If you have kids, you almost certainly have a bag of chicken nuggets in your freezer right now. Even if you don’t have kids, nuggets likely have a place in your kitchen — or at least in your heart. They’re super-fast, protein-packed, and pretty hard to resist. And there are all sorts of ways you can turn them into an adult-friendly dinner. But not all nuggets are created equal. Some bake up crisp, while others are gummy.

We went on the hunt for the best crispy, crunchy, cinnamon-y snacks and found a few surprises.

You’ll want to make a beeline for Costco’s freezer section.

Not all veggie burgers are ideal for the grill. But these are!

We did rounded up all the options we could find and these were the best.

It’s no surprise those bags of frozen meatballs are a top seller at IKEA’s U.S. stores. But the bright-blue tubes of Kalles Kaviar smoked fish roe spread? No way. Who buys those? Turns out, lots of people. In fact, they’re the most popular of all IKEA’s seafood products. And those bland-looking cylinders of dry crispbread? They’re a best-seller too, as are those suspect-looking jars of pickled fish fillets.

Let's talk turkey. You can order a bunch of Thanksgiving birds on the internet. Find out if they're worth the extra effort and the price tag.

I take my grocery shopping very seriously. I’m not opposed to hitting three or more stores in one trip to get exactly the ingredients I want, at the price I want. Trader Joe’s is one of my usual stops, and not just because of the tubs of kitty cat cookies. Or the tiny ice cream cones. Or the Candy Cane Joe-Joe’s, which I wait for all year.

We investigated how much it would cost to buy the ingredients in Giada's pasta delivery box.

Not every Kirkland product hits it out of the park (Charmin still beats Kirkland TP by a mile), but there's a baker's dozen of food stuff that wins every time.

Could a boxed mix compare to homemade pancakes? The only way to find out would be to try every pancake mix we could get our hands on. Our favorite is easy to find.

Target might not come first to mind when you’re shopping for a ready-made dessert. And, to be honest, that’s probably not going to change. There’s just not a huge selection. But when desperate times call for desperate measures and you need a dessert (and a bunch of hangers, a serving platter, and dish soap all at once), your best bet is to make a bee-line for the freezer case. There you’ll hopefully find the Archer Farms Crème Brûlée.

Of all the Archer Farms grocery products available at Target (and they number in the hundreds), the most popular are the straight-up snacks. In fact, the top six most popular items are basically some variation of trail mix. Is it simply the result of impulse buys as customers work up an appetite trying on clothes or shopping for dinnerware by Chip and Joanna Gaines? Or are these snacks really so good they leave all the other products in the dust? Of course I had to find out.

As Jane Austen once said, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of a mouth, must love pizza.” Okay, maybe I’m misquoting her a bit, but the sentiment rings true. I’ve never in my life met a person who didn’t like pizza — not even the cheese-hater I married.

When you’re on the hunt for a fabulous cheddar cheese, you turn to an artisanal shop or the gourmet cheese counter, right? No need! Turns out, the regular ol’ dairy case at your supermarket has two of the fanciest sharp cheddars you can buy, for around six bucks a block. Buy one of these for your cheese board or your next batch of mac and cheese. This sharp cheddar, made primarily with milk from cows grazing on the lush grasses of Ireland, is aged for more than two years.

We’ve compared Costco’s bulk bargains to the store-brand deals at Trader Joe’s before (See: We Compared Prices for 21 Items at Trader Joe’s and Costco – A Clear Pattern Emerged), but this time we’re putting Costco to a much bigger test: Walmart. Walmart is known for its rock-bottom prices, and we just had to see how Costco measured up.

I recently spent hours examining every yogurt label I could find to determine which yogurts have the least amount of sugar. I was focusing on toddler yogurts for this story, but it got me thinking about the yogurts I eat too. It was shocking, truly, to discover most yogurts have loads of added sugar. I had frequently heard this was the case, but I assumed it was the “dessert” yogurts like strawberry cheesecake or cookies and cream. Not the classics like plain ol’ strawberry.

From morning bagels to lunchtime sandwiches to dinnertime burgers, bread is often the cornerstone of our meals. So we wanted to know which stores have the best prices, as well as selection. To satisfy our curiosity (and help you shop smarter) we took a tour through three common stores: Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Costco. We found out that Whole Foods definitely has the best selection of organic options (no surprise), but you’ll pay at least a dollar more for them.

Let’s face it: We all know that pre-assembled veggie platters at the supermarket are more expensive than buying the veggies separately and prepping them yourself. But who wants the hassle of washing and chopping and arranging all those vegetables? Could the convenience really cost that much more? In a word: Yes. Let’s take a look at Whole Foods, for example. The store is known for its high-quality and mostly organic produce, typically sold at not-exactly-bargain prices.

I love to make rich, gooey mac and cheese from scratch with a creamy béchamel, heaping handfuls of sharp cheddar, and some Parmesan tossed in for good measure. Or if I’m keeping it simple, I’ll make a quick sauce of heavy cream reduced until thick, with some herbs and cheese whisked in. I also have a special love for the cheap, buck-a-box stuff, too, mainly because my kids can whip it up themselves whenever they need an after-school snack.

The shelves of bread at my local grocery store are a dazzling display of nut, seed, and grain diversity. Just a handful of producers offer more than 20 kinds of wheat breads in flavors like Honey Chia, Oatnut, and Quinoa. Some are thin-sliced and some are “long loaf,” and they can sport anywhere from just a few grains to a whopping 24. It’s a lot to take in.

It used to be that if you wanted an alternative to dairy milk, you had to go to the health food store. Not anymore. Most supermarkets have a pretty decent selection to choose from, particularly if you’re looking for almond, rice, or soy. But no one can beat the mind-boggling selection on Amazon, where you can usually get great deals when you buy in bulk. Here are the best shelf-stable, non-dairy milks with the highest scores and most glowing reviews from fellow Amazon shoppers.

Most grocery stores have an in-house bakery department. And if you happen to be there when the latest batch of bread is pulled out of the oven, you can just kiss your willpower goodbye. It’s truly a lovely thing to have access to bread baked fresh daily right at your supermarket, but we can’t help but wonder if those fresh baked breads are more expensive than the packaged stuff on the shelves.

You won’t find the cheapest party platters at Whole Foods, but you will find a great selection. Every store offers nearly the same core assortment, which includes things like cheese platters, fruit platters, and deli meat platters. Then stores supplement with creative options like mac and cheese croquettes in Minnesota, empanadas in Los Angeles, and stuffed potato skins in New York City.

Costco and Trader Joe’s are both known for their super-low prices and good selection of organic products. Ditto for Aldi. Whole Foods has long been a go-to for organic foods, and now that it’s owned by Amazon, prices on some items have gotten a lot more competitive. So, even though shopping at each of these stores is a wildly different experience, we thought it made sense to compare the prices for some fruits and vegetables at each store.

We eat ice cream year-round, but ice pops? Ice pops seem to be tailor-made for summer. They’re fruity, icy refreshments on a stick. Like lemonade or juice, but in solid form! With ice pop season upon us (fun fact: We’re not calling them Popsicles because that’s a brand name like Kleenex and Xerox!), we figured it’s high time to find out which brands make the best ones. We limited our taste test strictly to fruit pops — no fro-yo or creamy treats to muddy the waters.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of breakfast I often think sweet — cereal, pancakes, toast with jam. Sure, I opt for eggs, too, and sausage or bacon on weekends, but the common denominator is that there aren’t any vegetables. And I’m not alone.

In the last few years cauliflower has undergone a renaissance. No longer found solely in floret form, this trendy crucifer has been riced, mashed, and made into gnocchi. And now it’s taking over your freezer aisle in forms that may surprise you. Wait, what? The freezer aisle is chock-full of cauliflower, the hottest veg trend? You bet.

In between the stacks of cookies and the potato chips, we found a few great options that can satisfy your cravings for crispy, crunchy bites — without all the junk.

Between movie nights at home, my kids’ after-school cravings, and my nervous-energy snacking while I work, it’s safe to say my family eats a lot of popcorn. Usually I pop plain kernels in my trusty silicone popcorn popper. It’s cheaper than (and just as fast as) the bags from the store, and I can control the sodium and flavorings, so I can legitimately call it a healthy snack.

Whole Foods has long had a bad rap for its high prices (hence its nickname “Whole Paycheck”). But between the expansion of its house brand, 365 Everyday Value, and the sheer buying power of its new owner, Amazon, prices on many items across the store have come down, out of the stratosphere, a bit.

Trader Joe’s is known for stocking its shelves with trendy, sometimes quirky, and often utterly crave-worthy snacks made just for the store — things like pickle-flavored popcorn, fried mochi squares, and apple pie cheddar cheese. There’s also the baking mixes, which are worth calling out. Although they’re not ready to eat right out of the box, almost all are ready to bake in less than five minutes.

There are those inexplicable individuals who abhor mayonnaise, and then there are the rest of us who say mayonnaise deserves a lot more credit. It’s a classic French “mother” sauce, after all. It’s almost pure fat, and any chef will tell you that fat is the best vehicle for flavor, and it’s super-versatile, able to mix into dressings, lubricate sandwiches, and help create crispy breaded crusts.

We don’t always have time to whip up a luxe Italian buttercream. Heck, sometimes even the quick frosting recipe on the back of the powdered sugar box is too tall an order. For those weeknights when you need to get some frosting on your cake (or cupcakes or cinnamon rolls) fast, a tub of ready-made frosting is your best friend. But choosing one is a big decision, because if you pick a bad one, you might as well toss the whole cake.

Between the vegan bakers, Paleo eaters, and lovers of all things coconut, there’s a big market for coconut oil out there — and manufacturers have certainly taken note. These days there’s coconut oil at every supermarket, not just the health food stores. Heck, even HomeGoods is flooded with the stuff. There are dozens of brands to choose from, but there’s only one brand we reach for: Artisana Organics.

How many of these have you tried?

Tucked somewhere near the cans of condensed milk and Jell-O pudding at the supermarket (or maybe by the hot chocolate) is a canister that will change your life. What’s in this oft-overlooked and unassuming little package? It’s malted milk powder. Okay, so malted milk powder might not change your entire life, but it very well may change the way you bake.

Happy (chocolatey) baking!