Trader Joe's Breakfast Foods, Ranked Worst To Best

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The biggest advantage Trader Joe's holds over competing grocery store chains may well be its selection of premade foods. Some of the top Trader Joe's food items with cult followings, for example, include its Mandarin orange chicken, chicken tikka masala, and spinach and artichoke dip, among others. TJ's selection of prepared breakfast foods alone covers virtually all major categories, from savory to sweet. For a homemade breakfast, there are probably better places to shop than Trader Joe's, but for something ready or nearly ready to eat, the breadth and variety of breakfast foods at the grocery chain is practically unrivaled elsewhere.

I visited my local Trader Joe's in the Las Vegas suburbs and picked up several breakfast items. They were chosen to best reflect the wide variety of breakfast foods the chain offers. Based on my thoughts after trying each product, the following is a ranking of 14 Trader Joe's breakfast foods from worst to best.

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First, to determine my selection of Trader Joe's breakfast foods, I scrolled through the food category on TJ's website. Anything explicitly geared toward breakfast made my initial list. Then I narrowed down that selection by covering as many categories as possible — I only featured one kind of waffle, for example. When necessary, I determined which item would represent its category based on what was most straightforward. That meant, say, that even if bubble waffles could be considered a more interesting product, I went with standard toaster waffles instead to get a sense of the baseline Trader Joe's offering.

At home, I tasted just over half of my TJ's breakfast foods in one sitting, and the remaining items in a second sitting the following day. I prepared everything microwavable in the microwave, and anything without microwave instructions in the toaster or oven. My assessments are based solely on this experience and not any thoughts I may have had about the featured items in the past. Trader Joe's was not aware that my purchases were for the sake of a ranking.

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On the shelves of Trader Joe's stores are a fair number of cereals, ranging from familiar flavor bombs like Organic Peanut Butter & Cocoa Crunch to unique, relatively nutritious options like ginger turmeric granola — that particular product topped the Mashed list of 14 popular Trader Joe's cereals ranked. I opted for a box of organic corn flakes, which I thought was a safe choice on the healthier end of the spectrum. As it turned out, the Trader Joe's Corn Flakes weren't even merely average, lacking flavor so thoroughly that eating them only ever felt like a chore.

The best thing about the organic corn flakes was their texture, which was satisfyingly crunchy, even in bites with plenty of milk. That texture, however, couldn't compensate for a pervasive blandness. At the very least, I was hoping for some corn flavor, but that was virtually absent. The most prominent flavor in my bites of these corn flakes, rather, was milk. While this list may not cover every breakfast item available, I have a hard time imagining there are worse breakfast options at Trader Joe's than the aggressively bland organic corn flakes cereal.

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Trader Joe's Chicken Sausage Breakfast Burrito can be found in the refrigerator aisle. It's on the smaller side of the burrito spectrum, more suitable for a quick breakfast rather than a full meal. Whatever convenience the chicken sausage burrito may offer those looking for an easy morning snack is ultimately negligible, however, given its acutely underwhelming flavor and, in my case at least, conspicuously poor construction.

Most prominent in my burrito was the distinct flavor of sage that defines standard American breakfast sausages. Missing was the rich fattiness that usually accompanies it. Instead, I got a combination of gummy tortilla, flavorless cheese, under-seasoned potatoes, and a distinct lack of egg. It turned out all the egg was concentrated in a single patty, such that the burrito's center was dominated by that egg patty — also pretty flavorless, for what it's worth — and the rest of the wrap was eggless. For a couple of reasons, then, my chicken sausage breakfast burrito was pretty unpleasant to eat, landing it near the bottom of this list.

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Dryness is perhaps the quality that most commonly detracts from what might otherwise be quality muffins. My Trader Joe's Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins were not dry, but they were still pretty mediocre. The container specifies that the baked good's base is a "moist sour cream cake." Presumably as a result of that unique formula, my TJ's muffins were exceptionally soft. As much as that quality helped circumvent the dryness that plagues most subpar muffins, it turned out to be a double-edged sword: The bites became mealy before I was done chewing them.

Making matters worse was a lack of cinnamon sugar flavor — it was perceptible but eventually faded underneath a general breadiness. Ideally, a cinnamon coffee cake muffin should be super cinnamony, and these were just subtly so. With a better flavor, their uniquely soft texture might have been a plus, but as is, this Trader Joe's breakfast food left me disappointed.

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First off, do not follow the microwave directions listed on the box of Trader Joe's Fully Cooked Uncured Bacon. I initially heated up a batch of five bacon slices in the microwave for three minutes, despite the box's recommendation of one minute per slice. They came out almost entirely charred black. That's not something I'm holding against the Trader Joe's bacon, but it did leave a bad first impression.

All in all, TJ's uncured bacon did indeed taste like bacon. However, dominating the flavor experience was not fatty pork but an artificial liquid smoke character. Plus, all the slices were unappealing, combining weird shapes with a thickness legitimately comparable to printer paper. For technically tasting like bacon, this breakfast item avoids landing lower on this list, but it really just accomplished the bare minimum. It's only worth buying if home-cooked bacon is truly not an option.

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I made the two Trader Joe's Toaster Waffles I tried in a classic pop-up toaster, figuring if "toaster" is in the product's name, that must be the best preparation method. Texturally, my waffles came out pretty ideal, balancing a perfectly crisp exterior with a soft inside. As advertised, then, the toaster did its job.

What my toaster waffles were missing was flavor. I had a bite or two plain for science's sake, then drenched the rest in maple syrup. With syrup, the waffles were just okay, still lacking enough flavor to be considered perceptibly bland. I thought they might have been better with the addition of a bolder flavor, like fruit jelly, but I didn't have any on hand. The texture was at least worth something, but the fact that I found them pretty mediocre with maple syrup earned them a spot among the lesser Trader Joe's breakfast foods.

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Trader Joe's shoppers can find the simply named Breakfast Bowl in the freezer aisle. As listed on its box, each bowl contains scrambled eggs, potato pieces, pork sausage, uncured bacon, and cheddar cheese. The prominence of meat, dairy, and eggs seems intended to appeal to people's recent love of protein-packed everything.

It's worth mentioning that TJ's Breakfast Bowl is visually unappealing. It's really just cubed food in a bowl, looking maybe just a little too much like pet kibble when it comes out of the microwave. Texturally, too, I found my breakfast bowl a little strange, largely due to potatoes that were too soft to be crispy but too firm to be mushy, plus a slightly rubbery sausage. Its flavor, however, was acceptable. At the forefront was the oily pork character of the uncured bacon pieces, noticeably thicker and tastier than the Trader Joe's Fully Cooked Uncured Bacon slices I tried. The cheese added some additional oiliness, albeit not much flavor. Sage from the sausage underscored the dominant bacon. All in all, I wouldn't get this breakfast item again, but it doesn't commit any heinous crimes — it's a little weird, but mostly satisfactory.

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There are a couple of different, equally valid ways to prepare hash browns. At a diner, hash browns typically come in a chaotic pile of fused-together potato shreds. Trader Joe's instead opts for McDonald's style, containing the potato shreds within a molded shape. Just like at the Golden Arches, Trader Joe's molds its hash browns into a sort of rounded rectangle. Presumably, such a shape is easier to package and sell in stores, and it has little impact on the experience of actually eating them.

Texturally, my Trader Joe's Hashbrowns balanced a crispy exterior with soft potato on the inside. The potato was cooked just slightly below the level of crispiness I would have found ideal, but that wasn't necessarily an issue. In the flavor department, fried potato was bolstered by fatty oiliness. They were basically just standard hash browns. For my last couple of bites, I added a bit of hot sauce, and with that extra bit of flavor, I found they were at their best. This was the first Trader Joe's breakfast food about which I had no significant complaints, hence landing around the middle of this list.

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The prospect of a scone is usually not very exciting. When a muffin or a Danish, say, is bad, it can be dry. But scones are pretty much annoyingly dry as a rule, regardless of their quality. As a common breakfast pastry, I figured the Trader Joe's Glazed Sweet Lemon Scones deserved a spot in this ranking, but my expectations were low. Maybe low expectations were to the baked goods' benefit, because I found them surprisingly delightful.

Most importantly, this breakfast item was probably among some of the least dry scones I've ever tasted. They were indeed a little crumbly — still probably best paired with a coffee or tea — but not distractingly so. Their flavor, meanwhile, was pleasant, delivering amply on the sugary lemon flavor promised by their name. Texturally, the icing atop was thick enough to provide some contrast to the cakey body. For what it's worth, they neared cloyingly sweet, but I'd take that over not sweet enough. While there are better breakfast pastries at Trader Joe's, there are likewise quite a few lesser breakfast foods than the eminently solid Glazed Sweet Lemon Scones.

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Trader Joe's produces a few different kinds of breakfast sausages. The chain's frozen breakfast bowl, for example, features pork sausage, while its Eggwiches are made with a turkey sausage. Chicken and meatless sausage patties are two more options you can find in the breakfast section of TJ's freezer aisle. These frozen sausages are fully cooked and can be prepared in the microwave.

Defining the flavor of my Trader Joe's Chicken Breakfast Sausage Patties was, unsurprisingly, a sage-dominant spice blend. That was the principal flavor I picked up in my other breakfast items made with sausage, and it dominated the plain sausage patties as well. Even made with leaner chicken meat, I found the patties satisfyingly rich and oily. Their only negative quality was a slightly rubbery texture. They were easy enough to bite through, but this consistency did lend the meat an identifiably processed vibe. While I don't think these chicken sausage patties would work on their own, paired with another item or two, they make for a capable breakfast protein.

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Upon my first bite of my Trader Joe's Morning Buns, I realized I didn't quite know what a morning bun was beforehand. I was expecting something like a caramel pecan sticky bun and was surprised by a prominent citrus flavor. I thought the addition of orange was bold, but soon found out that it's simply part of the standard morning bun recipe. Bold choice or not, I found the combination of citrus and pastry bread pretty tasty.

Also worth noting is that Trader Joe's Morning Buns aren't ready to eat out of the box but must be proofed for seven to nine hours before baking. While a bit of a burden, that was ultimately to their advantage. Trying them fresh out of the oven, the experience was much closer to eating a pastry from a bakery than from a grocery store. Each bun combined soft, flaky pastry with a gooey filling, defined not just by orange zest but also by coarse cinnamon sugar. That filling looked a little meager at first, but was actually apportioned amply throughout each bun, even pooling a bit on its underside. While the time it takes to bake them is a little prohibitive for an everyday breakfast, these morning buns are perfect for a special occasion treat.

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Both the Trader Joe's Toaster Waffles and Organic Silver Dollar Pancakes are affordable, sweet breakfast staples that can be prepared in a standard toaster. I found the toaster waffles subpar and was expecting the same from my silver dollar pancakes. I was surprised, then, to find TJ's frozen pancakes almost as satisfying as homemade flapjacks and superior in one particular manner.

What sets this breakfast item apart from the norm is, of course, its size — while not quite as small as a silver dollar, it's still possible to eat a whole pancake in one bite. On their own, I found them lightly sweet and particularly chewy. That chewiness was nice, and while probably the result of extra processing, it was a positive quality not usually found in fresher preparations. With maple syrup, these pancakes were delightful, their natural sweetness doing just enough to complement but not overwhelm the syrup. Offering convenience without really sacrificing quality, the Organic Silver Dollar Pancakes are firmly among the best breakfast foods Trader Joe's offers.

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Upon its announcement in 2021, Trader Joe's fans were excited about a new breadless breakfast sandwich. That product, still on Trader Joe's shelves, is called the Eggwich. It sandwiches turkey sausage and American cheese not between traditional bread buns but two bespoke egg patties.

The egg patties on my Eggwich were just a little weird, firm enough to function as a suitable replacement for bread, but with a bit of sponginess not typically found in cooked eggs. That said, replacing bread with eggs is inherently weird, and they certainly did their job. Meanwhile, the sausage was fine, tasting like sage-spiced meat, but not overwhelmingly so. The ingredient that really helped my Eggwich shine was the American cheese, which became nice and gooey in the microwave, adding some fatty indulgence to an otherwise simple combo of meat and egg. What makes this a standout breakfast in my estimation is that one Eggwich is effectively a self-contained meal, enough for breakfast on its own. Its health-oriented carbless-ness isn't even a detractor, but simply a part of the formula for a high-quality, unique breakfast food.

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I can be picky when it comes to eggs, finding them actively off-putting when they're not prepared to my liking. So, I was shocked to find not just the Eggwich but also the Cheese & Uncured Bacon Egg Bites among the absolute best Trader Joe's breakfast foods. For what it's worth, on a Mashed list of the best and worst store-bought egg bites, the Trader Joe's Cheese, Spinach & Kale Egg Bites earned a recommendation. Apparently, combining eggs with meat and cheese is a TJ's specialty.

Defining everything about my cheese and uncured bacon egg bites was, unsurprisingly, the bacon. Texturally, the bacon's cubed form added a chewy, meaty texture to the otherwise soft egg. Its flavor was exceptionally rich. Some bacon oil even seemed to seep into the egg, such that smoky fat became pervasive, not just limited to the bacon pieces. The cheese, however, was kind of subsumed by the bolder bacon. Nevertheless, that combination of bacon and soft egg was highly effective, splitting the difference between the nourishment of a high-protein snack and the flavor of something exceptionally tasty.

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Like the morning buns, Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants aren't ready to eat out of the box. Instead, these frozen baked goods require nine hours of proofing before they can be baked in the oven. Anyone who's ever enjoyed a chocolate croissant or likes the idea of one should know that the result is well worth their time-consuming preparation. I used to get chocolate croissants with some regularity when I lived in France for a few months — since then I've failed to find something equivalently satisfying stateside. I couldn't believe that it was frozen Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants that got closest.

The pastry on each croissant is light and airy at first, before collapsing into a satisfyingly chewy mass with each bite. Flavor-wise, it's indulgently buttery. The chocolate within, meanwhile, balances milk chocolate richness with an identifiable cacao character that adds surprising depth. Fresh out of the oven, my chocolate croissants were best, of course, but I had one reheated in the microwave the next day, and it was still pretty dang divine. Presented with a buffet of Trader Joe's breakfast foods, I'd go straight for the chocolate croissants every time. Against all odds, I legitimately thought these were some of the best chocolate croissants I've had in my life, outright superior to offerings from fancier restaurants and cafes.