15 Trader Joe's Frozen Meals You Can Prepare In 5 Minutes

We all love the idea of leisurely hours in the kitchen, making culinary dreams come true with sizzling stovetops, from-scratch ingredients, and aromatic spices wafting through the air. Those moments definitely deserve space in your head and heart — but not always in your busy schedule. That's when Trader Joe's trots to the rescue, providing the next-best stand-ins for tasty meals with almost-home-cooked appeal. The brilliant part is that they come straight from TJ's freezers to yours, ready to pull out when needed. 

Hundreds of frozen packaged goodies rotate in and out of the Trader Joe's repertoire, but we're focusing here on ones that actually provide a fully cooked meal in less than five minutes. Many of them make the magic happen via your microwave, but some involve a hot skillet if preferred. Here's a quick look at 15 of these five-minute miracle meals for dinner, lunch, or breakfast. Meanwhile, if you'd like some ideas for relaxing kitchen days with extra time on hand, feel free to explore our list of Trader Joe's frozen foods that make meal prepping a breeze or our Tasting Table ranked list of 18 frozen vegetarian meals. 

An Indian food classic, this Trader Joe's take on Chicken Tikka Masala gets the creamy, tomato-y sauce just right, parading earthy, aromatic curry flavors straight to your plate in five minutes. The microwavable tray cradles a layer of cumin-infused basmati rice and generous portions of tandoor-baked, white-meat chicken bathed in warmly spiced sauce. This has long been my go-to after a long day, accompanied by TJs Garlic Indian Style Flatbread. 

This Trader Joe's Teriyaki Chicken Bowl tastes just like you popped into a yaki shop on your way home. It's a full meal with dark-meat chicken, fluffy cooked rice, steamed broccoli, carrots, and bok choy. The best part, in my opinion, is the super-craveable, sweet-and-savory, soy-based teriyaki sauce with toasted sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and lime juice, balanced by a tinge of sugar. The single-serve bowl is microwave-ready in about four minutes.

This twosome of Trader Joe's Cheese and Green Chile Tamales makes a satisfying meal for one or two people, with no steaming required. Flavored corn masa holds a mixture of mozzarella cheese, red-chile puree, and spicy green chiles, all wrapped in corn husks and ready for a three- to four-minute spin in your microwave. It gently warms into a creamy, mildly spicy meal that pairs well with salsa and sour cream. 

This noodle stir-fry entrée gets inspiration from Korean foodways, with a Trader Joe's interpretation. It's the Japchae Korean Glass Noodles & Vegetable Stir Fry dish featuring mixed vegetables and glass noodles made from sweet potatoes, with a light toss of soy-sauce seasoning. The eerily translucent noodles heat up chewy rather than soft, coated with a sesame oil/brown sugar sauce. Choose under-five-minute warming by stovetop or microwave. 

When craving a seriously no-fuss meal, this Szechuan-style Spicy Peanutty Noodle Bowl with Chicken features wheat noodles, ground chicken, chopped vegetables, and a creamy peanut sauce. It's nutty, soy-sesame savory, and spiced with ginger, Sczechuan peppers, and crushed chili peppers — all simultaneously exploding in your mouth. Bok choy, onions, and carrots add crunchy texture to this one-bowl wonder, which is ready to fork in minutes.

Sometimes you just need a big-ole burrito oozing with warm, pepper-infused sauce and belly-filling protein. When that happens, cut to the chase really quickly with a two-pack of TJ's Chicken Chile Verde Burritos. Flour tortillas wrap around white- and dark-meat chicken and chile sauce made from crushed tomatillos, Anaheim peppers, green chiles, and tongue-tingling jalapeños. In a miraculous 2.5 minutes, they're soft, steamy, saucy, and sitting on your plate. 

Trader Joe's chicken pot pies have always made for happy family meals, so it's no surprise the TJs wizard-team introduced these cute little Handheld Chicken Pot Pie versions. Described as empanada-like pastry pockets, they're ideal for meals on the go, especially since they're hot-to-trot in just 1.5 minutes when choosing the microwave method. The thick, creamy filling helps keep veggies and dark-meat chicken tender and snug inside the crispy crust.  

Quiche is a commonly misunderstood breakfast/brunch item, somewhat intimidating for its high-end reputation. Fear not, there's no need to make this Broccoli & Cheddar Cheese Quiche yourself. A rich, flakey crust with fancy fluted edges cradles an airy mix of cooked eggs, broccoli bits, and mild and sharp cheddar cheeses, punched up by garlic, onions, and various seasonings. You'll be tucking in after just three minutes. 

Trader Joe's reaches deep inside Chinese history when conjuring these traditional Chicken Shu Mai dumplings, widely considered a creation of the Yung Dynasty. You may have noticed them on dim sum menus, but TJs has its own take with a chicken- and ginger-centric filling wrapped inside an open-top wheat-flour dumpling cup, and a side of tangy soy sauce. Microwave for one to two minutes, or steam gently in six to seven minutes. 

Here we are with another frozen Asian-inspired food from Trader Joe's, this time the Korean-style Bulgogi Beef Fried Rice with Kimchi. This one-serving entrée combines rice and bulgogi-style seasoned beef, with kimchi in the mix in for tangy, savory depth. After quickly heating in a hot skillet or microwave, the dish takes on a typical fried-rice persona, punctuated by the fermented kimchi and soy-garlic-sesame seasoning.

Breakfast is often a rush-rush endeavor, making this savory Eggwich Breadless Breakfast Sandwich a culinary gold mine. There's no bun involved, just thick scrambled egg patties on top and bottom, holding in place the melted American cheese and turkey sausage. After microwaving, the egg layers stay soft and slightly fluffy, and the entire sandwich goes from frozen to chosen in less than two minutes. It also harbors an impressive 16 grams of protein.

This Trader Joe's Cuban Style Citrus Garlic Bowl with chicken embraces rich Latin-style island culture. Just microwave on high for four to five minutes and savor the delicacy of turmeric-yellow rice with kaleidoscope of surprises in every bite: Sweet plantains, black beans, diced peppers, onions, cilantro, and a citrusy mojo criollo sauce. TJ's recommends eating it as a bowl-style meal or stuffing into taco shells with salsa and jalapeños. 

Heading into super-flavorful Tex Mex territory, the Trader Joe's Beef & Queso Bowl packs your palate with seasoned Spanish-style jasmine rice, creamy queso sauce, and a ground beef combo of mild and hot chili peppers and piquant spices. Eat straight from the bowl in four to five minutes, or spoon onto flat blackened tortillas. Customize with fresh diced tomatoes, avocados, pico de gallo, cilantro, or anything that strikes your fancy.  

Here's one for the vegan and gluten-free eaters in your life: the Trader Joe's Riced Cauliflower Bowl. There's no meat involved but plenty of hearty tummy-fillers, including riced cauliflower, tofu, chickpeas, and sweet potatoes. Seasonings galore parade across your lips, from red chili paste to tahini and tamari soy sauces, plus oregano, cumin, chili and garlic powders, and more. Microwave for a total of five minutes, adding stir-ins as desired.

Last on this list, but certainly not last in my home freezer, is the everyday, go-to Trader Joe's Vegetable Fried Rice. It's perfectly tasty as-is, teaming with corn, carrots, green peas, bell peppers, leeks, and edamame. But it's also a versatile shape-shifting platform for adding proteins, eggs, fresh tomatoes, chili paste, or whatever's lurking in your mind or pantry. Quickest to table is microwaving, but a five-minute hot skillet delivers restaurant-quality texture.