4 Cheapest Places To Buy Pantry Staples in 2025

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With the prices of groceries these days, any opportunity for savings helps, and comparison shopping is one way to save. GOBankingRates looked at prices of pantry staples from Walmart, Target, Aldi and Kroger to find out which retailers have the best prices on shelf-stable items. As it turns out, there’s a clear winner overall, but the other retailers also offer competitive savings.

Here’s a look at the cheapest places to buy pantry staples in 2025. 

Price Comparisons for Pantry Staples

Here’s a quick rundown of price comparisons for seven different pantry staples across the four retailers.

Long-Grain Enriched Rice

• Target: $1.89, 32 ounces
• Walmart: $1.77, 32 ounces
• Aldi: $2.19, 48 ounces
• Kroger: $1.79, 32 ounces

Old-Fashioned Oats

• Target: $3.99, 42 ounces
• Walmart: $3.98, 42 ounces
• Aldi: $4.19, 42 ounces
• Kroger: $4.29, 42 ounces

Canned Green Beans or Corn

• Target: $0.69, 14.5 ounces
• Walmart: $0.68, 14.5 ounces
• Aldi: $0.69 (green beans), $0.75 (corn); 14.5 ounces
• Kroger: $0.89, 14.5 ounces

Flour

• Target: $2.59, 5 pounds
• Walmart: $2.38, 5 pounds
• Aldi: $2.55, 5 pounds
• Kroger: $2.69, 5 pounds

Sugar

• Target: $3.29, 4 pounds
• Walmart: $3.14, 4 pounds
• Aldi: $3.29, 4 pounds
• Kroger: $3.19, 4 pounds

Elbow Macaroni Pasta

• Target: $0.99, 16 ounces
• Walmart: $0.98, 16 ounces
• Aldi: $2.09, 32 ounces
• Kroger: $0.99, 16 ounces

Cheapest Places To Buy Pantry Staples

Here are four of the cheapest retailers to buy pantry staples and how their prices compare. 

Walmart

Walmart is the clear winner when it comes to the best prices on basic pantry staples. For example, it’s cheaper than Target, Aldi and Kroger regarding six out of seven products: old-fashioned rolled oats, canned green beans, canned corn, flour, sugar and elbow macaroni pasta.

The only item Walmart doesn’t have the best price on is long-grain enriched rice. However, the cheapest competitor only beats its price by about $0.01 per ounce.

Target

After Walmart, Target’s prices are extremely competitive for more than one staple item.

For example, while Walmart’s price on canned green beans and canned corn is $0.68, Target’s is just one cent higher at $0.69. Also, Target’s price on 16 ounces of elbow macaroni is $0.99 — just one cent higher than Walmart’s $0.98. The same holds true for old-fashioned oats: A 42-ounce container at Target is $3.99, while at Walmart, it’s $3.98.

Aldi

Aldi has the best price on long-grain enriched rice — about 4.5 cents per ounce. The next-cheapest price was at Walmart — about 5.5 cents per ounce. Canned green beans at Aldi are $0.69 for a 14.5-ounce can — the same price as Target and $0.01 cent higher than Walmart.

However, canned corn is $0.06 to $0.07 higher than Target and Walmart. Aldi also had the best price on flour after Walmart — 5 pounds for $2.55 versus Walmart’s price of $2.38.

Kroger

Kroger doesn’t have the cheapest price on any of the pantry staples listed, but it did have some competitive prices on a couple of products.

For example, its price of $0.99 for 16 ounces of elbow macaroni is only $0.01 higher than Walmart and the same price as Target. Additionally, it has the second-cheapest price on 4 pounds of sugar after Walmart — $3.19 versus $3.14.

Editor’s note: Pricing and availability may vary depending on location.

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