What’s Your Favorite Convenience Food from the Grocery Store?

Faith Durand
Faith DurandSVP of Content
Faith is the SVP of Content at Apartment Therapy Media and former Editor-in-Chief of The Kitchn. She is the author of three cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning The Kitchn Cookbook. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters.
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published Feb 25, 2014
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So you go to the grocery store, and maybe you’re extra hungry, or you are thinking about the busy week ahead, and suddenly there are a few extra items in your shopping basket, items that theoretically you could make yourself, but that will save you some time and preserve your evenings from the lure of the takeout menu.

Do you know what I mean? What’s your convenience splurge at the grocery store? Here’s my latest.

I feel like I succumb to the delights of oh-so-convenient foods most frequently at Trader Joe’s. TJ’s just knows how to get me. Take beets, for instance. Do I know how to roast and peel beets? Yes. Would it be cheaper for me to do this myself? You bet.

But Trader Joe’s understands that cleaning, roasting, and peeling beets is a bit of a chore — messy, and requiring an extra step at some point in my weekly meal prep. So, when I see the roasted, peeled beets in their produce section, it’s hard for me to resist. Packaging them like this is smart, and I gave in. I love beets in my lunch salads, and buying this little packet made the difference for me this week between a plain salad and one livened up with juicy beets.

I also always have a couple of emergency burritos from Amy’s Kitchen in the freezer, although now that Emma showed us how to make these I may make my own!

Can you relate? What’s your convenience splurge? Is it pre-chopped veggies? I can’t deny that pre-chopped butternut squash is a splurge, but so handy for quick soups or side dishes. And sometimes buying chopped veggies is the difference between having some vegetables on the table, or not.

What else? Maybe a frozen meal helper? And have you found grocery store shortcuts that aren’t splurges at all — just smart?

→ From last year: What’s Your Secret Grocery Store Indulgence?

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Grocery Shopping