10 Athlete Meals You Can Find at Trader Joe’s

As an athlete, you don’t just want to train hard, you have to fuel well too, with athlete meals that help you keep up with your training, run strong and go the distance.

But between workouts, work and everything else on your plate, cooking elaborate meals with a long list of ingredients isn’t always realistic. That’s why I’m a big fan of keeping meals simple and practical.

Trader Joe’s shelf-stable, refrigerated and frozen staples make it easy to build meals that are quick, balanced and delicious.

In this post, I’m sharing 10 of my favorite go-to Trader Joe’s meals that check the boxes for athlete meals, everything an athlete needs to recover well and feel strong in training! Whether you’re looking for healthy meals for an athlete, quick recipes for athletes or dinner ideas for athletes, you’ll find inspiration here!

Components of a Balanced Athlete Meal

When it comes to fueling for performance, balance is key. Since restriction doesn’t serve athletes well, you’ll want to find a balance of nutrient-dense foods and foods for the soul (like ice cream). 

Think of every meal as a chance to support your training, energy, recovery and to set yourself up well for the next workout. A simple way to think about building your athlete meal is with four essential components: 

• Carbohydrates: Your body’s main energy source, especially important for workouts and recovery. Your brain also uses at least 130 g/day of carbs to function! When your mileage increases, your daily carbohydrate needs increase as well.
  
• Protein: Helps repair and rebuild muscles after training and is the building blocks for hormones and enzymes.
  
• Healthy fats: Keep you satisfied and helps your body absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
  
• Fruits/veggies: Provides antioxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals to manage inflammation, support your body’s micronutrient needs and to keep your body healthy.
  

Each of the following sports meals brings these components together. Whether it’s a turkey burger with a salad kit or salmon with rice and broccoli, these are practical athlete dinners and athlete lunch ideas that fit into your busy schedule.

10 Trader Joe’s Athlete Meals

1. Turkey burger with a caesar salad kit 

A protein-packed athlete dinner that takes less than 30 minutes! Pairing a turkey burger with Trader Joe’s Caesar Salad Kit is one of the easiest healthy athlete recipes to incorporate into your menu.

2. Chili with cornbread

Crockpot chili is a staple athlete recipe. Toss your ingredients into the crockpot, let it cook for a few hours and dinner is ready with minimal effort. Cornbread on the side rounds it out for one of the best cold-weather athlete meals!

What we put in our chili: 

• 1 can of kidney beans
• 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 container of fresh salsa
• 1 pack of ground chicken that we cook with a taco packet before we add it to the crockpot
• A container of sliced mushrooms
• 1 diced bell pepper
• 1 diced yellow onion
• A bit of hot sauce and a touch of BBQ sauce

3. Air fried salmon with broccoli and microwave brown rice 

This combo hits all the boxes for a solid sport nutrition recipe: protein, complex carbs, healthy fats and micronutrient-rich veggies. This is a quick, nutrient-dense option for busy nights.

We like Trader Joe’s Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fillets. We add a generous amount of Trader Joe’s Green Goddess Seasoning to the top of the salmon, put it in aluminum foil then add it to the air fryer. We set our air fryer to 400°F and cook the salmon until it reaches an internal temperature of 145°F. 

We normally get the pre-chopped broccoli florets because it saves just a bit of time. Trader Joe’s frozen rice packets are a weekly staple for us. Pop a packet in the microwave for 3 minutes and you have yourself a nice carb-rich side!

4. Salmon on a whole wheat English muffin with a kale salad and cherries 

Leftovers don’t have to be boring! This meal is a great example of turning dinner into a high protein breakfast or lunch. I love versatile, nutrient-packed recipes like this because they cut down on waste while keeping meals exciting and fresh for athletes.

Toast an english muffin, spread some Trader Joe’s Onion & Chive Cream Cheese on each side, add your salmon and that’s it!

I like to pair this with a salad for some greens. I like Trader Joe’s Organic Shredded Kale that I’ll toss with lemon juice, graded parmesan cheese and Green Goddess Seasoning. Chef’s kiss!

Cherries have been in season over the last few months and the Organic Cherries at Trader Joe’s are  DELICIOUS!

5. Smoothie with avocado toast 

I always make sure to have smoothie ingredients on hand for a quick, easy meal or snack. My favorite smoothies are plain Greek yogurt based. With the Greek yogurt, I’ll add frozen berries, 2-3 medjool dates for sweetness, chia/hemp/flaxseeds for fats and milk for the liquid.

For more more carbs at this meal, I like to pair my smoothies with avocado toast. Toast a large piece of Trader Joe’s Sliced Cracked Wheat Sourdough Bread (the best!), spread mashed avocado on it, sprinkle some feta cheese on top, add a generous amount of Everything But the Bagel Seasoning and finish it with a drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze!

6. Tacos with ground chicken and lentils with strawberries

Tacos are one of the easiest athlete dinners to customize and are usually on our weekly menu. We use the Organic Mini Flour Tortillas from Trader Joe’s. We’ll stuff our tacos with spring mix and ground chicken cooked with a taco seasoning packet. 

Add some lentils into your meat to boost the fiber content of our tacos. You can find the Steamed Lentils in the produce section of Trader Joe’s.

7. Mini quesadillas with plain Greek yogurt, refried beans and cherries

Something that we try to do is use the same ingredients for multiple meals throughout the week. Not only is it more budget friendly but we don’t waste as much food. 

These mini quesadillas are one of my top athlete lunch ideas. Here we used our Organic Mini Flour Tortillas and our leftover taco meat. We basically built a taco, added some Mexican cheese and cooked each taco on it’s side in a pan on the stove, flipping halfway through to toast each side. 

On the side with my tacos, I have some plain Greek yogurt (I use this as a substitute for sour cream because we always have plain Greek yogurt on hand and it provides some extra protein) and some Traditional Style Fat Free Refried Beans. And because I had some extra cherries on hand, I added some cherries for my fruit!

8. Bagel with cream cheese, chicken sausage, scrambled eggs with cheese and fruit

This athlete breakfast is so well-balanced and will keep you full for hours! Scrambled eggs with chicken sausage count as the protein and fat source at this time. The bagel provides carbs and the cream cheese is some fat and it just tastes delicious ok?! For color, I had blueberries and ruby red grapefruit that week!

9. Blueberry beet ginger smoothie  

This smoothie is made up of 1 large cooked beet, 1 heaping cup of frozen blueberries, 1 small knob of peeled, fresh ginger, 1/2 avocado, 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder and milk.

This is one of my go-to recipes for runners because it contains beets! Beets are rich in nitrates which are converted to nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator, meaning it widens blood vessels and increases blood flow which support’s the body’s recovery process! 

Other ingredients like the blueberries are incredibly antioxidant-rich and fresh ginger is anti-inflammatory which makes for a pretty nutrient-dense breakfast that offers many nutritious benefits for athletes!

10. Caprese chicken, microwave rice medly and salad

I found this recipe on Pinterest! It’s a recipe by Chef Savvy and I’ve honestly made it several times now because it’s so dang tasty! We actually make this recipe in the air fryer because it’s easiest for us and always turns out great!

I paired the chicken with Trader Joe’s frozen Rice Medley and a spring mix salad sprinkled with feta to create a balanced, tasty, nutrient-dense plate! 

Final Notes

Fueling your body for performance doesn’t have to mean spending hours and hours in the kitchen or buying expensive specialty products. With Trader Joe’s staples, you can create quick athlete meals that taste good and support your training goals. 

Whether you’re in the mood for tacos, a smoothie or a simple salmon and rice dish, these meals are proof that convenience and performance nutrition can go hand in hand. 

Try a couple of these meals next week and see how much easier and delicious fueling can be!

Looking for personalized nutrition support from a running dietitian to help you tackle your performance and health goals? Check out my 1:1 Nutrition Coaching Program and apply here!