Trader Joe's products that you DON'T like?

Francl27
Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I bought their brand of plain nonfat Greek yogurt a few days ago. BLEH.

Is there anything else I should stay clear of? I tried their cottage cheese (4%) and it's pretty good though (although still not as good as Friendship).
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Replies

  • alyssa0061
    alyssa0061 Posts: 652 Member
    The apple cranberry bran muffins were disgusting and molded very quickly.

    I did not care for the spinach yogurt dip. It had a very strange taste.

    Their high fiber cereal tastes good but has half the fiber of the original Fiber One. I'll stick with Fiber One and pay a little more.

  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    Nobody in my family liked the chocolate pecan pie. It was too sweet for em.
  • ASH_DVM
    ASH_DVM Posts: 160 Member
    The Chocolate Lovers dark chocolate bar (85% cacao, think that's what it was called) wasn't very good. And the "two buck chuck" is not worth the wine.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    Maybe because ive been a whole foods shopper for almsot 10 years now... but trader joes confuses me its so small and i can never find anything. Im gonna go today to see if maybe it was just a few weird times.
  • alyssa0061
    alyssa0061 Posts: 652 Member
    fishshark wrote: »
    Maybe because ive been a whole foods shopper for almsot 10 years now... but trader joes confuses me its so small and i can never find anything. Im gonna go today to see if maybe it was just a few weird times.

    It is very small. I only buy specific things from there; there's no way I could do all my grocery shopping exclusively at Trader Joe's. But they do have some great products and really amazing prices. Their black bean pasta is $2.99 - the black bean pasta at Whole Foods and Kroger is $8.

    It's close to work and home now. When it wasn't I didn't go out of my way to shop there. I know that's blasphemous to the hardcore Trader Joe's fans.
  • pomegranatecloud
    pomegranatecloud Posts: 812 Member
    Fresh produce
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    I'm not a fan of their tomato basil hummus. It's just not right as a hummus for me. Maybe as a creamy pizza sauce or something. Others rave about it, so maybe it's just me. I usually buy their 2% and whole milk greek yogurts and mix them. I like Chobani full fat more, but no stores nearby carry it.

    I can't think of anything that I bought and didn't finish (and they have a generous return policy if you don't like something, by the way), but there are several that I just wouldn't buy again (either not great, or just not great enough to justify the calories) such as: speculoos cheesecake bites, dark chocolate almonds, roasted garlic tomato pasta sauce, banana nut cereal, ketchup, sourdough cheese stick cracker things (forgot the name) and any of their flavoured greek yogurts.

    I mostly shop at TJ for "ingredients" (rather than premade foods), actually. It's just way cheaper for some items. I finish my shopping by going to the Kroger right next to it.
  • koreangurl
    koreangurl Posts: 59 Member
    Don't like any of their products
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
    I tried a salsa that tasted just like dirt - it was awful. I figured I must have gotten a bad batch, but I was too scared to try it again.

    The mini chocolate chip cookies that come in a clear tub taste really dry to me.

  • slimbysummer2016
    slimbysummer2016 Posts: 1 Member
    Try the Trader Joe's version of the Kind Bar... Taste great and price is lower too. The produce is fab and the riced cauliflower is amazing!!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    zdyb23456 wrote: »
    I tried a salsa that tasted just like dirt - it was awful. I figured I must have gotten a bad batch, but I was too scared to try it again.

    The mini chocolate chip cookies that come in a clear tub taste really dry to me.

    Seconded. I liked the dunkers though.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Riced cauliflower is awesome! Great prices on most frozen veggies. Unsweetened soy milk is a fav--I use it in my protein shakes. Love th breaded chicken tenders. I do about half my shopping there.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    alyssawentland wrote: »
    fishshark wrote: »
    Maybe because ive been a whole foods shopper for almsot 10 years now... but trader joes confuses me its so small and i can never find anything. Im gonna go today to see if maybe it was just a few weird times.

    It is very small. I only buy specific things from there; there's no way I could do all my grocery shopping exclusively at Trader Joe's. But they do have some great products and really amazing prices. Their black bean pasta is $2.99 - the black bean pasta at Whole Foods and Kroger is $8.

    It's close to work and home now. When it wasn't I didn't go out of my way to shop there. I know that's blasphemous to the hardcore Trader Joe's fans.

    im glad its not just me then!
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Yeah their yogurt is like...ok. I'll eat it once in awhile because the price is good but I just miss my Fage when I taste it.

    I just tried their chipotle salsa this week and it's really weird. It taste like soup and I don't really love it. I also got some pickled vegetables that taste unlike any other pickled veg I've ever tasted. Not in a good way.

    Nothing exciting this trip. Deficit is strong.
  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
    They have a couple different eggplant dips in cans or jars - the one I got was disgusting.

    I mostly stick to single ingredient items so I love shopping there. I get a few things like low carb (and low calorie) tortillas which are awesome and sweet chili sauce and soy chorizo, a few other things ....mostly whole food items though.

    I used to love their ready made ready to eat now meal of spicy thai style chicken pasta - they recently changed it - not a good change :'(
  • kirstenb13
    kirstenb13 Posts: 181 Member
    ASH_DVM wrote: »
    The Chocolate Lovers dark chocolate bar (85% cacao, think that's what it was called) wasn't very good.

    What?? This stuff is like crack for me :)
    I dislike pretty much all of their convenience foods of which they have many, many, many.

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    kirstenb13 wrote: »
    ASH_DVM wrote: »
    The Chocolate Lovers dark chocolate bar (85% cacao, think that's what it was called) wasn't very good.

    What?? This stuff is like crack for me :)
    I dislike pretty much all of their convenience foods of which they have many, many, many.

    Yeah their sushi and spring rolls are a huge let down.
  • ASH_DVM
    ASH_DVM Posts: 160 Member
    kirstenb13 wrote: »
    ASH_DVM wrote: »
    The Chocolate Lovers dark chocolate bar (85% cacao, think that's what it was called) wasn't very good.

    What?? This stuff is like crack for me :)
    I dislike pretty much all of their convenience foods of which they have many, many, many.

    I'm too content with my Green and Black's 85% and nothing else (yet) comes close
  • spat095
    spat095 Posts: 105 Member
    I LOVE Trader Joe's, and this would be a much longer post if it were to include the things I buy weekly, haha...but there have definitely been some 'misses' over the years. The reduced guilt chicken salad - awful. Also the egg-white only, reduced guilt egg salad was really bad. I agree, their sushi is not good. I am with you on the yogurt, not a fan. Their fresh/refrigerated pizza sauce is good, but the jarred stuff is rubbish. I know lots of people liked the dried broccoli, but I thought it was terrible. Only once I bought a small chocolate ganache cake there, to bring to a party, and it looked awesome but was soggy and bland.
  • spat095
    spat095 Posts: 105 Member
    Thought of another one - their light sour cream is TERRIBLE, it's SO watery.
  • hikernut53
    hikernut53 Posts: 43 Member
    I've recently discovered their salads and LOVE them! Many are in the 300 calorie range which is perfect for lunch. The only thing I don't like is that they run out of them too early in the day. This is a weird, negative thread, IMO - I'd rather have a pro/con discussion instead of a "I hate xxx" discussion, but that's just me. Count me as a TJ's fan... :)
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    hikernut53 wrote: »
    I've recently discovered their salads and LOVE them! Many are in the 300 calorie range which is perfect for lunch. The only thing I don't like is that they run out of them too early in the day. This is a weird, negative thread, IMO - I'd rather have a pro/con discussion instead of a "I hate xxx" discussion, but that's just me. Count me as a TJ's fan... :)

    Well, there's already a TJ's love thread going on these forums.
    spat095 wrote: »
    I know lots of people liked the dried broccoli, but I thought it was terrible.

    Oh, I forgot about this one! I should have returned it, but that went into the garbage. Bleck.
  • pie_eyes
    pie_eyes Posts: 12,964 Member
    Does this thread mean I should avoid Trader Joe's? Lol
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    hikernut53 wrote: »
    I've recently discovered their salads and LOVE them! Many are in the 300 calorie range which is perfect for lunch. The only thing I don't like is that they run out of them too early in the day. This is a weird, negative thread, IMO - I'd rather have a pro/con discussion instead of a "I hate xxx" discussion, but that's just me. Count me as a TJ's fan... :)

    Yeah there's a ton of 'I love TJ' threads out there. And I do like TJ. Well, except when they release something new (post it on their website and all) but you go to the store and they just don't have it for months. Or they run out of pumpkin flavored stuff by the end of September and don't restock. But otherwise, yeah, I typically like TJ, lol.
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    @Francl27 You might be interested in the blog "What's Good at Trader Joe's?" if you've never heard of it.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    Does this thread mean I should avoid Trader Joe's? Lol
    Nah. I like a lot there, but like everything, not every product can be good.

  • alyssa0061
    alyssa0061 Posts: 652 Member
    hikernut53 wrote: »
    I've recently discovered their salads and LOVE them! Many are in the 300 calorie range which is perfect for lunch. The only thing I don't like is that they run out of them too early in the day. This is a weird, negative thread, IMO - I'd rather have a pro/con discussion instead of a "I hate xxx" discussion, but that's just me. Count me as a TJ's fan... :)

    I don't think it's negative at all. There are more than enough threads about what there is to love at Trader Joe's (there's a lot to love!). I enjoy this thread. I like seeing the opposite side of it. And if my comment can save one person from buying those disgusting apple cranberry bran muffins then I'm happy.
  • ASH_DVM
    ASH_DVM Posts: 160 Member
    Same with me. I love visiting TJ's about once a month, picking up things I know I only get there. But it's good to know about these items that are not recommended.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    mathandcats wrote: »
    @Francl27 You might be interested in the blog "What's Good at Trader Joe's?" if you've never heard of it.

    I follow it, lol.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    hikernut53 wrote: »
    I've recently discovered their salads and LOVE them! Many are in the 300 calorie range which is perfect for lunch. The only thing I don't like is that they run out of them too early in the day. This is a weird, negative thread, IMO - I'd rather have a pro/con discussion instead of a "I hate xxx" discussion, but that's just me. Count me as a TJ's fan... :)

    not everything is rainbows and puppies.. i think having a thread of what to avoid is super useful. Nothing worse then getting excited for something new, spending money on it, and then it sucking.

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