13 Must-Try Trader Joe’s Spring Groceries, According to Store Employees (We Can’t Wait!)
March is here and the days are officially longer, which also means the arrival of Trader Joe’s spring lineup. That’s the focus of the latest episode of the Inside Trader Joe’s podcast. Cohosts Tara Miller and Matt Sloan dive into all the new (and returning) products hitting shelves this season. With so many exciting items, they even tapped special guest Allison, a category manager for candy and cookies at Trader Joe’s, to help cover them all.
While Easter is a big focus (bring on the chocolate!), the duo also shared intel on other seasonal and returning favorites, including a popular cream cheese (gracing shelves again), plus fresh bags of flavor-packed chips and a new gluten-free mini sheet cake. Among the dozens of arrivals, these are their 13 favorites.
1. Caro Sugo Italian Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce
Caro Sugo, Matt explains, is an Italian phrase, “which basically means, dear sauce, D-E-A-R, dear pasta sauce. Think of this as our love letter to pasta sauce.” It’s made with Italian-grown tomatoes from Southern Italy and features fresh basil and garlic. Matt describes it as, “absolutely incredible.” I’m sold!
2. Break Apart Bunny
What’s Easter without chocolate bunnies? This one is not just any ordinary, hollowed-out chocolate bunny. This chocolate bunny is stuffed with fruit-flavored gummy carrots. Matt, Tara, and Alison all agree: They’re “incredibly cute and fun.” So you should think about snagging one or three well ahead of Easter, especially because they hit stores this week.
3. Milk Chocolate Bunny Bar
Speaking of Easter candy, Trader Joe’s is also releasing a Milk Chocolate Bunny Bar — that’s made by the same vendor as the Break Apart Bunny — and is topped with candy-coated milk chocolate gems, caramel bits, rainbow nonpareils (dyed with natural colorants like turmeric and spirulina), and white chocolate drizzle. It’s “vibrant and fun,” says Tara, and “exclusive to Trader Joe’s.”
4. Chocolate Truffle Eggs
Foiled eggs are pretty synonymous with Easter baskets, but these Belgium-produced chocolate eggs catered to the ones making the baskets. They come in a bright box with a variety of gourmet flavors: dark-, milk-, and white-chocolate praline, crispy milk, milk coconut, dark pistachio, and dark cookies and cream. (Although, you’re, of course, welcome to give them to children, too.)
5. Easter Joe-Joe’s
Joe-Joe’s sandwich cookies are a fan-favorite staple at the grocer. The grocer has released several flavors, including chocolate peanut butter and strawberry lemonade flavors. Now, Trader Joe’s is introducing a limited-edition Easter flavor, featuring cookies covered in milk and white chocolate and topped with “Easter-y” sprinkles.
6. Gluten-Free Yellow Mini Sheet Cake
The mini sheet cakes at Trader Joe’s are a big deal. Its chocolate and vanilla flavors have so much buzz behind them, and the first-ever gluten-free Mini Sheet Cake is sure to add to the fervor. We tried the Yellow Mini Sheet Cake a few weeks ago and agree with Tara’s review: “It’s super moist. It just tastes like good cake.” And lucky for us, it’s added to the everyday Trader Joe’s lineup and isn’t seasonal.
7. Crispy Dried Watermelon
When these dehydrated watermelon slices came to the tasting panel, Tara was a bit hesitant. After her first bite, she was amazed by how “delicious” they are. Made with only one ingredient, dried watermelon, Tara describes the texture of the slices as “something that’s been fried.” In reality, it’s just half a pound of watermelon with all the water sucked out of it.
8. Garlic Butter Irish Potato Chips
There’s a new chip on the block and we can’t wait to try it. These ridge-cut potato chips are made with Irish potatoes, Irish butter, and a ton of garlic. They’re Irish cousins to Cashel Blue Cheese chips that popped up last fall. They’re also sturdy (perfect for dips!) and are (thankfully) part of Trader Joe’s permanent snack section.
9. Black Garlic Cream Cheese
Hooray! The Trader Joe’s Black Garlic Cream Cheese is officially back! If you’ve never had black garlic, it’s like garlic’s sweet, very umami-forward cousin (it’s delicious!). In addition to smearing it on a bagel, Tara suggests swirling someto pasta for a fuss-free creamy sauce, topping off a baked potato, or spreading on a roast beef sandwich. It’s another seasonal find, so blink and you might miss it.
10. Organic Baby Red Butter Lettuce and Baby Arugula
This 50/50 mix of red butter lettuce and arugula is salad ready. There’s no cutting, or shredding, or pulling apart leaves — just open, pour into a bowl, and add your favorite mix-ins. Matt says the blend offers a great balance of “sweet, subtle” flavor from the lettuce with “peppery bitterness” from the arugula.
11. Tarongino Orange Wine
You may be familiar with orange wine that’s made with grapes and oxidized to give it its orange hue. Well, not this new Trader Joe’s wine. It’s made with actual oranges. This German-made wine has a 7% alcohol by volume content and is“crisp,” “bright,” and “really perfect for a picnic,” Matt says. Expect it to show up in stores starting in April.
12. Hardywood Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter
Keeping with the spirits, Matt and Tara are also amped about this new collaboration. Hardywood brewery’s porter pays homage to the store’s fan-favorite dark chocolate peanut butter cups. “The chocolate notes come from chocolate malt,” which has a roasted flavor,” explains Matt that’s combined with a “de-fatted peanut powder.” He calls it “amazing” and notes it’ll be in stores soon (if it’s not in your local Trader Joe’s already!).
13. Night Cream
Make some room in your before-bed routine. This face cream contains hyaluronic acid, fermented mushrooms, and Irish sea moss that helps “restore your skin’s natural pH balance and lock in moisture.” It’s unscented and will be available the first week of April.
Which of these spring items are you most excited about? Tell us in the comments below!
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