10 Trader Joe's Snack Dupes And How They Compare To Name Brands

What are your go-to snacks? There's certainly no shortage of readily available options out there, from salty Pringles to cheesy Cheetos to chocolatey Oreos, though these name brands are far from the only choices you can find at the store. Frequent Trader Joe's shoppers know that there are quite a few snack dupes to be found at any given TJ's store, and these dupes stretch far beyond copycat Cheetos or Oreos. We're talking Trader Joe's versions of Reese's peanut butter cups, Takis, Fritos, Swedish Fish, even Nutri-Grain cereal bars — all lurking in the aisles, ideally looking to take over those name brand snacks' place in your pantry. 

Of course, just because these Trader Joe's snack dupes exist doesn't inherently mean that they're better than the name brands. That's where my taste test comes into play. I purchased 10 popular Trader Joe's snack dupes along with the 10 corresponding name brand snacks and put them to the test. When comparing the snacks, I sampled both the Trader Joe's and name brand versions at the same time, carefully examining them to see which ones ultimately had the better texture and taste.

Crunchy Cheetos were one of my favorite snacks as a child, and Trader Joe's Baked Cheese Crunchies are one of my favorites as an adult. So, naturally, comparing the two felt like setting myself up for an impossible task, though I was ultimately surprised to realize how similar these two snacks taste. Obviously, all of the snacks on this list are going to taste similar to one another, but the TJ's dupe was about as spot-on as it could get when it came to replicating a Cheeto.

The only difference I could discern is that the Cheetos had a slightly cheesier flavor, almost a flavor that can only be described as Cheetos. The TJ's ones were certainly cheesy, but it was slightly more subdued, and the orange color wasn't as vibrant. Both snacks had the same texture, crunchy but not too crunchy, the type of texture that one would expect from a corn puff snack.

Though I did enjoy both and found them to be incredibly similar in both cheesy flavor and texture, I think the Cheetos have a slight edge. That ultra-cheesy flavor is hard to beat, and though TJ's version is worth getting, you can't beat classic crunchy Cheetos.

Trader Joe's has plenty of chocolatey treats, and one such option, the milk chocolate peanut butter cups, is a Reese's dupe. I should note that Reese's peanut butter cups are one of my favorite types of candy, but that's not to say that I immediately assumed I'd prefer the name brand to the Trader Joe's version. I sampled both peanut butter cups with an open mind, and to just about no one's surprise, they were absolutely delicious. 

Though both types of PB cups were pretty similar, the biggest difference was the peanut butter filling. Reese's cups have a sort of grainy filling that isn't exactly smooth; it's sweet and peanut buttery all the same. The Trader Joe's cups have a filling that tastes more like straight-up creamy peanut butter, and I'd argue that it wasn't as sweet as the Reese's filling. Both treats featured a very similar milk chocolate shell on the outside, so the difference here really came down to the PB filling alone.

As for which treat is best, I have to call this one a draw. It depends on what kind of interior you're looking for. If you enjoy that sort of grainy, super-sweet filling that comes in a Reese's cup, then you'll want to stick with the name brand. If Reese's peanut butter inside has always been the one caveat for you, then you'd likely enjoy the Trader Joe's dupe much more.

For all those snackers out there who have never much cared for popcorn, puff corn has always served as a great alternative. Puff corn, or corn puffs, can come in a variety of flavors, but for whatever reason, white cheddar seems to be the popular one to stick with. And, as such, Trader Joe's came out with its version of white cheddar corn puffs that mimic the Pirate's Booty aged white cheddar rice and corn puffs.

Though the snacks look similar, I found them to have some major textural differences. The Trader Joe's puffs had a certain softness to them, whereas the Pirate's Booty puffs were much crunchier, even teetering into straight-up hard territory. The flavor on both snacks was similar, though I think that the TJ's version had a stronger white cheddar flavor, whereas the Pirate's Booty puffs went a little light on the white cheddar goodness.

Unlike other snacks on this list that were more neck and neck, there was an obvious winner here: Trader Joe's White Cheddar Corn Puffs. Between the softer texture and stronger flavor, there was no competition here, as the TJ's version made for a tastier snack all around.

The Trader Joe's dupes run deep, all the way into the cereal section of the store, too. Enter the "This Strawberry Walks Into a Bar..." cereal bars, the Trader Joe's version of Kellogg's strawberry Nutri-Grain bars. TJ's had other classic Nutri-Grain flavors, like apple and blueberry, available too. Both the Trader Joe's and Nutri-Grain bars have a similar structure, with a soft grain coating on the outside and a jammy strawberry filling on the inside.

I already knew that I enjoyed Nutri-Grain bars going into this, but I'd surprisingly never sampled the Trader Joe's dupes before. The filling tasted very similar in both bars, though the Trader Joe's version had a flavor that reminded me of the center of Newtons fig cookies. The filling in the Nutri-Grain bar was a little more on par with what one may expect from a strawberry cereal bar — jammy, sweet, and very strawberry-forward. The textures of the bars were different, with the Trader Joe's one being cakey, and the Nutri-Grain one being soft and chewy but not at all cakey.

Ultimately, the winner here is the Nutri-Grain bar. I didn't much care for the cakey texture of the TJ's version, nor did I necessarily like that the filling tasted like Newtons. I don't even hate Newtons, but it's not the flavor I was looking for in a strawberry cereal bar.

Corn chips aren't exactly the most popular type of chip out there, but they certainly have a place in this world. There's classic Fritos, the name brand version of corn chips, which come in handy for all things walking tacos and taco salad. Then there's Trader Joe's Organic Corn Chip Dippers, much larger, scoop-like chips that also come in an elote flavor. 

Right off the bat, the size discrepancy between the Fritos and corn chip dippers was pretty apparent. Fritos are thinner and smaller, whereas the Corn Chip Dippers are quite large and thick. I didn't have a preference for either texture and found them both pleasing in their own way. When it comes to something like a walking taco, you really can't beat the crispiness of classic Fritos, but for dipping, the TJ's ones are supreme. Flavor-wise, both were similar, though I found that Fritos teetered more into a neutral corn chip flavor with extra saltiness, whereas the corn chip dippers had a very heavy-handed corn flavor, like a corn tortilla.

The battle between TJ's and Fritos ultimately ends in a draw in my book. They're both tasty snacks, and it depends on how you want to enjoy them. If I were going to eat one on its own, I'd likely opt for the Fritos; with any dip, however, I'd be reaching for the Organic Corn Chip Dippers.

Another day, another cheesy Trader Joe's snack dupe. Since the popular grocery chain offers a dupe for crunchy Cheetos, it only makes sense that it'd maintain that same energy for Cheetos Puffs, the impossibly cheesy, crispy snacks that somehow manage to get stuck in your teeth every time.

Much like with the crunchy Cheetos battle, there was an obvious difference in color between the Cheetos Puffs and the TJ's ones, with the former having a distinct vibrant orangeness that's apparently pretty hard to replicate. With this orangeness also came a distinctly and overwhelmingly cheesy flavor, once again a flavor that only Cheetos can seem to manage. The Trader Joe's puffs tasted cheesy as well, but a more subdued cheesiness for sure. Texture-wise, I found the Cheetos to almost be softer, whereas the TJ's cheese puffs were crunchy and borderline hard.

Though I enjoyed both snacks, Cheetos puffs won this battle. I did like the mellow cheese flavor and the super crunchy texture that the Trader Joe's puffs had to offer, but the slight softness and impossibly cheesy nature of the Cheetos make for such a winning (and unbeatable) snack.

Swedish Fish have seemingly been around forever, though I can't argue that they've ever been my sweet of choice. Sure, I wouldn't pass up a Swedish Fish as a child, but in a vast array of sticky-sweet treats out there, they always seemed sort of plain in comparison. Trader Joe's dupe of Swedish Fish, Scandinavian Swimmers, also manages to inherently one-up the name brand candy in terms of intrigue, simply because a bag of swimmers comes with an assortment of shapes, whereas Swedish Fish all look the same.

As for the flavor of the candies, I found them to be similar, much to my surprise. The Swedish Fish were actually much tastier than I remember from childhood, with a distinct sweetness that was sort of fruity (apparently meant to taste like lingonberry) and just tasty all-around. The Scandinavian Swimmers had a similar sweet-fruitiness to them, so when it comes to flavor, I'd argue that both candies are neck-in-neck. The candies were a little different when it came to texture, with the Swedish Fish having an impossibly sticky texture that immediately clung to my teeth, and the Scandinavian Swimmers were more akin to fruit snacks. 

So, which fish-themed treat is the winner? Ultimately, I have to give it to the Scandinavian Swimmers, as the delightfully sweet flavor and perfectly chewy-but-not-too-chewy texture is a combo that's hard to beat. I enjoyed the flavor of the Swedish Fish, but the stickiness was a bit too much.

Perhaps one of Trader Joe's most iconic snack dupes is that of Oreos, aka the chocolate vanilla creme sandwich cookies known as Joe-Joe's. Though these aren't TJ's only iteration of Joe-Joe's, this flavor closely replicates milk's favorite cookie, the humble Oreo, with its chocolate cookies and vanilla creme center.

Something I've always appreciated about Oreos is that they manage to be hard and crunchy yet somewhat soft at the same time. As in, once you take that initial bite and get past the crunch, the cookie softens and becomes more pleasant to chew. The Joe-Joe's have a similar texture, but they were less crunchy all-around, making them a slightly softer iteration of an Oreo. Flavor-wise, both cookies were similar, though I think the chocolate flavor of the Oreo shone more. Also, Oreos have essentially mastered that vanilla creme, not only in terms of flavor but also in terms of creme-to-cookie ratio, something that I thought the Joe-Joe's were lacking in.

So, as expected, Oreos are superior to the Trader Joe's cookie dupe. It's such a tried-and-true formula that works for a reason, and though the Joe-Joe's were super similar, they lacked a certain oomph compared to the Oreos.

The Trader Joe's Chili and Lime Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips are a very obvious take on Takis. Both snacks have an incredibly similar appearance, little rolls of tortilla with a red dusting, and though Takis have quite a few flavors on the market, the Fuego flavor is very close to the TJ's version.

Both snacks had pretty much the same texture — the same level of hardness, crunchiness, and even layers, since each individual chip of both snacks has the same rolled-up nature. So, based on texture alone, both snacks are comparable, though maybe the TJ's version was ever so slightly crunchier. Flavor is where the snacks differ. I've enjoyed Takis in the past, but the coating on these ones was something else, super thick and impossibly potent with chili lime flavor. The Trader Joe's rolled corn tortilla chips had a much more subdued flavor. They had a chili lime taste, but they didn't have a coating so strong that it overwhelms all senses the second you put a chip into your mouth.

Unsurprisingly, in my book, the Trader Joe's dupe of Takis wins over actual Takis. I can understand that there are plenty of people out there who might prefer that almost radioactive coating on the Takis, but I much preferred the more subdued chili and lime coating on the TJ's chips.

Rounding out our list of Trader Joe's snack dupes are the Sea Salted Saddle Potato Crisps, an obvious take on Pringles, both in terms of the chips themselves and the packaging. Now, Pringles has a whole lineup of flavors out there, whereas the Trader Joe's version comes in the plain, salted flavor. So, for the sake of comparison, I taste-tested the TJ's saddle potato crisps alongside good old original Pringles.

Both the Trader Joe's potato crisps and the Pringles looked incredibly similar, though texturally they were a bit different. The TJ's chips were a little harder than the Pringles, and they were also a bit thicker all around. The Pringles, meanwhile, were slightly larger but thinner, and they had a delightful crispiness that apparently is pretty hard to replicate. The flavor of both chips was super similar, both salty and potato-forward, so I didn't have a preference for either in terms of how they tasted, since they both tasted perfectly delicious.

Ultimately, the winner here is Pringles, if only for that crispy texture alone. The Trader Joe's potato crisps were a bit too thick, whereas the Pringles were so delightfully thin and crispy that the texture alone makes them the superior crisp.