10 Trader Joe's Frozen Desserts You Should Stock Up On That Aren't Ice Cream

The Trader Joe's frozen food section is one of the grocery chain's major draws. From effortless entrées to savory snacks and sides, you can find just about anything you could ever want to eat in this icy aisle (and here are our top 10 frozen food recommendations, should you need some guidance). When it's time to move from savory to sweet during your shopping trip, you might find yourself surrounded by the overwhelming array of ice cream desserts, and understandably so — Trader Joe's offers a nearly endless selection of ice cream sandwiches, pints, and other cold, creamy concoctions. Don't stop there, though. Just beyond the ice cream items, you'll find some of the store's best sweet treats. 

Trader Joe's non-ice cream frozen desserts are some of the store's best items, ranging from simple bright and fruity delights to decadently rich indulgences. If you find yourself in an ice cream rut, but aren't sure where to go next, use this handy guide to steer you toward the top ten frozen desserts we recommend. As with all Trader Joe's items, availability can vary from store to store and season to season, but these tried-and-true favorites are worth seeking out.

This little pouch containing two frozen cups of tiramisu packs a massive wallop of richness and flavor in a small package. Tiramisu, the classic Italian dessert consisting of boozy coffee-soaked ladyfingers, luscious whipped mascarpone cream, and a dusting of cocoa powder, can be a tough recipe to get just right, and Trader Joe's does an admirable job. The keys to a great tiramisu are not underplaying the coffee bitterness and not over-sweetening the cream. The result, as achieved here, is a tightrope walk between sharpness and softness as these elements dance on your palate.

The interplay of flavors is complemented by an interplay of textures, with ladyfingers providing a crunchy base to contrast the rich, velvety cream. Each layer has its own contrasting elements too, adding to the complexity and sophistication of this dessert. The ladyfingers are both sweet from Marsala wine and sharp from coffee, and the cream's topping of cocoa powder adds a subtle bitter kick to its ethereal sweetness. You could certainly go to town and finish one (or both) of the tiramisu trays in one sitting, but this dessert is easy enough to split if you cut it into smaller portions while it's still frozen, then let them thaw in the refrigerator as directed. 

When the air gets brisk, the leaves start to turn, and apple season rolls around, you'll want to make sure you head to your local Trader Joe's and pick up as many Rustic Apple Tartes as you can fit in your freezer. This seasonal dessert has made an autumnal appearance year after year, and the enthusiasm for it hasn't lessened one bit. How could it? This exceptional tarte is bursting with fall flavors and aromas that fill your kitchen as it transforms into golden-brown magic in the oven.

While visually, this dessert is all about rustic simplicity and provincial charm, its high quality is evident. The sugar-bedazzled pastry is soft, buttery, flaky, and melts in your mouth. The filling, a mix of cream cheese and thinly sliced Northern Spy apples — one of our favorite types of apple for baking — is rich and creamy, preserving the apples' natural crisp texture and bright tartness (pun not intended, but it works). To top it off, there's a generous layer of chopped and sliced almonds in sweet, cinnamon-spiced clusters that almost give the impression of granola and add a welcome crunch. The hardest part is letting the tarte rest for a few minutes after pulling it out of the oven, a crucial step to let the filling set and the crust firm up. Toppings like ice cream, whipped cream, custard, and caramel sauce will level up this tarte, but it's spectacular on its own.

Trader Joe's has offered a few different flavor combinations of their Fruit Frenzy bars, but the elite variety is the trio of raspberry, lemon, and strawberry. The perfect balance of tart and sweet, these bars consist of little more than fruit and cane sugar, and that simplicity allows the bright, pure, vibrant flavors of each layer to shine. Raspberry starts the bar off at the top with its tangy zing, followed by a citrusy bite of lemon in the middle, and once you make it to the bottom of the bar, sweet strawberry mellows everything out.

Part of the fun of these bars is figuring out different ways to incorporate each layer. Get a bite with lemon and raspberry if you want a brisk, mouth-puckering experience. Lemon and strawberry make a juicy, refreshing duo. Getting a bite with all three can be a logistical feat, but it's doable, and the trio of fruits works beautifully together. If you're a purist, you can enjoy each fruit separately, as each layer is well-delineated. These bars are sizable, too, making them a satisfying dessert or anytime pick-me-up. 

Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts. In fact, it may just be at the top of the list. It's deceptively simple, but needs a precise hand to get right, with sweetness, richness, and its signature tanginess all in balance. Mess that up and it can taste flabby, flat, bland, and sit in your stomach like a rock. Trader Joe's must have wizards at their baking facilities, because they've conjured up a gorgeous classic cheesecake that checks all the boxes and can feed a hungry crowd, all for about a buck a slice.

This cheesecake is convenient, too — thaw it either in the fridge or on the counter, and once it's ready to eat, you'll be treated to a crunchy, crumbly graham cracker crust holding up a satin-smooth cream filling, soft yet firm enough to hold its shape. A subtle lift of vanilla enhances the sweetness, while sour cream brings an acidic zing that keeps you salivating for another bite. Personally, I don't need to add any accoutrements to a cheesecake this good, but it can handle all manner of flavor upgrades, from whipped cream to chocolate chips to fruit (if you've got Trader Joe's mango chunks on hand, they're a great tropical topping). You aren't likely to find a cheesecake of this quality at this price anywhere else.

For those of you who like your desserts simple and pure, you can't do better than Trader Joe's frozen mango chunks. There's one ingredient — mangoes — yet the possibilities of what you can do with the contents of this bag are nearly endless. That said, there's really nothing better, or easier, than letting them thaw a little and eating these juicy morsels straight out of the bag. They're naturally sweet, and the mangoes that Trader Joe's sources are creamy and buttery, rather than some varieties that can be stringy and fibrous. When partially thawed, the combination of this luscious texture and the remaining frozenness creates the sensation of eating mango ice cream, even though there's no dairy or added sugar involved.

You can, of course, zhuzh them up any way you wish. We recommend Trader Joe's chile lime seasoning blend as an ice cream topping, and it works just as well sprinkled on these mango pieces. The salty, spicy, and sweet flavor combination is a taste explosion (in a good way). As I mentioned previously, they make a fantastic topping for Trader Joe's frozen cheesecake, or really any cake or baked good that you want to infuse with some tropical flair. While there are plenty of other types of fruit in the freezer aisle, the mango chunks are the best choice as a stand-alone sweet treat.

Just a step above frozen mango chunks in terms of complexity, Trader Joe's Gone Bananas takes fruit — in this case, as you might guess, bananas — and coats bite-sized slices in Belgian dark chocolate. It seems simple, and it is, and that's what makes it so satisfying. The two ingredients work so well together that anything else would ruin the balance. They're small, perfect for when you just need a touch of something sweet but don't want to go overboard. However, like a certain brand of potato chips, I bet you can't eat just one.

There's no preparation needed for these treats, which makes them ultra-convenient, and a little dangerous if you're trying to enjoy them in moderation. Simply pop one in your mouth: The chocolate begins to soften and the banana goes from frosty to creamy, creating a dynamic texture as you chew the chocolatey coins. Bananas have a mild flavor, and the dark chocolate here is intense, so these lean more decadent than you might imagine in the flavor department for such a simple dessert. While I think these are perfect as-is, if you were so inclined, you could add them to ice cream to make a quick and easy ersatz banana split.

While chocolate-covered strawberries may not have been around for a very long time, they've certainly captured the hearts and taste buds of dessert connoisseurs. The combination of sweet, juicy, fleshy strawberries — long considered an aphrodisiac — and a luxurious ingredient like chocolate just makes sense, and these treats are as visually striking as they are delicious. Trader Joe's takes these classic sweets and freezes them to make Gone Berry Crazy, a sequel to the wildly popular Gone Bananas.

Unlike most chocolate-dipped strawberries you'll find at specialty chocolatiers (or sold everywhere around Valentine's Day), these are meant to be eaten straight from the freezer. This gives the strawberries a crisp, icy texture as opposed to the succulence you'll get from a room-temperature or refrigerated berry. That sweet strawberry flavor is still there, though, and the coldness gives the berries a refreshing, invigorating taste that contrasts well with the decadent dark Belgian chocolate. Since these fruits are a bit thicker than the banana slices, I like to give them a few minutes outside of the freezer before I eat them, so the centers of the berries are less solid. On a hot day, though, that frostiness really hits the spot.

It's appropriate that Trader Joe's lemon bars have the word "classic" in their name. There's nothing pushing the envelope here, no riffs or trendy additional ingredients or unusual flavors. Still, these little citrusy squares rank with the elite Trader Joe's frozen desserts because every bite is a sweet, tart, zesty, and rich sensory experience. The formula is simple: A shortbread base topped with a layer of lemon curd and dusted with powdered sugar. The shortbread is buttery and crumbly, the lemon layer is sunny and soft, and each bar offers about two perfectly balanced bites (or one — no one's here to judge).

The instructions say to thaw these on the countertop or in the microwave from frozen, but there's no law against eating them ice-cold straight out of the box. Both methods are quick and easy, and offer two distinct ways to enjoy them. I always thaw them first, and marvel at how similar the textures feel to fresh-baked bars. This time, I tried a few right from the freezer, and loved the extra zippiness from the ice-cold lemon curd, which still managed to be rich and buttery-soft. Whichever way you decide to eat them, be prepared to finish the whole box before you even realize they're gone.

If you can open a box of Trader Joe's French macarons and still have some left for the next day, my hat's off to you. I have yet to accomplish that feat. These little airy marvels of frozen baked wizardry seem to disappear within seconds every time I bring them home. While sometimes Trader Joe's offers a wider variety of macaron flavors, this box narrows them down to two classics: Chocolate and vanilla. Each flavor is a triumph, pure and intense. The chocolate is deep and rich, and the vanilla is fragrant and ethereal.

Speaking of ethereal, let's talk about texture. While you probably won't confuse these with macarons you had from a Parisian pâtisserie on your last European vacation, they get as close as you can imagine for a frozen product. These are actually crafted in France, which gives them an air of authenticity, and like the best macarons, their almond meringue shells seem lighter than air. Each bite is a journey from crisp, delicate exterior to pillowy interior, then to the rich layer of creamy filling, until the whole concoction turns to silk on your tongue. I like to pull a few apart and mix and match them, so you get some chocolate and vanilla together. These take almost no time at all to thaw, which makes them easy — perhaps too easy — to indulge in on a whim.

Last, but certainly not least, we come to the dessert that defines decadence: Chocolate lava cake. Trader Joe's version of this brilliant modern invention, created by one of two chefs possibly as recently as the 1990s, is a pure celebration of chocolate. It can be prepared in a conventional oven or microwave, with the oven producing a slightly firmer cake with crispy edges, but the microwave resulting in a moister, softer texture. With both preparations, the main event is the same: Dig a spoon into the cake, and an eruption of rich and velvety liquid chocolate ganache oozes out onto the plate.

For chocolate lovers, this may just be the ultimate dessert, and at two dollars a cake, it's hard to think of a better, easier, cheaper way to get your chocolate fix. The package comes with two small, individually wrapped cakes, so you can serve both for a decadent date night dessert, or conveniently save one for later — even if that later happens to be right after you finish the first one. On its own, this cake just skirts the line of being too extravagantly chocolatey. I find it really comes alive when paired with fruit to add some brightness, or a shot of espresso with lemon to wake up the flavors on your palate. If you're in the mood to dive deep into a sea of chocolate, though, this chocolate lava cake on its own is unbeatable.