There are certain grocery items that inspire serious brand loyalty. Maybe it’s the peanut butter you grew up eating, the only mayonnaise you’ll allow near your potato salad or the cereal that simply doesn’t taste right from a store-brand box.
But with grocery prices taking a bigger bite out of our budgets, knowing when the name on the package actually matters—and when it doesn’t—can make a difference at checkout. And who better to ask than the people who spend their lives thinking about ingredients and whether they’ll actually affect the finished dish?
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So we asked five chefs which grocery items they’re perfectly happy buying generic or store brand, and where they think paying extra for a familiar name is worth it. Their answers ranged from pantry staples to frozen foods, but one inexpensive ingredient kept showing up again and again.
In fact, every chef we asked mentioned it.
Their reasoning was surprisingly consistent too. When an ingredient is simple, standardized and mostly working behind the scenes, our chefs would rather save their money for ingredients where quality, sourcing or craftsmanship will make a noticeable difference.
Here’s the grocery staple our experts say you can confidently grab from the store-brand shelf—and the foods where they’d rather splurge.
The Big Reveal: Why 5 Chefs All Buy Generic Sugar
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If you’ve been automatically reaching for the familiar bag of sugar, our chefs say you may be spending extra for a name that doesn’t make much difference once you start cooking.
All five chefs we spoke with named granulated sugar among the grocery staples they’re comfortable buying generic or store brand.
Chef Dennis Littley of Ask Chef Dennis, was the most decisive. Granulated sugar was his No. 1 generic grocery buy because it’s a standardized, single-ingredient product. As long as the package contains sugar and has been stored properly, he says a store brand should perform just as well in almost any recipe. “The brand name won’t make your cake rise higher or your cookies taste better,” he says.
Luke Shaffer, chef and instructor at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, agrees. Sugar is among the basic pantry staples he buys generic, along with flour, baking soda, baking powder and cornstarch. For everyday home cooking, Shaffer doesn’t see a reason to spend more on those basics unless he needs something specialized, such as organic or gluten-free flour.
Former pastry chef turned financial planner Bridget Venus Grimes takes a similar approach. She buys generic flour, sugar and baking soda because she feels they “serve as the foundation of a dish but aren’t defining it.”
Robyn Conley Downs of Real Food Whole Life follows a similar rule, choosing generic when the ingredient list is essentially identical to the name brand. Granulated sugar makes that list, along with other basics like baking soda and frozen vegetables.
And rounding out our five-for-five consensus is Chef Brian Buchna of Marcel’s Culinary Experience. He also skips the name brand for sugar, along with baking soda and baking powder.
Five chefs, five votes for saving money on sugar. That sounds pretty sweet to us.
The ‘Single-Ingredient’ Rule: How Chefs Decide When to Go Generic
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So how do chefs decide when the store brand is good enough? Several of our experts pointed to what’s sometimes called the “single-ingredient rule.” The idea is pretty much what it sounds like: When a product contains only one ingredient—or a very short list of simple ingredients—there may be less separating the store-brand version from its name-brand competition.
Downs says she starts by flipping over the package and comparing ingredient lists. If the generic and name-brand versions contain essentially the same things, particularly with basic pantry staples, she’ll generally choose the less expensive option. Her examples include salt, dry oats and black beans.
Shaffer looks at it another way: Is there anything about the product that would make one brand decidedly different from another? With something as simple as canned beans, he doesn’t think so. “If I’m buying black beans, the name brand isn’t going to have some sort of magical recipe for black beans,” he says.
Buchna also looks for foods with very few ingredients, reasoning that simpler products are more likely to offer comparable quality at a lower price.
But there’s an important catch: single ingredient doesn’t automatically mean identical quality.
Littley points to extra-virgin olive oil as the perfect example. It might technically contain just one ingredient, but flavor and quality can vary tremendously.
Grimes uses a slightly different test: How important is the ingredient to the finished dish? If it’s working in the background, she’s comfortable saving. If it’s front and center, she’ll consider spending more. Chocolate, for example, is one place where she says quality can absolutely affect the finished recipe.
In other words, read the label, but don’t stop there. Think about what that ingredient is actually being asked to do and its role in the finished dish.
Related: We Asked 3 Chefs the Best Thing To Make With Frozen Broccoli, and They All Said the Same Thing
Other Grocery Staples Chefs Never Buy Name Brand
Sugar may have been the runaway favorite, but our chefs had plenty of other places where they’re happy to skip the big-name label.
1. Basic Baking Staples
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If you’re restocking your baking cabinet, there may be several opportunities to save.
Shaffer’s generic shopping doesn’t stop at sugar. He also saves on flour, baking soda, baking powder and cornstarch—and he’s not alone. Grimes also reaches for store-brand flour, baking soda and baking powder, along with brown and confectioners’ sugars.
The overlap makes sense considering how both chefs view these ingredients: They’re basic building blocks that do important work in a recipe without necessarily defining its flavor.
2. Frozen Fruits and Vegetables
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Not everyone starts in the baking aisle when they’re looking to save.
Shawna Clark, founder of Healthy Foodie Girl, heads to the freezer section, where store-brand organic frozen vegetables are her No. 1 generic buy.
“If the store brand is organic and the only ingredient is the vegetable itself, that’s an easy choice for me,” she says. Clark regularly uses frozen vegetables for quick sides, soups and casseroles, and she says she doesn’t notice a difference simply because another company’s name is on the bag. She’s also happy to buy store-brand organic frozen fruit.
3. Canned Beans
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For Downs, the best store-brand bargain isn’t in the baking aisle or the freezer section. It’s a humble can of beans. She named canned beans as her No. 1 generic grocery buy, saying there’s often little difference between generic and name brand when the ingredient lists are essentially the same.
So before paying extra for a familiar label, flip the can around and compare what’s actually inside to the generic option—you may just be surprised by how similar they really are.
The Exceptions: Grocery Items Chefs Say Are Worth the Name-Brand Splurge
Our chefs may be enthusiastic store-brand shoppers, but none suggested buying generic across the board. When an ingredient contributes a distinctive flavor, texture or quality to a dish, that’s where they’re more willing to open their wallets.
1. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
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Extra-virgin olive oil was one of the clearest exceptions to the single-ingredient rule.
Littley spends more for a good EVOO because, despite technically being a single-ingredient product, its flavor and quality can vary dramatically. It’s a good example of why the single-ingredient rule is a starting point, not a guarantee.
Shawna takes it a step further. She’ll spend more not only on good extra-virgin olive oil, but also on balsamic vinegar from Modena because she knows she’ll notice the difference in the finished dish.
If you’re using olive oil where its flavor will be prominent versus simply greasing a pan, this may be one place where our experts would move some of the money they saved on sugar.
2. Chocolate and Vanilla
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Here’s where Grimes’ pastry chef experience comes in handy.
She’ll happily save on the sugar and flour forming the foundation of a dessert, but chocolate and vanilla are another story. She says good chocolate and real vanilla are worth spending more on when their flavors help define what you’re making.
3. Tomatoes, Cheese and Other Flavor-Forward Ingredients
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Shawna applies the same thinking to other ingredients where flavor takes center stage. She’ll spend more on San Marzano tomatoes from Italy, Parmigiano Reggiano and Italian pasta because she feels the quality is noticeable in the finished dish.
Grimes points out that even here, what counts as a splurge can depend on the cook. Someone who doesn’t notice much difference between canned tomatoes may be perfectly happy buying generic, she says, while another cook might find specialty tomatoes make a noticeable difference in a tomato-forward dish.
Plus, sometimes the deciding factor has nothing to do with culinary logic.
For Shaffer, certain name brands are worth buying simply because they’re the flavors he grew up with. Peter Pan peanut butter, Cheez-It crackers and cereals such as Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Puffs make his splurge list for one simple reason: nostalgia.
Final Takeaways
In the end, the name on the package matters a lot less than what’s inside and what you’re asking it to do. Read the ingredients, think about how prominently the food will show up in the finished dish and save your grocery dollars for the places where you’ll actually taste the distinction.
Your sugar bowl probably won’t know the difference.
Sources:
Dennis Littley is a classically trained chef, culinary educator and founder of Ask Chef Dennis. He has more than 45 years of professional culinary experience. Luke Shaffer is manager of content development at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. A classically trained chef, he has worked as an executive chef and in professional kitchens ranging from fine dining to independent restaurants. Bridget Venus Grimes is a former pastry chef and current certified financial planner at WealthChoice. Robyn Conley Downs is a cookbook author, Cornell nutrition-certified recipe developer and founder of Real Food Whole Life, where she has developed and tested hundreds of original recipes. Brian Buchna is a chef at Marcel’s Culinary Experience in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where he teaches cooking classes and workshops. Shawna Clark is the founder, recipe developer and chef behind Healthy Foodie Girl, where she specializes in approachable, better-for-you recipes.Related: We Asked 4 Chefs Their Favorite Canned Soup, and Their Answers Will Inspire Dinner Tonight
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