9 Store-Bought Whole Wheat Breads, Ranked Worst To Best

White bread is perfect for some types of sandwiches — it's soft, buttery, and neutral enough that it won't overpower the other ingredients you're working with. But when you're trying to make your sandwich taste a bit more nourishing, you may want to turn to whole wheat bread instead. It has a stronger, more distinct flavor than white bread, and it often provides a similar level of softness (although some whole wheat breads are sturdier and can therefore hold up to more ingredients).

Go to the bread aisle of your local grocery store, though, and you'll see that there are seemingly countless whole wheat bread options. How do you know which brands are best? I've tasted nine different whole wheat breads from different brands to help you find exactly the loaf you're looking for. I evaluated these breads on flavor, softness vs. sturdiness, and overall texture to determine which ones land near the top of the ranking and which belong at the bottom. You'll be that much more informed the next time you buy a loaf of whole wheat bread.

As one of the cheapest whole wheat breads on this list by far, it's not totally unexpected that Signature Select's 100% Whole Wheat Bread landed in the lowest-ranked spot on this list. It's actually not terrible, but it just doesn't have that much flavor at all. Generally, I'd expect a more pronounced wheat flavor from whole wheat bread, but this stuff basically just tastes like the white bread the brand also stocks. The texture of the bread is quite soft — perhaps too soft to really hold up to a lot of ingredients — although a bit less than equivalent to its white bread. The slices are also a bit smaller than most of the other varieties I tried here.

Overall, it's not a terrible choice if you're just looking for a basic bread to make something like bulk peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with. But basically any other loaf on this list is going to promise more flavor (and many of them offer a better texture, as well).

If you frequent the bread section of the grocery store, then you've undoubtedly seen plenty of Nature's Own breads there before. The brand's 100% Whole Wheat Bread is fine but nothing special. Honestly, it tastes and feels shockingly similar to Signature Select's 100% Whole Wheat Bread, and I probably wouldn't notice a significant difference between them if I hadn't taste-tested them side by side.

However, this loaf does have some advantage over the Signature Select one. First of all, the slices feel just a bit sturdier. No, they're not going to hold your ingredients like, say, a baguette, but you might be able to stack on a few more slices of cheese. The texture of the crust is also a bit better here. It's glossy and substantial, and it actually has a stronger flavor than the center of the bread. That added bit of complexity keeps this bread out of the lowest spot on this list.

Trader Joe's sells some seriously delicious bread (including many sliced breads), so I assumed that the popular store brand's Sliced Whole Wheat Bread would also deliver. However, I should have kept my expectations in check — after all, sliced whole wheat bread is rarely going to taste incredible all on its own. Admittedly, though, I was a bit disappointed with this loaf. Although it has a nice, soft, uniform texture, the mouthfeel of the bread is ultimately kind of boring. I wish there were some nuts or seeds in there just to make things more interesting.

Flavor-wise, this bread is just okay. It has a bit more flavor than the worst-ranked selections in this list, but it doesn't offer the same pronounced wheat-y notes that the better options do. It's a solid choice if you're looking for a loaf of sliced sandwich bread and you don't want to opt for white, but other grocery chains will probably have a wider selection of better whole wheat breads to choose from.

Now we're starting to get into the loaves that are substantially better than the worst-ranked options listed here. Sara Lee's 100% Whole Wheat Bread definitely isn't going to be the most delicious or groundbreaking loaf of bread you'll ever get in your life, but it's solid for a basic sandwich bread loaf. There's a luxurious softness there that's less sturdy than I would prefer but that makes a great toast or simple sandwich. Although the wheat flavor isn't super strong, there's enough of that complexity and slight bitterness there to make things more interesting.

What really shines about this loaf, though, is its element of butteriness. That certainly contributes to the softness of the loaf, but it also gives it a richer flavor that makes your sandwiches feel more substantial on the flavor front. Although I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase this loaf again, it's a decent option when you just want a simple and easy sandwich bread that won't put a big dent in your grocery budget.

Whole Foods' 365 brand has just about all the basics you could expect from any store brand, and some of them are pretty decent compared to the competition. That's true when it comes to the store's 365 Whole Wheat Bread. This is another relatively basic loaf — it doesn't really have any interesting textures or anything, and it doesn't offer a totally new whole wheat bread experience. However, it's a solid choice, especially when you prefer a smaller slice. This particular loaf features smaller and thinner slices than normal, which is perfect when you're making a sandwich in which you don't necessarily want the bread to dominate.

Something else I liked about this loaf is the fact that it has a flavor complexity that almost tastes like rye bread, even though that flavor is pretty subtle. It's definitely not my favorite bread on the list, but it could come in handy in some contexts.

Another solid store-brand option is Open Nature's 100% Whole Wheat Bread. It has a nice softness to it, but it's not too floppy — perfect for building sandwiches that have that distinct school cafeteria quality to them but that don't rely on bland-tasting white bread. There's also more flavor here than you might find in a lot of whole wheat breads. There's that slight, grain-like bitterness and complexity that just tastes wholesome.

Where this bread really shines, though, is the crust. It has a dynamic texture to it, with additional grains dotting it and adding a more interesting textural element to the loaf. That factor alone makes you feel like you're getting a higher-quality product, which isn't always the case when you're buying something from a store brand. Give this loaf a try if you're looking for a slightly elevated version of a typical store-bought whole wheat bread, but you can't find the higher-ranked options on this list.

I've tried a lot of Panera Bread's store-bought loaves before, and unfortunately, I've had a bad experience with almost all of them. They're often harder and dryer than you might expect from a store-bought loaf that's not from the actual bakery section, and I've found that they tend to have a bland flavor that doesn't even come close in quality to the bread the chain uses in its restaurants. However, the brand's 100% Whole Wheat Bread is an exception.

This is one of the denser loaves in this lineup, which I appreciate when it comes to making sandwiches. The slices have a graininess to them that yields an interesting texture in every bite of your sandwich or toast, and that distinguishes this style of bread from, say, a loaf of white bread. Admittedly, I did find this bread sort of dry, but considering that it had so much else going for it, it deserves its number three spot on this list.

I was actually quite surprised at just how much I enjoyed Rudi's Organic Whole Wheat Bread. When I took the first slice out of the bag, I was immediately skeptical. The bread felt quite dense — perhaps too dense for a store-bought loaf. Partially thanks to that denseness, it also felt sort of dry. I was almost ready to write it off, but then I took a bite.

The flavor complexity in this bread is off the charts compared to most of the other options on this list. You can actually taste the grain, so you're not dealing with that unfortunate blandness that seems all too common in store-bought loaves. The graininess in this loaf is palpable, which makes the texture less one-note. Plus, that density makes this bread excellent for building large, towering sandwiches with plenty of fillings. The dryness is somewhat of a drawback, but it doesn't detract from the loaf so much that I wouldn't consider buying it again.

Finally, we've reached the most delicious store-bought whole wheat bread of the bunch. It's Pepperidge Farm's 100% Whole Wheat Whole Grain Bread, and it's a must-try if you're in the market for a loaf of whole wheat. Texturally speaking, it's definitely the most interesting loaf on our list. Not only do you have the flakes of wheat on the crust, but the whole grains inside of the actual loaf give you a chewy, grainier texture that makes every bite more interesting. At the same time, it has an approachable softness to it that beats out the hard, dry density that you'll find in some other loaves. This is what earns it its number one spot in this ranking.

However, the flavor definitely delivers in this loaf, as well. Thanks to its complexity and pronounced wheat flavor, it's far from boring, making it perfect for toast, where it doesn't really need any other toppings to shine. However, it's also excellent for making sandwiches, as long as you don't load up on too many fillings (considering the softness of the bread).

I chose these whole wheat breads based on availability at several local grocery stores. I evaluated these loaves based on overall flavor, texture, and softness as opposed to sturdiness. The best-ranked loaves of the bunch have an interesting texture that's less uniform than the lower-ranked varieties on this list. Additionally, I looked for breads that had a bolder, more pronounced flavor rather than the neutral notes that are sometimes expected from store-bought sandwich breads.