13 Trader Joe's Prepared Foods, Ranked

Any die-hard Trader Joe's customer knows how easy it is to get swept up in all the store's unique offerings. From its branded spices to its gloriously inexpensive wine and even its gluten-free take on Oreos, the store is full of items you won't find anywhere else, and they keep customers coming back. Its freshly prepared foods section is no exception, and if you've never browsed the grab-and-go refrigerator shelves, I urge you to give them at least a passing glance the next time you're in the store.

Trader Joe's prepared food section is full of offerings like sandwiches, salads, wraps, burritos, and breakfast bites. Some of them are fairly unassuming at first glance, and I've never found myself reaching for any on a whim — after all, I'm pretty wary of the quality of prepared foods. Recently, I decided it was high time I gave some of the prepped foods a try. I figured their convenience was worth testing the quality, and who knows? I wondered if I'd find a new, fresh favorite in the process. I grabbed 13 selections from the prepared section and ranked them based on taste, texture, perceived freshness, and how true they held to the package descriptions.

Ranking at the bottom of my list is Trader Joe's Lemon Herb Macaroni Salad. I wanted to like this much more than I did, but I was skeptical immediately upon opening the lid — I could see a ton of relish in the container and got faint whiffs of vinegar before I even took a bite. Nevertheless, I persisted, as I love lemon, herbs, and macaroni salad. Unfortunately, the relish made this taste of macaroni salad more like a summer cookout hot dog topping than a verifiable meal.

Now, if you're a huge relish fan, maybe you'll like this more than I did. Personal preferences aside, I could justify ranking this any higher because it simply wasn't what the package promised it would be. The lemon was present in the dish, but the relish took precedence, and it gave the whole thing a briny flavor that I failed to enjoy. The only herb I tasted was dill, which I like and which works well with both lemon and pickle relish, but ultimately I felt duped by the fact that the company called this a lemon herb salad — it should instead be called a dill pickle macaroni salad or something similar. On the plus side, I thought the relish added some nice crunch, and the macaroni salad had a good mac-to-dressing ratio.

I should preface this by saying I'm not the biggest tamale fan in general — I don't love the process of peeling off a corn husk to eat my meal — but I can still appreciate a good tamale when I see one. Unfortunately (in my mind anyway), Trader Joe's Chicken & Green Chile Tamales just weren't that good. I ate a whole one in search of something to praise it for but kept coming up, unfortunately, short.

The masa that wrapped the tamale was thick and hopelessly dry, though I adhered to the microwave instructions when cooking. The chicken was also slightly dry and I failed to get any hint of green chiles. In addition, there wasn't a ton of texture — not that I was expecting much textural variety, but I still found the lack thereof to be somewhat boring. I did appreciate the tamales' lunch-sized portions, and I thought they were seasoned exceptionally well; by no means were they bland. They were just slightly too dry, and I missed the chiles in every bite.

I absolutely adore a good potato salad. After all, who doesn't love potatoes? But to call Trader Joe's Old Fashioned Potato Salad a potato salad is, in my mind, an insult to the dish. What I expect from a potato salad is a peppery mixture of chunky potatoes, a light and creamy dressing, and some herbs thrown in for flavor. Opening this container of potato salad presented me with something that looked more akin to dry mashed potatoes than any potato salad I've ever eaten.

Upon trying this, my gut reaction was to call it simply fine — it's nothing special, but there's also nothing particularly bad about it. It's just underwhelming. It didn't have nearly enough seasoning, so I ended up adding black pepper to my portion. I think it could also have benefited from the tang of some tartar sauce or even just lemon juice. The potatoes could have been chunkier and the dressing creamier, but to its credit, the textures were good, and I liked the crunchy green onions interspersed throughout. On the whole, you may be better off making your own.

A quick disclaimer: I'm not a fan of olives, but Trader Joe's Mediterranean Orzo Salad didn't have enough of them to bother me. If you're olive-averse, this is probably a good thing, but if you love olives, you'll likely find yourself wishing there were more. Regardless of your personal olive preferences, I'd still say this orzo salad wasn't anything to write home about. The orzo itself was good enough, but it lacked in flavor and texture.

I found the orzo salad to be a little bitter, and I wished it had been brightened up with some lemon, salt, and herbs. The only textural variety was in the spinach — though the salad had some red onion pieces, they were too small to be noticeable, and I found myself looking for something crunchy. There also weren't enough sun-dried tomatoes to make a visible impact. All in all, this isn't the worst salad, but I could make a better orzo salad at home with minimal effort.

Trader Joe's Carnitas with Salsa Verde Burrito is another prepared food that fell slightly short of my expectations, but I may have simply been expecting too much with this one. I prepared it in the air fryer, and I'd recommend you do the same if you grab this quick, easy lunch — it gives the tortilla some crunch, which is about the only identifiable texture I got from this burrito.

We'll start with the pros this time. The burrito boasted some good flavor, and it was definitely well-seasoned, but I didn't get any of the cilantro lime flavor mentioned on the package. I also didn't get any hint of salsa verde, nor did I see any trace of it in the burrito (check the picture above if you don't believe me). The burrito was virtually devoid of texture — a bit squishy if you will — and I found it hard to discern between the different elements present in the burrito. Whatever cheese was there got hopelessly lost, and the pork and black beans somehow became one. I'd say this burrito is fine for being the simple, easy lunch that it is, but it's definitely nothing special.

Moving on from the foods that I probably wouldn't buy again unless apocalyptic conditions necessitated it, these next few dishes were enjoyable enough but didn't blow me out of the water. Trader Joe's Spring Rolls with Shrimp was a bit of an enigma to me, a gal who loves spring rolls in any form. I usually expect shrimp, vegetables, and at least a bit of herb or spice to give it some flavor — this spring roll was simply quite unbalanced.

I was glad that the company served this with a cashew dipping sauce, as that was the only thing that made the spring rolls at all flavorful. The sauce was yummy, but I didn't want to need sauce to give my spring rolls any flavor. In terms of the spring rolls themselves, I completely lost the shrimp in a sea of leafy greens and some spare (what I'm guessing were) vermicelli noodles. To their credit, they were hearty enough, but the more I ate them, the more they confused me. Buy this for the sauce, and make your own spring rolls at home.

I do love lentil soup — the hearty, healthy dish is especially comforting in cold weather, and I looked forward to giving Trader Joe's a try. I may just be a lentil soup snob, but this simply wasn't anything interesting to me. If I were rating Trader Joe's prepared foods on their potential, this may have ranked slightly higher, as I think you could dress it up to be something really excellent. But given that I was trying to judge each food as it is on its own, I couldn't justify giving this any higher than spot seven on this list.

I appreciated that the lentil soup had that healthy, energizing feeling you get from eating whole grains and quality ingredients. My biggest qualm with it was that it was a bit lacking in flavor, and I ended up adding salt to mine. I'd also say it was pretty thick — definitely more of a chili than a soup — though you could absolutely thin it out with some water if that was a deal breaker. Adding some sour cream and cheese would certainly make it more flavorful but a little less health-conscious. You could also elevate this lentil soup with some hot sauce.

Trader Joe's Chicken Sausage Breakfast Burrito was solid for what it was — a store-bought breakfast burrito that offers an easy-to-eat meal when you need to grab something and run out the door. I liked it, but I don't know how often I'll find myself buying it simply because, again, it didn't wow me, and I wouldn't be happy to be served this at a cafe. If you try this breakfast burrito (by all means, don't let me stop you), I would encourage you to heat it up in an air fryer to give the tortilla some crunch.

The burrito boasted melty cheese, and the chicken sausage had good flavor, with the slightest bit of spice to it. Though the sausage adds some texture (as does the tortilla if you air fry it), I found myself looking for something crunchy, like diced onions or grilled peppers. I also thought the burrito was slightly unbalanced — some bites only gave me tortilla — and it was a tad too salty. Other than that, it was a good breakfast; if you grab one, I'd recommend giving it some crunch by adding smashed tater tots to your burrito.

Turkey, cheddar, apples, and arugula — where could you go wrong? As it turns out, there was very little "wrong" with this sandwich, and the qualms I had with it were enough of an issue of personal preference that this sandwich earned its well-deserved number five spot on my list. However, I also thought this sandwich was slightly unbalanced in its elements; had it not been, it likely would have ranked higher.

I appreciated that the bread had a nice crumb and was neither too thick for the sandwich to shine nor too thin to hold it together. I absolutely adored the sweet crunch from the apples — personally, I would have gone a step further and sweetened this turkey sandwich with some jam. The flavors of this sandwich were flawless; however, I had an issue with the ratios of ingredients Trader Joe's uses. I thought there was way too much dijon mayo, and the layer of turkey was incredibly thick, making it hard to taste the cheese at all. The arugula on mine wasn't evenly distributed, but that's a minor complaint. Overall, the flavors work very well together, and this sandwich is a yummy, filling lunch.

Any other chicken salad fans here? I regularly make the dish in the summertime when I need something versatile to use for quick and easy lunches. Because I love making chicken salad, I'm always dubious of other chicken salad offerings, but Trader Joe's Tarragon Chicken Salad wrap was actually pretty impressive. I'm not sure why I've never added tarragon to my chicken salad, as it seems like a no-brainer pairing, but Trader Joe's has turned me into a convert.

The textures of this wrap were very well-balanced. The celery lent a nice, crisp crunch to the chicken salad while the almond slivers added some welcome bite. I also thought the dressing-to-salad ratio of this wrap was perfect, and the tarragon was both subtle and beautiful. My only qualm was that I thought the wrap needed some more salt, and the chicken was slightly dry — however, the dressing helped make up for that. One wrap was a great lunch size, and I'd buy this one again.

Given that I'm not generally the biggest egg bite fan, I was surprised when I loved Trader Joe's Cheddar Cheese & Uncured Bacon Egg Bites as much as I did. I prepared these egg bites in the air fryer, as I tend to do with most things that need a quick heating up, and they browned beautifully on top and gained a slightly crispy outer layer. I didn't personally have any issues with the egg bites, but they ranked lower than they may have otherwise because I could see the texture being polarizing.

The flavors in the egg bite were impeccable — the cheese was beautiful and not too strong, and the bacon added a nice, salty crunch and some texture to the egg bite that was never overwhelming. The egg bites also held together well, and they were rich and had a squishy quality to them, which I enjoyed, but I could see some consumers not liking the slight "rubbery" mouthfeel of these. Overall, though, they were really well-seasoned and flavorful; if the texture isn't a turnoff to you, I'd absolutely recommend you try these for your next quick breakfast.

Yes, I'm biased here, but can you blame me? Even a middling buffalo chicken wrap is bound to be packed with flavor, and Trader Joe's Buffalo Style Chicken Wrap is no exception. Catch me grabbing this the next time I'm at Trader Joe's simply because I'm too lazy to make my own, and it's cheaper than the one I could buy from the fancy sandwich shop up the street. Will it be the best buffalo chicken wrap you've ever had? Probably not, but chances are you'll have chowed down on it before finding anything you dislike.

As with the other wraps on this list, it wouldn't be a bad idea to air fry this to give the tortilla some crisp. Personally, I didn't — I ate this while waiting for a layer of paint to dry, and it was so good I practically inhaled it cold. It was a little spicy (which may be just me — I tend to be sensitive to spice), but it comes with blue cheese dressing, which provided a nice balance to the spice. I wished there was more celery to give the burrito more crunchy elements, but that was a minor complaint. The flavors were fabulous and evoked the welcome memory of chicken wings and blue cheese dressing; on top of it all, it was quite a filling meal.

Finally, for my top pick — a dish I vowed not to eat all of (since I tried four dishes that night) that I nevertheless devoured as though I hadn't eaten in days. From my first bite of Trader Joe's Waldorf Salad, I had an inkling it would end up becoming my favorite selection on this list, and I was more than right. I'd buy this over making my own any day, and I wouldn't be surprised if this version surpassed any restaurant's offering that I happen to try in the future. It's simply that good.

Though a classic Waldorf salad has an exceptionally simple dressing, Trader Joe's decided to pivot when creating theirs, and I'm so glad they did. The brown sugar maple dressing on this salad was absolutely incredible without being overwhelming — rather, it was the perfect complement to the salad's other elements. The textures were also divine. While the lettuce provided a ton of crunch, the apples were light and crispy, the walnuts gave some chew, the grapes were bright and juicy, and the chicken added an easy-to-chew element to what otherwise could have been a very crunchy dish. This made for a hearty lunch; moreover, it felt like a balanced meal with vegetables, fruits, protein, and healthy fats.

If I'm being perfectly honest, I didn't have high expectations of many of these foods — though I'm a huge fan of Trader Joe's, I'm always wary of prepared foods, usually preferring to make my own version at home. While some definitely fell flat, a few absolutely blew me away. When ranking these, the first thing I took into account was whether the food held up to what its packaging purported it to be; for example, the lemon herb macaroni salad ranked last because it simply wasn't a lemon herb macaroni salad.

I also took into account the textural and flavor elements of the dish. I wanted to see some balance here, and even if a dish boasted good flavors and textures, it ranked lower if one or two elements overpowered the rest (as with the turkey apple cheddar sandwich). Dishes that had multiple flavors and textures in good balance with one another ranked higher, which is arguably why the Waldorf salad earned the top spot on my list — no bite was ever boring, and it married crunchy, crisp, sweet, and tangy elements well to create a salad that was an absolute joy to eat.