7 Spice Blends You Can Buy From Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's has a vice president of product innovation who has the oh so difficult job of traveling the world to taste things. This commitment to global flavors especially shines in the company's spice blends. While TJ's has gotten into trouble in the past when it was accused of leaning into exotic fetishization with the way it markets those products (via NBC), on the development side, its products can serve as a gateway for American eaters to all sorts of cuisines they may not have encountered on their own.

There are also cheeky and fun spice blends inspired by products found in other aisles of the grocery store or other greater food concepts. The expanding line of "Everything But The" seasonings started with Everything But The Bagel in 2017, and now includes spice blends that include Everything but the Elote and Everything but the Leftovers. As if to showcase their versatility, many of these seasonings can be found on other TJ's products like chips, popcorn, and even smoked salmon. We've gathered some of the most intriguing and fun spice blends Trader Joe's has to offer to help you find ways to use them that not even the VP of product innovation could come up with.

Trader Joe's turns one of our favorite condiments made by the brand into a dry spice blend with its Crunchy Chili Onion Sprinkle for $1.99 a jar. It is made from a blend of onion, garlic, dried bell peppers, chili pepper flakes, brown sugar, and mouth-numbing dried Szechuan pepper. Now you can carry this around to make anything mala. The original chili oil is great to fry eggs in, so it makes sense this seasoning would go great sprinkled on some scrambled eggs. Shake it over some french fries for some mouth-numbing fun.

Based off of the traditional Italian dish, spaghetti aglio e olio, which is spaghetti with garlic and oil, this seasoning adds a little extra spice. The $2.49 a bottle Aglio Olio spice blends has salt, dried garlic, dried parsley, dried red bell pepper, and chili pepper. All you need is to cook up some spaghetti, add olive oil, then season with this blend, and you will have a simple, but tasty, dinner. You don't have to stop there, though, as this goes great on bread with butter to make an elevated garlic bread.

This limited time seasonal blend, priced at $2.99, is the latest in TJ's "Everything but the" line of seasonings. A mix of all the classic Thanksgiving flavors, it includes dehydrated onion, sea salt, black pepper, turmeric powder, dried celery seed, ground sage, rosemary powder, dried thyme, dried parsley, and baker's and torula yeasts to round out the umami flavor. Sprinkle it on roasted vegetables for a classic taste, or toss some in with a scrambled egg for a new way to do leftovers for breakfast! 

Ranch seasoning is a common blend, so why not another popular salad dressing in green goddess? For $2.99 you get a blend of minced onion, salt, granulated garlic, ground black pepper, dried chives, dried green onion, spinach powder, and dried parsley. Try it on popcorn to give it an herbal, slightly onion flavor. 

The seasoning that moved the combination of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, and sea salt off of bagels and onto everything else. Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel first came out in 2017 and has spawned other "Everything but the" variations. Only $1.99 for a jar, you can make anything into an everything version of itself. Try it on pizza crust, avocado toast, hard boiled eggs, cheese balls — you can honestly put Everything on everything.

Porcini and white button mushrooms make up the foundation of this umami-packing blend, with onion, mustard seed, red & black pepper, and thyme in there to round it out. This Mushroom & Company Multipurpose Umami Seasoning Blend costs $2.99 and is a great secret weapon to add to any dish you want to amp up the savory flavors on. Toss this into soup, onto any meat, or use it to add a "meatiness" to your popcorn!

The idea for the Everything but the Elote seasoning came from a Trader Joe's crew member in Washington state who emailed corporate with the idea after eating the elote-flavored corn chips. A $1.99 jar is full of chile pepper, parmesan cheese, chipotle powder, cumin, dried cilantro, sea salt, corn flour, and sugar. Put it on popcorn for a popped elote experience. Traditional elote is made with mayonnaise, so try this on anything full of the delicious cream like potato salad or deviled eggs.