12 Trader Joe's Frozen Vegetables, Ranked Worst To Best

It always feels great to have a fridge drawer packed full of fresh veggies, ready to go whenever you're hungry for a snack or want to cook an elaborate meal. But let's be real: Having a lot of fresh vegetables on hand means that some of them invariably go to waste, leaving you with a sad, wilted bag of spinach or shriveled carrots taking up space in your fridge. If you often find yourself in that situation, you may want to rely more heavily on frozen vegetables, which keep for much longer than their fresh counterparts and allow you to add nutrition to your meals without a second thought.

Too many people assume that frozen vegetables are less nutritious than fresh options, but in reality, there's no big difference between the two. And if you know how to prepare them, frozen veggies can be just as delicious as fresh varieties. Of course, not all frozen vegetables are the same, and you want to make sure you're buying the right types. Trader Joe's is a great place to snag fresh veggies, so I've tasted 12 of the popular chain's frozen vegetable offerings to let you know which ones are worth trying and which are likely to stay in the back of your freezer for months. I ranked them based on flavor, texture, and versatility, but don't be afraid to try them out for yourself.

Sometimes you just need a quick and easy source of nutrition to add to your meal, and Trader Joe's Organic Foursome Vegetable Medley certainly provides just that. The mixture comes with cut green beans, corn, carrots, and peas, and unlike similar products from different brands, you're actually going to get a pretty equal distribution of vegetables in the package. But although this veggie blend is convenient and seems relatively high-quality, it's not exactly delicious.

Although this sort of veggie blend may be common in grocery store frozen sections, it's kind of a random assortment of flavors. Think about it: If these vegetables didn't come together in a package, would you ever come up with this combo yourself? I can't think of any dish that would benefit from the addition of these veggies taste-wise, even though the product has an appeal from a strictly health-related front. Sure, you could add these vegetables to chilis or soups or include them in a stir fry, but they're just going to add a bit of nutrition, not necessarily make the dish taste better.

If you're just looking for some simple veggies to include in meals when you don't have time to dream up something better, go ahead and snag yourself a bag of this vegetable medley. Otherwise, there are better frozen vegetable options at Trader Joe's to choose from.

I love asparagus just as much as the next person, but I am of the belief that asparagus should never be frozen. No matter how you prepare frozen asparagus, it never quite achieves the same snappy texture and spring-y flavor that you'll get from the fresh variety, which is why it's ranked so low on this list. Quality-wise, you won't be getting a bad product — this asparagus tastes nice and fresh, and it even has that signature aroma you expect from the vegetable. But if you're used to making fresh asparagus, you're probably going to be disappointed by these spears.

That being said, how you decide to serve your asparagus makes a lot of difference. If you're using it in a salad, for example, then you'll want to skip Trader Joe's frozen asparagus entirely. On the other hand, if you plan to incorporate it into a larger dish where it plays an insignificant role, this choice might not be so bad. Plus, the price point is attractive, so it could be a good option when you need asparagus for a recipe but don't want to spend quite as much money as fresh asparagus demands. Still, it's certainly not the tastiest frozen vegetable Trader Joe's offers.

A frozen bell pepper and onion mixture is, if you ask me, an absolutely essential freezer staple. It can be included in a wide variety of meals, from fajitas to stir fries, and it can make adding vegetables to your dish super easy since you don't have to do any chopping. And, despite its relatively low ranking on this list, Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Bell Peppers and Onions taste nice and fresh, with an excellent pepper-to-onion ratio.

So, then, why does this product rank so low? It mostly comes down to the name of the product. It's advertised as being "fire roasted," but I didn't really see evidence of that claim at all. The photo on the front of the bag illustrated peppers with dark marks indicating that the vegetables had, in fact, been roasted. But when you pour these peppers and onions out of the bag, you won't see that same charred color. Additionally, that roasted flavor is absent. So, although this frozen veggie combo has a firm texture and fresh flavor profile, the lack of apparent fire-roasting earned it a spot near the bottom of this ranking.

There are a lot of vegetables that simply don't taste good frozen, but peas aren't one of them. In fact, peas might just be one of the best frozen vegetables to have on hand — after all, fresh peas are so fleeting in the spring months and can be quite finicky to work with because they're so easy to overcook. Trader Joe's Petite Peas allow you to work peas into your diet at any time of the year, and since they cook so quickly, you can add them to basically any recipe to give your diet some more green veggies.

These peas aren't bad, per se, but they're just not as flavorful as some other brands' peas I've had in the past. Their small size makes them perfect for adding to recipes — I especially like them in soups — but they taste pretty neutral. I'd keep these on hand to use when I just need some extra veggies in a dish, but they're not a product I'd actively seek out.

A lot of frozen broccoli can be actively unpleasant. All too often, you'll open a bag of frozen broccoli only to find that it's mostly stems, with barely any florets at all. And although I'm very pro-broccoli stem (there are so many creative ways to use them in your cooking), they're usually not what I'm looking for when I open a package of frozen broccoli.

Trader Joe's Broccoli Florets offer a welcome reprieve from the dreaded stem-loaded bag. The bag of frozen broccoli I got from Trader Joe's was filled with just that: actual florets. Steaming them rendered tender, supple broccoli that could be used in a wide variety of recipes. Admittedly, frozen broccoli never has the same texture as the fresh stuff, and Trader Joe's broccoli is no different. Roasting these broccoli florets, for example, is still going to yield a soggier texture than the crispy profile you might be going for. But if you love steamed broccoli or are planning on making a broccoli soup, this bag is worth buying the next time you visit TJ's. Are there better frozen vegetables available at the store, though? Definitely.

Whether you're looking for a quick and easy source of protein or just want to add more green to your diet, frozen edamame is a great vegetable to have on hand. Edamame in its shell is perfect for snacking, but when you actually want to add it to a meal, shelled edamame can offer an easier and less time-consuming experience. When it comes to Trader Joe's Shelled Edamame, you can be confident that you're getting a good product. Ultimately, this is about as basic as a package of frozen vegetables can get. It tastes exactly how I'd expect edamame to taste — nothing more, nothing less. Yes, you'll get a few discolored pieces, but that doesn't appear to affect the flavor of the product.

Trader Joe's Shelled Edamame secures its place in the middle of this ranking because it tastes good and gets the job done, but it's not exactly a standout product. But, hey, sometimes you just need a dependable source of frozen veggies, and this edamame offers just that.

You know when you get fresh Brussels sprouts and they're so huge that you have to remove several layers of leaves just to get them to a decent size before cutting them in half? Well, you're not going to have that problem when you grab a bag of Trader Joe's frozen Brussels Sprouts. These may be the smallest, cutest Brussels sprouts I've ever seen, and although I'm generally not a big fan of frozen Brussels sprouts, these are undeniably tasty.

Yes, these sprouts do have that signature bitterness you expect from the vegetable, but they're quite a bit milder than others I've tasted before. Rather, these are the slightest bit sweet, a quality which is likely enhanced when they're roasted instead of steamed. Still, though, they're mild enough that you can easily add whatever seasonings you want to adapt them to your taste. When steamed, they have a tender, easy-to-eat texture that would make them appealing to even the most avowed Brussels sprouts hater. If you like to keep frozen Brussels sprouts on hand to fill out your meals, Trader Joe's offering might just be the one for you.

If you're like me, the fresh spinach you buy almost always goes bad before you get the chance to finish it. Instead of having to put the extras in the freezer before they wilt, it may be a good idea to just buy frozen spinach instead of fresh from the jump. That's where Trader Joe's frozen Chopped Spinach comes into play. This is some of the most tender, flavorful frozen spinach I've ever had, especially considering that a lot of frozen spinach is downright bitter and unappealing. Once heated, this spinach has a nice, silky texture and packs plenty of flavor, so you don't just have to use it to add greenery to a meal.

Perhaps the best thing about this spinach, though, is the fact that it comes in little individual frozen squares. This means it's easy to take just as much spinach as you need out of the bag without whacking it on the table to break larger pieces apart. Use it in soups, stews, dips, and beyond, or add it to any basic recipe to give yourself a bit of extra nutrition. And who knows? It's tasty enough that you may even be able to serve it in an appealing way to someone who claims to hate spinach.

Corn is one of the most variable vegetables out there when it comes to how it's packaged. Sure, corn on the cob tastes the best, especially if you happen to get it fresh during the summer months. But if corn is out of season, you're usually fine just grabbing some frozen or even canned corn. When corn is the centerpiece of a specific recipe, though, you'll want to go above and beyond to make sure that it tastes as good as possible. That's where Trader Joe's Roasted Corn comes in.

This is genuinely some of the best frozen corn I've ever had, thanks to the fact that it has a ton of extra flavor from the roasting process. And unlike the brand's Fire Roasted Bell Peppers and Onions, this corn has obviously been roasted. It already tastes sweet naturally, and that roasted flavor lifts its sweetness off the charts, with a savory complexity from some charred pieces. This corn could be a staple ingredient in many recipes, from Southwestern salads to unique salsas and homemade cornbread. Honestly, though, with a nice layer of seasoning, you could easily enjoy it all on its own as well. Admittedly, it's not the absolute best frozen veggie option at Trader Joe's, but it's close.

Depending on where you shop, shiitake mushrooms may be hard to get your hands on. And as much as I love the standard button mushrooms you can find in just about any grocery store's fresh produce section, sometimes I want to make my mushroom game a bit more interesting. That's where Trader Joe's Sliced Shiitake Mushrooms come into play. First of all, this is a product you won't find everywhere, which already puts it near the top of this ranking. But once you cook these mushrooms for yourself, you'll see that they're quite high-quality as well, giving them even more of an appeal.

Unlike button mushrooms, these frozen shiitake mushrooms have an especially bold, earthy flavor, which makes them ideal for all the mushroom lovers out there. They also have a supple, soft texture that's delicious whether you sauté them with oil or just gently steam them. Surprisingly, they don't shrink down to nothing when you cook them, which is the case with many frozen mushrooms on the market. Although you won't get a huge serving of these shiitake mushrooms in a single bag, they're absolutely worth trying if you're making a specific mushroom dish or if you just like to have mushrooms on hand.

Green beans and French green beans, also known as haricots verts, might seem interchangeable, but they're actually quite different from one another. French green beans tend to be thinner, more delicate, and more tender, giving them a faster cook time and — if you ask me — a much better texture (although they don't offer the same snap green beans do). Depending on where you shop, though, haricots verts can be difficult to find, which is why I was so excited to encounter these frozen French Green Beans at Trader Joe's.

The fact that French green beans can be difficult to source (depending on when and where you shop) puts Trader Joe's offering near the top of this list anyway, but these French green beans are also particularly delicious. They have a lovely, delicate texture to them that allows them to soften easily without completely losing their shape. They also taste less vegetal than some fresh green beans you'll find in stores. Rather, they have a subtle sweetness to them that makes them even more appealing. When you're ready to upgrade your green bean game, these French green beans from Trader Joe's are a must-try. They don't pack quite as much flavor as the product in the top spot of this ranking, but they come in at a close second.

Finally, we arrive at the best Trader Joe's frozen vegetable product of them all: the Mushroom Medley. Most other products on this list only contain one kind of vegetable, but this is an exception. You'll actually get four different types of mushrooms in this bag, offering you variety that you usually can't find when it comes to frozen mushrooms. The product contains champignons, oyster mushrooms, boletus, and slippery jack mushrooms, some of which can be difficult to find if you don't go to a place that actually specializes in mushrooms.

But the fact that this product also contains a small amount of olive oil along with parsley and garlic means it's intensely flavorful, even before you add anything else to the pan. If you're a big fan of mushrooms — or even if you're not and you want to be — this is a TJ's product you absolutely have to snag the next time you go to the store.

I selected an assortment of frozen vegetables from my local Trader Joe's, opting for plainer or less-seasoned varieties when possible. I cooked the two mushroom varieties and the Fire Roasted Bell Peppers and Onions in a heated, non-oiled pan with a bit of water, and I steamed the rest of the products on this list. The criteria for this ranking were flavor, texture, and versatility of use, although I also considered availability — products that are somewhat uncommon or difficult to find at most grocery stores ranked higher than their easier-to-find counterparts.