The $2 Trader Joe's Dinner Staple I Stock up on Every Time I Go

When it comes to home cooking, being in the kitchen should be all about having fun, enjoying your time, and embracing an opportunity to get creative and bring delicious food to life. When it comes to grocery shopping for said cooking, there are few more exciting places to go than always-reliable, always-fun, always-entertaining Trader Joe's. The employees are the cheeriest people you'll probably run into all day, the layout of the store is easy to navigate, and you can find a ton of leeway shopping on a budget.

Most importantly, Trader Joe's has mastered the art of intriguing the masses with constant quirky new product rollouts for different seasons and holidays, while bringing faithful shoppers back to routinely stock up on the good old staples they could never imagine leaving without. For years now in my household, one of those staples is Trader Joe's Organic Polenta. Whether you're enjoying a fabulous solo date night at home, preparing some snacks for your kids to dig into, or entertaining a group of the people you love most with a table full of comforting homemade food, this polenta is a versatile ingredient that brings tons of flavor, texture, and possibility to the table.

If you're unfamiliar with this delicious ingredient, it's definitely time we change that! Polenta is essentially ground yellow corn. In its dry form prior to cooking, polenta typically has a coarse texture, although it can be found sometimes in a more finely ground form. Once cooked, polenta is soft and creamy, like a corn porridge. Don't let polenta's simplicity fool you. It's absolutely wonderful, and there's a whole lot to love about TJ's Organic Polenta.

Reasons to Love Trader Joe's Organic Polenta

It's pre-cooked. Step 1: done. Polenta, while a simple dish, does typically require time and focus when cooking from scratch. It needs constant stirring and attention. If you're short on time or not in the mood for a laborious recipe, this polenta is already cooked and ready for its close-up. All you have to do is remove it from the packaging, slice it, and get cooking!

It costs only $1.99 per 18-ounce package. Flexibility while grocery shopping on a budget is never a bad thing. Stock up on a few packages of this polenta and challenge yourself to create a new dish with it once each week. Polenta is inexpensive, healthy, and vegetarian, making it ideal for batch cooking or food prepping ahead of time for the busy week.

It's gluten-free. Polenta is made from corn, making it a gluten-free ingredient that offers all the nurturing, heartiness, and satiety of comfort food dishes that often contain gluten, such as pasta or bread.

This product is shelf-stable and almost always available in-store. In every Trader Joe's location I've ever visited (yes, I pop into different locations when I travel to scope out the TJ scene), there is a shelf full of this polenta. I've only had a hard time finding it once, and it was during the pandemic when the world was up in arms. I love that I can always rely on this product to be accessible as I walk through the aisles of the nearest Trader Joe's. It's a total go-to when I'm brainstorming a weeknight meal and looking for a simple side dish to prepare, or when we're looking to snack on something at home on the weekends.

How to Use Trader Joe's Organic Polenta

When I first fell in love with this Trader Joe's product, it was the versatility that I admired most, which makes it so much fun to cook with! All you have to do is heat, slice, and serve, and how you prepare it is up to you. Polenta can take many forms. This precooked polenta comes in the form of a soft and chewy tube, making it perfect for slicing and grilling, pan or deep frying, baking, roasting, and even microwaving. It's especially ideal for making polenta fries.

These gorgeous golden polenta fries are crispy on the outside and tender and creamy on the inside. You can serve them solo, or with a quick three-ingredient dipping sauce as the perfect appetizer, side dish, or snack. Here's my go-to recipe for whenever I pick up Trader Joe's Organic Polenta (you watch me make it here):

Baked Parmesan Polenta Fries with Creamy Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

Fries:

• 1 (18-ounce) package pre-cooked polenta
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
  

Dipping Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Prepare the fries: Cut polenta in half, and then into 1-inch thick fries. Coat with olive oil, parmesan, salt, and pepper.
3. Cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, flip gently with tongs, and cook 30 more minutes until crisp and golden. Transfer to a plate, garnish with chopped parsley, and serve warm with dip (below).
4. While fries bake, make the dipping sauce: Mix ketchup, mayonnaise, and Worcestershire sauce together in a small bowl. Multiply as needed for additional dipping sauce.
   

Other Recipe Ideas That Call For Precooked Polenta

• Vegan Arepas Made With Polenta
• Cheesy Polenta Casserole
• Baked Polenta Slices with Tomatoes and Yellow Squash
• Italian Summer Squash Polenta Bake
• Air Fryer Shrimp and Polenta
• Grilled Polenta with Strawberries
• Pan-fried Polenta with Corn, Kale, and Goat Cheese
  

The Bottom Line

Trader Joe's Organic Polenta is a budget-friendly, gluten-free, vegetarian, pre-cooked, ready-to-heat option perfect for appetizers, snacks, and side dishes. While this product doesn't have quite the texture that a freshly prepared bowl of creamy polenta may have, it cuts out a lot of the preparation work and has the comforting and hearty corn flavor of freshly cooked polenta. TJ's polenta invites you to have fun in the kitchen, providing a great deal of creative freedom for slicing, heating, and serving up a wide array of delicious polenta-centered dishes.