Wirecutter's Guide to Shopping at Trader Joe's

The Wirecutter Show

The New York Times

Wirecutter, Products, New York Times, Home & Garden, Education, Product Recommendations, Leisure, The Wirecutter Show, Life Hacks, Society & Culture, Testing, Recommendations, Podcast, How To

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Our experts taste-tested 70+ Trader Joe’s products to identify some of our favorites. Learn what’s worth buying, and why TJ’s has a cult following.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The whole Tiki vibe was very intentional and was there like from the founding.
0:07.7	He wanted to feel like a trading post, which if you're from the West Coast, there is a very
0:12.5	specific West Coast trading post where stuff would come from the East and would be repackaged
0:18.8	and sold to folks in California.
0:22.4	I'm Christine Sir Clissette. I'm Christine Cyr-Cleset.
0:24.2	I'm Kyra Blackwell.
0:25.5	I'm Rosie Garan, and you're listening to The Wirecutter Show.
0:41.0	Hi, Rosie.
0:41.8	Hey, Kyra.
0:46.0	So it's a bit weird, but Christine actually isn't with us today.
0:46.5	I miss her.
0:47.1	I know.
0:48.4	But it's nice to be with you.
0:48.9	Yeah.
0:50.3	We're going to have a fun one today.
0:51.2	Why?
0:57.7	Because today we are talking about one of my favorite stores, at least for snacks and I don't know, frozen foods. Trader Joe's. Love it. I'm actually embarrassed about how much I love
1:05.6	Trader Joe's. You're not alone. I mean, maybe cult is a little too strong, but there's definitely a Trader Joe's hive.
1:15.7	Yeah, a fan base.
1:17.2	If you love it, you seem to really, really love it.
1:19.6	Yeah, so we really wanted to stress that Wirecutter usually does not do this.
1:24.4	We're not big fans of recommending one store or gush about one place, but TJ's is
	...

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