I Tried Dozens of New Groceries Hitting Shelves This Month — These Are the 8 I’m Eating All Summer
I’m a big-time novelty eater. If you’ve got a new hot sauce/ice cream/cereal out there, I want to try it … yesterday. A new-to-me grocery always has that certain secret sauce, making for an easy cheat code to prevent my snacking/cooking/treating routine from getting stale. So I was beyond thrilled to taste my way through dozens of new groceries hitting stores this June to see which ones were the best of the bunch.
As I found — while sampling dozens of bite-size snacks, sauces, sparkling drinks, and even some dinner shortcuts — newness alone isn’t enough to warrant a repeat buy. Each one must be so good I simply can’t keep it to myself (whether it be taste, value, versatility, or expansiveness to my routine) hence why I’m telling you all now.
Here are the eight new products I’ll absolutely buy again and again (my love of novelty be damned).
1. Bobo’s Strawberry Lemonade Stuff’d Oat Bites
One of the hardest parts of sampling new items this month involved these new strawberry lemonade Stuff’d Oat Bites from Bobo’s. In short: I could not stop eating them. (At one point, I worried I’d accidentally forgotten to take their photo for this very article. Almost oops!)
So if you, like me, have always dreamt of what it might be like to have a breakfast-appropriate version of a lemon bar mixed with a strawberry toaster pastry? These wholesome oat bites (filled with a gooey, fruity sweet tart filling) are going to make all those dreams come true.
Buy: Bobo’s Strawberry Lemonade Stuff’d Oat Bites, $29.99 for 30 (1.3 ounce) bites at Amazon; also available at retailers nationwide
2. DavidsTea Magic Potion Cold Brew Sparkling Iced Tea
In a sea of new drinks that claim to heal your gut and/or deliver protein/collagen/adaptogens, it’s literally so refreshing to see something hit shelves that’s just a simply delicious drink. In this case it’s DavidsTea’s new cans of sparkling tea, namely the festively hued Magic Potion.
Aside from the mystical, magical purple hue (courtesy of butterfly pea flower tea), this juicy, bubbly, just-sweet-enough tea is my personal new drink of the summer. It instantly brings me back to downing Blue Raspberry Slush Puppies at the Little League field, asking everyone around me if my tongue is blue.
Buy: DavidsTea Sparkling Cold Brew Tea, Magic Potion, $14.99 for 4 (12-ounce) cans at DavidsTea
3. Doughlicious Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough & Nondairy Gelato Bites
Along with my love for new foods, I also love tiny, bite-size foods ever so much. If you’ve ever delighted over another handheld, two-bite treat (say, ice cream-filled mochi), I have a feeling you’ll be a big fan of Doughlicious’ Cookie Dough & Gelato Bites. The popular U.K. brand is finally coming across the pond with three flavors: Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip, and Chocolate Truffle.
I’m not sure how they manage to do such tasty alchemy, but they’ve taken chewy, sweet gluten-free cookie dough and filled it with nondairy, ultra-creamy vegan ice cream. If that’s not good enough for you, these little bites are also made in a factory powered by renewable energy?! Major brownie (er, cookie dough) points for Doughlicious.
Buy: Doughlicious Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough & Non-Dairy Gelato Bites, $6.99 for 6.7 ounces at Amazon
4. Fishwife Little Sardines in Olive Oil
If you’ve yet to jump on the fancy tinned fish trend, perhaps I can finally convince you that it’s a great train to ride. I myself was a bit late to board; I grew up on Chicken of Sea, and for years wondered how worth it could it be to shell out $10-plus per tin of fish? Well, I’ve been gradually ruined by how rich and flavorful the tinned fish from Fishwife is — and the newest Little Sardines are no exception.
Especially if you want to up your home cooking game with that added something-something, these petite little sardine filets are just the thing. Fishwife has even gone so far as to coin these as its “beginner sardines,” and I agree. Just a few of these tiny little sardines will add a salty-savory burst to nearly anything, like a pasta puttanesca or beans on toast. I’m especially fond of this punchy little sardine salad for a quick lunch.
Buy: Fishwife Little Sardines in Olive Oil, $32.00 for 3 (3.7 ounce) tins at Fishwife; also available at specialty grocers nationwide
5. LesserEvil Moonions Hyperspace Hot Onion
In the lunch line at school, I could often be found with a bag of onion-flavored rings in hand. So it took no time for me to scoop up LesserEvils’ version of my favorite vending machine snack, the space-themed Moonions.
What I love most about these elevated onion-y rings? Moonions really capture the full depth of an onion — one that’s caramelized, slightly sweet, but with plenty of bite — without straying too far from my childhood fave. While they’re incredibly good right out of the bag, my future self is absolutely going to be caught with these in place of croutons for my salads this month. I highly recommend you do the same.
Buy: LesserEvil Moonions Hyperspace Hot Onion, $4.79 (on sale) for 6 ounces at Instacart
6. Brightland Pizza Oil
One of the most exciting things in the food world right now, as far as I’m concerned, is how easy it’s becoming to make a restaurant-esque meal at home. Continuing that theme, Brightland finally brought back its Pizza Oil — for good — this month. Whether you want to doll up a frozen pizza or takeout, think of this herby, jalapeño-laced olive oil as that added extra sparkle to your meal.
I’d even go so far as to say as you shouldn’t just limit this to pizza alone; I have many plans of drizzling this on to my next batch of focaccia, using it as the base for a salad dressing, and a finishing touch to eggs or garlic bread.
Buy: Brightland Pizza Oil, $25.00 for 12 ounces at Brightland
7. Kola Goodies Cardamom & Fennel Chai
I’m very ready for tea to be taken more seriously in the U.S! No sad little bags of weak bagged tea on my watch, just standardized good-ass tea from coast to coast, like they do in the U.K, India, and Sri Lanka. One company with a similar mission is Kola Goodies, a company that’s long been making some of the best Sri Lankan milk teas and chais out there.
Its newest Cardamom & Fennel Chai, a beautiful collaboration with Milk & Cardamom, is no exception. Even though it was a hot day the first time I brewed it, this spicy-sweet milk tea immediately made me go, “Oh, that’s soooo nice.” And wouldn’t you know, it’s just as nice over ice.
Buy: Kola Goodies Cardamom & Fennel Chai, $35.00 for 13.7 ounces at Kola Goodies
8. Tenayo Spicy Al Pastor Barbecue Sauce
If you’re on the hunt for a new, can-do-it-all sauce, look no further. While, yes, Tenayo’s Al Pastor Barbecue Sauce is great are your al pastor-related needs, don’t let that limit you; this sauce is a true sweet spot between a barbecue sauce, chili paste, and hot sauce all in one, making it a true Swiss Army knife that rivals any restaurant-quality barbecue sauce. I’ve only had my bottle of this earthy, sweet, tangy sauce for a few days and have found it basically makes everything it touches sing, including eggs, tacos, leftover rotisserie chicken, a spoon …
Buy: Tenayo Spicy Al Pastor Barbecue Sauce, $10.39 for 14.5 ounces at Target
Which of these are you most excited about? Tell us about it in the comments below.