14 Of The Weirdest Products Ever Made By Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's likes to do things a little differently, and anyone who shops there regularly knows it. Yes, it's the kind of place you can get your weekly groceries, and it's full of products that customers get every time they visit – but it's also home to a lot of, shall we say, novelty products. Trader Joe's has an innovative spirit when it comes to its items, and it regularly acts as a pioneer in the grocery space, combining flavors or mashing up foods people were previously happy to keep separate.

Sometimes, these new creations are joyous, exciting, and cutting-edge; other times, though, they leave people baffled. Over the years, it's prompted the latter response more than a few times, with weird products that may have tasted good to some, but which divided opinions considerably amongst customers and reviewers. Unsurprisingly, a lot of these items are no longer around today — but the internet never forgets anything, folks. From chocolate cheddar cheese to watermelon jerky to pumpkin-flavored seltzer, here are the weirdest, wackiest items Trader Joe's has put into the world. What a time to be alive.

There are plenty of ways to upgrade hummus, and adding in extra flavors is just one of them. After all, chickpeas have a mild, versatile flavor, which begs for amping up with other ingredients — and while classic hummus does this with garlic, tahini, and lemon juice, herbs, spices, caramelized onions, and pretty much anything else you can think of can do the trick. What about chocolate, though? That's the question Trader Joe's was clearly asking back in 2019, when it developed and released its Chocolate Hummus. This wasn't just a chocolate dip that was named after (and slightly looked like) hummus; it was a version of the chickpea and tahini-based spread flavored with cocoa and sugar.

This central premise was an issue for some people. Reviewers noted that Trader Joe's Chocolate Hummus felt just a bit too close to the real thing to work. The chocolate didn't quite mask the chickpea flavor enough, and the combo of earthiness and sweetness felt off-putting. There was also a texture issue: Hummus has a graininess to it, and that's not quite as appealing when it's chocolatey and sugary. Some people enjoyed this hummus, but it definitely wasn't a universal win, and it soon disappeared.

Trader Joe's is utterly unafraid of mashing up two cuisines, and you know what? We kind of respect it — especially when it produces something as delightfully weird and flavorful as its Philly Cheesesteak Bao Buns. Introduced in 2019, these buns were the epitome of fusion cuisine and consisted of fluffy bao buns stuffed with meat, cheese, and peppers. It might sound weird, but if you step back for a moment, there's nothing intrinsically wrong or strange about this combo: Bao buns have a mild flavor, and here, they simply served as an alternative to bread.

As such, these were somewhat of a surprise hit for Trader Joe's. Not everyone loved them: Some criticized the lack of filling in each bun, and whether the product actually captured an authentic cheesesteak flavor. However, by and large, they were considered a fun, if slightly odd addition to the supermarket's line-up. They even became some people's favorites — but, sadly, they weren't destined to stick around forever. In 2023, the Philly Cheesesteak Bao Buns were discontinued, leaving a fair few customers distraught. Trader Joe's really knows how to tug at the heartstrings, huh?

There are pork sausages. There are chicken sausages. There are beef sausages. And ... there are seafood sausages. To be honest, it's probably no surprise the latter is the least popular of them all: Seafood pops when it's fresh, delicately seasoned, and unprocessed, and sausages rely on preservation methods, heavy flavorings, and a fair bit of intervention to work. It's little wonder they don't show up on menus very often.

So, when Trader Joe's released a Seafood Sausage of its own back at the end of the 2000s, not many people were expecting it to hit the spot. Imagine everyone's surprise when it was, in fact, pretty good. Made from shrimp, scallops, white fish, and spices, the Seafood Sausage was a surprise hit and paired perfectly with Mediterranean flavors and white wines. It was also not completely unaffordable: At either $4 or $5 for four link sausages, it wasn't as inexpensive as other types, but it also didn't blow one's budget. Anything that strange, though, isn't destined to last — and it's probably no great shock that the seafood sausage was discontinued, never to reappear again.

Sometimes, a Trader Joe's product will come along that feels both totally wild and strangely brilliant (or at least it would be, if executed properly). Its Chocolate Cheddar Cheese was one of those items. First dropping in the early 2010s, the Chocolate Cheddar Cheese was exactly what it sounded like: A brick of mature English cheddar studded with dark chocolate pieces. Anyone who's tried cheese and chocolate together will know the combination can be dynamite, with the sweetness of the latter ramping up the umami and saltiness of the former, creating a seriously layered flavor and a lot of pleasing intensity. Here, though, that wasn't the case; people largely hated it.

That isn't just hyperbole; they really did hate it. "Thought it would be a nice sweet and salty snack. It was VILE," said one customer on Reddit. The problem seemed to be that the combination was just too intense, with the ingredients working against each other instead of in harmony. This wasn't a universally held opinion, and some people are still sad about the supermarket deciding to discontinue it. Others, though, are glad it's been banished to the scrapheap of discontinued Trader Joe's items.

Back in 2017, Trader Joe's made a decision. Chips were out, and okra was in. Thus, its Crispy Crunchy Okra was released. On the surface, this snack felt like a breath of fresh air. It skipped those boring, predictable slices of fried potato and instead went for whole vegetable pieces that definitely delivered on the crunch they promised, and which felt a little more nutritious than a bag of greasy chips. However, they didn't quite stick the landing on the flavor front. Some people noted they had a slightly bitter aftertaste and were unfortunately underseasoned, which led to them tasting like not very much at all.

That said, some people absolutely loved Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy Okra. "These are so delicious," said one customer on Reddit. "I have eaten the entire bag already." Others appreciated that, unlike some other niche snacks, they weren't super expensive. In another world, these might have gone mainstream and changed the face of the snack world forever — but they didn't. Instead, they seemed to fizzle out of existence over time, and now, they can't be found anywhere.

Ever wished that your ketchup was a bit drier, a bit looser, a bit more easily sprinklable? Well, a couple of years back (circa 2023), Trader Joe's had the solution for you. That year, it introduced its Ketchup-Flavored Sprinkle Seasoning Blend, and it caused a bit of a stir in the online world, not least because people were a little confused as to why it existed in the first place. Reviewers were also a bit baffled as to the actual flavor of the Ketchup-Flavored Sprinkle Seasoning Blend, and pointed out it didn't really taste like ketchup at all. Instead, it tasted like tomatoes and sugar, without that vinegary note the condiment requires to succeed.

Some intrepid Trader Joe's customers did manage to find a use for this thing. It was apparently pretty good in grilled cheese and on popcorn, and served as a useful condiment for other dishes like French fries. A lot of people, though, couldn't figure out what was wrong with regular ketchup in the first place — and it seemed like their loyalty was simply too strong to the sauce for this dry blend to take off.

Trader Joe's seems determined for dried watermelon to take off — and back in 2019, it gave us the first version of this concept, with its Watermelon Jerky. This jerky was pretty much what it said on the tin: Each bag was full of dried-out pieces of watermelon that looked a little like fruit leather, but with more fibrousness. If it had gotten this one right, it could have made for a great alternative to candy.

Unfortunately, it didn't. Instead, its Watermelon Jerky bombed. "This is the worst item I've gotten from Trader Joe's," said one customer on Reddit, one of many who pointed out this product was absolutely disgusting. It was grassy, rancid, had an unpleasant smell and a strange texture, and was altogether a huge miss for the grocery store. It had its defenders, but they were few and far between.

Watermelon Jerky was subsequently discontinued, but a few years later, it decided to roll the dice again with its Crispy Dried Watermelon – which actually manages to capture the flavor of the fruit it's made from. This product, which has been way more successful with reviewers, is still available today, albeit as a limited-time item.

The concept of small pieces of chocolate-flavored dough that burst with molten chocolate when you bite into them sounds like heaven, right? Well, Trader Joe's Chocolate Lava Gnocchi could have delivered on that promise — if the store hadn't kept things strangely traditional. Yes, that's right: With this product, Trader Joe's didn't stray far from a classic gnocchi recipe at all, and it included potato.

This was a real problem as far as flavor was concerned. In a discovery that surprised no one, customers and reviewers found that potato and chocolate don't quite go together, and while the gooey chocolate center tasted good, the pasta that encased it just kinda ruined things. The gnocchi dough also wasn't especially sweet, which meant the molten core had to do a lot of heavy lifting. Plus, they looked a little, well, like the kind of thing you'd have to pick up after you walked your dog. That's obviously not what you want to be thinking about when you're eating. These were definitely novel, but to be honest, there aren't a lot of people mourning their loss.

Dill pickle flavor is everywhere these days, but it's easy to forget that Trader Joe's had a big hand in its popularity in non-pickle snacks. The store has had a long line of pickle-flavored products throughout the years, and it's fair to say that not all of them are winners. Its Peanuts in a Pickle was a good example of this. Released in 2022, these were, quite simply, pickle peanuts. Trader Joe's wisely resisted the temptation to dye them green, but flavor-wise, they hit them with a combination of vinegar, dried garlic, dill, caraway, mustard seed, and bay leaves.

Some people questioned whether dill pickle flavors would work with peanuts, and guess what? They were right! At best, people viewed these as simply a little strange, with a sour note that overpowered any of the other notes. At worst, folks hated them. "We wanted to give them a chance, but they tasted absolutely awful and the clerk said everybody was returning them en masse," said a customer on Reddit, who clearly wasn't the only person who disliked them. Trader Joe's made the executive decision to discontinue its Peanuts in a Pickle, and we can't say it was a huge loss.

Who knew we needed shrimp corn dogs? Apparently, Trader Joe's did! Its Shrimp Corn Dogs dropped at the start of 2012, and the store essentially combined shrimp tempura and regular corn dogs for this one. In each pack, you received six dogs, with whole pieces of shrimp threaded onto each stick, which were then dunked in batter and fried. Trader Joe's also included a tub of Sweet & Hot Chili Sauce, for all your dipping needs.

This product could have either been great or terrible, and it's refreshing to hear that responses tended towards the former. These corn dogs were a hit (even though they were a little light on shrimp, and the chili sauce didn't have the heat kick it promised), and were a nice entry to its product line for folks who wanted to avoid the salty, meaty intensity of the original thing, but still get in on the fun. It was a nice option for people who didn't eat meat, too. It's a shame Trader Joe's didn't keep them around for longer, as they disappeared relatively quickly. People still mourn the product's discontinuation to this day.

Man, Trader Joe's loves a mash-up of unexpected flavors, doesn't it? In 2015, it leaned into that tendency yet again with its Chocolate Raspberry Tamales. This left-field product consisted of a chocolate-flavored masa dough with a raspberry filling piped into the middle, and the whole thing wrapped in a corn husk. You could microwave or steam them, with the microwaving instructions apparently being pretty complicated.

Forget the cooking directions, though — how did these taste? Apparently, not bad! They weren't to everyone's taste, but these Chocolate Raspberry Tamales hit the spot for a lot of people and were a surprise hit. Reviewers compared them favorably to fruit cake, and while the raspberry flavor was too intense for some, for others it was a nice touch (and they felt Trader Joe's could have leaned into it even more). The texture received mixed reviews, but these tamales were far from the disaster they could have been. They were always destined to be a fairly niche product, though, so it surprised no one that Trader Joe's soon elected to get rid of them.

Meat and chocolate go surprisingly well together (if you don't believe us, try using chocolate in a steak sauce and report back), but the combination isn't always a winning one — especially if you can't really taste one of the main components. This tragedy befell the Trader Joe's Uncured Bacon Ganache Bar, a strange product released back in 2015, to mixed reviews. For a chocolate bar that relied heavily on the novelty of bacon, the actual flavor of the meat wasn't that prominent at all. In fact, a lot of people (although not everyone) could barely detect its presence.

This felt like a slightly missed opportunity, given that the rest of the bar excelled. People noted the ganache filling was smooth, luxurious, and bursting with salty, sweet flavor, while the 70% dark chocolate provided intensity and nuance. The bacon could have elevated things enormously if it had any real punch, and made this bar a one-of-a-kind, gourmet experience — but regrettably, it wasn't to be. Trader Joe's missed a trick, and its Uncured Bacon Ganache Bar faded into obscurity.

When did the pumpkin spice trend die? In some ways, it's still going strong, with wild pumpkin spice flavor foods appearing every year — but it's also fair to say food producers have realized not everything needs to taste like pumpkin when fall comes around. Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spiked Seltzer could well have been the product that made everyone figure that out. Why? Because it was absolutely awful.

Well, that's according to customers, anyway. One person who tried it on Reddit said it's "the worst thing [they've] ever had," while another (also on Reddit) described it simply as "horrific." Some people were slightly more moderate in their assessments, saying that while it initially had a surprising taste, it got a little better as time went on. 

That's probably not the response Trader Joe's was looking for, though — and if it was surprised this thing didn't quite gel with customers, it shouldn't have been. Come on. Alcoholic pumpkin-flavored seltzer? Who were they kidding? Some things don't need to exist, and the store got the message on that front. Its Pumpkin Spiked Seltzer was eventually discontinued, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

We've got to be real with you guys: We don't think anyone was out there begging for a tortilla chip that tasted like a Brussels sprout. Apparently, though, that doesn't matter in Trader Joe's land. Back in October 2018, the grocery store dropped its Brussels Sprouts Tortilla Chips, just in time for sprouts season. These chips sat alongside the big, fresh stalks of sprouts that TJ's stocks seasonally and were clearly intended as a fun complement to the vegetable, which might have been more palatable to your kids.

This is a product that could have gone so wrong on the flavor front — but interestingly, the response to it was a little muted. Reviewers noted that while they tasted pretty good, they didn't have any discernible Brussels sprouts notes at all. Instead, they had a slightly nondescript "vegetable" flavor that didn't amount to a lot. Despite this, they were well-loved by some customers, who were devastated when Trader Joe's discontinued them out of the blue, about a year after they first appeared.