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Trader Joe’s fans aren’t your average grocery store customer. These loyal customers keep their eyes peeled for exciting new products that regularly hit the shelves of the chain. And when a particularly exciting item debuts, customers may react so strongly that they elevate the product to viral social media fame.
The latest new product from Trader Joe that has taken social media, especially TikTok, by storm is the Squiggly Knife Cut Style Noodles. Trader Joe’s sells the chewy-textured, ruffled-edge noodles in air-dried packets with packets of soy and sesame sauce intended for mixing after cooking. Each package contains four servings of noodles, which are sold for $4.99 each, although prices may vary by location.
In the weeks since customers discovered Squiggly Knife Cut noodles in January, TikTokers rushed to their local Trader Joe’s to get their hands on the new food item. In a video with over 106,000 likes, @traderjoestreasurehunt documents the process of picking up a packet of noodles from a store and then dressing them at home. Fellow TikTokers shared their love and excitement for the product in the comments section.
“So so so good,” wrote one user.
Some even jokingly suggested keeping quiet about the popular new product so that demand doesn’t increase further.
“Shhhhhhhh! I don’t want them to sell out too!” a TikTok user commented.
Fans on TikTok and other forums such as Reddit have given the noodles rave reviews for their texture, but many think the sauce packets that come with the product are somewhat bland. Naturally, TikTokers used this room for improvement to expand the Squiggly Knife Cut Noodles trend into a new category of videos where they improve the product.
In a video shared by the Tasty TikTok page, designer Jasmine Pak enhanced the packet of soy and sesame sauce with big balls of chopped garlic and crispy chili. After cooking them and combining them with a little reserved pasta water and the sauce, Pak topped the upgraded dish with a fried egg, green onions and sesame seeds.
“It makes things so much better for you all,” Pak captioned the video.
Another TikTok user, @eatsbyrachel, completely ignored the sauce packet. In its place, the creator recommended combining soy sauce, black vinegar, chili oil, sesame paste, sesame oil, minced garlic, minced ginger and hot water. After mixing the sauce, the TikToker covered the noodles with sesame seeds and green onions.
“Believe me, if you use this sauce, your noodles will have a lot more flavor,” the creator says, noting that peanut butter and tahini are good substitutes for sesame paste.
Even Trader Joe’s thinks noodles are best served with additional ingredients. On its website, the grocery chain recommends adding stir-fried Baby Shanghai Bok Choy, fried organic baked tofu with teriyaki flavor and a six-minute boiled egg.
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Zoe Strozewski
Zoe Strozewski is a staff writer for Eat This, Not That! A Chicago native who now lives in New Jersey, she graduated from Kean University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Learn more about Zoe
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