Our 7 Most Popular Grocery Store Taste Tests
Our writers’ pantry, refrigerator, and freezer shelves are looking a little ridiculous these days — because we keep asking them to buy, say, more than a dozen jars of salsa, all the canned biscuits they can find, every jar of Alfredo sauce, etc. But it’s all in the name of research, so it’s totally worth it! See, we held a lot of Official Taste Tests this year, in attempts to find some of the best groceries out there. And you guys, um, ate them up.
These were seven of our most popular taste tests that ran in 2019. (Note: For each test, we only included brands that could be found in mainstream grocery stores. No special online ordering or fancy artisanal stuff. )
1. Salsa
We narrowed the playing field and only considered salsas with a medium spice level and no “creative” add-ins (a little charred pepper was fine, but no corn or mango, as that’s a whole other story). “Some were really watery, some had unappetizingly large chunks of tomato,” our writer says. “One tasted strongly of apple cider vinegar, another one tasted like a bowl of blackened pepper skins, and one had such an overwhelming cumin flavor it was like chomping on a spoonful of toasted cumin seeds. Most of the rest simply tasted like diced canned tomatoes or tomato soup, with hardly any peppers, garlic, or lime to lift them into salsa territory. Basically, most of them were pretty meh.” But there was one clear winner.
Read more: I Tried 14 Jars of Salsa and Now This Is the Only One I’ll Buy
2. Cornbread
We did this test leading up to Thanksgiving, but if you make chili (ever), then you’ll care about our results here. Hint: The winning brand is probably not one you’ve ever paid attention to before!
Read more: I Tried 9 Boxed Cornbread Mixes and Now This Is the Only One I’ll Buy
3. Chicken Soup
When you’re sick, you want to be able to open a can of chicken soup and get something that tastes pretty darn close to homemade. Our official go-to tastes like it was made from scratch — and it has big, fat spiral noodles, thick carrot slices, and generous chunks of white meat chicken.
Read more: I Tried 8 Cans of Chicken Soup and There Were 2 Clear Winners
4. Salad Kits
We started off 2019 by eating every single salad that’s sold in America. While we clearly don’t STILL have these same bags in our fridge, we have found that there are certain kits we keep buying, 12 months later.
Read more: We Tried Nearly Every Salad Kit in America. Here Are the Best of the Best.
5. Frozen Meatballs
The perfect meatball (both homemade and frozen) is incredibly hard to find. But we found two good options (for the latter category). Our winning balls work on their own as an appetizer or tossed with your favorite pasta dish. They’re satisfyingly (but not overwhemingly) savory, and just dense enough (without being too dense).
Read more: I Tried 11 Bags of Frozen Meatballs and Now These Are the Only Ones I’ll Buy
6. Canned Biscuits
Our Resident Biscuit Expert, Meghan Splawn, insisted on running this taste test herself. “While canned biscuits will never replicate the exact flavor or texture of homemade, they definitely still have their place at the table,” she says. Her winning pick baked up tall, flaky, buttery. Not too shabby for popping out of a can!
Read more: I Tried Nearly a Dozen Tubes of Canned Biscuits and Now This Is the Only One I’ll Buy
7. Jarred Alfredo Sauce
Any guesses as to which brand won? We’ll help you out; it’s the same brand that makes our favorite jarred red pasta sauce.
Read more: I Tried 10 Jars of Alfredo Sauce and Now This Is the Only One I’ll Buy