6 New Trader Joe's Items, Reviewed By Someone Who Has Basically Tasted Everything Else On TJ's Shelves

They're light and crunchy and a great mild, entry-level seaweed snack if you're not a fan of anything too fishy. I personally love eating these plain by the handful, but they would also be delicious crunched up over baked salmon, as a poke bowl^^ garnish, or added to a bowl of ramen soup. I only wish there were more in the bag...

Ube is having a dang moment at Trader Joe's. On my latest visit, I saw ube-flavored Joe-Joe's, ube tea cookies, and these ube yogurt coated pretzels. I'm someone who loves a good sweet and savory combination, so I gravitated right toward the pretzels.

As for the taste... yeah, they're really freaking good. They are certainly more sweet than savory (I yearned for a little bit more salty pretzel in each bite), but I also couldn't stop eating them. They have that fruity-meets-nutty flavor that ube lovers will immediately identify (to me, it tastes somewhere between vanilla and blueberry). They are not my favorite of all the candy coated mini pretzels Trader Joe's has unleashed over the years (I'm still totally obsessed with the cookies and cream version), but I would not hesitate to buy these again.  

The really distinct, juicy beet flavor is diluted by the soy and sesame sauces, and it even looks like tuna poke. Of course, the texture is a bit more firm and dense than buttery, melt-in-your-mouth raw tuna, but hey, it was a satisfying alternative. This poke isn't quite a ready-to-eat meal because on its own, it's not substantial enough, but you can easily transform it into a satisfying meal. I put the beet poke over a bed of sushi rice with a bunch of veggies, mango, and sesame seeds, and I would 10/10 make it again. 

Ice cream has always been one of my absolute favorite desserts, but throughout my pregnancy especially, I have been craving cold, refreshing sweets. Ice cream has become a nightly indulgence, one that I hope to never give up. And as a big strawberry ice cream girl, I was pumped to see this vanilla bean and strawberry medley in the frozen aisle.

If I were stranded on a desert island and could only have three Trader Joe's products to survive off of, the original pastry pups might very well be one of my picks. They are my favorite party app and feel-good snack, and I was so excited to see a new iteration of classic cocktail franks in the frozen aisle at T.J.'s. I happen to love Trader Joe's pastry pups even more than I love the Hebrew National or Sabrett variety. I also love anything pickled, so you could say I had some pretty high expectations for these.

They're breaded almost like jalapeño poppers. The package suggests air frying the perfectly pickled pups, so that's exactly what I did. I air fried them at 350° for about eight minutes until golden brown. I gave them another extra two minutes, but unfortunately, I felt like they never got really, really crispy.