'Run Don't Walk To Try This': Shoppers Are Raving About This Trader Joe's Side Dish

The holidays are approaching, with everything that comes along with them: beautiful glazed hams (hopefully not cooked uncovered), the increasingly ominous ubiquity of Mariah Carey, and tension-fraught meals with your extended family where you try not to talk about politics. Everything's a little more bearable with a good side dish, and if you need to make one in a pinch, Trader Joe's has you covered. For a limited time, you can get their Loaded Mashed Potatoes, the side Trader Joe faithfuls have been raving about.

The combo of mashed potatoes loaded with bacon bits, cheddar cheese, scallions, and sour cream is probably difficult to mess up, but Trader Joe's take on the famous mashed potato upgrade was executed pretty much perfectly. "Run DON'T walk to try this. So so delicious!" enthused one Redditor. Another Redditor's only complaint was that they wished it was bigger: "it feels like three good servings, but I wish it had four." (The Loaded Mashed Potatoes come in a 16 oz. container, while a family-sized container of Bob Evans mashed potatoes is 32 oz.) When the only problem with something is you wish there was more of it, you know you've got a winner on your hands.

Longtime Trader Joe's shoppers probably know the catch: these wonderful Loaded Mashed Potatoes won't be in stores for very long, leaving at the end of the holidays. Because Trader Joe's endeavors to keep its prices as low as possible, they have to manage their store space very carefully, which means a lot of seasonal items, as well as a lot of your favorite items, getting discontinued. If an item is popular enough, it can always turn up again next year — just look at Trader Joe's Marshmallows, which are sold every winter and summer — but it can certainly be a bother if it's tasty enough to eat all year round.

Luckily, you can enjoy loaded mashed potatoes whenever you'd like, if you're willing to put in just a bit of extra work. Sure, it's nice to have cheesy, bacon-y spuds ready-made by your good friend Trader Joe, but it's not difficult to make on your own. All you need are bacon bits, sour cream, shredded cheddar, and some chives, plus mashed potatoes (they can either be homemade or from a box). But in the meantime, you can just pop Trader Joe's mashed potatoes in the microwave and eat it as-is.