"Like A Dog Biscuit": People Are Sharing The 43 Foods They Bought Off-Brand And Seriously Regretted

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18-04-2025

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:
1. "Hidden Valley ranch is the ONLY ranch I'll eat."
3. "Eggo waffles. The store-brand version tastes like roof shingles."
5. "Thomas' English Muffins. The store brands can go to hell on those."
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
7. "I'm a sucker for UNnatural peanut butter, and there's nothing like JIF."
— navelbabel
"Peanut butter. Holy shit, I thought I hated peanut butter growing up. Nope, we just bought the kind made from trash peanuts."
— pizzapizzamesohungry
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
9. "Honeymaid Graham crackers or bust."
10. "Butter. At least not when you actually taste the flavor of the butter."
— AlleyOKK93
11. "Store-brand shredded cheese has zero flavor and too much cornstarch. The extra dollar for Sargento or Tillamook is worth it."
13. "Oreos!"
— Routine_Mechanic6239
"Oreos! The off-brand honestly tastes like a dog biscuit."
— candleelit
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
15. "Sour cream. Gotta be Daisy."
Daisy Brand / Via youtube.com
— justlurking246
"For most dairy products, I've found certain brands to be much better quality. For example, Daisy brand sour cream is the only one on the market I can find that is just cream, salt, and cultures."
— harrold_potterson
17. "Jam. Often good, brand-name jam has more fruit and less juice/sugar filler."
18. "Ketchup. It's Heinz or nothin'."
20. "The one thing that store brands can never seem to get right is Cheerios... No one seems to have figured out how to replicate the taste and texture of Cheerios. Store-brand 'toasted O's' invariably taste like sawdust and are weirdly stale in texture."
"Except Trader Joe's. For some reason, their O's are almost identical to Cheerios. But no one else comes close."
— arcticmischief
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
22. "I am incredibly picky about my frozen peas, so frozen petite peas from C&W or nothing — they're the only ones that are sweet and tender, and not grainy/mealy and disgusting."
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
25. "Mac and cheese. If I'm reaching for yellow powder from a box, it is only going to be Kraft."
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
27. "I only use Tollhouse chocolate chips for my chocolate chip cookies."
— PezGirl-5
"Chocolate chips, as I just found out tonight while using store-brand ones. They took forever to melt and when I compared the ingredient list to the Toll House ones, the store brand ones had soy lecithin."
— BeirutJH
29. "Any Worcestershire sauce that isn't Lea & Perrins."
30. "Soda. The off brands do not compare to Coke, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper."
32. "Fritos corn chips."
"With fewer ingredients, smaller packages, and higher prices, I usually have no brand loyalty for most."
— cwsjr2323
33. "Maille cornichons. Love those little guys. And the juice makes great slaw and Bloody Marys."
35. "I don't mess with generic unsweetened cocoa powder."
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
38. "Yellow mustard, only French's, King Arthur. Sugar, Domino's."
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
41. "Coca-Cola. Nothing hits like a Coke brand Coke. I don't care about most other sodas, but Coke and Dr. Pepper have to be name brand."
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
Now, it's your turn: What's the name-brand food item that the generic version simply doesn't live up to? Tell us in the comments or use the anonymous form below and your response could be featured in an upcoming Tasty post.
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