The One Trader Joe's Sausage You'll Want To Buy Over And Over Again

Trader Joe's has no shortage of fan-favorites and popular items that sell out. Despite its notoriously tricky parking lots and the fact that it doesn't put its products on sale, customers flock to Trader Joe's stores day in and day out for fair pricing and fanciful, creative eats. From the best snacks to pop in your air fryer to a selection of seafood, Trader Joe's is an affordable grocery store that houses almost anything you could need in a one-stop shop for home-cooked and easy meals. While it has a plethora of frozen and pre-cooked options, there are also plenty of great choices for raw proteins. We ranked Trader Joe's sausages from worst to best, and the hot Italian sausage made with pork was a clear winner. 

We were a big fan of the texture of the sausage. The casing had the perfect snap and the sausage was moist and juicy from the first bite. This hot Italian sausage is also packed with flavor and has a punch that you'll notice, without being overwhelming (but just enough to keep you coming back for more).

The hot Italian sausage is flavored with spices like fennel, anise, paprika, and red pepper, which lend classic Italian flavors as well as heat. The pork used in the hot Italian sausage was raised without antibiotics or added hormones, making this sausage an easy choice for customers concerned about what goes into their food, especially since there are many ingredients Trader Joe's doesn't allow on its shelves.

The sausages are sold raw, making the possibilities for how to use them endless. You can cook them whole and throw them on a bun like in this ultimate grilled Italian sausage sandwich recipe, or slice them and add them to pasta for a spicy version of this smoked sausage and squash pasta in sage brown butter. You can also remove the outer casing before cooking and use the filling as loose ground meat. The ground sausage meat is perfect for recipes like spicy Italian sausage and spinach tortellini soup, or elevate the flavor of jarred pasta sauce by browning the sausage in the pot before pouring jarred sauce over it to finish cooking. Check out our tips for grilling Italian sausage for more ways to incorporate our favorite Trader Joe's sausage.