Five Items We Couldn’t Leave Trader Joe’s Without

Alright folks, we hope you can hold out just one more week until the entirety of our Trader Joe’s hauls being lined with fall products. But as of now fall still hasn’t officially started, and we are soaking up every last drop of the summer sun — and our shopping carts reflect that. We’re still hosting for summer and eating (mostly) pumpkin spice-free diets, and we want to share what that looks like even when shopping at fall champion of grocery stores, Trader Joe’s. These are the most interesting things we found at our Trader Joe’s this week and what we think about them. 

Videos by Sporked

Pumpkin Butter

Okay, okay, we’ll get the one pumpkin spice item we actually got out of the way. Fall is just days away now, and as soon as the 22nd hits, we’re all in. Our shelves should be stocked when the time comes.

The thing that is so lovely about the Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter is that it is just not artificial tasting at all. And, like any good pumpkin butter should be, it is made with actual pumpkin purée. To us, this is a pretty perfect pumpkin butter. Our only qualm with this is that it’s a little bit loose, but for just a couple bucks we’re not complaining.

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Jalapeño & Cream Cheese Crispy Wontons

As we said, we are still entertaining during these last couple summer evenings, and part of that means simple and easy appetizers that can help hold out guests until dinner is served. We tried out these Jalapeño & Cream Cheese Crispy Wontons en lieu of the crab rangoon we were actually craving, and they ended up being quite a satisfying treat. Since they aren’t fried, they’re gonna have a bit of a different texture in the crust. But pop them in an air fryer, and you’re still gonna get that crispy texture. They’re lush with a bright, spicy cheesy filling and quickly became a wonderful alternative to have stocked in the freezer, even through the change in seasons.

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Tarongino Frizzante Sparkling Orange Wine

The Trader Joe’s wine section typically impresses us beyond what we could expect. And, it’s usually in a way that doesn’t make sense for the price point of the bottle. Because of this, we like to try out any bottle that strikes our fancy, because they’ll generally be at least good enough to sip with dinner. This bottle was very impressive though. It is very bright citrusy and refreshing. It has a pretty high salinity, but it isn’t aggressively tannic or leaving a bitter aftertaste in your mouth. The sparkling quality is also a true reminder that the summer sun hasn’t quite left us yet, too. For just around $12, you better believe we’re already planning our next trip to snag another bottle.

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Dark Chocolate Covered Bon Bon Cookies

Although these have been on the shelves of Trader Joe’s for quite some time, we’ve only ever tried the ice cream version of them. Since those were so good in their own right, we didn’t bother to try these out. But as some of the summer heat starts to fade (albeit, only a little) we decided to give these a try. And once we tried one, we basically had to eat the whole pack.

They are very wonderfully dark chocolate forward, which is exactly what we wanted. The ganache is creamy and luscious, and the combination of the dark chocolate ganache, dark chocolate shell, and cocoa nibs on the exterior make it for a very decadent and balanced bite. Our only issue is that the cookie base itself had a bit of a strange texture, almost as if it was stale… but maybe we just got an old box.

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Corn & Wheat Tortillas

Finally, we just like to have some good tortillas on hand, but we’ve been struggling to find ones that have the perfect balance of that delightful corn maize flavor, but not absolutely falling apart with barely a touch. Since these are a corn and wheat blend, they have all of the flexibility of a flour tortilla, but none of that intensely chewy gluten structure and flour-y flavor. Instead, it has that true corn flavor that we want for our street tacos and sticks together through the whole taco eating journey.

Rating:

10/10

Sporks