Trader Joe’s Employees Just Leaked the 14 New Groceries Hitting Shelves This Summer They're Most Excited About
With summer in full swing now, Trader Joe’s has a fresh lineup of fruity, bright, and citrusy seasonal favorites. In the latest episode of the Inside Trader Joe’s podcast, cohosts Tara Miller and Matt Sloan dished on all of the newness coming to shelves this season. (They even called in a fellow crew member to help break the news.)
While fruit is, of course, a big focus, the duo also spilled the beans on their other new and returning seasonal favorites. Potato buns! Korean-inspired salads! So many dessert finds! And more! Out of the dozens of new releases, these are the 14 the duo is most excited about.
1. Pretzel Buns
It’s buns season! No, not that kind … the ones for burgers, hot dogs, and more. Tara kicked off the podcast gushing about her new favorite grocery to hit shelves: “Pretzel buns are the most exciting addition to our bakery category to come in years.” Yes, years! These buns come unsliced, which means they can also be eaten as a dinner roll.
2. Potato Buns
Another new find will be keeping those pretzel buns company on shelves. These potato buns contain some extra potato flour, which makes them extra moist and doughy. “It tastes like a bun you’d get at a neighborhood burger joint,” Tara says. They’re brand-new to Trader Joe’s — just this summer — and in stores now.
3. Organic Uncured Grass-Fed Beef Hot Dogs
Returning to stores are the all-beef Trader Joe’s Hot Dogs. Like its name says, it’s made with uncured, grass-fed beef without any nitrates or preservatives. They’re “the best,” say both Tara and Matt. If you haven’t tried them yet this summer, now is your time.
4. Black Sesame Mochi Ice Cream
Hasmik, category manager at Trader Joe’s (of frozen!), practically eats ice cream for a living, and is incredibly excited about the new black sesame mochi ice cream (so are we). The launch features black sesame ice cream with a black sesame mochi wrapper. It promises to be a wonderfully nutty, creamy addition to the freezer aisle.
5. Strawberry Mini Sheet Cake
Trader Joe’s has a plethora of very-popular mini sheet cakes (including a new gluten-free flavor). The latest is an all-new (and seasonal) Strawberry Mini Sheet Cake. The cake itself contains a strawberry-vanilla cake with strawberry preserves folded in, and is topped with a rich cream cheese frosting with a bit more strawberry purée. Sweet, tart, and perfect for summer.
6. Korean-Style Bibim-Gusku
The new Trader Joe’s salad is a “flavor bomb,” Tara says. It’s a Korean-inspired bibim-gusku, which roughly translates to spicy noodles. It contains cold noodles with fresh sliced vegetables and a spicy-sweet gochujang sauce. It’s in stores now — and is a permanent addition to the store’s already impressive salad lineup.
7. Crumbled Gorgonzola Sheep-Cow Blend
Made with cow’s- and sheep’s milk, this Italian-style cheese hails from Wisconsin. It’s aged for 90 days. It’s creamy, strong, and would be just delightful crumbled on a salad, pasta salad, on a burger, or on a hot dog. It’s a limited-edition cheese, and will likely be in stores just for the summer (but if fans like it enough, TJ’s may just keep it around).
8. Hard Top Chocolate Shell Coating
This new Hard Top Chocolate Shell Coating is made with Danish chocolate and coconut oil. Once drizzled over ice cream, the dessert topping hardens within seconds (like magic!), creating a crisp, snappy shell. Use it to make chocolate chip milkshakes by squeezing some into a blender over vanilla ice cream.
The dessert topping contains coconut oil, which means it can solidify if stored in the refrigerator. If that happens, place the entire bottle in a bowl of warm water to liquefy it.
9. Root Beer Float Pieces
These revolutionary Root Beer Float Pieces are kind of like if you took a vanilla Trader Joe’s Joe Joe’s cookie and added a root beer coating with Pop Rocks-style candies in the middle, Matt explains. The candy “mimic(s) the carbonated bubbles” that you’d get from the can, according to Tara. They’re in stores today (and already one of our new favorite grocery releases this month).
10. Strawberry and Watermelon Marshmallows
Could these be the snack of summer? Add a hint of fruity flavor s’mores recipe with these Wonka-esk strawberry and watermelon-flavored marshmallows. They are gelatin-based and shaped like the fruit they were inspired by. You can also eat them as is or add them to a fun (and candy-forward) fruit salad.
11. Yellow Watermelon
These watermelons look just like any other watermelon from the outside, according to Matt, but the inside is bright yellow fruit (from the beta carotene). It doesn’t taste too different from the red-fleshed kind. It’s also seedless (which only means it does not have black seeds) and here just for the summer.
12. Pluot
A pluot is a hybrid fruit — mostly plum, with a little apricot energy — that happens through cross-pollination. Trader Joe’s will have a few varieties hitting shelves throughout the summer (Matt says it’s a surprise each time). They typically end up being about 75% plum and 25% apricot and feature a smooth skin like a plum with a hint of apricot fuzz.
13. Espresso Soda
Think: tonic water, with a bit of espresso and spritz of orange. It’s bubbly, bright, citrusy, and “surprisingly smooth,” in the words of Tara. It comes in a four-pack and is expected to hit stores after July 4.
14. Glow Anywhere Sun Care Set
The duo’s trip isn’t complete without a stop in the store’s beauty section. Top of their list is this new limited-edition suncare set that includes a glow stick sunscreen, sunscreen oil with iridescent glitter, and an after-sun body serum to nourish the skin after time in the sun. Swimsuit not included.
