A blog reader recently asked me to share my favorite paleo foods I buy from Trader Joe’s! I thought that was a great idea. In the past I have shared a Trader Joe’s Top 40 Favorites, but a lot of it I don’t actually buy myself. It was a “Most Popular Trader Joe’s Items” kind of list that everyone loved. But when I personally shop at Trader Joe’s I stand there and read all the labels, some I know without even picking up that the item it isn’t paleo. A pizza sauce for instance might have some sneaky sugar in it, even sausages and other foods you wouldn’t think have sugar do! So if it is packaged make sure to read the label. If it has sugar as an ingredient, I avoid it. Below are other guidelines and a free shopping printable for your to take to Trader Joe’s-
PS- we do occasionally buy the fun seasonal items from Trader Joe’s, but I don’t really eat a lot of them.
What is Paleo- The paleo diet is designed to resemble what human hunter-gatherer ancestors ate thousands of years ago.
Paleo diet YES foods– Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, healthy fats and oils
Paleo diet NO foods- Processed foods, sugar, soft drinks, grains, most dairy products, legumes, artificial sweeteners, vegetable oils, margarine and trans fats
You can download the pdf version of the Trader Joe’s Paleo Shopping List-HERE
Trader Joe’s Paleo Favorites- Give me all the veggies
Obviously any veggie you grab or fruit is paleo
- Spiraled zucchini “noodles”
- Spaghetti squash
- Mini Peppers
- Organic Carrots
- Shredded Carrots (these are handy to have to easily add to tacos, soups, frittata, salads etc)
- Organic Broccoli
- Riced Cauliflower (in produce section- Trader Joe’s does have a cauliflower rice that is not just cauliflower)
- Stir-fry ready asparagus, mushrooms and onions (this makes dinners easy and easy to always add veggies. I like this with cauliflower rice and a meat, mixed with coconut aminos)
- Green Goddess Dressing
- Organic Pumpkin (we eat this all year. I like to add it to chili, tacos, smoothies, cookies, waffles etc)
- Kerrygold grass-fed butter (not a veggie haha, but pictured below. Butter is a “grey area.” Some people feel grass-fed dairy is ok, other’s don’t. In my opinion, it really depends on what your body can tolerate. We eat butter in such low amounts it is fine. If you can’t tolerate dairy, you can buy this grass-fed butter and make ghee out of it, which is just butter with the milk-fat removed!)
Trader Joe’s Paleo Favorites- Meat and Eggs
Most all meats are paleo, but some might sneak in sugar or have fillers, I always buy organic when possible
- Pasture Raised Eggs
- No Sugar Bacon (this is hard to find at most stores, most bacon has added sugar)
- Organic Ground Turkey
- Organic Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage (I will say my kids don’t love this sausage, they prefer the other one)
- Organic Chicken Wing Sections (love these in the air fryer with Noble Made Classic BBQ)
- Simply Roast Chicken Breast
- Organic Turkey Breast
- Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage (this one is my favorite!! Love it on salads. A couple of the other sausages from this brand do have added sugar)
Trader Joe’s Paleo Favorites- Paleo Friendly Snacks
- Organic dehydrated carrots (no added ingredients! these are yummy to dip in salsa or any of the dips below)
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Plantain Chips (we buy bags and bags of these. Finn loves them dipped in avocado.)
- Perfect Bar Dark Chocolate (paleo friendly, good clean ingredients, no added sugar, but NOT paleo. I just want to be honest, I eat and love them.)
- Dark Chocolate Honey Mints (paleo friendly, but minimal ingredients)
Trader Joe’s Paleo Favorites- Sugar-FREE Nut Butters, Sauces and Seasonings
- Almond Butter (no added ingredients!)
- Sunflower Seed Spread (I buy this for Finn to take to school, since they can’t have peanut butter, I just label it “sunflower butter”)
- Coconut Aminos (paleo version of soy sauce)
- Coconut Sugar (we use this instead of brown sugar, I will say Trader Joe’s didn’t have it last time I went)
- Everything but the bagel seasoning
- Fall Harvest Salsa (any salsa we love, with no sugar!)
- Organic Tomato Basil Marinara (thankfully this has no sugar, a lot of marinara sauces do)
- Organic Creamy Cashew Fiesta Dip (sooooo good! Great to dip veggies in our make our stuffed peppers below)
- Garlic Spread (LOVE this!!!! Popular in Lebanese restaurants, I couldn’t believe it is just garlic and oil!!)
I wanted to show these two Almond Meals from Trader Joe’s, personally I prefer the blanched almond flour, it is lighter in flavor. The other almond “meal” – it’s not quite the consistency of flour. The skins were left on the almonds, so they’re still mixed in with the meal.
Trader Joe’s Paleo Favorites- Drinks
- Simply Almond Beverage (this is the cleanest almond milk I have seen! Great for smoothies)
- Sparkling Water
- Keto Collagen (I do drink this. It has stevia leaf extract, which is paleo. But the “natural chocolate flavor” could not be paleo…)
- Kombucha (the Kombucha pictured below does have sugar added, so not paleo. They do have others that are!)
Paleo Trader Joe’s Meal Idea- Spaghetti Squash Casserole. If you are at Trader Joe’s looking for Pizza Sauce their pizza sauce has sugar added. So I buy my Pizza Sauce at Whole Foods or just use the Marinara Sauce!
Spaghetti Squash Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 large spaghetti squash cooked I cook mine in my Instant pot
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 diced yellow onion
- 1 diced red pepper
- 1 cup diced broccoli
- 1 cup pizza sauce no sugar added
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 eggs whisked
Instructions
- Saute the onion, red pepper and broccoli in olive oil, just to soften slightly if you are freezing this meal. Set aside.
- Brown your ground turkey season with Italian seasonings in the same pan as you did the veggies
- Mix all the ingredients together
- Bake at 350 degrees for 0ne hour.
Notes
Freezer Tip– If you have room in your freezer you can freeze it in the 9×11 pan. Defrost the day before you are going to eat in the fridge
Paleo Trader Joe’s Meal Idea- Super easy Paleo meal from Trader Joe’s favorites! You basically cook ground turkey, add cauliflower rice and a jar of salsa! Eat over salad, with chips, in lettuce cups or in tortillas.
Cauliflower Salsa Meal
Instructions
- Cook ground turkey
- Add sautéed green peppers
- Add 1-2 cups of riced cauliflower and let sauté for a couple minutes with meat and peppers
- Then add jar of the salsa
- Let it simmer over medium/low heat until the cauliflower is softened, about 15 minutes.
Notes
Eat it over salad like a taco salad or as is with plantain chips!
Paleo Trader Joe’s Meal Idea- Sweet Pepper Appetizer or eat as a meal! (go to THIS blog post to see all the ways to make these peppers!)
Sweet Pepper Appetizer
Instructions
- Slice Sweet Peppers in half
- Add in your favorite dip, the Cashew Fiesta Dip is perfect for this!
- Optional- add cooked ground turkey, sausage or chicken
- Optional- top with shredded cheese blend (you could look for almond milk cheese, at Trader Joe's but it still has dairy in it)
- Broil on high for about 3-5 minutes, just until cheese melts.
Hopefully that will make your Trader Joe’s shopping experience easier!!!
Click on another Trader Joe’s Shopping List to go the blog post and print it out!
Trader Joe’s Quick and Healthy Meals-
Top 40 Trader Joe’s Shopping List-
Trader Joe’s Fall Shopping List-
Trader Joe’s Christmas Shopping List
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Thanks for this list! Somehow I can’t seem to find those Pefect Bards at my nearest TJ.? They didn’t seem to know what I was talking about when I asked for them too, lol. Oh well I”ll have to keep looking out for them!
They are in the refrigerator section, over by the yogurt. I also get them at Whole Foods, by the ready-made treats and lunch meat.
They usually have perfect bars at ALDI as well.