Trader Joe's has long been one of my favorite places to grocery shop! Not only do they have staples but they have amazing frozen food and lots of unique items that other stores don't carry.
It's basically a hippie paradise of alternative foods. It's also amazing when you don't have lot of time to cook or meal prep because they have so many great pre-made and frozen foods. We can't meal prep all the time now can we?
The really annoying thing about my TJ's store is there is NO internet or cell reception! Which means I cannot check point values while I'm in the store. Thus, it has been challenging for me to shop there and took a lot of trips to put this list together. If there are other must-haves from TJs please comment and I will update!
If you're looking to save a few bucks on more basic items, check out my Aldi shopping list here. Or if you are new to WW check out my tips for getting your kitchen ready.
All point values below were updated in July 2021 on the MyWW+ program, the points listed are for the blue plan. I recommend using your scanner to double check point values.
As most things at TJs are their house brand, everything below is Trader Joe's brand unless indicated otherwise. The fruits and vegetables are zero points unless otherwise noted; if there are sneaky points in them, I gave point values. The point values are per serving unless otherwise noted; as always check your own point values to be sure.
Snacks
There are lots of good snacks at TJs and they often have seasonal or rotating items. You will want to look for the "reduced-guilt" version if it's available.
- Reduced-guilt pita chips (3pt)
- Roasted gorgonzola crackers (5pt for 31 crackers!)
- Pretzel slims (3 for 23 crackers!)
- Kettle popped sweet & salty whole grain popcorn chips (3pt)
- Sweet potato tortilla chips (4pts - not particularly low but these are my favorite tortilla chips)
- Popcorn with olive oil (4pt, the scanner says that is for 2 cups but I checked the nutrition information and it came out to 4pts for 1oz which is much more than 2 cups)
- Organic Air popped popcorn (also 4pts like the olive oil popcorn but the serving size is a little bit larger, 30 grams/about 4 cups)
- Mango and cream bars (3pt, a frozen fruit bar)
- Raspberry and cream bars (4pt, not sure why these are more points than the mango ones but they scan higher)
- Mini mint ice cream mouthfuls (1 for 3pt or 2 for 5pt, great ice cream sandwich minis)
Be very careful in the dried fruit aisle, TJs sells a lot of dried fruit/vegetables but these are not zero points even if there is no sugar added.
Frozen food
I love the frozen food section at TJs! Our freezer is always packed after a trip there. I listed some of the "plain" frozen meat items under meat/dairy and the ice cream items are under snacks.
- Mango chunks & lots of other frozen fruit beyond what you find at other stores
- Soycotash (edamame, tomato and corn blend - we love this!)
- Fire roasted corn
- Riced cauliflower
- Zucchini spirals (basically "zoodles" or you can make your one with this gizmo)
- Tri-color bell peppers (great for soups, eggs)
- Cauliflower pizza crust (2pt for 1/8 of crust)
- Multigrain toaster waffles (4pt/each)
- Chicken cilantro mini wontons (1pt/4 wontons)
- Chicken gyoza potstickers (6pts/7 items)
- Pork gyoza potstickers (1pt each)
- Chicken tika samosas (1pt each) - these bake into a really nice crispy snack and are great when you want something that tastes fried but isn't.
- Seafood paella (4pt/serving)
- Shrimp soft taco (9pt/box)
- Reduced-guilt mac & cheese (8pt/box)
- Reduced-guilt spinach stuffed shells (8pt/box)
Bread
Trader Joe's has a great bread selection. I love their Sesame bagels, but I haven't bought them since I started Weight Watchers. Some day I will splurge on them!
- Mini bagels (plain, cinnamon-raisin, whole wheat) - 3pt/each
- Sprouted multigrain bread (2pt/slice)
- Multigrain rusitco bread (2pt/slice)
- Multigrain sandwich slims (3pt/each)
- Reduced carb whole wheat flour tortilla (1pt/each)
- Everything but the bagel seasoning (0pt - I actually don't like this but most people are wild about it!)
- Lavaash bread (2pt/each)
Produce
I always buy a lot of produce as almost everything is zero points. TJs has a great produce section with all of your typical items, so I will just mention a few things they stock that you don't find other places. Definitely buy lots of zero point fruits & vegetables!
They also have a great selection of frozen fruit and vegetables, many without sauces that are zero points. I have listed some of these in the frozen section.
- Butternut squash zig-zags (0pts, great for a fries substitute)
- Pre-cut butternut squash cubes
- Riced cauliflower
- Persian cucumbers (I love these mini cucumbers for snacks!)
- Blood Oranges
Meat and Dairy
- 99% FF ground turkey (this is the zero point ground turkey)
- 99% FF black forest ham (1 slice is 0sp! up to 5 slices is 1pt)
- Frozen turkey burgers (4pt)
- Frozen mahi mahi burgers (2pt)
- Frozen salmon burgers (2pt)
- Frozen Turkey corn dog (5pt)
- Raw shrimp that is peeled and deveined (this is surprisingly hard to find at other stores)
- Shrimp stir-fry (0pt)
- Unsweetened vanilla almond milk (1pt)
- Egg whites
- Cage free & organic eggs at a reasonable price
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| All the burger choices! |
Sauces
- Organic marinara sauce (2pt)
- Garlic simmer sauce (2pt, great for cooking chicken breast!)
- Pizza sauce (1pt - this is much lower than any I've found anywhere else)
- Reduced-guilt chunky guacamole (1pt)
- Tzatziki sauce (1pt, I actually don't like their tzatzikibut you might!)
- Green goddess salad dressing (1pt)
- Cilantro salad dressing (1pt, this is one of my faves and in the refrigerated section)
- Low-fat Parmesan ranch dressing (1pt)
- Greek feta dressing (4pt but really tasty)
- Olive oil cooking spray (0, I love theirs because it's only oil! A lot of other ones have other additives.)
- Roasted red pepper spread (1pt, great for sandwiches)
If you can't find something, it could be a seasonal item, as Trader Joe's doesn't have everything in stock year-round. This is especially true of things like ice cream, where they have a more limited choice in the winter.
I will keep adding new things to the list as I discover them! Possibly one day my scanner will work in their store? That would certainly make it easier to expand my list!
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