15 Sauces You Should Always Buy At Trader Joe's, And 6 You Should Avoid

If you've ever walked into a Trader Joe's and headed for the sauce aisle, chances are good you've had the same reaction I have many times: a combination of analysis paralysis, mild hyperventilation, and the side-eyes emoji. More often than not, I bail out and end up using the same enchilada sauce and balsamic vinaigrette dressings upon which I've been relying for two decades.

So, I decided to change that with a list of Trader Joe's sauces to avoid buying and ones to buy. My family and I rounded up 21 options from the TJ's shelves and sampled them all to give you a firsthand look at which ones are worth their salt (in most cases, literally) and which you can stroll right on by. Here are the sauces you should buy and avoid at Trader Joe's.

On some level, I had a vague understanding that pesto was a sauce that you made with veggies, nuts, olive oil, and cheese. However, I did not know how flexible that recipe was until I tasted the Organic Roasted Red Pepper and Almond Pesto Sauce. It was seriously delicious, simultaneously very different from my normal idea of pesto and recognizable as the classic sauce.

It had a nice taste of onions and pepper, with cream and almond flavor thrown in. It's the first of the Trader Joe's sauces with which, post-taste test, I am making dinner, for what that's worth. At only $3.99, I would also put it out next to crackers and cheese when guests come over.

Not being the most classically trained cook, I was late to the party when it comes to ponzu sauce. This Japanese condiment comes in a wide variety of formulas, but usually includes soy sauce or another salty element along with a citrus flavor, often yuzu, which is unfamiliar to many American palates but delicious.

Among Trader Joe's sauces, it's a real standout. At $3.99 for a decent-sized bottle that will last you a while, it's great to have in the fridge as a dipping sauce (just last night, we dipped our gyoza in it). The citrus element makes it a lovely, less-salty alternative to soy sauce for fried chicken, tempura, the aforementioned potstickers, cooked fish, and even sashimi. Just be careful; it can become overpowering.

Right off the bat, the Sweet Mustard Dill Sauce failed to impress. It was cloyingly sweet and consequently lost the delicate flavor of dill. Even the pungent taste of mustard got somewhat smothered. It does what it promises, which is to combine the three flavors into one sauce that you could use as a dressing or marinade, but I think you'd be better off making salad dressing or marinade at home.

True, it only costs $1.99, but I don't think you'd spend much more using real ingredients. As far as the label's claim that it would be good on a sandwich, we disagree; it's much too concentrated. When all is said and done, this is one of Trader Joe's sauces to avoid buying.

My first thought upon trying this sauce was, "Somebody get me a basket of fries stat, and can I get a side of more fries with that?" Seriously, we all love truffle aioli. Where do you go wrong with fat, salt, eggy butteriness, and the rich, indefinable umami taste of truffles? Even more impressive is the fact that the TJ's Truffle Aioli is vegan, while in no way having that off-putting fake animal product flavor.

For only $3.99, this is one of Trader Joe's sauces that I will probably keep on hand all summer long for barbecues and air fryer French fries. And because it's basically oil and flavorings, you can expect it to last quite a long time in your fridge.

First, let me just say: Most things are good if you dip gyoza in them, because gyoza is one of the gods' gifts to humanity, along with fire, the "Twilight" saga, and chocolate cake. That said, the deliciousness of the Trader Joe's Gyoza Dipping Sauce is not simply a credit to gyoza itself.

At $2.99 for a good-sized condiment bottle, I would definitely recommend keeping this on hand. The flavor had several nonspecifically Asian notes: vinegar, salt, cilantro, chili, and sesame oil, all of which would be good with cooked greens, fried foods, or cooked meat and fish. Whenever my family goes on a solvency kick, we eat a lot of noodles sprinkled with sauces, and this would be good for that.

Not all TJ's sauces are good. True, we told you to avoid the Sweet Mustard Dill Sauce right out of the gate, but you'd kind of started to believe all the sauces were good, hadn't you? So had we, considering we tasted several great sauces in a row. Alas, there are some losers, and the Pineapple Salsa is one of them.

To be fair, this is not on the list of Trader Joe's sauces to avoid buying because it is terrible. It's not. It's actually pretty mid, uninspiring with a bit of heat and a bit of sweet, but no real raison d'être. At only $2.49, it's not a crime to give it a try for your fish tacos ... but with TJ's Salsa Verde around, why would you?

We are a little biased when it comes to Soyaki for several reasons. First, we have been cooking with it for decades. Second, it goes well on many of our favorite basic dishes, at the top of the list of which is baked tofu. Third, there are many versions of this marinade on the market, and TJ's consistently has one of the most affordable yet tasty sauces at $3.99.

In this taste test, it was delicious as always: nice and tangy, sweet and a bit sour, with plenty of sesame seeds. Trader Joe's recipe has remained consistent (unlike some of its products, such as the Mediterranean Style Hummus). This is one of the best Trader Joe's sauces for chicken and tofu, so I recommend it highly.

If you like a sauce that has lots of flavor and a serious kick, then you can't beat Trader Joe's Sriracha. Like ponzu, sriracha comes in many different formulas from many different makers. It's hard to pin down its exact recipe, but it should include chili, garlic, vinegar, sugar, and salt, balanced in a sweet, hot sauce.

Unfortunately, some brands of sriracha are really boring, either because they have too much water or because the makers cheaped out on ingredients, but neither is the case here. It is spicy, but not overpoweringly so, with lots of flavor. It's the perfect complement to anything fried and only costs $3.99, so you should definitely put it on your list of Trader Joe's sauces to get.

The Pepita Salsa was, frankly, not a winner. It was a weird, overly potent, chipotle-forward experience that nobody cares to repeat. Unfortunately, you're going to be repeating it for a while, as we experienced upon tasting it. My husband exclaimed, "The flavor's not leaving!" and he was right; it took a few minutes for it to clear out.

If you want a spicy, chunky enchilada sauce or topping for a wet burrito, this would be okay. It's only $3.49, so it's not any more expensive than the other sauce options, and it includes tomatoes, onions, vinegar, and "spices" along with the chipotle powder, so there might be something in there for you. Still, we list it as one of the top Trader Joe's sauces to avoid buying.

Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Sauce is the answer to sriracha for those who can't handle the heat. You don't get quite as much as with the bottle of sriracha, but it costs $1.69, so it balances out. The combination of ingredients sounds identical to sriracha, minus vinegar, but it has a much sweeter-leaning profile.

This is one of my favorite sauces because it is gentle without being boring. You can use it for a variety of dishes, such as topping burgers or tofu, slathering fried chicken to make sweet and sour chicken, or dipping egg rolls. My family pulls out the Sweet Chili Sauce whenever we get takeout or fry up crispy tofu, so our recommendation: def keep some on hand.

I had never before tasted Trader Joe's Zhoug Sauce, and I found it absolutely delightful. It was very spicy, which didn't surprise me since the label calls it "spicy, spicy." (So don't say you weren't warned.) Costing $3.49 and living in the refrigerated section, I had high hopes for this little container of zhoug, a Middle Eastern cilantro condiment, and it did not disappoint.

This was, hands down, the freshest-tasting of all the Trader Joe's sauces. It was tangy, herby, and bright, with notes of garlic and cardamom rounding out the heavily cilantro-flavored pesto-style paste. Somehow, every flavor manages to come forward on the palate at once, and the effect is amazing. If you can handle the heat, eat this with some flatbread and die happy.

We ranked this among the Trader Joe's sauces to avoid buying, but how you feel about it really says more about you than it does about the sauce, because it's loaded with pepper. The husband compared it to overly spiced hot bar food, where nothing but the pepper comes through. If you like that bitter heat, as many do, then you'll like this a lot, because it's true to its main ingredient and doesn't taste cheap.

However, if you like your black pepper to be more of a side note than a main squeeze, this might not be your best bet. (For comparison, we crack fresh black pepper over our eggs, but we never use it as a rub for meat.) At $3.79, you can definitely afford to find out for yourself.

If you like tomatillos, then you will love Trader Joe's Salsa Verde. It only costs $2.29, but they pack a lot of tangy, veggie goodness into that jar. It tastes sweet, sour, salty, and piquant all at once, and it's a true achievement, especially considering the low price and high level of convenience.

I grew up eating enchiladas that used green sauce rather than red sauce, so it's fair to note that I have positive associations with the flavor of tomatillos, fried carbs, and cheese. That said, I can heartily recommend this sauce poured over enchiladas, topped with cheese, and baked, but I would be just as happy to dip chips into it and eat my face off. You can't go wrong.

Typically, Alfredo is not an underrated pasta sauce. Indeed, we're all pretty clear on the fact that cream, parmesan, and salt make an amazing combo. Yet, how has no one yet introduced me to the idea that Alfredo could be lemon-y? And for only $3.99, too?

This is one of my heartiest recommendations of the lot, tied with the Organic Roasted Red Pepper and Almond Pesto Sauce. It is zesty, creamy, and not too salty. The parmesan flavor comes through and pairs beautifully with the lemon. Plus, the whole milk and whipping cream make it nice and thick, without any of that fake cornstarch thickness that sauces often have. To be clear, there is still cornstarch, but it's not glutinous the way some Trader Joe's sauces are ... looking at you, Cacio E Pepe.

A whole sauce just for bruschetta? We found the idea positively enchanting. Although the bottle was a bit chintzy for its $3.29 price tag, we figured it must be worth it because, well, how is bruschetta ever not worth it?

Alack and alas, we didn't love it. The taste was too vinegary, and the only other flavor was that of plain tomato. We couldn't imagine pairing it with toasty bread or even with crackers and cheese; it risked ruining them. It's almost like Trader Joe's had some extra tomato sauce they tried to dress up as something else so they could sell a small bottle for the price of a big bottle. Also, it tasted like artichokes, but without artichokes on the ingredient list? Truly inexplicable.

Trader Joe's is known for being a one-stop shop. It has a great selection of meats, pizzas and flatbreads, gluten-free desserts, and even Indian food. It's no surprise, then, that it would have such a nice range of tomato sauces. There's nothing more American than tossing pasta sauce on a carb for dinner, and TJ's caters to that nicely.

The Pizza Sauce is a good example. At $1.99, it's affordable and mild. It could use a little bit more flavor, honestly, since it tastes closer to tomato puree than pizza sauce, despite containing garlic and onion powder, black pepper, oregano, and basil. Still, there are so many kinds of store-bought marinara that it can be dizzying to keep track of them all, so this is a good one to choose to make it easy on yourself.

We are cheese lovers, so a Trader Joe's sauce that promises three cheeses right on the label was going to catch our attention. It was $3.49 for a big jar, too, which is also compelling, and it tasted great: The blend of asiago, parmesan, and romano was spot on.

The only downside is that this sauce had a massive number of ingredients, and I feel like you just don't need that many in a sauce. But it tasted great, so what do I know? This would be an excellent sauce for pizza if you don't have or don't want to use plain tomato sauce. And you don't have to stick to Italian, either. It would be good in a tomato gravy, for example, a classic Southern sauce.

Multiple times a month in childhood, my parents fried tortillas, filled them with cheese, topped them with sauce, and baked them in the oven. They were heavenly, and to me, cheese enchiladas are still among the most comforting comfort foods on the planet. This sauce would ruin that memory forever.

It's only fair to acknowledge, of course, that we are a green sauce family, so the fact that this is a red sauce is already a strike against. However, there are plenty of red sauces that I get along with; they just don't have gobs of overpowering chipotle powder in them, and this one does. Although you do get a big jar for $4.49, I don't think it's worth it. Keep your enchiladas safe and avoid buying this sauce.

Given that it is called Genova, which is the Italian name of the city we call Genoa, I was expecting yummy Italian vibes from this pesto. Guess what? Genova Pesto passed with flying colors — the main one of which was a lovely, vibrant green.

Truly, we were impressed with this one. It only costs $3.49, yet it tastes like it was made in Italy. (I was there for, like, 10 days. I can say that and people have to take me seriously, right?) The basil tasted fresh, the parmesan was flavorful and salty, the walnuts were perfectly textured, and the olive oil had a nice, fruity flavor. The list had several more ingredients than that, which seems like more than you'd need, but that's probably an effort to stretch the ones that cost a lot.

Here's some better news if you're upset about TJ's Bruschetta Sauce: The Vodka Sauce costs only 20 cents more at $3.49, for a jar that is twice as big, for a sauce that is approximately ten hundred thousand times better. It has good flavor, good consistency, and enough salt without being overwhelming. We loved it.

Also, while its applications as a pasta sauce are obvious, this would also make a nice base for a soup (which my family will not be happy to hear ... they think I make too much soup as it is). If you're looking to jazz up dinner, this is a good way to go because it's not just a straight tomato sauce. There are also lots of cheese and milk products: Parmesan, heavy cream, and sweet whey.

If you don't yet have enough delicious Trader Joe's sauces of the Italian persuasion on your list, here's one more to add: the Rosatella Pasta Sauce for $3.99. Among the multitude of tomato sauce options, this one was unique because it tastes like a concoction halfway between Mexican and Italian food, almost like pasta sauce with a south-of-the-border spice profile tweak.

It's also super creamy, and for good reason. The ingredients list cream and milk, tomato paste, onions, sugar, cheese, salt, garlic, basil, and oregano. It's a combination we think would be nice with chicken, fish, on pasta, in lasagna, or just by the spoonful. Yes, really. We went back for multiple spoonfuls of this bad boy, and we have no regrets.

Because Trader Joe's has a larger selection of sauces than we could reasonably try, we tried to include a representative sampling. We picked sauces only and did not include Trader Joe's dips, dressings, butters, or spreads. Their selection leans heavily toward the pan-Asian and Southern European, which is why our list is similarly weighted, but we included Middle Eastern and Latin American options where we could.

As for how we decided whether to recommend a "buy" or "avoid" tag, it was pretty simple: Would we purchase them again? We are just one family, but we felt our range of tastes was pretty representative of the broad swath of TJ's shoppers out there, so please take everything we've said with a grain of salt and enjoy!