Trader Joe’s stocks its shelves with a variety of seasonal products every spring.
So, I’ve been trying the spring offerings from my local store as part of an ongoing series where I review the grocery chain’s seasonal foods.
Keep reading to see which items I’ll be stocking up on and which I’ll skip.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2021. Although many seasonal spring foods return, item availability is subject to change.
I was excited to try the cheese blintzes from Trader Joe’s.
A blintz is a popular breakfast treat that’s essentially a lightly sweetened pancake wrapped around a cheese or fruit filling.
They’re often associated with Shavuot, a springtime holiday celebrated in the Jewish faith, but are also popular throughout parts of Eastern Europe.
I picked up a package of four pastries in the frozen section at Trader Joe’s. Although the product doesn’t come with toppings, its box features a picture with whipped cream and fruit, so I followed suit to get the full experience.
The blintzes were decent, but they weren’t my favorite.
This was my first time trying blintzes, and I mostly enjoyed them. They tasted like a traditional crepe, and I appreciated that their light sweetness became more noticeable with the berries.
However, I don’t love the texture of cottage cheese, so I was a little turned off by the filling.
If you’re a cottage cheese fan, though, these will probably be right up your alley.
The gluten-free coffee cake muffins were huge.
The most noticeable thing about these muffins was their size — they were gigantic.
Each treat had a ribbon-like swirl of cinnamon on the bottom, which was dense and sturdy, yet also slightly crumbly. The tops were adorned with a dusting of sprinkles.
I thought these muffins were incredible.
I’m usually wary of gluten-free pastries because of their tendency to be either super dry or way too dense and crumbly, but these muffins were surprisingly moist and delicate. They also had a lightly sweet flavor.
Although I can’t see myself buying these muffins all the time, I will absolutely be hitting up Trader Joe’s for these when I’m craving a sweet breakfast or having guests over.
The oven-baked cheese bites would be great in soup or on their own.
If you ever wanted to know what spaghetti would taste like in snack form, this is your answer. And as strange as that might sound, this item is absolutely worth buying.
These gluten-free bites are essentially dehydrated, aged cheese with a few added seasonings.
I’d definitely buy this item again.
Like any good snack, these morsels delivered in crunch, and I gave them bonus points for their airiness that gifted each bite with a crispy, melt-in-your-mouth quality.
What made these a real standout, however, was the zesty chili and tomato flavor that came through with each bite.
The Chipotle seitan added great flavor to Trader Joe’s vegan taco salad kit.
Trader Joe’s vegan taco salad kit contains iceberg lettuce, blue tortilla strips, corn salsa, and Chipotle-seasoned seitan.
This salad was delicious.
The Chipotle seitan made this mix a filling meal on its own and gave it a necessary layer of savory flavor, which is crucial in salads with a limited amount of dressing.
This seitan wasn’t dry or soggy, and though I couldn’t really detect the chipotle flavor, it was still seasoned enough to have that taco meat taste. It was like a toned-down version of the chain’s soy chorizo.
Trader Joe’s also nailed the salad dressing. It didn’t have a weird artificial taste, and the only downside was that there wasn’t more of it.
With the mix of textures, super filling seitan, and tasty dressing, this salad is a must-buy for anyone looking to spice up their lunches.
When I opened the box of lemon bars, I could immediately smell the citrus.
Chocolate is great and all, but nothing screams springtime like a yummy lemon bar.
There was no mistaking the presence of real lemon in Trader Joe’s lemon bars — as soon as I opened the box, I noticed a sweet citrus aroma.
These lemon bars tasted homemade.
I let these lemon bars defrost on my counter for an hour before tasting them, and I’m not sure I’ll ever attempt baking this dessert on my own again — they were out of this world.
Had I not purchased this dessert myself, I never would have guessed it came from the freezer section. Each bar had a scrumptious, fresh taste, so it could easily pass as homemade.
The combination of vanilla shortbread with the bright, citrusy lemon curd and a dusting of powdered sugar was absolutely divine. But these stood out for their texture — they had a perfect level of chewiness with an impressively buttery crust despite being frozen.
Trader Joe’s peanut-shaped chocolates made a fun snack.
In my opinion, all chocolate tastes better when it comes in a cute shape, and Trader Joe’s crispy peanut-butter-filled milk-chocolate peanuts were proof of that.
Each bite was so melt-in-your-mouth delicious that the treats could have passed for something I’d buy at a specialty candy shop.
To say I loved this item would be an understatement.
These had just the right ratio of high-quality chocolate exterior to creamy peanut butter filling.
The texture really won me over, as each piece had an added layer of rice cereal under the coating for extra crunch.
The dark chocolate plantain chips are a great springtime treat.
Crunchy, salty, and slightly sweet, these plantain chips were everything I’d been craving.
I appreciated how Trader Joe’s didn’t go overboard with the chocolate coating and opted instead for a light drizzle.
Plantains already have a natural fruity sweetness, so they only need a touch of cocoa flavor to highlight their sugary notes.
I wouldn’t eat a full bag of these, but they were pretty good.
Although I thought these plantain chips were tasty, I was over them after a few bites.
Overall, though, I’d say these chips are a must-buy for anyone who loves the combination of dark chocolate and salty flavors.
The lemon and ricotta ravioli made a delicious, quick dinner.
I’m a big fan of Trader Joe’s ravioli, and thought the lemon-and-ricotta version was a nice addition to the store’s usual offerings.
The ravioli cooked in less than 10 minutes, making it an excellent quick dinner option.
In the interest of tasting the ravioli in its purest form, I coated the dish in just olive oil, salt, pepper, and Parmesan.
I fell in love with the tasty filling in the lemon and ricotta ravioli.
When I took a bite, I noticed the filling was super smooth and had a pleasantly fresh flavor to it.
The delicate hints of lemon provided a needed contrast to the ricotta’s sweetness to make it less rich than the standard cheese-stuffed ravioli.
I also loved that I didn’t feel heavy after eating this meal, which almost never happens with cheesy pasta.
The almond-butter almonds make a perfect snack.
With a super smooth coating and lightly salted nutty interior, these almond-butter almonds tasted like candy.
Super creamy and sweet, with subtle notes of cocoa and vanilla, the almond-butter coating was so yummy I could have eaten it by the spoonful.
However, the crispy mushroom snacks were a bit of an acquired taste.
I love mushrooms, but when I saw these snacks at Trader Joe’s, I raised an eyebrow. Once I took a bite, though, I thought these were a decent savory snack.
According to the package description, the mushrooms are lightly salted, dried, and tossed in sunflower oil, so their natural umami taste stood out.
They had a light, crispy exterior like a chip and a slightly chewy inside — like a cooked mushroom.
Overall, these were pretty good, but I don’t think I’d buy them again just based on personal preference.
I was excited to try the cheese-filled fiocchetti even though the sauce looked thin.
Just as the package suggested, the fiocchetti cooked to an optimal tenderness in less than 10 minutes, but the sauce didn’t really look quite right.
Even though I measured the water and oil according to the instructions, the mix looked much thinner and less pink than advertised. Despite its light-orange hue, I still gave it a chance.
I think the dish could be improved with a few small upgrades.
I generally enjoyed the pasta component of the dish, but the sauce left much to be desired. I thought it desperately needed more tomato and garlic flavors.
It’s possible I watered it down during the cooking process, but even so, the flavor wasn’t as bold as I anticipated. Plus, it came out so thin that it seemed more like a lightly seasoned broth than a sauce.
I set aside some leftovers in the fridge and noticed the next day that the sauce had thickened slightly.
Although the dish’s flavors were quite mellow, the meal could easily be upgraded with a few extra ingredients, like red pepper flakes and more cheese. So, I’d be willing to buy this one again.
These adorable flower-shaped cookies are perfect for spring.
With their cute floral shape, colorful yogurt coating, and adorable rainbow sprinkles, these cookies were pretty much impossible for me to dislike.
They tasted just like the frosted circus animal cookies I was obsessed with growing up (my fellow ’90s babies will know what I’m talking about).
In terms of texture, they reminded me of graham crackers with a familiar, crumby feel.
Most of all, I enjoyed that these cookies were sweet but not overwhelmingly sugary. The yogurt coating was super smooth and contained subtle notes of vanilla that didn’t taste artificial.
The Meyer lemon cookie thins are a great light snack.
The first thing that came to mind when I opened this box of cookies was afternoon tea. With their pale yellow color and paper-thin texture, they were practically designed to be consumed off a pretty pastel colored plate atop some doilies.
These cookies had a delightfully airy quality and nice crisp that crumbled in my mouth with every bite.
As a fan of all things citrus, I appreciated that the tangy flavor was detectable but not artificial tasting. They also had a slightly floral quality, which probably came from the use of Meyer lemons.
I couldn’t get enough of the candy-coated almonds.
With their slightly crunchy, colorful shell, these candy-coated almonds look a lot like mini Cadbury eggs. They were also delicious.
The coating offered a yummy crunch that regular chocolate-covered almonds can’t compete with. Plus, I loved the pastel colors.
The chocolate layer was pleasantly smooth, and the almond center gave these treats dimension and a yummy, nutty flavor.
Trader Joe’s blood-orange cake mix made a delicious treat, but I wasn’t impressed by the icing
The moment I started mixing the ingredients for Trader Joe’s blood-orange cake, I caught a strong whiff of the bold, citrus aroma, and noticed the batter was bright orange.
Like most boxed cake mixes, this came together with just a few ingredients and under an hour of bake time. It also included a packet of icing, which saved me even more time.
On its own, this cake was awesome. The blood-orange flavor was pronounced, offering a unique profile that was noticeably more tart than sweet. Its texture was dense yet tender and moist, like a pound cake.
However, I found the icing tasted too much like candy. It was sweet with a seemingly artificial flavor. Next time, I’ll try topping it with my own cream cheese frosting and blood-orange zest.
The lemon-zest madeleines were sweet and delicious.
I thought Trader Joe’s take on fluffy tea cakes were sweet, buttery, and delicious. The lemon-zest flavor was very subtle yet detectable.
The flavor was comparable to a classic vanilla pound cake, with just the slightest kiss of lemon. I think the firm yet spongy texture would be ideal for dipping in hot coffee or tea.
I’ll gladly be buying a couple more packages before the season ends.
I was excited to try Trader Joe’s Florentine lasagna.
Based on the box, I assumed this lasagna would be loaded with Italian flavors, but I later learned that Florentine is actually a French cooking term that refers to a dish with cooked spinach and a cheesy, creamy sauce.
I was excited about this dish since it’s vegetarian, serves more than one person, and doesn’t require any actual prep work — just patience.
However, I was disappointed by the consistency.
Per the instructions, you can heat this in the microwave in two six-minute intervals, but I opted to bake mine in the oven for just under an hour.
The aroma of garlic, herbs, and cheese filled my entire apartment while this cooked, which was reason enough to give this a solid rating.
However, spinach has a high water content, which was evident the moment I cut into this lasagna. It looked more like a cheesy soup with pasta. So, getting any kind of square slice was impossible. I used a spoon to scoop it onto my plate.
If you really dig cooked spinach, you’ll probably enjoy this. The bitter, metallic green tasted great with the creamy, sweet ricotta.
Trader Joe’s Springle Jangle was just OK.
Like the winter equivalent, the Trader Joe’s Springle Jangle consists of various bite-sized snacks.
This one had butter-toffee peanuts, yogurt-dipped pretzels, dark-chocolate Joe-Joe bark, dark and milk chocolate mini peanut-butter cups, sprinkle covered chocolates, and candy gems (which are similar to M&Ms).
It’s more of a candy mix than a snack one, as it was very sweet and barely salty, save for the yogurt-dipped pretzels. Those were my favorite parts, even though I thought some pieces tasted a bit stale.
The chocolate could’ve been better, as it was slightly chalky and didn’t quite have that melt-in-your-mouth quality I expect from most dipped treats.
Overall, this would make a decent snack if you want something sweet but can’t decide on what to buy. However, I think it could’ve used one more salty component, like a handful of almonds.
Trader Joe’s spring cupcake mix required way more work than I anticipated.
These spring cupcakes looked so cute on the box — but the assembly wasn’t what I expected.
The box didn’t come with finished frosting, but rather a powder, which required milk and butter to prepare. It also needed to be beaten with a hand or stand mixer.
The frosting was difficult to pipe.
The kit didn’t include a piping tip, which made working with the frosting disastrous. My cupcake grass looked more like Medusa’s hair than anything you’d find in an Easter basket.
On a positive note, the cupcakes themselves turned out great. They had a nice buttery flavor and were super fluffy.
The caramel candy eggs that came in the box were by far the best part and made the price tag worth it. Honestly, I wish there were more of them.
Overall, these had so much potential, but between all the additional ingredients you have to buy and the extensive prep, it wasn’t really convenient, especially if you plan to make them with kids.
There’s no need to buy Easter candy if you have Trader Joe’s chocolate-mousse eggs on hand.
These creamy treats are probably one of my favorite finds in Trader Joe’s bakery section.
The chocolate cake was soft, moist, and rich, while the mousse layer was sweet and fluffy. The double-chocolate flavor worked well since the mousse had more of a milk chocolate profile that built on the cake’s richness.
All of this came wrapped in a thin, chocolate candy coating, complete with colorful icing designs on top.
Each egg-shaped cake is just the right size for a mid-afternoon or after-dinner sweet. Eating just one or two satisfied my chocolate craving.
The blueberry and lemon hand pies are the perfect spring pastry.
These crescent-shaped mini pies tasted like they were from a local farmers market. The crust was thick and semi-flaky, with bits of yummy raw sugar on top and imprints that gave them a rustic feel.
Each pie was loaded with a bright, semi-sweet filling made primarily with puréed blueberries.
The use of lemon flavoring on the pastry made them significantly more tart than I expected, but I wouldn’t call them sour. It’s almost as if they’re made to be consumed with sweet tea or vanilla ice cream.
If you’re a fan of blueberries, these are a must-buy. If you’re pretty indifferent about them, these may not be for you. I found the hand pies to be quite tasty, but I’m not in a rush to buy them again because blueberries aren’t my favorite.
The buttercream cookie sandwiches are a fun treat for kids, but they were too sweet for me
These crumbly, buttery, cookie sandwiches took a while to grow on me, and I’m still not totally sold.
The thin layer of buttercream frosting had a fluffy, super sugary sweetness to it. This made the buttery flavor in the shortbread pop.
The sprinkles, meanwhile, were a nice touch and provided a bit of fun texture. Overall, each bite kind of tasted like a cross between vanilla Funfetti cake and a Walker’s shortbread cookie.
I can see these being a hit with kids, but for me, they were too sweet.
Trader Joe’s Portuguese custard tarts totally lived up to the hype.
I’ve been to Portugal twice, and the custard tarts — called pasteis de nata — are always a highlight. When the tarts are enjoyed fresh, they have a signature crunch that I love, so I was nervous to try these out of a box.
Fortunately, Trader Joe’s knocked it out of the park. I popped all four tarts into my oven with the intent of sampling just one, and ended up devouring three in a sitting. The crust was buttery and flaky, and the custard center was light and creamy.
Nothing is ever going to be the same as getting pasteis de nata in person, but for coming out of a box and requiring pretty much zero effort (or travel plans) these were absolutely spectacular.
The goat’s milk cheese rubbed with vanilla sugar has a unique flavor, but its sweet profile may not be for everyone.
Made using goat’s milk, this semi-solid cheese, which is rubbed in vanilla sugar, smelled and tasted faintly like a vanilla cupcake.
I found the cheese itself was overall very mild in flavor, but undeniably sweet. The vanilla notes were clearly detectable at the end of each bite. I can see this being a hit with people who like the idea of a sweeter cheese they can use on crepes or fruit.
That said, I was thrown off by the lack of tang I’m used to getting with goat cheese, and I’m not sold on the flavor yet.
I was blown away by how delicious these Joe-Joe’s with coffee creme were.
These chocolate-dipped Joe-Joe’s taste less like something from a grocery store’s prepackaged cookie section and more like a dessert I’d expect to see behind a glass case.
The cookie component was semi-soft, and the dark-chocolate coating was smooth, thick, and delicious. The layer of mocha filling in the center was fluffy and smooth, with a bold coffee flavor that was impossible to miss.
Overall, the flavor was quite intense, with each bite offering a good balance of bitter and sweet tones. I also appreciated how large each cookie was.
The triple-ginger pretzels are a great spring snack for those who reach for pumpkin spice in the fall.
As someone who usually reaches for pumpkin spice items in the fall, the ginger version of these pretzels is just right for spring. These pretzels are satisfyingly crunchy, delicately sweet, and delicious.
Despite the name, these pretzels weren’t as front-loaded with intense ginger as I expected them to be.
Instead, the spicy flavor came through on the finish of each bite, building a nice, warm sensation that tickled the sides of my mouth more and more with each successive bite.
Trader Joe’s shortbread sandwich cookies with raspberry filling were delicious.
I honestly wasn’t expecting these cookies to be as good as they were.
The texture was crumbly, yet not as dry as I anticipated. In my opinion, the ratio of shortbread to raspberry on these cookies was just right, offering a slightly sweet, faintly tart, fruity flavor that resolved nicely into the delicious melt-in-your-mouth buttery shortbread.
For a boxed cookie, these were absolutely incredible.
If someone told me Trader Joe’s lemon sheet cake came from a fancy bakery, I wouldn’t question it.
I saw so much hype about this lemon cake online, and based on my experience, it’s well-deserved.
The cake was exquisitely moist and its lemon flavor was fragrant and inviting without tasting overly sweet or artificial.
The lemon cream cheese was sublime. It tasted like a recipe from an Ina Garten cookbook that uses real lemons.
The spring gummies felt like a grown-up version of fruit snacks.
Trader Joe’s spring gummies had a pleasant, fruity flavor without tasting too sugary or hurting my teeth. However, the spring-themed shapes were a bit indiscernible (I think they were supposed to be birds), as were the flavors.
One gummy kind of tasted like raspberry, and another had a slightly sour, citrusy vibe. Still, the snack was as bright and vibrant as spring itself.
The dulce de leche ice cream was decadent, but also very one-note.
This ultra-smooth, creamy dessert felt like pure decadence when it hit my palate. The flavor reminded me of a light caramel candy — buttery, sweet, and milky.
Though this ice cream had a lot going for it, I thought it was a one-note dessert. The combination of dulce de leche and caramel tasted like one super sweet flavor stacked on another.
Even the caramel swirls, which required a bit of an excavation to find, were underwhelming. The near-uniform ice cream texture lost its luster after a few bites.
In the future, I’d pair this ice cream with something to cut through the sweetness, like salty pretzels or a dark chocolate brownie.
I was excited to try the passion fruit meringue tartelettes.
Trader Joe’s passion fruit meringue tartelettes perfectly capture the vibes of an island getaway. After thawing for two hours in the fridge per the instructions, the vibrant yellow tarts looked like a cups of pure sunshine.
This dessert was super tart.
When I took a tiny bite of the tartelette, I felt my lips automatically pucker because of how intense the fruit flavor was. If you don’t love tart notes in a dessert, you will, like me, probably feel overwhelmed by this.
That said, even though it wasn’t really my thing, I can still acknowledge that it’s a good dessert. The texture of the main fruit component was perfect and I enjoyed the buttery shortbread crust.
The meringue also did a superb job balancing out the intensity of the tropical sweetness.
I had high hopes for the lemon poppy seed buns, but I thought they tasted dry.
The box promised a lemon filling, but I didn’t find anything inside these buns. Instead, it tasted more like they were baked with some sort of lemony extract or soaked in lemon glaze.
They were sweet like a slice of lemon cake, and the inside of each pastry had pockets of poppy seeds and sugar crystals. I also thought the pastry component tasted a bit stale.
As a diehard fan of lemon poppy seed muffins, these should have been up my alley. However, I thought they left a lot to be desired.
The chocolate truffle eggs are perfect for adults who miss getting an Easter basket.
These felt like Trader Joe’s take on a miniature Cadbury egg. Each chocolate truffle has a unique filling and is individually wrapped in colorful foil.
I was impressed by the selection of unique flavors including pistachio and cookies and cream.
The dark-chocolate praline (my favorite of the bunch) was reminiscent of a Ferrero Rocher. The others tasted close to something you’d get from a pricy confectionery.
Because I’m a sucker for miniature chocolates, I’d say this is worth the buy.
The chocolate break-apart bunny is (literally) filled with festive fun.
If you grew up in the ’90s, you probably recall a gimmicky confection called a Wonderball — a chocolate orb that featured character-shaped bits of candy inside.
This bunny kind of reminded me of one, but with a little more festivity and creativity. Along with being fun to break, the chocolate itself was yummy. It offered a smooth, milky flavor that’s noticeably better than many other chocolate bunnies I’ve tried.
Inside, I found a treasure trove of sugar-dusted gummy carrots, making me feel like I was getting two treats in one.
Though this isn’t something I’d go out of the way to buy for myself, I think it’s an adorable idea for an Easter basket treat.
The Seville orange marmalade will make you forget other jams exist.
Unlike jelly, this marmalade was much firmer and easier to spread, with actual pieces of orange peel dispersed throughout.
Its fruity, orange flavor was well pronounced and bright, with a combination of sweet and tangy notes.
For me, what really made it stand out was that it had a unique bitter note. In some ways, it reminded me of Aperol.
The Danish oat sandwich cookies were just OK.
I’m used to oatmeal cookies being soft, so the crunch on these took some getting used to. The sturdiness suggests they’re made for dipping, so perhaps I made a mistake testing them without coffee or tea.
The chocolate also seemed like an afterthought, merely acting as a glue to hold the two cookies together.
Overall, they weren’t bad and had a nutty, buttery taste. However, compared to the many other delicious cookie and shortbread options available at Trader Joe’s, I thought these were quite forgettable.
Trader Joe’s yummy egg-filled chocolate bar belongs in every Easter basket.
I’m a fan of any treat that makes the most of its space. Two candies in one? Count me in.
This festive little treat consists of two chocolate bars that can be further separated into break-apart sections. Each bar is loaded with candy-coated milk-chocolate eggs, which offered a really tasty upgrade to the candy’s flavor and texture.
These are worth stocking up on for Easter baskets … or for snack drawers.
The toasted-coconut sheet cake is a delicious alternative to traditional carrot cake.
I’ve yet to meet a Trader Joe’s sheet cake I didn’t like, and thankfully, the toasted-coconut version only reaffirmed my stance.
It had the perfect ratio of frosting-to-cake, ensuring each bite had an optimal balance of creamy richness and fluffiness.
What really left me impressed, though, was how yummy the coconut flavor was. It was delicately sweet without being overpowering, and paired beautifully with the subtle tang in the frosting.
Plus, the flakes of dried coconut added tasty bits of texture that gave it a truly homemade quality.
This story was originally published in April 2021 and most recently updated on April 1, 2026.
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