This EVOO Is the Best Trader Joe's Olive Oil and TJ's Buy Hands-Down

Some food products, like white sugar or baking soda, don't vary much from producer to producer. Some, like chocolate bars or roasted peanuts, do. But there is an elusive third category of products: Those that vary greatly from producer to producer and make other types of food taste better.

High-quality olive oil falls into this third group—it's an ingredient with a wide gap between OK and stellar, one that can upgrade whatever it touches. Better still, there's nothing like high-quality olive oil that doesn't cost much. And this is where we need to discuss Trader Joe's Sicilian Selezione Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a product that deserves a spot in TJ's hall of fame. Here's everything you need to know about its quality, flavor, and why you should buy it.

Golden Color

First, this Trader Joe's olive oil has a gorgeous golden color, like straw or pilsner. This color hints at the oil's quality and calls to mind the Mediterranean sun, which gave its olives life through silver olive tree leaves.

The olives have been cold-pressed to free their liquids, a traditional means of extracting high-quality oil. The result is extra virgin olive oil and has all of olive oil's health benefits.

Flavor

In terms of flavor, TJ's Sicilian Selezione olive oil has some richness and a little bit of welcome grassiness. It has body, a little weight in the mouth, and a trace of the peppery finish that great olive oils tend to have.

With many high-end olive oils, you get an almost spicy sizzle in your throat, a pleasant tingle from good-for-you compounds called oleocanthals. With this oil, that sizzle comes in faintly—something rare in olive oil under $10.

Price

While bringing all the benefits of high-quality olive oil, this one is affordable enough that you can use it liberally without worrying much about costs. You can douse and drizzle freely, which is how olive oil is meant to be used on food. You can even use it in preparations that call for a lot of olive oil, like oil-preserved vegetables or olive oil cake, elevating them.

As you know, olive oil has many uses. Good olive oils can go further than other olive oils, lifting dishes in ways common olive oils can't. Ever drizzled your favorite olive oil into a bowl of savory yogurt? How about a rustic vegetable soup? Or at the last minute, over a bowl of simple pasta, through the cloud of rising steam?

As this TJ's product shows: A good olive oil is kitchen magic.

Why Buy Trader Joe's Sicilian Selezione Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Price. Quality. Range. The ability to make weeks, or even months, of eating better. There's nothing quite like good olive oil for enhancing pasta, beans, poached fish, and so many other dishes.

This olive oil isn't new. It has been regularly stocked at Trader Joe's for years—"regularly" because it has been known to run out. When we shop, we tend to stick to our routines. We tend to take similar paths through grocery stores like TJ's, grabbing the same great products time after time.

So I think it's worth giving this old-but-good olive oil a strong recommendation on the chance that you'll modify your routine and grab this bottle (if you haven't already). If you do, you'll likely be pleased and, better still, become a repeat customer.