Trader Joe’s for the win!
When I get home from work, I don’t want to spend a lot of time making dinner. Today, I’m sharing a few quick and easy recipes with ingredients from Trader Joe’s. These are my go-tos when I’m too tired to make anything but don’t want to get take out.
Quick and Easy Recipes from Trader Joe’s
Recipe List Preview
Chicken Caesar Wraps
Grilled Cheese with Chicken and Zhoug Sauce
4 More Meals with Fully Cooked Chicken
Meatless Meatball Sandwiches
Vegetable Fried Rice and Scallion Pancakes
Meals with Marinated Chicken
My Favorite Mushroom Seasoning
Let me start with a note about how dinner goes in my house. I have 3 kids (15, 10, and 8). There are only a handful of meals that all 5 members of my family can or will eat. (My husband is dairy-free.) Rotating through those same meals gets tiring for all of us. My husband and I make a meal for the two of us, and most of the time our 8-year-old will eat it. My 10-year-old will try it, but often won’t like it. My 15-year-old has a pretty finite list of food. He has back up foods that he can make on his own. Many times I will make slight modifications to what we are eating for the kids.
Chicken Caesar Wraps
No cooking, no chopping, just assembling with this “recipe.”
You’ll Need:
- Large flour tortillas
- Bagged lettuce (I like butter lettuce or romaine)
- Pre-cooked chicken breast
- TJ’s Vegan Caesar Dressing
Toss the lettuce with the dressing. Place the lettuce and sliced chicken in the middle of a tortilla. Add another drizzle of dressing. Fold the tortilla to make a wrap.
What the kids eat: Salad with Caesar dressing; Cheese quesadilla or chicken and cheese quesadilla
Grilled Cheese with Chicken and Zhoug Sauce
Zhoug sauce is a condiment with cilantro, jalapenos, garlic, and other spices. It is spicy, so I only spread a little on each slice of bread. It makes the grilled cheese so good. If spicy isn’t your thing, try TJ’s Vegan Pesto Sauce instead.
You’ll Need:
- A good bread (I use sourdough.)
- Provolone sliced cheese (can also use vegan cheese to make dairy-free)
- Pre-cooked chicken breast
- TJ’s Zhoug Sauce
- Butter or olive oil for grilling (I use a vegan butter.)
Spread a thin layer of the Zhoug Sauce onto each slice of bread. Add a layer of cheese to each slice of bread. Place a thin layer of chicken on top of one layer of cheese. Assemble the sandwiches and cook them.
What the kids eat: Grilled cheese with regular bread and American cheese, sometimes with turkey or chicken; my oldest likes to add garlic salt to his bread when it’s cooking
Side note: Trader Joe’s has 2 pre-cooked (not frozen) options for the chicken
- Organic grilled chicken breast strips (6 oz package). This is enough for 2-3 wraps depending on how much chicken you like. Use this option if you don’t want to cut anything.
- Fully cooked chicken breasts (12 oz package, each breast is individually wrapped). These freeze well. You microwave them to reheat and then can use them from there.
4 other uses for the fully cooked chicken breasts
- Chicken quesadillas (just grab shredded cheese and tortillas)
- Chicken and TJ’s Mexican-style Riced Cauliflower in a wrap
- Chicken and TJ’s Bulgur Pilaf with Butternut Squash and Feta (frozen section, may be seasonal)
- Chicken with a bagged salad kit
Meatless Meatball Sandwiches
Another super easy to assemble meal with minimal prep.
You’ll Need:
- Sub rolls or TJ’s baguette
- TJ’s Frozen Meatless Meatballs (can also use TJ’s Frozen Turkey Meatballs, or I like Target’s Good & Gather Frozen Beef Meatballs)
- TJ’s Organic Marinara Sauce (or Ragu’s Simply Traditional Pasta Sauce or your favorite sauce)
- Sliced Provolone or Mozzarella
Cook the meatballs according to the package directions. (I like how they turn out in the oven.) Heat up the sauce. Split the bread open. (Take out some of the interior of the bread to help the meatballs fit better.) Place slices of cheese on the bread. Melt the cheese slightly in the microwave. Place the meatballs in sauce. Add the sauce-covered meatballs to the sandwich. Add more sauce if desired. Serve with a salad or your favorite vegetable to make a complete meal.
Vegetable Fried Rice and Scallion Pancakes
You’ll Need:
- TJ’s Vegetable Fried Rice
- 3 eggs, whisked together
- Vegetable oil, canola oil, or sesame oil
- Soy sauce (Trader Joe’s does carry this but I haven’t tried it.)
- Oyster sauce (I don’t think TJ’s has it.)
- TJ’s Scallion Pancakes
Place the scallion pancakes on a sheet pan and bake in the oven according to the package directions. I’m usually cooking something else in the oven at the same time, so I just follow that temperature instead. I bake the frozen scallion pancakes for about 7 minutes and then flip them. Bake for another 7 minutes. The pancakes will get crispy and golden on the edges.
While the scallion pancakes are baking, microwave the fried rice for 5 minutes in a microwave-safe bowl. Add a small amount of oil to a large skillet. Add the fried rice and push to the side of the pan. Add a bit more oil (I use sesame oil here) to the open side of the pan. Add the eggs and cook until scrambled. (You could also scramble the eggs before adding the rice.) Incorporate the eggs into the rice. Add soy sauce and oyster sauce to taste. (Start with a drizzle or two.) I think the oyster sauce is what makes this fried rice delicious.
What the kids eat: Since the oven is already on, I’ll make my kids chicken tenders or TJ’s Fish Nuggets. Preheat the oven according to the chicken or fish instead of what the scallion pancakes say.
Meals with Marinated Chicken
Trader Joe’s has several types of marinated chicken. They are easy to throw in the oven and add to tacos, pitas, pasta, sandwiches, etc. Our family favorite is the Shawarma Chicken Thighs.
Recipes to try with TJ’s Shawarma Chicken Thighs
- Shawarma Chicken Nachos from @traderjoes5itemsorless on Instagram (I haven’t found tabouli at any STL Trader Joe’s, so I just make my own.
- Shawarma chicken pita wraps – In a pita, add the cooked chicken, TJ’s Vegan Tzatziki, and tabouli (or a lemon-dressed salad)
- Shawarma chicken salad – Add the cooked chicken to a bed of salad greens. Tabouli is a great addition or make a lemon vinaigrette and add parsley, tomatoes, and green onions.
TJ’s Mushroom & Company Multipurpose Umami Seasoning Blend
This seasoning blend is my favorite. I add it to mashed potatoes, green beans, or stir-fried noodles.
Trader Joe’s has a recipe for Meatless Umami Shepherd’s Pie that uses the mushroom powder. It’s delicious. I make my own vegan mashed potatoes since the TJ’s frozen mashed potatoes have dairy in them. I also didn’t buy TJ’s mirepoix. I just cut up my own.
I hope these recipes can help you make dinner easier. Do you have a favorite recipe using ingredients from Trader Joe’s?
