15 Trader Joe’s fast and easy dinners that are healthier than take out – great options for busy nights when cooking from scratch isn’t an option! **Updated**
Whether you’re busy shuffling kids between music lessons and the ballpark, juggling late nights at work, or just want to take a night off from cooking every now and then, but still get a decent dinner on the table without resorting to drive through dinners and take out pizza, this post is for you.
Similar to my list of Healthy Prepared Foods from Costco, this list of Trader Joe’s convenience food dinners isn’t a collection of the absolute healthiest foods with the cleanest ingredients. You’ll find some added sugar, canola oil, and other not-perfect ingredients in these foods. But, they’re a quick and affordable option on busy nights when cooking from scratch just isn’t realistic.
15 Trader Joe’s Dinners that are Healthier than Take Out
Category: Beef + Pork
1. Korean Style Beef Short Ribs
Ingredients: Beef short rib, marinade: soy sauce (water, wheat, soybean, salt), water, brown sugar, rice wine (rice, Koji rice, water), sesame oil, garlic, lemon juice, black pepper
2. Grass Fed Angus Beef Burgers
Ingredients: Ground grass fed Angus beef
3. Applegate Organics Uncured Beef Hot Dogs
Ingredients: Organic grass fed beef, water, contains less than 2% of: sea salt, organic spices, organic dehydrated garlic, organic dehydrated onion, organic paprika, celery powder
4. Traditional Meatloaf
Ingredients: Meatloaf (ground beef, tomato ketchup [tomato puree – tomatoes and citric acid, sugar, salt, distilled vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cloves], breadcrumbs [unbleached wheat flour, sugar, salt, yeast], onions, milk, liquid eggs [eggs, citric acid], Worcestershire sauce [water, distilled vinegar, salt, molasses, spices, thyme, sage], black pepper), tomato ketchup topping (tomato puree – tomatoes and citric acid, sugar, salt, distilled vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cloves)
5. Grass Fed Beef Sirloin Roast
Ingredients: Beef sirloin, sea salt, black pepper
6. Burrata, Prosciutto, and Arugula Flatbread
Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, Burrata cheese (pasteurized milk, cream, salt, microbial rennet), prosciutto (pork, sea salt), Mozzarella cheese (pasteurized milk, salt, cultures), Mascarpone cheese (pasteurized milk, cream, citric acid), arugula, olive oil, Pecorino Romano cheese (sheep’s milk, cultures, animal rennet, salt), Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (milk, animal rennet, salt), salt, yeast, Fontal cheese (pasteurized milk, salt, cultures, microbial rennet), sunflower oil, sugar, vegetable fiber, malted wheat flour, whey, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, parsley
7. Ground Buffalo Burgers
Ingredients: Ground bison (buffalo)
Category: Poultry
8. Brined Bone-In Half Turkey Breast
Ingredients: Turkey breast, water, garlic herb butter (butter [cream/milk, salt], minced garlic, sea salt, parsley), sugar, sea salt, black pepper
9. Grilled Chicken Strips
Ingredients: Chicken breast with rib meat, water, potato starch, lemon juice, sugar, granulated garlic, salt, black pepper
Category: Fish + Seafood
10. Wild Smoked Sockeye Salmon
Ingredients: Sockeye salmon, salt, brown sugar, natural wood smoke
11. Wild Argentinian Red Shrimp (peeled + deveined)
Ingredients: Shrimp
Category: Vegetarian
12. Organic 3 Cheese Pizza
Ingredients: Crust (organic wheat flour, water, salt, organic sunflower seed oil, yeast), topping (organic tomato sauce [organic tomatoes, water, organic extra virgin olive oil, salt, organic oregano], organic Fontal cheese [milk, vegetable enzyme, salt, lactic culture], organic Mozarella cheese [milk, salt, vegetable enzyme, lactic culture], organic hard cheese [milk, salt, vegetable enzyme]
13. Ricotta and Spinach Filled Ravioli
Ingredients: Durham wheat semolina, Ricotta cheese (whey, milk, salt, lactic acid and citric acid), water, frozen spinach, eggs, bread crumbs (wheat flour, water, yeast, salt, malt flour), Grana Padano cheese (milk, salt, animal rennet, lysozyme enzyme from egg white, salt), tomato basil sauce (diced tomatoes, tomato puree, water, frozen onions, extra virgin olive oil, frozen garlic, frozen basil, salt)
14. Arugula and Parmigiano Reggiano Ravioli
Ingredients: Filling (Ricotta cheese [whey, salt, citric acid], arugula paste [arugula, sunflower oil, salt, citric acid], breadcrumbs [wheat flour, yeast, salt], Parmigiano Reggiano cheese [milk, salt, animal rennet], cream, extra virgin olive oil, whey powder, sea salt), noodle (wheat flour, eggs, durum wheat semolina)
15. Paneer Tikka Masala
Ingredients: Paneer Tikka: Tomatoes (tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, citric acid), onions, water, paneer (milk, part skim milk, vinegar, salt), canola oil, cream nonfat dry milk, spices, cashews, garlic, butter, milled cane sugar, salt, ghee, fenugreek leaves, tapioca starch, paprika, cilantro, turmeric; Spinach Pilaf: water, Basmati rice, onions, spinach, carrots, canola oil, spices, garlic, cane sugar, salt, turmeric
Check out these other healthy shopping guides!
Ultimate Guide to Healthy Prepared Foods at Costco
Ultimate Guide to Healthy Snacks for Kids
Kristen @ Smithspirations says
Great list, Dena! Makes me again wish we had a Trader Joe’s nearby.
Back To The Book Nutrition says
Thanks, Kristen. The wide array of healthier foods at a great value is definitely a TJs perk. But, if you have Costco near you, I also see good options there – here’s a similar list I put together for Costco a while back! Their tendency to rotate stock so often just makes it hard to predict how many of them will be available each time I go.
Wanda says
TJ’s baked blue tortilla chips
Back To The Book Nutrition says
I’ve tried those too, Wanda – great product! 🙂