This Trader Joe’s Dip Is My Secret to Better Weeknight Meals

If you’ve ever had toum at a Lebanese restaurant and couldn’t stop eating it, this Trader Joe’s version belongs in your fridge immediately.

Medically reviewed by Emily Lachtrupp, M.S., RD

Key Points

• Trader Joe’s Garlic Spread Dip adds bold flavor to meals with minimal effort and no extra prep.
• This versatile dip works as a spread, dressing, marinade or ingredient to elevate simple dishes.
• With mostly unsaturated fats, low sodium and a touch of vitamin C, it’s flavorful and nutritionally balanced.

If my fridge says anything about me, it’s that it isn’t curated; it’s lived in. Anyone who knows I’m a food writer probably expects my fridge to look somewhat aspirational, with little glass containers of prepped vegetables, herbs standing upright in water and maybe a jar of homemade yogurt. Mine definitely has moments like that. But more often, it looks like everyone’s real-life fridge, including a few from-scratch items and a handful of indispensable convenience options I reach for constantly—and Trader Joe’s Garlic Spread Dip is near the top of that list.

Inspired by traditional Lebanese toum, it’s a simple blend of garlic, oil, lemon, salt and citric acid that delivers big, bold, bright flavor. I use it as a spread or dip to upgrade everything from sandwiches and wraps to roasted vegetables and grain bowls. But I also love using it as an ingredient to boost marinades, dressings, dips and sides. And honestly, I eat it straight up with raw veggies and crackers. At $3.69, it’s one of the lowest-effort, highest-reward ingredients in my fridge.

Why It’s Always in My Fridge

What I love about this dip is that it behaves differently depending on how I use it. I cook a lot, but even as a food writer and recipe developer, I don’t always have the luxury of taking my time. Some nights, dinner is a thoughtful mix of handmade components. Other nights, it’s sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, leftover chicken and basic, rice-maker rice. Either way, a spoonful of this quickly adds enough flavor to make it feel a bit more layered and intentional.

Spread thickly, it feels creamy and decadent. But if I thin it with a little lemon juice and olive oil, it turns into an easy dressing or marinade. Stir it into warm rice, pasta or vegetables, and it melts right in, adding depth that makes simple food taste much more interesting. It’s also a surprisingly good value. Since a little goes such a long way, I can usually stretch one container across several meals.

And when I just need to get dinner on the table, there’s the obvious (but still lovely) pleasure of no chopping, measuring or cooking required. I just open the lid, and dinner gets better. For context, a single head of garlic at most grocery stores runs anywhere from $0.75 to over a dollar, and that still requires peeling, mincing and cooking. If you’ve ever made toum, you know that it’s a true labor of love that requires pulling the inner green sprout from at least a cup of garlic cloves. I’ll happily take the easy route on this one.

Does It Have Any Nutritional Chops?

I’m not eating garlic spread for its health halo. I eat it because it tastes fantastic. But I appreciate when something so delicious brings a few nutritional upsides along for the ride. Here are some of the numbers for a 2-tablespoon (28-gram) serving.

• Mostly Unsaturated Fats: Even though it has a creamy texture, the fat profile of this richly flavored dip is mostly unsaturated. The first ingredient is canola oil, which is low in saturated fat and contains both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Research suggests that replacing saturated fats with canola oil may help improve total and LDL cholesterol.
• Garlic’s Beneficial Compounds: Aside from being delicious, garlic contains compounds like allicin, which have been studied for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. A recent review also linked garlic supplementation with improvements in several cardiovascular risk markers, including blood pressure and blood lipids. Most research on garlic’s health benefits uses supplemental or concentrated forms at doses much higher than you’d realistically get from a condiment, so I think of this less as a functional food and more as a flavorful ingredient that happens to include some helpful compounds.
• Lower in Sodium: At 110 milligrams of sodium per serving (5% Daily Value), this spread packs a lot of flavor without the sodium load you often see in bottled sauces and dressings. For comparison, a 2-tablespoon serving of commercial Italian dressing typically contains two and a half times as much sodium.
• Vitamin C Boost: You also get a small amount of vitamin C. The lemon juice contributes about 6% of the DV. While that’s not enough to move the needle nutritionally, it certainly doesn’t hurt.

How I Use Trader Joe’s Garlic Spread Dip

It’s an ingredient that adds a lot of flavor. For a favorite lunch shortcut, I like to mix it into mayo for easy aioli vibes, then spread that on sandwiches, wraps and veggie burgers. A spoonful stirred into tuna salad or shredded rotisserie chicken also instantly wakes everything up.

When the 3 p.m. hunger hits, I love mixing this with hummus and eating it as a dip. It adds so much flavor and dimension to an otherwise-simple standby. I eat it with crunchy Nantes carrots, thickly sliced cucumbers and sweet baby bell peppers, or I scoop it up with salty pita chips or seedy crackers. For a different twist, I sometimes mix it into plain Greek yogurt or blended cottage cheese, and jazz it up with more lemon juice, salt and fresh herbs like parsley, mint or chives for an easy, protein-packed dip.

On nights when dinner feels like it needs a bit of help, I mix it into rice, pasta or vegetables to add flavor and richness without needing another pan or extra prep. I especially love adding it to warm pasta with a little of the pasta cooking water to thin it out, or stirring it into a hot pan of sautéed kale, Swiss chard or broccoli rabe just before serving. If you’re a fan of big garlic flavor, it’s a great topping for grain bowls and shawarma platters straight from the tub.

Our Expert Take

Toum is such a beloved Middle Eastern staple. It brings a lot to the table, including all of the best flavors: garlic for intensity, lemon juice for brightness, oil for richness, and salt to make everything taste more like itself. TJ’s version has that same energy, but without requiring you to peel garlic, emulsify anything or wash a food processor afterward. There are flashier things in my fridge, more nutrient-dense things and certainly more expensive things. But this is one of the products I’ll replace before I run out. If you’re a Trader Joe’s regular and you’ve been walking past it, consider giving it a try. Vampires beware—the rest of us are going to keep it stocked.