The Grocery Store Ground Beef That Has Improved Over Time

Since it opened in 1967, Trader Joe's has been known for a lot of things: friendly cashiers, low-priced snacks and frozen foods, and some off-the-beaten-path or just plain weird products. What it hasn't necessarily been known for is its ground beef. Or at least, not in a necessarily positive way. In a Reddit post from 2022, one user warned, "The texture was weird and it foamed when I cooked it." A post in 2023 asked, "Does anyone have trouble with Trader Joe's ground beef going/being bad smelling?" and another user declared the beef to be awful. Whether it's standard, organic, or grass-fed beef (which are different things, by the way), people have been turned off by the grocery chain's line. 

In recent times, however, Trader Joe's has started to turn around the public perception of its ground beef. A more recent Reddit thread from 2024 asked for users' opinions on Trader Joe's ground beef, and the responses were largely quite positive. "It's been consistently good in my view," said one user, and another noted, "Never had an issue." And another similar Reddit post from 2025 also led to almost entirely positive reviews: "I use the 80/20 all the time and like it."

A potential reason for the varying quality of Trader Joe's meat may have to do with where it's sourced. While there are plenty of Trader Joe's myths you shouldn't believe, one thing that is true is that it sources its beef from multiple countries. According to its website: "Our Ground Beef is sourced from a number of countries renowned for their excellent beef production, including Australia, New Zealand, and the United States—and it's processed and inspected in the U.S. to ensure only the best quality."

Beyond this, Trader Joe's doesn't reveal much about its beef suppliers, so it's unknown if the chain made any switches to production in recent years that would account for any improvements. What we do know is that its quality inspections are working. While Trader Joe's maintains a list of product recalls, it doesn't seem like ground beef in any form has ever been on this list, so you can grill it up free of worry.