5 Food Items You Should Always Buy at Walmart

Savvy shoppers know to split their purchases between different stores because some retailers offer better deals on some things but not others — especially in the grocery department.

But when a store sells as many food items as Walmart, it’s hard to keep track of what to buy there and what to buy from Target, Albertsons, Shoprite, Kroger or any of the world’s largest retailer’s many other competitors.

Read: 6 Frugal People Buy in Winter

That’s where Reddit comes in.

Superfans, cynics, complainers and people just looking to share their experiences converge on the front page of the internet to chime in about the food products that almost always make sense to buy from Walmart. Here’s a look at their top picks with the numbers to back it up.

In a thread on the r/walmart subreddit dedicated to “Great Value branded stuff that actually hits,” Redditor Beneficial-Account51 wrote, “The ice cream!”

While the commenters who piled on mostly gushed over the flavor of Walmart’s ice cream — particularly Great Value cookies and cream — the price is worth praising, too. A 48-ounce container of Great Value ice cream — one-and-a-half quarts — is just $2.62, or $1.31 per quart.

By comparison, a pint of Ben and Jerry’s — one-third of the amount — is $4.48, or $8.96 per quart.

But even a more comparable 48-ounce container of ShopRite’s Bowl & Basket brand ice cream is $3.69 — 38% more than the same amount of the same product at Walmart.

On the same thread, pixeequeen84 wrote, “All the canned and dried goods are cheaper than Safeway brands and just as good.”

In shopping and in life, “all” usually indicates an overstatement, but pixeequeen84’s assessment rings true in many cases.

For example, a 20-ounce bag of Hurst HamBeens dried 15-bean soup is $4.49 at Safeway. At Walmart, it’s $2.82.

Safeway recently slashed the price of a two-ounce box of Lipton Recipe Secrets soup and dip onion mix from $2.79 to $1.99 — but Walmart still beats the price by more than $0.20 per unit.

Safeway reduced the price of most of its inventory of the popular Barilla brand pasta from $2.79 to $2.50, but at Walmart, the same products are $1.76 per box — and that’s the regular store price, not a sale.

Several Redditors insisted that, in terms of both flavor and price, no grocery chain can top Walmart’s Great Value brand of cookies. While taste is subjective, cost is not.

Kroger prices its Kaleidos original chocolate sandwich cookies — its version of Oreos — at $3.39 for a 14.3-ounce pack. Walmart’s comparable cookies, Great Value Twist & Shout, sells for $2.92 for 15.35 ounces.

ChipMates — Kroger’s version of Chips Ahoy! — sells for $2.79 for a 13-ounce package. Walmart’s Great Value Chippers are $2.62 for 18.2 ounces.

Walmart’s Great Value caramel coconut and fudge cookies cost $2.34 for an 8.5-ounce pack, but the same size box of coconut and caramel fudge cookies costs $2.59 at Kroger.

When asked about the best food products to buy at Walmart, Redditor AngryTank wrote, “Beef Jerky, save like $5 and get a couple more ounces.”

While current savings aren’t quite $5, Walmart sells original and teriyaki flavor Great Value beef jerky for $9.98 for 10-ounce bags. Albertsons’ Signature Select brand is on sale for $9.99, down from $10.99, for eight-ounce bags.

Shoprite sells only smaller 2.85-ounce packages of its Wholesome Pantry brand jerky for $1.93 an ounce or $30.88 per pound. Walmart’s smallest store-brand jerky is $18.87 per pound.

Redditor UnRepairable738 wrote, “The GV nutri grain bars are far superior to the name brand. So much more fruit filling and the bar just tastes so much better. I get a lil sad inside every [time someone] hands me the Nutri-Grain name brand and wish it was Great Value.”

Walmart sells 32-packs of Nutri-Grain brand breakfast bars for $11.92 or $4.59 per pound ($0.29 per ounce). It sells 32-packs of its own Great Value brand bars — which UnRepairable738 raves about — for just $7.44, or $2.86 per pound ($0.18 per ounce).

By comparison, Target’s store-brand breakfast bars sell for $0.47 an ounce.

Several Redditors mentioned meatballs among the food items you should always get at Walmart.

Target sells its Good & Gather brand for $0.23 an ounce. At $0.21 per ounce for a comparable-sized Great Value bag, Walmart is not just better tasting — as online fans claim — but more affordable.

Shoprite brand meatballs are $0.26 per ounce. Albersons’ Signature Select brand is $0.25 an ounce.