As a registered dietitian, I love a home-cooked meal. However, I know dinner doesn’t have to be made entirely from scratch to be nutritious.
That’s why I rely on Trader Joe’s for easy-to-build meals with protein, fiber-rich carbohydrates, vegetables, and enough flavor to make them satisfying without requiring a lot of prep work.
The meals I make on repeat are the ones that don’t take long to cook, support my nutrition goals, make leftovers I actually want to eat, and cost $25 or less to prepare.
Here are four of my favorite easy meals that require just a few products from Trader Joe’s and some pantry staples.
I use Trader Joe’s frozen sweet potato gnocchi to make a balanced one-pot dinner.
Trader Joe’s sweet potato gnocchi is one of my favorite frozen products, and a few additions take it from comfort food to a well-balanced meal.
I slice and brown Trader Joe’s Italian-style chicken sausage in a skillet, add the gnocchi straight to the pan to cook, and fold in two big handfuls of baby spinach, and a can of white beans (which I admittedly purchased from Walmart this time).
For even more flavor, I finish it with a sprinkle of shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano and fresh parsley.
Since I already had parsley at home, this simple one-pot meal cost me about $17 to make.
This dish is a more nutritious take on a comfort meal.
In addition to being tasty, I love that this meal has a good variety of different nutrients. The sweet potato gnocchi provides carbohydrates for energy, while the chicken sausage adds protein (and is lower in saturated fat than traditional pork sausage).
White beans bring in plant-based protein and fiber, and spinach adds nutrients like folate, vitamin K, and iron.
This gnocchi dish is the perfect nutritious spin on a classic comfort meal.
Egg-roll bowls are my go-to when I’m craving takeout.
When I’m craving takeout but want a homemade meal, I make egg-roll bowls. The best part? These only require one pan and take 15 minutes to make.
First, I brown ground turkey with Trader Joe’s peeled garlic cloves and a homemade ginger paste.
To make the paste, I grate fresh ginger, stir in just enough water to loosen it, and store it in the fridge to use throughout the week.
I then add the whole bag of coleslaw mix, and stir in the refrigerated edamame. At the end, I toss everything with Trader Joe’s gyoza dipping sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil, and serve it over the store’s frozen brown rice.
I already had the brown rice in my freezer, so this meal cost me about $24 to make.
The meal is filling and has a good mix of protein, fiber, and whole grains.
I use ground turkey in this recipe, because it’s a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids the body can’t make on its own.
Plus, the edamame adds plant-based protein, iron, fiber, and folate.
The gyoza sauce and sesame oil give it a salty-sweet, takeout-style flavor I crave, and the combination of protein, fiber, and whole grains in one bowl makes it one of my go-to easy weeknight dinners.
I use Trader Joe’s marinated shawarma chicken to make easy pita sandwiches.
Pita sandwiches are the kind of dinner I like to cook once and assemble in different ways throughout the week. For protein, I use Trader Joe’s shawarma chicken thighs, and I love that the marinating is already done for me.
I pan-sear the chicken, slice it thin, and pile it into warmed Trader Joe’s whole-wheat pita bread pockets with tzatziki, Persian cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and red onion.
The leftovers are easy to turn into rice bowls the next day, so I don’t feel like I’m eating the same meal twice. Plus, I get multiple meals for less than $22.
My favorite thing about this meal is how customizable it is.
The warm, spiced chicken, chilled tzatziki, crisp vegetables, and soft pita give each bite a mix of savory flavor, freshness, and texture.
Plus, the build-your-own format makes it easy for everyone at the table to customize their ingredient choices based on their appetites and preferences.
Trader Joe’s lentils and sweet potatoes help me create easy vegetarian tacos.
These tacos are one of my favorite vegetarian dinners because they’re full of protein and fiber, but easy enough to pull together with some Trader Joe’s staples.
I simply cube Trader Joe’s sweet potatoes with olive oil and taco seasoning, and air fry them at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.
While they cook, I microwave Trader Joe’s steamed lentils and warm up the corn-and-wheat tortillas. Then, I top the tacos with cabbage, cilantro, cheese, and red onion with a squeeze of lime.
This one cost me less than $15 to make.
The taco filling also reheats well the next day.
Like the shawarma chicken sandwiches, these tacos are easy to customize depending on your mood.
I love this specific combination because the sweet potatoes and lentils make the tacos hearty and slightly sweet, while the cabbage and red onion add a refreshing bite. Plus, the cheese provides a creamy, salty finish.
I usually make these for dinner, and the leftover filling reheats well for lunch the next day.
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