The 5 Trader Joe's Items I Throw Together For The Best Trail Mix

Trader Joe's is truly a treat lover's paradise. The tiki-themed grocery store has pretty much anything your peckish heart might desire. But have you ever tried to bring a more DIY spirit to your Trader Joe's visit? If not, you really should. And there is perhaps no better place to start than trail mix. For those unfamiliar with the travel-friendly concoction, trail mix is essentially a combination of various non-perishable snack foods (a particular strong point of Trader Joe's locations), such as dehydrated fruits, nuts, granola, pretzels, and candy. These mixes are dry and easy to carry in a bag, great for grabbing on the go and boosting one's energy during time spent, you guessed it, on the trail. 

Luckily, all the components of a munchable mix can be found at Trader Joe's. So, to get those creative, snack-assembling juices flowing, we've gathered five items from the cult-favorite grocer that are filling, tasty, and come together to create a cohesive snack. For this combo, I went with my go-to, tropical-inspired TJ's mix. Every piece brings something new, be it a punch of chocolatey flavor, a little bit of spice, or satisfying, crunchy grains. Each item is a great snack all on its own — a must for any good trail mix — while elevating the other ingredients — perfect for packing on your next excursion (wherever that may be).

While nuts aren't necessarily essential (there are plenty of nut allergy-friendly mixes that avoid nuts), they are rich in hunger-reducing protein, fiber, and healthy fats, making them ideal for a hike-worthy trail mix. My first choice is TJ's Honey Roasted Macadamia Nuts and Cashews. The macadamia nuts have a nice sweetness and dynamic richness, and the cashews are mellow and salty.

Of course, cashews and macadamias both hail from tropical regions and so pair well with dried fruits from those areas (plus other sweets like white chocolate chips). However, you may not want to add too much of this nut mix, as it's fairly decadent (not to mention pricier than plain nuts) and so might be better used as a flourish rather than the foundation of your DIY snack.

Because it's a dried product, Trader Joe's Chile Spiced Pineapple naturally makes a great addition to a trail mix. Bonus: Drying concentrates the pineapple's sweetness. Plus, the chiles lend a wonderfully unique kick of spice to this on-the-go snack. The spiky fruit's sugars and other nutrients make it a good source of natural energy, perfect for anyone hiking a trail or just packing a beachside snack.

These dried fruit snacks are sold in rings, so you'll want to cut them into quarters at least before mixing them with the rest of your ingredients. If you're spice-averse, TJ's dried apricots or freeze-dried cherries would make a suitably fruity replacement that pairs well with both macadamia nuts and cashews.

Trader Joe's has a great collection of granola to fit just about any taste, and my favorite option for this particular mix is its Peanut Butter Protein Granola. Not only will these rolled oat clusters and peanuts give your mix a boost of protein (it has 11 grams of protein per serving), but it also has a great salty-sweet flavor of peanut butter.

The peanut butter flavor is versatile enough to work with mango, pineapple, and the nuts included in your mix. Most importantly, this granola makes your trail mix super-satisfyingly crunchy. For a slightly different direction, a cereal such as Honey O's will offer a similar crunchy sweetness that works well with the other components.

Let's keep the dehydrated fruit train running with Just Mango Slices. I find this bright and zingy snack is great as a complement to the spiced pineapple in this trail mix. It adds more tropical sweetness without the peppery spice.

Since these are whole dried mango slices, you'll want to chop them up into smaller pieces so they blend better with everything else. And if you don't want to forgo the heat, you can use Trader Joe's Dried Chile Spiced Mango slices instead.

Trader Joe's Premium Milk and Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds are a fantastic addition to any trail mix, but they're especially important to this tropical fruit-rich blend. The milky-sweet and bittersweet chocolate coatings are a great counterpoint to both the tart sweetness of the dried fruits and the richness of the other nuts.

The almonds in this trail mix are high in protein and healthy fats, adding to the snack's satiety. Now, if you're not a fan of dark or milk chocolate, you can substitute Trader Joe's White Chocolate Baking Chips and bagged almonds, which will give the whole mix a mellower vibe.