack Bites
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If you’re talking about bars or motels, seedy is bad. But seedy cheese snacks? Brilliant. These baked cheese crisps are like Whisps, but better. In addition to flavorful, nutty parmesan cheese, these are packed with three kinds of seeds—pumpkin, sunflower, and black sesame—plus, puffed quinoa for even more crunch. The best part? The spicy whole peppercorns you’ll find nestled in their nooks. You should absolutely buy these to eat as a snack, but they’re also a great addition to soups and salads in lieu of croutons.
Read the full review of TJ’s Super Seedy Cheese Snack Bites
Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s
- Trader Joe’s Spicy Tempura Seaweed Snack
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If you don’t like seaweed you’re not going to like these. Why would you think you would? They’re little bits of crispy seaweed! Yes, there’s some crunchy tempura batter involved, but these Trader Joe’s snacks are really all about the seaweed. And they are truly spicy. To me, these taste like fancy snacks you’d get gratis at a cocktail bar instead of nuts.
Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s
- Trader Joe’s Savory Thin Mini Rice Crackers
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We’re huge fans of these gluten free rice crackers here at Sporked. At least two of us regularly stock our pantry with these umami-packed crackers. They’re crunchy and crispy and really savory. These are crackers you can eat like chips. They’re so good I could down a whole bag, no problem.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Trader Joe’s Tom Yum Seasoned Snack Mix
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We’re pretty obsessed with this tom yum flavored Trader Joe’s snack mix. It really does taste like tom yum soup! Tangy, zippy, lemongrass, and just a little bit spicy. You get all sorts of crispy crunchy bits in the mix—cashews, fried fava beans, green peas, crunchy little rice nuggets, and even dried Thai lime leaves and chili peppers. This is a perfect example of what Trader Joe’s does so well. While their hot dog buns might be some of the worst, unique Trader Joe’s snacks like this are why we keep going back.
Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s
- Trader Joe’s PB&C Snack Duo
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These little snack packs, which come with chocolate wafer tubes and a dipper cup of peanut butter, might be marketed to kids, but they’re just about the most perfect 4 p.m. office snack I’ve ever seen. The wafers are flaky creamy bittersweet chocolate inside. And the peanut butter is a perfectly scoopable texture. Honestly it’s better peanut butter than the peanut butter Trader Joe’s sells in jars (and we really like the peanut butter TJ’s sells in jars).
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Trader Joe’s Spicy Mochi Rice Nuggets
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Yes, TJ’s Super Seedy Cheese Snack Bites are crunchy, but these mochi nuggets put them to shame. They’re like Asian rice crackers on steroids—real cranium rattlers. Plus, they’re actually spicy! When a snack promises heat, we love when it actually follows through. This is one of the best Trader Joe’s snacks, unless you live in a household with people who suffer from misophonia.
Read the full list of Trader Joe’s snacks that are actually spicy
Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s
- Trader Joe’s Spicy Chakri Mix
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This Trader Joe’s snack mix is one of the best Indian items at TJ’s and one the best snack mixes, full stop. It’s super savory, spicy but not too spicy—it truly tastes like something you’d find in a finger bowl at an Indian restaurant. You won’t get bored eating it either. There’s a good variety of bits: shreds, balls, peanuts, long crunchies. Go ahead and buy two bags of this Trader Joe’s snack.
Read the full ranking of the best Trader Joe’s Indian food
Credit: Liv Averett
- Trader Joe’s Chili & Lime Flavored Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips
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This one’s for the Takis stans. These rolled tortilla chips clearly take inspiration from Takis Fuego, but lots of people like them even better than their source material. They’re spicy, tangy, and super crunchy. We recommend cutting the spice by dunking these in cream cheese when snack time rolls around. You’re welcome.
Read the full list of Trader Joe’s snacks that are actually spicy
Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s
- Trader Joe’s Organic Corn Chip Dippers
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A good corn chip is worth its weight in gold—or at least its weight in dip. These scoop-shaped corn chips are designed for heavy-duty dipping. They’re super thick and heavy on the corn flavor. Use these like edible spoons the next time you crack open a can of chili. They can handle the chunky stuff, no problem.
Read the full ranking of the best corn chips
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Trader Joe’s Mee Krob Thai Rice Noodle Snacks
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Once in a while, Trader Joe’s takes a big swing and it really pays off. Take these Mee Krob snacks. They’re essentially little cubes of uncooked noodles, but they’re so different, so flavorful, and so delicious. You get notes of lemongrass, tomato, chili, basil, and lime, plus enormous crunch that makes them a blast to eat. As of our most recent update to this ranking, they’re no longer on shelves.But we have a feeling they’ll come back because they’re one of the best snacks at Trader Joe’s, hands down.
Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s
- Trader Joe’s Ode to the Classic Potato Chip
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Who would’ve guessed that one of the best snacks at Trader Joe’s would be plain ol’ potato chips? Really, there’s nothing plain or ol’ about these tasty, salty, oily chips, which earned raves during our plain potato chip taste test. “This is everything a plain potato chip should be: light, crispy, and crunchy,” wrote Sporked contributor Danny Palumbo. One taste tester thought they tasted like bowling alley french fries, and if that description tickles your brain, you’re going to love these.
Read the full ranking of the best potato chips
Credit: Liv Averett
- Trader Joe’s Kettle Cooked Potato Chips
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Trader Joe’s kettle chips have it all: They’re plenty salty, greasy, and crunchy, but they also have 50 percent less fat and sodium than TJ’s Ode to the Classic chips. We promise you won’t miss the extra fat or salt. These are perfect, especially for dipping in French onion dip. (And if you’re getting onion dip at TJ’s, get the vegan one! It’s delicious!)
Read the full ranking of the best low sodium chips
Credit: Liv Averett
- Trader Joe’s Organic Cacio e Pepe Puffs
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If you’ve ever eaten Pirate’s Booty but wished it tasted like a hearty pasta dinner, this is the best Trader Joe’s snack for you. Seriously, they managed to take everything that’s delicious about cacio e pepe and squish it into these little snack puffs. They’re cheesy and peppery and they almost taste a little like pasta water, too. It’s brilliant food science. And just like cacio e pepe, we’d probably eat a whole bag of these for dinner and be perfectly content.
Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s
- Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Nut Duo
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Trader Joe’s didn’t invent everything seasoning, but they’ve sure put it to good use over the years. Take this Everything but the Bagel Nut Duo. They took almonds and cashews and absolutely blasted them with everything seasoning. You get garlic, onion, sea salt, and poppy and sesame seeds, but none of those flavors overpower the nuts themselves. This is one of the best Trader Joe’s snacks when you want something highly savory but protein packed, too.
Read the full ranking of the best mixed nuts
Credit: Liv Averett
Super Seedy Cheese Snack Bites
Rating:
9/10
Sporks
Spicy Tempura Seaweed Snack
Rating:
8/10
Sporks
Savory Rice Crackers
Rating:
8.5/10
Sporks
Tom Yum Snack Mix
Rating:
9/10
Sporks
PB&C
Rating:
9/10
Sporks
Spicy Mochi Nuggets
Rating:
9/10
Sporks
Spicy Chakri Mix
Rating:
8/10
Sporks
Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips
Rating:
9/10
Sporks
Corn Chip Dippers
Rating:
7.5/10
Sporks
Mee Krob Snackers
Rating:
9/10
Sporks
Classic Potato Chips
Rating:
9.5/10
Sporks
Kettle Cooked Chips
Rating:
8/10
Sporks
Cacio e Pepe Puffs
Rating:
9.5/10
Sporks
Everything Nuts
Rating:
8.5/10
Sporks
Griffin Parker
Vinz Karl
Sporked Staff
