1 week Ago
Let's be real: most of us are tightening our belts at the grocery store, tossing the cheapest brand into the cart, and hoping for the best. But sometimes, those bargain buys come back to bite us in the booty; if you've ever had off-brand ranch dressing , you understand. Redditor nightreader5 sparked a passionate debate in the r/cooking community with one simple question about groceries: "They say store brand food is just as good as name brand.
What are the exceptions?" The responses came flooding in, and they were...
brutally honest: 2. "Doritos. The store-brand ones are always awful.
If I want Doritos, I only get the name brand." — scornedandhangry 4. "Pop-tarts.
They never get the crust right." — durrtyurr 6. "I'll probably get flamed for this, but some store-brand pasta goes from crunchy to complete mush; it feels like there is a two-second window where it's a pleasant texture.
" — hannahbananahs 8. "Cream cheese, specifically in the brick form (not the spread in the tub). I once tried the Kroger brand instead of my beloved Philadelphia, and the texture and flavors were just way off!" — oracleofwifi 10.
"Butter. At least not when you actually taste the flavor of the butter." — AlleyOKK93 12.
"Store-brand refried beans are just not as good as Rosarita’s." — NoMoreBeGrieved 14. "Duke’s and Kewpie mayo, depending on what you’re using it for.
Duke’s is for everyday stuff, such as potato salad, tuna, etc. Kewpie for special occasions." — thaiborg 16.
"Wheat Thins and Triscuits must be name brand." — allthecrazything 19. "I've yet to find a store-brand soda that isn't trash.
Especially the diet varieties." — flutterbylove22 21. "Store brand and cheaper canned whole tomatoes taste like the tin can they came in.
Spend the money to get good, imported, preferably organic, San Marzano tomatoes. Makes all the difference." — WhoCalledthePoPo 23.
"Generic-brand Cheez Its. Oh, my goodness. It was like eating little squares made 99% of crispy butter with a little cheese sprinkled in.
So, so gross." —nightreader5 24. "Oats.
My husband thinks I’m crazy for it, but I won’t eat the generic oats. There’s too much of the 'bottom of the container' pieces — you know, the tiny shavings, as opposed to the whole oats. It has a totally different flavor when you cook it.
" — JACKiED_Daniels 26. "Land O' Lakes American white cheese." — efox02 "American cheese slices.
When I want pasteurized cheese products, I don't skimp on flavor. No, but for real..
. Kraft is the only way to go." — AwarenessVirtual4453 28.
"Fage Greek yogurt ONLY. Every other brand is gloopy and watery?" — This-Cicada-5304 31. "Premium crackers.
Every other brand I’ve tried tastes stale to me." — coolreg214 34. "Soy sauce.
Every store brand I've tried is bitter." — thetinyness 36. "I'm a La Croix fan.
Store-bought is just not the same." — paperanddoodlesco 37. "This is kind of random, but marshmallows.
Jet-Puffed is miles better than generic — those have no flavor other than sweet. Jet-Puffed tastes vanilla-y and delicious!" — dontakelife4granted 39. "If you eat Stouffer’s frozen entrees, like lasagna, Salisbury steak, or the chicken rice casserole, the store brand versions are vastly different, and not in a good way.
" — anonymouscog 40. "Oh my god, cornflakes. We were poor and bought generic cornflakes, they were so thick and just gross.
Even though we were struggling, we just couldn’t eat generic cornflakes again." — Loud_Statement9491 42. "A1 Sauce.
I don’t use it for my steak, but my husband does, and wow...
Generic tastes terrible." — elizurofsinai 43. "I tried grocery store-brand ginger snaps in, like, 2019.
Ginger snaps are not even exclusively a Nabisco brand thing either...
just a classic treat. They were awful, the flavor of raw ginger with the texture of cardboard." — petrichorandpuddles.
