14 New Food and Recipe Hacks You Need to Know, According to Trader Joe’s Employees

Todd Maughan/Getty Illustrations or photos

Whether or not you happen to be an avid social media consumer or a supporter of the Inside of Trader Joe’s podcast, possibilities are you are quite common with an array of Trader Joe’s hacks. These clever and tasty tricks involve utilizing Trader Joe’s solutions in approaches that vary (even a little) from how they were being initially meant. For case in point, an initial roundup of Trader Joe’s hacks involved tips on how to renovate yogurt cups into frozen yogurt, how to use prompt espresso to increase flavor to cakes and cookies, and additional.

And considering the fact that these hacks are wildly and unsurprisingly popular, it can be no shock that Inside Trader Joe’s has now devoted a next episode to ideas and tricks TJ’s staff swear by. This time about, co-hosts Matt Sloan, vice president of internet marketing, and Tara Miller, marketing and advertising director at Trader Joe’s, share examined information on how to use the store’s pizza dough to make monkey bread, how to whip up an elevated pizza sauce working with just two TJ’s products, and so considerably additional. Retain studying for a new crop of Trader Joe’s hacks that will revolutionize how you cook.

Broccoli and Peanut Salad With Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette

This hack from Miller starts with a bag of Trader Joe’s Natural Broccoli Slaw. Although she notes that many purchasers approach this item as they would a standard coleslaw foundation, she urged buyers to “take care of it fully in different ways.” To that stop, Miller defined how she likes to combine the slaw with flippantly salted peanuts and raisins, before tossing the whole matter with some of Trader Joe’s Asian Design and style Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette. The result is a spicy and sweet salad (with loads of peanut-y crunch!) that you can serve chilly or sizzling.

Air Fryer Pizza

When Sloan mentioned that he loves to prepare Trader Joe’s Tarte d’Alsace in a skillet prior to transferring it to the oven and back again once more, Miller divulged a person of her go-to hacks that necessitates much considerably less effort—air fryer pizza. According to the TJ’s exec, building one of the brand’s frozen pizzas in an air fryer is about as quick as it will get and yields a delicious meal. “If you use the air fryer setting, [the pizza] receives substantially crispier,” she shared.

Tale carries on

Associated: 4 Amazingly Tasty Pizzas from A single Effortless Dough Recipe

Pizza Dough Monkey Bread

Up coming, Miller and Sloan talked to a Trader Joe’s personnel named Alex, who shared just one his beloved, multipurpose hacks. The trick involves Trader Joe’s Plain Pizza Dough, which gets transformed into monkey bread thanks to the addition of brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter. Soon after some rolling, cutting, dipping, and baking, the monkey bread is all set. “If you want to incorporate some crushed nuts, you can do that,” Alex observed. “I also from time to time like to make a watered down product cheese frosting and just drizzle it in excess of the major. Which is really, actually very good also.”

Pizza Dough Ranch Bites

Alex was not kidding when he pointed out the versatility of TJ’s contemporary pizza dough. For the subsequent hack, he dipped the pizza dough balls in butter and the chain’s new Ranch Seasoning Blend to create some savory bites that make for a excellent, uncomplicated appetizer. “It can be actually tasty,” Sloan shared. “Who would’ve thought?”

Super Crunchy French Baguettes

When Trader Joe’s Organic and natural French Baguettes are drool-worthy in their own appropriate, Sloan observed that he likes to obtain a contemporary a single and “reanimate” it by jogging it underneath a very little chilly water and then popping it directly into a scorching oven. When the bread emerges, it truly is acquired a “crusty crust” with an inside that is however incredibly tender. “You can do this with the Ciabatta Rolls, Ciabatta Baguette, all of people,” he shared.

Spicy Garlic Pizza Sauce

In accordance to Chris, a Trader Joe’s personnel in Virginia, blending a single portion TJ’s Italian Bomba Sizzling Pepper Sauce with two parts TJ’s Garlic Distribute and Dip makes a phenomenal pizza sauce. “That garlic dip is an oil-primarily based dip. That is gonna soak right into the pizza crust and it is heading to be so delicious,” Sloan pointed out. Apparently this concoction also performs very well on roasted greens, garlic bread, gnocchi, and as a grilled cheese spread.

Crunchy Chili Onion Grilled Cheese

You know what else shines on a grilled cheese sandwich, according to Trader Joe’s workers? The chain’s preferred Crunchy Chili Onion unfold. “You can consider a heaping spoon of Crunchy Chili Onion, throw it into a pan, and then fry up your grilled cheese sandwich in that,” Sloan defined. “I are not able to hold out to try out that.”

Similar: These Are the Trendiest Condiments of the Summer months, In accordance to Full Foodstuff

Frozen Cookie Treats

“I assume a single of the most effective hacks for so quite a few various kinds of solutions is throwing it in the freezer,” Miller shared, prior to noting that tossing cookies in the freezer very a lot constantly yields outstanding effects. Trader Joe’s cookies that prosper in a chilly ecosystem involve the brand’s Important Lime Tea Cookies and Lemon Cookie Thins. When not cookies, frozen grapes and ginger (to grate) are also a hit when frozen, as are quite a few Trader Joe’s (inedible!) skincare merchandise.

Balsamic Vinegar Soda

This hack, which has already experienced its minute on TikTok, involves combining carbonated water with balsamic vinegar. The Trader Joe’s team made the fashionable drink with the chain’s Organic Balsamic Vinegar, TJ’s Balsamic Glaze, which has a a great deal thicker consistency, and a new item known as Agrodolce White Wine Vinegar. “I’m liking this way a lot more than I considered I would,” Sloan admitted. “The Agrodolce was fantastic mainly because it’s sweet.” Miller eagerly agreed.

Pineapple Juice Cake

As Miller noted, just one Trader Joe’s retail outlet in Minnesota shared a number of hacks. A single individual trick, which she experimented with, includes generating a cake using Trader Joe’s Sparkling Pineapple Juice as a substitute of some baking staples. “Employing our cake mix, I followed the offer directions. I additional two eggs, I added butter, but as an alternative of adding milk, I extra a can and a half of our Sparkling Pineapple Juice Beverage.” According to Miller, the ensuing cake was moist and ethereal.

Quick Two-Tiered Cake

That exact Minnesota retail store also made an quick hack for producing a image-deserving two-tiered cake. For every an personnel named Jenny, this trick consists of Trader Joe’s Yellow Cake & Baking Combine. Rather of making the cake in 1 thick pan, Jenny takes advantage of two thinner pans to develop two layers. She also spreads Trader Joe’s jam or Lemon Curd in among the layers to elevate the dessert, and then handles the full matter in whipped cream.

Potato Chip Hen

Jenny also had a hand in this spicy development, which utilizes Trader Joe’s Ghost Pepper Potato Chips to coat chicken. The crucial is to open up the chip bag from the base, which pushes all the minimal bits up top. When you can simply use this hack to get the most out of your up coming bag of chips, you can also consider a hint from a TJ’s buyer and use the tiny pieces to coat hen you can afterwards fry. Think about this a single a hack in a hack!

Relevant: 38 Crucial, Effortless Chicken Recipes for Each and every Evening of the 7 days

Mini Taco Nachos

Lily Ann, another Trader Joe’s personnel in Minnesota, is a enthusiast of something she has dubbed Taco Nachos. “What you might be gonna do initial is consider both the Mini Chicken or Mini Beef Tacos and stick them in the air fryer, so that they get great and crispy with absolutely cooked chicken. Then you’re gonna acquire some cheese and put it all in excess of people tacos,” she explained. “Then you might be gonna adhere it in the microwave for a moment and get it out, and you have crunchy mini beef or rooster tacos included in incredibly hot melted cheese.” Straightforward sufficient, appropriate?

Scallion Pancake Taco Shells

This hack, which arrived from social media, involves transforming Trader Joe’s Scallion Pancakes into a crispy taco shell. Even though on the subject matter of bread-like goods, Sloan observed that he has found some Trader Joe’s consumers use the brand’s frozen Garlic Naan as a grilled cheese bread. “So, thaw it out … then use it as you would to make a grilled cheese,” he defined.