I'm a professional chef: 11 Trader Joe's staples I always buy

As a professional chef and product and recipe developer who cooks almost all my meals, grocery shopping is a central part of my routine. I've shopped at Trader Joe's for 15 years and find it offers interesting products at affordable prices. I look for items that make it easier to eat healthy at home and flavor-bomb shortcuts; these are the 11 products I always add to my cart.

Time-savers and pantry basics I rely on include Dorot Gardens crushed ginger and crushed garlic cubes, which I pop frozen into a pan to melt and build a base for sauces, soups, curries, and pastas; the trays are reusable for freezing pesto or lemon juice. Trader Joe's frozen turkey burgers cook in under 10 minutes, are seasoned and juicy, and run about $4 for four burgers at my local store.

trader joe's, dorot gardens, crushed garlic, crushed ginger, turkey burgers, frozen food, pesto, lemon juice, pantry basics, recipe developer