Trader Joe's Customers Agree, These Items Are Way Overpriced

Doesn't it feel like Trader Joe's should be more expensive than it is? The shelves are stocked full of items you can't find in other major grocery chains, and the artsy chalkboards don't exactly signal frugality. Despite this, Trader Joe's is a pretty affordable grocery store. There are even times when Trader Joe's beats Aldi's prices. Still, the tiki-themed chain is not a discount supermarket, and can't beat every allegation of being overpriced. There are definitely items that you're better off buying elsewhere. Of course, true bargain shoppers know the value of understanding what items to skip at which grocery store. 

We wanted to learn what prices Trader Joe's shoppers were taking umbrage with, so we scoured the internet looking for items to avoid. Again, shopping at Trader Joe's isn't a money-burning indulgence — the chain didn't even make Daily Meal's most overpriced grocery chains in America list. But if you're looking to save money on your grocery bill, pick these items up elsewhere.

Trader Joe's has famously cheap individual bananas, but that doesn't mean all produce is a slam dunk of a bargain. Search online forums, and you'll find TJ's shoppers complaining about produce being overpriced and spoiling quickly. If warning people away from all produce feels like a bit of a blanket statement, well, it's because we found complaints about lots of different kinds of produce. One customer on Reddit specifically called out citrus — with the exception of lemons and limes — as dry and flavorless. Another mentioned cucumbers being too expensive, with someone else adding that the cucumbers at their local TJ's are tiny.

Produce, of course, is finicky. Different fruits and vegetables can vary widely in look and taste, depending on seasonality and regionality. A few people complaining on the internet is an admittedly small sample size. However, on a Reddit thread, someone claiming to be an employee even chimed in, saying that employees avoid produce at TJ's. If the workers minding the day-to-day operations of the store are saying to avoid produce? That's a pretty significant red flag.

Deli meat is one of those things where you don't want to pay too much money, but you do want a good, quality product. Nothing ruins a sandwich faster than subpar deli meat. Then again, you don't want a roast beef hoagie you threw together in five minutes running you the same price as, say, a cheesesteak from Jersey Mike's. So how are deli meat prices at Trader Joe's? Well, a TJ's shopper on Reddit claimed to get deli meat for far cheaper at other markets. When we compared prices, organic hickory smoked turkey breast was $5.99 for 6 ounces at Trader Joe's, compared to $3.19 for 8 ounces of non-organic at Aldi and $4.99 for 9 ounces of non-organic at Jewel-Osco.

These aren't perfect price comparisons, since neither the Aldi nor the Jewel-Osco that we checked offers an organic version of the lunch meat, and TJ's doesn't offer a non-organic version. Still, that in and of itself says something about the financial calculations you make when buying deli meat. Unless you really want to buy organic, it seems more frugal to skip that section at Trader Joe's.

The two biggest selling points for instant ramen are its ease of preparation and how cheap it is — and even how filling it might be. The latter factor simply isn't there at the tiki-themed chain. Trader Joe's miso ramen costs $1.89 for 1.5 ounces, whereas brands like Maruchan and Nissin sell cup noodles in 3-ounce containers for lower prices. Now, lots of people enjoy instant ramen, but anyone being asked to pay that much for noodles has reason to raise an eyebrow. Maybe it's a bit of a cliché to call instant ramen the go-to food for people on a budget, but clichés become clichés because there are (at least) trace amounts of truth. Shelling out nearly double the cash for half the noodles is silly.

Speaking of trace amounts of things, let's talk about the flavor and taste of these noodles. Food vlogger Emmymade called TJ's instant ramen doughy, starchy, and a far cry from actual ramen noodles. Commenters on Reddit have also complained about noodle texture, with one even saying that Trader Joe's simply can't get ramen right. Now, we are talking about a highly customizable food. The right ingredients can seriously upgrade instant ramen. Even if you're making the most tricked-out, elaborate bowl of soup a home cook can imagine, though, why compromise on the quality of your base ingredient? Leave Trader Joe's instant ramen on the shelf, and grab yourself a case of Maruchan somewhere.

Unless you're vegetarian, meat is probably going to be the centerpiece of your dinner. So you want to know you're getting quality meat from your local supermarket. Reddit is full of people with various opinions on Trader Joe's meat. Enough of those opinions are negative that it gives us pause. To be fair, TJ's meat negativity doesn't seem to be a universally held opinion. One thread saw people calling out steaks as tough, ground beef for looking odd, and chicken for being stringy. Then again, plenty of other commenters were responding with defenses of things like pork chops, pre-marinated chicken thighs, and steaks. What to do? Well, if you simply must buy meat of any kind from Trader Joe's, just be sure to inspect thoroughly.

A bigger, more quantifiable reason to avoid meat at TJ's is the price point. One poster said that meat at their local TJ's was two or three times the cost at Sam's Club. Another poster replied saying that meat prices were actually cheaper at their local Whole Foods. Taking boneless, skinless chicken breasts as a random example: $7.49 per pound at TJ's compared to $4.99 per pound at Aldi (both organic), is no contest. With more and more foods falling victim to inflation, why subject yourself to high prices on purpose?

First things first: There is a more limited selection of milk at Trader Joe's than at most other places. If you're not interested in organic milk from grass-fed cows? The tiki-themed chain might not be for you. Being organic somehow doesn't seem to improve the taste of Trader Joe's store brand milk, either. One Reddit poster complained that the taste of TJ's organic 2% milk reminded them of chlorine, and another commenter chimed in to compare the stuff to plastic. Not ideal flavors to find at the bottom of a cereal bowl.

Beyond having only organic milk, a half gallon at Trader Joe's goes for $6.49. A half gallon of organic milk at Aldi is $4.29, and $5.49 at Jewel-Osco. Those are pretty significant price differences to factor in, on top of people's complaints about quality. 

To make matters worse, some on Reddit have complained about milk from Trader Joe's spoiling too quickly. If a bottle of milk tastes bad, costs more, and doesn't last? That's a hat trick of negative dairy attributes. Skip the milk at Trader Joe's.

Whether you're filling smoothies or topping ice cream with it, a bag of frozen fruit is great to have around. No matter the time of year, you've got a cache of peak-of-freshness fruit in your kitchen. That's something that would have been impossible for most of human history, and it's accessible at your local supermarket. Still, how much is too much to spend on the luxury of fresh fruit? In a Reddit thread dedicated to bargain-unfriendly foods at Trader Joe's, one commenter singled out frozen fruit. Another called the bags "teeny tiny." So we compared Trader Joe's to other stores. At the time we checked, a 16-ounce bag of tropical fruit blend at Trader Joe's was $3.99, or 25 cents per ounce. A similarly blended bag of frozen fruit at Aldi was $8.69 for 48 ounces, or 18 cents per ounce. Both price and quantity are not in Trader Joe's favor, here.

In addition to being pricier, Trader Joe's selection was considerably less robust than other stores. If you're trying to add some healthy smoothie recipes to your diet, shop somewhere that allows you to get some variety. When it comes to frozen foods, stick to Trader Joe's premade meals, and skip the frozen fruit.