There Are 475 Holiday Items Hitting Trader Joe’s Stores This Season — These Are the 11 Staffers Are Most Excited About

With Thanksgiving squarely in the rearview, Trader Joe’s (and most every other retailer) is making a sharp left turn into holiday home stretch. Festive foodstuffs — about 475 of them — are lining the shelves, according to Inside Trader Joe’s podcast cohosts Matt Sloan and Tara Miller. (Tara counted.)

In the latest episode, which dropped earlier this week, the duo is sharing the 11 they’re most excited about: Fancy crackers! Crumby shortbread! Maybe the biggest bag of gummies the grocer has ever made! And more! Let’s take a look.

1. Blue Cheese Stuffed Chalkidiki Olives

Grown and packed in Greece, these plump olives are “stuffed with tangy, creamy, blue cheese,” Tara says. Though the returning favorite is packed in oil (not brine), she’ll “float one or two of these in a martini” — after she “dab[s] the oil off with a towel a little bit first. And new this year: Lemon Stuffed Chalkidiki Olives, which are stuffed with “pieces of lemon peel” and packed in brine (not oil), are “one of the most delicious olives I’ve ever eaten in my life,” she adds.

2. Elevated Cracker Assortment

“These are not like the same old, same old grocery store kind of crackers,” Tara says. Made in the U.K. from a company that has been around for more than 100 years, according to Matt, the trio of flavors — Plum and Date, Buttermilk, and Lemon and Black Pepper — are meant to be “savored,” he says. At $8 a box, we sure hope so.

3. Festive Chaos of Gummy Candy

This hefty, 20-ounce (!) bag is packed with an I Spy Christmas book’s worth of gummy candies. In it you’ll find fruit-flavored ornaments, trees, holly, snowmen, sneakers, bears, and mustaches, plus bottles that taste like cola. “This is the biggest bag of gummies I think we’ve ever had,” says Matt, and “they’re not going to be around too much longer,” Tara adds.

4. Jingly Jangly

This year TJ’s is introducing Jingle Jangle (beloved holiday snack), in pocket or stocking-size bags. At just under 3 ounces, it’s roughly 15% the size of the standard tin. To cram the array of confectionaries into the bag (chocolate-covered mini pretzels, caramel popcorn, and Joe-Joe’s cookies, plus milk chocolate gems and mini peanut butter cups), the team created a special “dark chocolate cookie pretzel bark,” Matt says. It combines a dark chocolate base with bits of Joe-Joe Cookies and pretzels.

5. Jingle Jangle For Dogs

Another Jingle Jangle spin-off! This one’s for the dogs. “It’s in a tin, just like the traditional Jingle Jangle,” says Tara and contains bone, circle, star, pretzel-shaped biscuits that are each coated in a peanut butter, carob, or bacon coating. Matt ate a whole biscuit during the taping and compared it to “something you find under a sofa cushion …  not in a bad way.”

6. German Iced Gingerbread Soft Spiced Cookies

This is the cookie that TJ’s Product Developer Arlene was most excited about, Tara explains, and it’s easy to see why. The ornate design is truly stop-you-in-your-tracks beautiful, but it’s not just the style. The cookie itself promises a lovely “contrast between crunchy, icing sugar and soft gingerbread baked just enough,” Matt says.

7. British Shortbread Cookie Collection

Source from the same U.K. company that put together the abovementioned Elevated Cracker Assortment, this collection boasts another trio of delights. Inside the pale blue box, you’ll find Coffee, Cocoa, and English Toffee & Nut cookies that Matt says have “crisp shortbread crumb that is light and a little dense at the same time.”

8. Mini Mushroom Tartlets

As we enter peak appetizer season, consider outsourcing the tart making to TJ’s. These bites contain white and shiitake mushrooms, explains Tara, along with Parmesan and ricotta cheese, garlic, and shallots all nestled in a flaky pastry shell. The only downside? There’s 12 to a pack, so you may need to snag an extra box or two depending on the guest list.

9. Cheesy Creamy Greens and Veggies

This bountiful bag has been on shelves for a minute, but that doesn’t make it any less fitting for the festivities in the month ahead. The creamy, cheesy blend of Brussels sprouts, spinach, and kale is equally up for the role of weeknight dinner shortcut (toss it with some pasta!) as it is bona fide holiday hit (add a buttery breadcrumb topping).

10. Holiday Vegetable Hash

A real who’s who of seasonal staples, this $5 hash packs butternut squash, sweet potato, red onion, celery, parsley, sage, and rosemary together in a pre-chopped, pre-seasoned package. Isn’t that convenient?! Use it for meat-free take on traditional corned beef hash, like Tara does, or follow Matt and fold it into stuffing.

11. English Toffee Ice Cream

This brown butter ice cream went through multiple rounds of tasting, according to Matt. The new pint also contains chocolatey covered toffee pieces (that are “crunchy without being too hard”) and almonds. Like so many popular ice cream flavors (Salted Maple, Ube, Horchata), this one is a seasonal drop. So shop accordingly.

Which of these are you most excited about? Tell us in the comments below.

Further Reading

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