- 1 year ago
Think you can’t make a satisfying dinner with just five ingredients? Think again. Nicole is back in the kitchen with six complete dinners using only Trader Joe’s staples and shortcuts — each dish with five ingredients or less. She kicks things off with the viral Trader Joe’s lobster bisque pasta, a creamy, crowd-pleasing dish that comes together in minutes. Then it’s onto a one-pan stir-fry starring frozen wontons — a shortcut you’ll want on repeat. She follows that with a cheesy, dump-and-go enchilada bake, then transforms your favorite party dip into a comforting spinach artichoke chicken pasta. Nicole also builds hearty, Asian-style rice bowls that are endlessly customizable and weeknight-friendly. And to finish strong, the easiest crispy fish tacos you'll ever make in the air-fryer. Whether you're cooking for one or feeding the whole family, these Trader Joe’s dinner hacks are perfect for busy nights, beginner cooks, or anyone who loves smart shortcuts and bold flavor — with minimal effort.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Inside these bags, I've got groceries
00:02to make six complete dinners
00:04using those famous Trader Joe's shortcuts.
00:07Each one of these six dinners has five ingredients or less.
00:11For some of the recipes that only have four ingredients,
00:14I justified a fifth.
00:15When you go in with a game plan,
00:17it's easy to kind of stick to your list
00:19and you really save money that way.
00:20I'm starting with the ever so viral
00:23Trader Joe's lobster pasta.
00:26This thing has gone crazy
00:28because it's just a smart dinner.
00:30Five ingredients here are the pasta.
00:33This pasta's a 99 cents.
00:35The magic ingredient, the lobster bisque.
00:38Some Parmesan cheese, some tomatoes,
00:41and then they have frozen langoustine lobster tails.
00:46Lobster, it's not real lobster.
00:48They are always out of the langoustine tails.
00:51So a good substitute are these Argentinian shrimp.
00:55They're a shrimp, not a lobster,
00:56but they kind of have that kind of sweet
00:58homo-suttery kind of lobster texture.
01:00And per usual, whenever we do these pantry staples,
01:03do not count.
01:04Let's go.
01:05This is also a one pan meal
01:06that comes together in no time.
01:08I'm only using half a pound of pasta,
01:10so it's really 50 cents worth.
01:11Get the pasta going.
01:13The sauce starts with just a little bit
01:15of onion and garlic.
01:16Just slightly.
01:17I don't think it's going to bleed.
01:19It's very shallow.
01:20I can hide it for a minute.
01:21I think it'll stop in a second.
01:22I'm doing that.
01:23I don't know.
01:24I don't want it to show.
01:25It's not even open.
01:26It's just like super...
01:27This is the tiny one you like that.
01:28Yeah, I'll do the tiny.
01:29Chefs, they're just like us.
01:30When the onion is softened, then in goes tomatoes,
01:34whatever tomatoes you want.
01:35Then I'm gonna cook these down until they're soft
01:37and they kind of burst.
01:39And they're gonna help make the sauce.
01:41This will cook for about five minutes.
01:42Because these shrimp are a little bit
01:44of a orange juice.
01:45You're gonna cook these down until they're soft
01:47and they kind of burst.
01:49And they're gonna help make the sauce.
01:51This will cook for about five minutes.
01:52Because these shrimp are a little bit
01:56of a pinch.
01:57because these shrimp are a little bit longer I'm gonna just cut them in half
02:03just to make a little more bite sauce I'm gonna season this up with a little
02:06bit of salt and pepper I could have should have used I cut the tomatoes in
02:11half just to let this go faster but as they start to soften you can kind of
02:16mash them up just kind of get those juices boiling
02:21we'll fix it later all right once your tomatoes have softened then in goes the
02:32lobster bisque maybe I do need to start wearing aprons all right then we're just
02:40gonna cook this until it simmers and the shrimp is cooked see how fast this is
02:47though oh it smells good saucy and delicious and now goes in the pasta and
02:54then to finish it off parmesan cheese I went with the cheap stuff today you can
02:59go nicer still the same amount of ingredients and then some fresh lemon
03:05hopefully you have this on hand if not you're gonna have to buy sixth ingredient
03:09little crushed red pepper
03:12all right let's dish it up that's just a delicious meal that looks like it's
03:20more than 20 bucks but it's not
03:27don't skimp on the sauce we got plenty
03:33that shrimp is cooked perfectly I might like it better with the shrimp
03:44mmm it's easy it's affordable this is perfection
03:52we're off to a good start next up is my one pan dumpling dinner or one time 20 bucks to
04:02feed your family five ingredients here are the chicken and cilantro mini wontons
04:07there are four servings but we like these a lot so I bought two bags but it's
04:10still one ingredient this stir-fry veggie blend this has bok choy snow peas
04:16broccoli cabbage it's like the perfect thing for this dinner this is one of
04:20their famous little sauces is this soy yaki so it's like a teriyaki sauce but
04:24nothing weird in here will coconut milk and then really optional so this could be a
04:30four ingredient dinner is chili crunch it's a great way to finish this dish off
04:33I'm gonna put a half a cup of this directly into the dish and then I got
04:41some coconut milk the full fat kind got a half a cup of this and then a little
04:46bit of water so I'm gonna do half a cup of water
04:49then just dump the veggies right in kind of toss them around in that sauce I'm
04:55gonna sprinkle this just a little bit of salt and then you just put your wontons
05:01right on top that's it this just goes into the oven 375 for about 25 to 30 minutes
05:09it smells so good I uncovered it the last like five minutes or so here's what we've
05:18got I'm gonna give it a little toss and this is how I serve it up just try to get
05:22plenty of veggies and wontons small chili crunch look at that a little of the crunch a little of the oil and
05:35there's your one pan dumpling dinner get like some veggie and wonton on there and
05:42then give it a little swim through the sauce mmm mmm y'all don't understand how
05:50good this is you can drink that juice it is like heavenly this is a 12 out of 10
05:58you want to make this one mmm next up how does a four ingredient dinner sound even
06:07better than five I got you this is a easy dump and go enchilada style dinner so
06:13instead of enchiladas the shortcut here are these taquitos I got the black bean and
06:19cheese taquitos their enchilada sauce which I've heard is very good and then
06:26they have lots of different varieties of cooked chicken I chose the pulled chicken
06:30here because I think it'll be nice and shreddy to go on top and then cheese so
06:35because this dinner is four ingredients you can add something to make it five
06:39this like chopped salad I thought this would be delicious to put on top or on
06:43the side and this can be your fifth ingredient so you get the meal plus a
06:46side this whole meal sits at like almost exactly twenty dollars and that
06:50includes like expensive cheese grab a casserole dish
06:58that gummits okay you're just gonna lay these down still like a family size me oh
07:11well that just fits perfectly and then I've never bought this chicken before but
07:15I'm hopeful this is a pound cooked so it started as more than a pound this is
07:22gonna be a lot of chicken cooking sometimes these are the meals when you
07:26don't want to cook these are great ideas this is a lot of chicken told you
07:32loading up on the protein here all this is like $7.99 that's definitely cheaper
07:37than buying and cooking your own all right and then the enchilada sauce oh yeah
07:45that's good yeah we'll just put the whole thing this is another thing that you buy
07:53once you can get two uses out of it cheese it up I hope y'all don't call me
08:01and ask me for measurements on these measure with your heart putting this in
08:04the oven 350 until it's all cooked bubbly brown hot and delicious oh yeah
08:14this looks so good and the fact that this was a four ingredient dinner you can
08:25look at this and pick what you want as a fifth ingredient if you want anything
08:28I'm gonna do the little bag of salad because it already has a little sauce
08:31with it but you could also just pick up an avocado or some guacamole or sour cream
08:37you know what you do you serve it with a little elote salad I feel like I want a
08:52little something else on there boom just looks so my mouth just started watering
09:02mmm oh my gosh this is so good I wouldn't even be scared to throw this in a dish and bring it to
09:14somebody you know who moved into a new house or had a baby or something I mean look
09:20the chicken is real it's not like mystery meat chicken you can tell that that's like
09:25real chicken real corn tortillas the cheese is like so creamy the sauce is perfection
09:33I could go on and on this is spinach artichoke chicken pasta I've seen it just with the pasta
09:41but of course I want to make these full dinners so I added in chicken the shortcut solution
09:46here is this creamy spinach artichoke dip this is in the freezer section I'm gonna want this like
09:53really saucy so I've got two of them but it's still one ingredient and it's like less than four bucks
09:57for each one for this one I got this chicken that's just chicken this looks just like freshly
10:03grilled chicken breast I'm gonna chop this up and put it in then whatever pasta you want so I'm
10:08doing this kind of like the lobster pasta for your fourth ingredient you can make this whatever you
10:12could just do more spinach you could do artichoke arts you can leave it out if you want but I like to
10:17incorporate another veggie and this is also gonna help create a sauce and then because I had room I could
10:21add a fifth ingredient so I'm doing this feta cheese with herbs so it's like a flavor combo because
10:27it's got multiple you know seasonings in this one cheese that's it five ingredients let's do this one I'm gonna put a little
10:36oil down at the bottom so it doesn't stick too much add in our blocks of dip okay and then I got these cute
10:47little tomatoes I'm just gonna pop them in just like this after I get them a rinse of course these
10:54tomatoes are pretty cheap but there are cheaper ones too if you want to save a few bucks all right
11:00I'm gonna do a little salt and pepper maybe a little more drizzle of oil on those all right
11:07then I'm gonna pop this into the oven until it's all melty and saucy like this is gonna be another
11:13restaurant meal oh yeah look at that I'm gonna take these tomatoes off the vine they should just pop
11:25right off stir it up hopefully this is all oh yeah look at that oh kind of burst these tomatoes a
11:35little bit that's a good pasta sauce right there guys all right and just kind of chop up this chicken
11:39this is another one also around eight dollars I think eight or nine dollars stir in the cooked pasta
11:46I can't I can't not make a mess today a little sample oh yeah this is gonna be good reserve a
11:56little pasta water just to kind of make sure it stays saucy to finish it off and just to make sure
12:04that chicken is fully heated through I'm gonna top it with some feta and put it back in the oven for just
12:09about like 10 more minutes 5 to 10 more minutes this is another one worthy of company you would
12:19not look at this and think that only has five ingredients that spinach artichoke dip has the
12:24cheese pools shouldn't be this good it just shouldn't it's just perfect it's got just the right amount of
12:36cream and cheese and the tomatoes addition kind of breaks up some of that richness so you get that
12:42kind of burst of acid in there I would serve this to company I never pictured myself as a convenience
12:49product kind of person but here I am killing it I have another four ingredient dinner when I saw
12:57these meatballs I know I had to do something with them this is pineapple teriyaki chicken meatballs and
13:04then they also have just the regular chicken meatballs and then I thought I buy this all the
13:10time I love this it's just an easy quick side dish so with those ingredients and a couple more I'm
13:15making Asian style bowls we already have this from earlier so technically it could be a three ingredient
13:21dinner and this peanut and crispy noodle salad kit it's all about the different toppings and you just kind
13:29of make your own but this has all those things in one bag and it has a little like saucy dressing I'm
13:36going to do the pineapple teriyaki chicken meatballs I thought it would go so well with this dish so
13:41yaki sauce right over it get some oil you want like a neutral flavored oil so I'm doing like avocado
13:47oil or you could do vegetable oil whatever and get that down on the bottom and then you just dump your
13:54rice right in once you get your rice in you leave it alone so that it can get crispy and brown on the
13:59bottom I like to give it one stir to coat everything in the oil and then I'll leave it alone all right
14:04check out the rice slightly sticking to the bottom that's what you want so that it gets some of that
14:11crusty crunchiness let me taste it they season it so well doesn't really need anything so that's done
14:18meatballs all they had to do is really heat all the way through and we have done that let's build our
14:23bowls it's got cabbage cilantro what else green onion peanuts carrots celery I could save all these for
14:31toppings to just build the bowl maybe I'll do that I'm gonna go ahead and put these crispy noodles
14:36into the salad and then this is a peanut and lime dressing I thought of everything all right down with
14:43my rice first it's our base then our meatballs doing some of that sauce our veggies on top sprinkling of
14:57our peanuts that came with the salad and that's it I think you know for an optional fifth ingredient I
15:04feel like I'm gonna want a little kick so I'm gonna go a little sriracha you never would have thought this
15:12was made with four ingredients come on let me get the perfect bite which won't be hard because it's
15:16already all in here mmm there's a ton of flavor in this bowl having these like crunchy veggies the rice is
15:29perfection and that sauce that's soyaki sauce that will be a staple in my kitchen now
15:33can't stop eating it for my final trick fish tacos and the star of the show here are these battered fish
15:44nuggets this whole box was $5.99 I believe kind of like the bowls this has a bunch of ingredients in
15:51one I love like a slaw when it comes to fish tacos versus a lettuce and so I thought this would be perfect
15:57the southwestern chopped salad and then your tortillas and with fish tacos I like something
16:04usually a little tropical so this is a mango habanero guacamole that I think it's gonna be
16:11so perfect I think it's gonna be fine with just four ingredients however if you want a salsa that
16:17could be your fifth ingredient this one comes out to be a little over $20 this might be the more
16:21expensive one of the day but you can switch these ingredients out and make it cheaper for sure for
16:26the fish I'm gonna cook this in the air fryer when it comes to frozen like fried foods air fryer it's
16:35like what it was made for and while that cooks I'll just toss the salad and then I'm also gonna toast
16:40up my tortillas because that just makes them way better I like to go straight over the burner and then
16:46just flip
16:48I think battered
16:57it's gonna get a little less crispy than if it was just breaded they did have a crispy panko breaded one
17:03all right fish done tortillas grilled and warmed I just did the dressing and the green mix
17:11what I'm looking for is the crunch that's all I really care about and that is why I love using
17:17cabbage and fish tacos it's not creamy I thought the dressing was gonna be creamy but the guacamole is
17:22creamy so you still got it all I want to taste this
17:28it's good oh it's got the kick I feel like it needs a little salt because it's almost a little
17:38bit sweet so it needs just a little salt to balance that you know you can just things up you don't have
17:44to be committed to the way it is that fits two of these perfectly mango guac I feel like you don't need
17:51salsa because the dressing has like the tang but here's your five-ingredient taco Tuesday solution
17:57good I'll try it with salsa
18:04mm-hmm sauce is good with it oh my god
18:17who is who's I didn't know what it was I just could tell she was doing something
18:31sorry wasn't expecting that um okay besides needing some napkins you don't need anything else for this
18:42this is totally a dinner you can do with four to five ingredients and do it well
18:47by looking at these six dinners you know this looks like it took more than 25 to 30 ingredients
18:57to prepare but it didn't from pre-made sauces and soups to bagged salads to pre-cooked meat
19:03those are the things you need to be looking for to make this happen these are just suggestions but I
19:08hope I've inspired you to get creative and hit up that fridge and freezer section you can do it
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