The $4 “Magic In a Bottle” I Never Skip at Trader Joe’s

I had a revelation recently: The ultimate secret ingredient, the key to the best dishes, isn’t always love (despite what your grandmother might say). It’s sun-dried tomatoes. Blasphemy, I know! But hear me out.

From the moment I mixed some of Trader Joe’s sliced sun-dried tomatoes into my pasta, there was no going back. In one bite — at once sweet, tart, and pleasantly chewy — I was transformed, and this weekly dinner went from a tired college meal to my signature dish. It really does taste like it came from a restaurant.

Nothing fulfills my parallel quests to “treat myself” and grocery shop “like an adult” quite like adding a jar of Trader Joe’s Julienne Sliced Sun-Dried Tomatoes to my cart. Truly, it’s magic in a bottle — like time travel, allowing me to enjoy all the bright flavor of peak summer produce any time. With a twist of a lid and spoonful of olive-oil-soaked tomatoes, you too can elevate the recipe of your choice (pizza, pasta, chicken, salmon, compound butters, and more on that below).  

They’re savory, salty, and a bit sweet. They’re basically tomato candy! There’s something to that … picture Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf, gleefully topping his plate of spaghetti with gummy worms. Sun-dried tomatoes have a similarly delightful — and arguably more palatable — effect.

If you’ve never had sun-dried tomatoes, let me tell you that this julienne-sliced version with olive oil is the way to go. The olive oil preserves them, helping maintain their flavor and color. Whole ones are fine — until you have to chop them and end up with an oily mess on your cutting board. I’ve been buying them for the past two years, and trust me, Trader Joe’s nailed it with this one.

They’d make an epic addition to practically any food you can think of — mixed into a pasta sauce (or as the pasta sauce!), on sandwiches, eggs, and more. My personal favorite thing is to use them as the proverbial cherry on top of a delicious (frozen) pizza. When I’m fresh out of the tomatoes, I use the leftover olive oil brine to make the most delicious roasted vegetables. 

Find it in stores: Trader Joe’s Julienne Sliced Sun-Dried Tomatoes, $4.49 for 8.5 ounces

What Trader Joe’s pantry staple is on your “treat yourself” list? Tell us about it in the comments below.