Weekly Trader Joe’s Grocery List

One of my goals for the year was to really improve my eating habits by cooking at home more. Even though I thought I was generally making healthy choices, I was truthfully eating more meals out than in and falling for my weaknesses, dessert and french fries, more often than I’d like to admit. Cooking at home has been such a gamechanger for my health and I can honestly say I’ve never felt better. There are also so many benefits to making your own meals – from better portion control and knowing exactly what goes into your meals, to saving a ton of money. I’ve gone from cooking exactly zero meals a week to now aiming to cook 80% of my own meals at home (I save a lot of my recipes under my Cooking highlights on Instagram).

The biggest misconception about cooking is that it takes too long.

As someone who sat firmly in that camp for many years, I can admit now that most healthy weeknight meals can be whipped up in 30 minutes or less. If you’re down to spend a couple hours meal prepping over the weekend, you can have a meal ready in even less time. That means NO EXCUSES.

More on easy meals later, but breaking down the barriers to cooking starts with a no-fail grocery list. I like to work backwards and plan my meals in advance (this helps to reduce food waste and eliminate unnecessary snacks making their way into my grocery basket), but if I don’t have time to do that these are the essentials I always pick up. We shop for our grocery list all over, but Trader Joe’s is a staple in our household. For specialty ingredients or meals, we’ll hit up the Farmer’s Market, Whole Foods, and the Korean or Japanese market, but for day to day I love Trader Joe’s. The prices are amazing and all of the portion sizes are perfect if you’re cooking for one or two people.

 Healthy Trader Joe’s Grocery List

Produce

+ Spinach
+ Kale
+ Arugula
+ Broccoli
+ Onions
+ Garlic
+ Sweet potatoes
+ Lemon
+ Lime
+ Peppers
+ Cucumber
+ Spaghetti squash
+ Zucchini
+ Apples
+ Berries

I try to eat a green with every meal, so we usually alternate between some combination of different pre-washed greens in a bag. I love spinach in my smoothies and sautéed (the leaves shrink like crazy, so you can eat a TON of greens in just a few bites). In terms of vegetables, we try to stick with what’s in season and get as much of it as possible from the farmer’s market. When we don’t have time to do so, we’ll get whatever looks freshest at the store.

Protein

+ Salmon
+ Ground Turkey
+ Chicken Thighs
+ Shrimp
+ Eggs

Pantry

+ Quinoa
+ Brown rice/risoni
+ Black beans
+ Tuna
+ Coconut milk

Frozen

+ Blueberries
+ Mango
+ Pineapple
+ Shrimp

Other

+ Almond milk
+ Hummus
+ Kombucha
+ Almond Butter