Trader Joe's Must-have Seasonings

Trader Joe's has a vast selection of spices and seasonings, so much so that it can be overwhelming. These are my must-haves.

I have bought my fair share of TJ's seasonings and I will give you a list of my favorites.

This is a line up of some of my favorite Trader Joe's seasonings

Trader Joe's 21 Salute Seasoning

This is a fairly new one. The great thing about this seasoning is that it has no salt which makes it great for people who are watching their sodium intake.

21 salute Trader Joe's seasoning — 21 salute seasoning is a blend of 21 spices

How to use TJ's 21 salute seasoning

This seasoning is a great addition to vinagrettes, fresh veggies, fish and poultry. The blend features 21 spices including onion, black pepper, celery seeds, cayenne, basil, parsley, marjoram, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, rosemary, cumin, mustard, coriander, garlic, carrot, orange peel, tomato granules and lemon juice.

Everything But the Elote

This one is an all-time-favorite. It is a great addition to corn on or off the cob and also great to add a cheese flavor to dishes like mashed cauliflower or pop corn.

How to use Everything but the Elote Seasoning

I have 2 recipes that I love to use this seasoning for. My creamy Elote Cauliflower and the Instant Pot Creamy Roasted Mexican Corn.

Everything but the Elote seasoning with creamy cauliflower — This is a great way to add a cheesy flavor to cauliflower

Chile Lime Seasoning

This blend features sea salt, Chile pepper, red bell pepper and lime juice. It is pretty similar to the Mexican band Tajin which is a great addition to tropical fruit such as mango, pineapple and jicama.

How to use TJ's Chile Lime

This seasoning is great on summer fruits like watermelon, perfect hint of fresh and heat. I like to add it to cucumber slices with fresh squeezed lime juice.

Also great topping for avocado toast if you like to add a bit of heat.

TJ's Onion Salt

Don't let the simplicity of this seasoning fool you. I could say that this one is the seasoning I use in my kitchen daily.

It's a blend of dried onion and salt but includes regular onion and scallions which I think elevates these seasoning to the next level and makes it better than any other onion seasoning I used before.

How to use TJ's onion salt

I'm sure you already have some ideas but let me tell you that this seasoning makes the best chicken and steak. I use it all the time in my carne asada.

Carne asada on a board — Carne asada (skirt steak) from Trader Joe's

If you want to make an herb butter, this is your secret ingredient. A few years back Trader Joe's had an amazing compound butter that they no longer carry.

This seasoning with a minced garlic clove, allows you to replicate the discontinued compound butter.

TJ's Umami Seasoning

I got this one because a friend recommended it, but in all honesty I did not know what to do with it.

Until Thanksgiving when I was making my Green Bean Casserole from scratch and OMG! Add this seasoning to your roux when making the sauce and it will give it deep mushroom flavor without having to use any fresh mushroom.

Umami is considered the 5th flavor and it is a deep kind of salty layer of flavor. These days I add a bit of this seasoning to soups and cream sauces that call for mushrooms.

How to use TJ's Umami Seasoning

I love to add to any cream sauce that calls for mushrooms. My favorite is to add it to green bean casserole roux and to soups.

Citrusy Garlic

Inspired by the flavors of Cuba, this seasoning features garlicky, lime notes like those of the traditional Cuban mojo marinade.

Citrusy Garlic Seasoning Blend includes garlic, lime oil, lime juice, onion powder, salt, and red pepper-plus bay leaves, coriander, cumin, cilantro, black pepper, oregano, cilantro, basil, lemon oil, marjoram, and parsley. All the flavors of Cuban cuisine in a bottle.

How to use TJ's Citrusy Garlic

This seasoning is great on meat, particularly in chicken, pork and fish. The addition of citrus is a great way to tenderize meat and garlic and lime are a dynamic due when it comes to flavor.

It is also great on veggies. I used this seasoning on my air fryer Brussel sprouts and loved how they turned out.

Citrusy Garlic seasoning by Trader Joe's with Air fryer Brussels sprouts — Cuban inspired flavors work well with meat and veggies

Everything but the bagel seasoning

This one needs no intro. It went viral a few years ago and it is now a staple in many households. There is no avocado toast without this seasoning.

This is a blend of sea salt, sesame seeds and onion. It adds a very distinct flavor to foods and it is great on toast, eggs, dips etc.

How to use TJ's EBTB

I like to get creative with this seasoning and add it to dips. I made this delicious smoked salmon dip with this seasoning and it was a hit.

Chili Seasoning

This one is one I tried just recently and it took a bland chili to the next level. It has the perfect amounts of spices that give chili it's characteristic flavor.

Chili uses a lot of spices and sometimes one of them can be overpowering the others. This blend takes the guesswork out of the equation.

Chili seasoning blend — This seasoning takes the guesswork out of making chili

How to use TJ's Chili seasoning

This one I have only used in chili con carne (beef chili). I did add extra spices at the beginning but as I said before, adding this blend saved my dish.