The 14 Worst Things You Can Buy At Trader Joe's, According To Reddit

If you have ever taken a virtual stroll through any Reddit thread related to Trader Joe's, then you will know that there is no such thing as holding back. People happily and unapologetically share their opinions on everything from products to employees and even suboptimal parking logistics, popular or not. Some opinions about Trader Joe's food result in Reddit camaraderie, and others are dramatically divisive and dripping with passive aggressiveness.

TJ's fans all have their foods and snacks they cannot get enough of, but the truth is that some products just don't hit the spot. Shoppers may be loyal, but no grocery chain is perfect — even Trader Joe's. Obviously, shoppers' opinions are subjective since everyone's taste varies, but these 14 products rack up some of the most consistently negative reviews on Reddit from customers unfortunate enough to pop them into their shopping carts.

Over the last several years, overnight oats have become a phenomenon for offering a quick breakfast filled with wholesome nutrients. TikTok is flooded with different recipes for those who like to dabble with both basic and wildly creative versions of the dish, so it makes sense that grocery stores now also carry pre-made individual servings of overnight oats to make a healthy and hearty breakfast easier to access than ever. Trader Joe's, the constant trendsetter, created its own brand of overnight oats — however, it sounds like they only appeal to customers who fancy a hearty cup of unpleasant mush.

Multiple Reddit users have TJ's overnight oats on their no-buy lists. The negative responses to the overnight oats are not for a lack of trying — one Reddit user claimed to have taken multiple bites of their peanut butter overnight oats from Trader Joe's. Sadly, the third time was not the charm, as it allegedly tasted more like chemicals than anything else. Others have also reported that the vanilla variety tastes equally artificial.

The Trader Joe's bakery items get a lot of mixed reviews from customers who air their gluten grievances on Reddit. The general sentiment is that TJ's bakery items simply do not stay fresh for long enough. Reddit is filled with comments about many of TJ's bakery items prematurely going stale and even growing mold way too quickly. The bread items get the most negative reviews across Reddit. Users even drag the TJ's pita bread, English muffins, sourdough, and other bakery finds.

One Redditor thinks all the bread tastes the same regardless of the specific flavor it's meant to convey, and that its aggressive density is overwhelming. Others call out Trader Joe's breads for being too dry. Even Trader Joe's baguettes get major shade, with one user comparing them to Wonder Bread. Aside from disappointing shelf life, staleness, and mold issues, one Redditor mentioned that all the breads taste overly sweet. While sourdough might be all the rage in some circles, Trader Joe's shoppers are not into it. They share tales of it falling apart and being so dry that it absorbs any condiment that gets near it.

With many people leaning into healthier eating habits, you can find a number of pasta alternatives on store shelves at most grocery stores. At Trader Joe's, there are multiple options for those who want to mangia without traditional flour-based pasta. There's gluten-free pasta, chickpea pasta, lentil pasta, along with so many other varieties. One of the most divisive Trader Joe's pasta alternatives, according to Reddit, is the Hearts of Palm pasta. Instead of flour and eggs, it's made using just what the name implies — hearts of palm. TJ's fans suggest avoiding the pasta dupe at all costs.

Sometimes, you just have to let pasta be pasta and look for healthier swaps in other places. Even the most loyal Trader Joe's customers take issue with this particular pasta alternative. One fan on Reddit slammed the pasta's lack of flavor, and others did not disagree. If you are looking for a pasta alternative that might make you gag, the hearts of palm pasta is right up your alley.

If you thought that ketchup was almost impossible to mess up, you were absolutely wrong. There is a significant amount of Trader Joe's ketchup content all over Reddit, and little of it is positive. One customer actually deemed its ketchup as the worst they had ever tasted. Another was quick to comment about the overpowering allspice flavor that should never make its way into a bottle of ketchup. 

There's no love lost for Trader Joe's ketchup, and there's also no distinct tomato-based flavor either, according to some shoppers. As one Reddit user noted, "It has the weirdest flavor that is not even remotely ketchup." When people are universally complaining about a seemingly innocent condiment, you know it has to be that bad. Ketchup is not a complicated condiment, after all. Perhaps TJ's needs to go back to the drawing board to make this one right.

The corn ribs at Trader Joe's have stirred up a lot of feelings among Reddit users. In theory, they sound promising, but in reality, they are just confusing, and there are too many red flags to ignore. One Reddit user said it was all cob, and no actual consumable corn. They've been ruled inedible, with Trader Joe's enthusiasts expressing major regret after purchasing them. "The corn ribs are the worst thing we've brought home from them," one Reddit user said. "Entirely inedible." If you are looking for a quick and delicious Mexican corn side, count TJ's corn ribs out.

Other corn rib gripes include a lack of flavor and offensive amounts of butter. Butter is a national treasure, so if people are complaining about there being too much, you know it's bad. One customer shared that they were so greasy that they made a mess. Trader Joe's fans flocked to these corn ribs, thinking it was just a cuter way to serve corn, but quickly realized they had the wrong idea of how they'd be presented. "I thought it would be corn cut from the cob, but in strips," they wrote on Reddit. "Maybe it was my misunderstanding, but there was still large parts of cob attached to the corn." Shoppers have no interest in paying a premium for corn ribs that are severely lacking in corn.

There are many Trader Joe's frozen items that get flak from customers, but one of the pies that receives the most hate is the uncured pepperoni. The comparisons of what it tastes like cut deep. As one Reddit user so bluntly put it, "Uncured pepperoni pizza tastes like butt." No food ever wants to receive that input.

Apparently, this was not always the case with the pepperoni pie. At some point, Trader Joe's customers claim that it changed, and they are not feeling the new version at all. Some Redditors don't go quite as extreme with their comparisons, but they still consider it a letdown, which is by no means a compliment. I think most pizzas would prefer to be pegged as unremarkable rather than akin to butt. Is it that bad or is it just so hyped up that it underdelivers on shoppers' expectations? Either way, Trader Joe's frozen uncured pepperoni pie is better left in the freezer.

Another Trader Joe's frozen food on the naughty list is the honey walnut shrimp. Redditors had a lot to say about this one, and it's a lot to unpack. While Reddit users came to the table with a variety of bad descriptors for this particular seafood dish, one of the standouts was comparing the taste to frosting. Another Redditor chimed in to say that they couldn't even get through the meal and tossed the shrimp in the trash. Who can blame them when it's been likened to vomit?

Customers call the breading soggy and off-putting, while a few used slightly more dramatic words to describe the frozen honey walnut shrimp. Among the slew of negative shrimp content, there were also many references drowning in too much overly sweet sauce. Some think it's so bad that they have questioned the life decisions of Trader Joe's regulars who willingly purchase it. If you use Reddit as a barometer for Trader Joe's items, the honey walnut shrimp appears to be an unsalvageable disaster.

What could possibly go wrong by turning watermelon into a jerky treat? If you ask Reddit, it turns out the answer is "everything." The number of customers using Reddit as an outlet for their watermelon jerky is just too obvious to ignore. One Reddit user even claimed that it's so bad, it's a "crime against humanity." Yikes.

Even if brave customers went in willing to try watermelon jerky with unsubstantiated hope, they came out disgusted and disappointed. A big issue is the scent. Some have alleged that it smells like farts (although apparently the degree to which it does so can vary). The frustration with Trader Joe's customers is palpable, and this item is said to be so bad that even pets won't touch it. If you get the jerky craving, try a tasty beef jerky instead. That's one kind of snack that almost always makes sense.

The bold flavors of Korean cuisine easily attract new palates once they try its array of delicious dishes. Trader Joe's is always rolling out food from different cultures, so it's no surprise that it's also taken a stab at Korean-inspired products, such as its beef bulgogi, plus a beefless counterpart for those who don't eat meat. They get an A for effort in that regard, but unfortunately, the latter isn't winning any rave reviews from Trader Joe's customers on Reddit.

When one user went on a rant about their beefless bulgogi trauma, they were met with validation from so many others. It appears to be one of the most disliked items at Trader Joe's, and even made people dry-heave and gag when they tried to eat it. Another Reddit user victimized by beef bulgogi had a straight-up existential crisis after trying it, and others threw it out after a bite or two. If you fancy soy sauce-flavored leather, the people of Reddit think you'll love it. You've been warned.

One person's frozen dinner success is another's culinary nightmare. The latter is exactly how many Trader Joe's customers feel about the frozen cacio e pepe. If you have never experienced a good cacio e pepe, it's a luscious pasta drenched in cheesy flavor and a perfect kick of pepper. Naturally, it probably caught many an eye when Trader Joe's put it in the freezer section. Want quick cacio e pepe on a Tuesday? Trader Joe's made that possible.

But sometimes, things are simply too good to be true. What looked like a promising pasta shortcut was not something worthy of the cacio e pepe lore. In one Reddit thread blasting the frozen pasta find from TJ's, one user claimed the only thing it was good for was clearing out congested sinuses on account of the excessive amount of pepper. Everyone loves a good twist on cacio e pepe, but not if that twist involves suffocating amounts of pepper. Next time you go to grab that cold medicine, perhaps Trader Joe's cacio e pepe would do the trick.

If you go solely based on ingredients, these are the cheese boats we all want and have serious potential. And yet, Reddit is filled with haters who shine a very different light on this particular TJ's frozen item. They've been described as unpleasant in flavor and overly greasy, and that's just the beginning. Aside from the mountain of Reddit content calling attention to their resemblance to female anatomy, the complaints are too bountiful to ignore.

Other Redditors described them as surprisingly dry, accompanied by other adjectives you don't want associated with a cheesy bread creation. For many customers, the only possible compliment here is that they smell delicious. There are folks on Reddit who feel that filling them with proteins saves them, but not everyone's buying the idea, and instead feel that even a tasty meatball can't redeem the cheesy treat. Unfortunately, the garlic ship has sailed for many on the overly chewy boats.

Based on Reddit, Trader Joe's is where hummus goes to die. Some have complained about the off-putting smell. Others claim that every single variety of Trader Joe's hummus is horrible. There are even customers who do not want to accept the hummus card that has been dealt, so they hold out hope and keep trying, but it never ends well. One Reddit user shared their own hack for combating the hummus blues: Instead of buying what's in the refrigerated case and being constantly underwhelmed, they opt for chickpeas and make their own.

This hasn't always been the case. There was a time when customers loved Trader Joe's Mediterranean hummus, but when it messed with the iconic flavor, fans were not happy. If there's any question about how serious Trader Joe's shoppers are about their hummus, you should see how they grieve when their favorite variety gets sacked. People get attached to their favorite chickpea concoctions, and they will hold a grudge. If you want a super creamy hummus, you won't find it at TJ's.

Grocery store sushi can spark heated debate in many circles. It's not at the level of gas station sushi, but a lot of it isn't much better. Trader Joe's sushi does not have the best track record as far as Reddit is concerned. It's one of those items that has a very frequent spot on customers' do-not-buy list. Word on the street is that Trader Joe's sushi has an odd hint of sweetness. It's also been compared to dog food, which is about as unappetizing as it gets.

It's probably a good practice to let actual sushi restaurants handle the sushi. Grocery stores don't need to do everything, especially if it doesn't land well. I think it's a pretty solid rule of thumb that if you have to spit out sushi mid-bite, as was the case for one Reddit user, it's not worth trying. Even compared to other stores, customers have admitted that Trader Joe's attempts at sushi are particularly bad. "Kroger's sushi is just as good as some sushi restaurants," admitted one Reddit user, "but TJ's sushi is legitimately terrible."

This is going to sound like the most random wildcard, but one of the Trader Joe's items continuously referenced on Reddit (and not in a good way) is Trader Joe's Mint Gum. How bad can gum be? Well, right out of the gate, Redditors have compared it to chewing on a piece of drywall. Even Trader Joe's employees have chimed in about the gum's appearance, wondering why anyone would spend money on it. None of the flaws shared on Reddit bode well for chewing gum, or any food for that matter. 

Who knew you could mess up a stick of gum so badly that it would have the entire internet against it? Logically, most people are popping a stick of minty gum to freshen up their breath while on the go. No gum is worth feeling like you are chewing on drywall or anything else that is not meant to be ingested. Not only does the Trader Joe's mint gum have a bad rep, but the mints apparently aren't much better.

To track down the Trader Joe's products failing to impress customers, I first conducted a general Reddit search using terms such as "Trader Joe's foods not to buy" to see which specific items were consistently referenced with negative commentary. I also focused on specific Trader Joe's threads to see which items people didn't recommend. Once I had a solid shortlist, I did a deep dive into the selected items to collect more customer reviews validating the negative sentiments I originally found.