7 Trader Joe's Spice Blends For Grilled Chicken Recipes

With the weather warming up, it's officially grilling season, which means that it's time to start planning some fun, food-filled outdoor barbecues. And the most important part of the planning process is, of course, figuring out which recipes you're going to be making. One barbecue-friendly food that you simply can't go wrong with? Grilled chicken. It's always delicious fresh off the grill, and there are so many different ways to prepare it. If you need some flavor ideas, look no further than the seasoning shelf at your local Trader Joe's.

Trader Joe's has a fairly wide selection of tasty seasoning blends that are worth keeping stocked in your spice cabinet. And it just so happens that many of these blends work quite well with grilled chicken to make it super flavorful and delicious. To help you figure out which of these spice blends are worth pairing with your poultry, we've compiled this list for you. It includes everything from classic onion salt to blends that are a bit more unique, like TJ's Everything but the Elote seasoning. Read on to see which ones catch your eye, then add those — along with chicken, of course — to your cart.

TJ's chile lime seasoning blend, which costs just $2.29, consists of chile pepper, lime juice powder, red bell pepper, sea salt, citric acid, and rice concentrate. Flavor-wise, it's citrusy, spicy, salty, and a little bit tart. Adding this to your chicken before cooking will result in a dish that has all of this delicious flavor, as well as the smoky element that comes from the grill. Enjoy the chicken as-is, or use it to make some super tasty grilled chicken tacos, complete with homemade crema to balance out the heat from the seasoning blend.

The aglio olio seasoning blend, which is priced at $2.49, from Trader Joe's should be a staple in your kitchen. "Aglio olio" means "garlic and oil" in Italian, which are likely two of the most-used ingredients in any household. The exact ingredients of this blend include safflower oil, minced garlic, sea salt flakes, red bell pepper, red chili pepper, and parsley. All of these ingredients will pair beautifully with grilled chicken, taking it to the next level — the result will be deliciously garlicky, with a kick of heat and a touch of saltiness. Then, even after using this blend for grilled chicken, you'll have plenty of it leftover for other purposes, such as one of the suggestions on the TJ's product page: combining it with olive oil for a quick, tasty dip for fresh homemade bread.

If you love umami – a word with a semi-modern history, which translates from Japanese to "pleasant savory taste" — then you need to make sure that you buy TJ's Mushroom & Company multipurpose umami seasoning blend for $2.99. It's made with porcini mushroom powder, white button mushroom powder, ground mustard seed, dried onions, crushed red pepper, black pepper, dried thyme, and kosher salt. With two types of mushrooms, you can expect that flavor to be prominent, but not overpowering, since there are plenty of other savory aspects at work there as well. Regardless, add this to your grilled chicken to ensure that it is bursting with umami flavor.

Trader Joe's onion salt, which costs just $1.99, can be used on a multitude of different dishes, including grilled chicken. It's more than just onion-flavored salt — it contains granulated onion, minced onion, and green onion, as well as granulated garlic, kosher salt, and dried chives. It has a savory flavor that, yes, is prominently onion, but is balanced out by the other ingredients to make a salty, flavorful seasoning blend. Use it on your grilled chicken in place of regular salt for a more flavorful and interesting result. Pair with a side of grilled potatoes, which can also be seasoned with this versatile salt (and read our guide on how to grill potatoes to get the perfect char).

If you're looking to do something a little different with your grilled chicken, try using TJ's Cuban-style citrusy garlic seasoning blend, which can be bought for $2.29. It's made with ingredients that pair well with poultry — such as garlic, lime juice, onion powder, cumin powder, and herbs — so you basically can't go wrong. The citrusy flavor comes from the lime juice, as well as bitter orange oil and lemon oil, so there's a delicious blend of different citrus flavors in there. Pair the citrusy garlic grilled chicken with Cuban rice and beans to make one absolutely delicious and memorable meal.

Even if you're not planning on using the grilled chicken to make tacos, this taco seasoning mix from TJ's, priced at $1.19, is worth buying to guarantee that your grilled chicken is packed full of delicious flavor. It contains spices such as cayenne pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, and red chili pepper flakes to bring the heat and smokiness. Then, there's brown cane sugar to balance out the heat and savory aspects with a hint of sweetness. The flavor profile is rounded out with ingredients such as sea salt, black pepper, dried garlic, and oregano. All of these elements will work deliciously well with the extra smoky elements that come from cooking the chicken on the grill, so you're all set up for some perfectly tasting chicken.

If you're a fan of elote, Mexican street corn, then make sure you pick up Trader Joe's Everything But the Elote seasoning blend for $1.99 next time you're shopping there. It has all of the flavor that you love from elote packed into one seasoning blend — its ingredients include chile pepper, Parmesan cheese, chipotle powder, cumin, dried cilantro, and sugar. While your first thought may be to use this seasoning over corn as an easier, faster way to make homemade elote, you can also use it to season your grilled chicken. This will result in a chicken dish that is a little spicy and a little cheesy, with a hint of sweetness, and all around delicious. Then, serve corn on the side and keep this seasoning blend out on the table for everyone to add more elote seasoning as they please.