(Calorie Count Included) Trader Joe's Grocery List + A Week of Meal Ideas!
Comfy, casual grocery shopping outfit c/o Brooks Brothers
If you follow me on Instagram, it’s no secret that I love Trader Joe’s. I also love easy, simple recipes with minimal clean up required because #lazy, so I thought it would be fun to share a week of my favorite simple, semi healthy recipes along with a full grocery list that you can save and take to TJ’s with you if you want to try them out for yourself! This list is for a week of groceries for 2 people, so if you’re shopping for more than 2 just make sure to adjust accordingly.
CONTENT WARNING: Calorie counting
(If you would prefer my Trader Joe’s shopping list + meal ideas without the calorie information head to this blog post!)
Stay here If you would like to see calorie information for each meal idea.
Jerry and I have also been using My Fitness Pal to keep track of calories, so I’ll be sharing the calorie breakdown for all of the meals as well. We typically stick to around 1500/day. I like to be able to fit in snacks and wine some days, so most meals in this post are around 400-600 calories but still super filling.
We always do our grocery shopping on Fridays because I hate grocery shopping on the weekends, and I usually am able to do groceries for two people for a week for around $160-180. I typically make two big meals a day, and then get things like cheese and salami and popcorn as snacks. I’m going to share our week of meals first, and then you can scroll to the bottom to get the full shopping list!
The first picture was my original plan when I got home from the grocery store, but I also ended up adding fire roasted peppers and onions and tzatziki sauce! This lunch was is so good and filling, it has been one of our go-to’s!
Day 1 Dinner
This one was a super quick and easy dinner and I was shocked at how much I liked the mash cauliflower. Will definitely be re-buying! I ended up switching the savory herbed chicken thighs with the pesto genovese chicken breast because it had a sooner expiration date, but either would work! I also added some garlic powder and onion salt into the mashed cauliflower when cooking. I didn’t bother including them in My Fitness Pal because both were listed as 0 calories and I’m lazy.
Day 2 Lunch
I actually picked up this French Onion Mac and Cheese because one of you guys asked me to try it and review it and WOW was it good! I added some sauteed spinach and pancetta for extra protein and nutrients and to just make it *feel* healthier. For me, having meals like this every now and then is the only way I can actually stick to any kind of calorie counting and healthy eating because it keeps me from feeling like I’m depriving myself of the things I want.
Day 2 Dinner
This has been one of my favorite dinners to make lately! When I’m shopping, I always try to get the biggest thing of chicken shawarma thighs I can find because I love using them in pita wraps the next day for lunch. This is also a super easy meal to make because the rice is made in the microwave and the chicken is baked in the oven, so it’s pretty much completely hands off— perfect for a busy weeknight!
Day 3 Lunch
I used the leftover Shawarma chicken and rice from the night before to make a wrap for lunch! I usually only use half the pita because otherwise it just tastes like mostly bread. I spread the hummus and zhoug sauce on the pita and then top with spinach, chicken and feta and OMG it is SO good!
Day 3 Dinner
This is another one of our go-to dinners that we make every week! Sometimes I switch out the pancetta for langostino tails if I’m feeling fancy. It’s quick and easy to make, and you only need to use one pan so the clean up is super easy, too!
Day 4 Lunch
Cheese tortellini is one of those things I almost always have on hand because it’s so versatile. I love it in soup or with pasta sauce, and lately I’ve been loving tossing it in zhoug sauce! It’s so good with spinach, feta and pancetta and is nice because it works warm, or even cold (kinda like a pasta salad) so you can prep it in advance if you know you’re gonna be in a hurry
Day 4 Dinner
I’ve been loving the marinated chickens at Trader Joe’s lately and the pollo asado is a new favorite. The Mexican style roasted corn has been a favorite for years, and they go so well together! The fire roasted peppers and onions are a relatively new find, and I love them because they’re a great way to add extra veggies to so many different meals!
Day 5 Lunch
I used the leftover pollo asado, Mexican style roasted corn and fire roasted bell peppers and onions from the night before, but there wasn’t much chicken leftover so I supplemented with pre-cooked grilled chicken breast (I always have it on hand because it’s great for so many different quick easy lunches). I also added some cowboy caviar on top! So good and took about 5 minutes to put together.
Day 5 Dinner
I think that Jerry would say that this is his favorite meal of the week most weeks! This is another one that we ALWAYS have in the freezer, ready to go. I usually use the frozen cauliflower rice, not the refrigerated one, but they didn’t have any left the last time I went. When heating up the cauliflower rice I usually add a bit of the gyoza dipping sauce and some furikake seasoning to give it some flavor, and you can make the gyoza in a pan or in the air fryer but I prefer them pan fried.
Day 6 Lunch
Literally nothing fancy here, but we love having these Mexicali salads on hand for days where we just want something quick! It has chicken in it too, so it’s a full meal all by itself.
Day 6 Dinner
This would work with pretty much any of the pre-marinated chicken options TJ’s has, but these colorful carrot coins are surprisingly good. I honestly feel like they’re one of the more underrated Trader Joe’s products because I never hear people talk about them, but Jerry and I love them!
Day 7 Lunch
I got too excited and forgot to take a picture before I started eating this one… Whoops! We’re at the end of the week, so this is the point where I literally just throw some spinach, whatever leftover protein, hummus and whatever cheese I happen to have in my fridge (this time it was feta) into a pita wrap. And zhoug sauce if I have any left because it’s literally amazing on everything.
Day 7 Dinner
This cheese filled Fiocchetti pasta is SO FREAKING good. We’ve made it with shrimp, langostino and pancetta but it would also probably be pretty good with sausage. I add spinach to this one too to give myself the illusion that I’m eating healthy ish even though I know it probably isn’t, but honestly it’s so good that it’s worth it. The directions say to add water when cooking the fiocchetti, but I’d recommend skipping that part or it gets a little too watery/soupy.
