Trader Joe's Offers Tons Of Snacks - Here's The One We'd Never Buy Again

Trader Joe's is a snack lover's dream. Whether you prefer sweet and salty bites, Asian-inspired frozen appetizers, or pillowy puffs of flavorful popcorn that are just begging for a movie night, TJ's has you covered. And since we here at Tasting Table take snacking just as seriously, we've taste-tested 50 of the most popular Trader Joe's snacks. While there are plenty of picks we think are worth stocking our pantry with (including the dark chocolate peanut butter cups and spicy tempura seaweed bites), there is one product we definitely won't be buying again: the Trader Joe's Shishito Crisps.

We had high hopes for the little green bag that promised a serving of crunchy fried shishito peppers, but unfortunately, they were underwhelming. Instead of offering any actual crunch, the peppers were light and limp, with a flaky quality that practically had them melting in our mouths. Although some folks may not mind the texture, it just wasn't what we were looking for in a crispy bite, and it certainly wasn't what was advertised.

The flavor is fine, but not ideal for someone who is craving something a bit more robust. Yes, these pepper snacks are simply seasoned with oil and salt, and notoriously, only about one in 10 shishitos supply a spicy kick, but the mild taste, combined with the overall blah-ness of the mouthfeel makes these so-called "crisps" a pass in our book.

Let's just say we're not the only ones who have been left disappointed by the Shishito Crisps. In one thread in r/TraderJoe's, Reddit users express similar dissatisfaction with the texture, comparing it to another TJ's snack: the Crispy Crunchy Okra. "The okra has way more crunch, these are... wispy? fluffy? by comparison," u/voluminous_lexicon writes. Another Redditor adds, "I have to say they're just okay — there's not much to a shishito pepper once it's dried out so you kind of just get the dry shell and then bits of the skin, without anything like...the okra snacks." And while one buyer says that the two have a similar taste, they do point out that the peppers have "less dimension" than the okra chips. Speaking of the flavor, quite a few Redditors have actually referred to the shishitos' taste as being somewhat "grassy." To quote u/vanr0uge, "They were like eating slightly bell-peppery fried strips of grass. They taste like nothing."

For the record, we ranked the Crispy Crunchy Okra chips as number 27 in our Trader Joe's snack list, quite a bit higher than the shishito peppers, which came in last at number 50. Indeed, we found them to be shatteringly crispy, with a crunch akin to Cheetos, and delicious overall. So if you're looking for a veggie-based snack with some actual crunch, take our word for it and choose the okra over the shishitos.