5 Trader Joe’s Meals For Any Time of Day

Hello friends, it is I, your Trader Joe’s evangelist back with a pamphlet and a fake 100 dollar bill that is actually a tract (religious trauma, anyone?). I do not have the latest and greatest TJ’s products this time around, but I do have its practical application – meals.

First, let me start by acknowledging that Trader Joe’s is not a grocery store. It is, but it really isn’t. It’s a store of novelties, snacks on acid, fads made edible. Am I 100% invested? Clearly, yes, but more than one thing can be true. Trader Joe’s is never my only grocery store stop, it’s simply not possible, but going always makes me happy.

Today, I have 5 meals that can be breakfast, lunch, or dinner made entirely from TJ’s ingredients. All of these meals are great at any time of day. Some of them happen to have eggs in them, but who says eggs are just for breakfast anymore? Also, I am heavily in my sandwich era. The hardest part of single adulthood is feeding yourself multiple times a day, and I imagine parenthood to be the same. Oh, you’re hungry? Again?! With sandwiches, having something I can snack on well into the day is ideal, and somehow quells decision fatigue. I hope you try and love these, please let me know what you think!

Breakfast

• Copycat Kasama breakfast sandwich

You might have heard of Kasama from The Bear, rightfully so, as it deserves the fame. It is a James Beard Award winning, Michelin starred restaurant that you must get to know intimately. I had the breakfast sandwich once and it set up permanent camp in my mind. They add a crispy hash brown into the sandwich, and the pairing of that crispiness with their salty Filipino sausage and a soufflé egg? Tuh! A chef’s kiss isn’t enough, there needs to be tongue involved.

For the sandwich, I toast the brioche buns on the stove top in Kerry Gold, because I love myself. Adding a large teaspoon of heavy cream to the eggs helps them to fluff up beautifully. My variation puts cream cheese on one toasted bun, and jam on the other. What can I say, I love a sweet and a meat! Making this for a friend, she called it “God-tier,” so take that as you will. From TJ’s you will need:

• Hash browns
• Kerry Gold butter
• eggs
• chicken breakfast sausage patties
• heavy cream
• Brioche buns
• Cream cheese
• Some sort of jam – I have a peach jam not from TJ’s and honestly, feel free to use anything you have on hand

• Copycat m.henry breakfast sandwich

Gatekeeping is something that I am on board with. Some things need to be kept close to your chest like poker cards, but I would be doing you a disservice to not introduce you to Fannie’s Killer Fried Egg Sandwich from m.henry, an Andersonville staple. I realize crispiness in a breakfast sandwich is something to be cherished, so again, break out your Kerry Gold and your finest non-stick skillet and toast that sourdough bread on both sides. Layer the sourdough with fresh baby spinach, a spicy heavy cream fried egg, applewood smoked bacon, plum tomatoes, and gorgonzola. Because I’m me, I added peach jam to one side, and it was the correct decision. You will need:

• Sourdough loaf (I did the uniform one, but a boule is always welcome)
• baby spinach
• eggs
• heavy cream
• chili crisp
• applewood smoked bacon (or whatever bacon you’d like, the thick cut really works here)
• plum tomatoes
• crumbled gorgonzola cheese (or a wedge crumbled)

Lunch

• Smoked turkey sandwich aka The All Day Sammy

You may have noticed, there’s a pattern here. Bread. Butter. Cheese. Listen, I just want you to have the finer things in life. This is a simple, classic French sandwich consisting of a holey, perfect baguette, good Swiss cheese, smoked turkey, and cornichons. Once the baguette is split open, you spread, you guessed it, softened Kerry Gold butter on it, layering next with the other ingredients. Wrapping it in parchment keeps it together and easily accessible in your purse as you will take a bite out of this sandwich every 15-20 business minutes. You will need:

• Smoked turkey
• Swiss cheese – I chose Comté because it was buttery and salty
• a fresh baguette (make this sandwich the day you buy the baguette!)
• Kerry Gold butter
• a jar of cornichons

Dinner

• Birria Quesadillas

Located in the frozen section, the beef birria went viral when it launched, especially on TikTok. The viral recipe Birria Ramen is still going strong, but I prefer to separate the consommé from the meat and use it to make a quesadilla. Obviously, you can go straight to birria tacos, but I love a self contained package of food. Is this another version of a sandwich?! Straight to jail with me. Pro tip: put cheese in your pan before you put the tortilla in, so you have a crust of crispy, caramelized cheese on the outside (this is what they do traditionally for birria tacos!). You will need:

• frozen Beef Birria
• large flour tortillas
• Mexican cheese blend, or queso Chihuahua (preferred)
• limes
• cilantro

• At-home Asian Takeout

Sometimes I want to have dim sum in my underwear, and unfortunately that is illegal, so I turn to Trader Joe’s. Their Japanese style fried rice is slightly sticky and has a toothsome bite, which is intensely satisfying. I am very obsessed with their Korean style short ribs, they’re so fattysaltysweet I just end up eating pieces standing at my kitchen counter, as God intended. There are no rules for this meal, just get what the vibes tell you. Making your own mishmash of frozen TJ’s food is the building blocks of a rich life, I tell ya! You will need:

• a fried rice option
• a dumpling option
• a meat – bulgogi, Korean short ribs, orange chicken, chickenless orange chicken
• get some veggies in there
• vibes, an open mind, a willing heart, and no pants!