9 Grocery-Brand Snacks That Deserve More Attention

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There are plenty of grocery stores to patronize, and even more grocery-brand snacks to choose from. The snack aisle can feel overwhelming with so many options and dominating name brands. But there are plenty of incredible snacks from your favorite grocery store brands, too. If you're looking to find some non-name-brand items to add to your pantry, we've rounded up a handful of the best options. Not only that, but these are all underrated, meaning you might not have even known about them. 

Each of these is delicious and deserves a little more recognition. Nearly every item is highly regarded in a previous Tasting Table taste test or article, which means that our writers have personally tried almost everything on this list to vouch for it (except for one that recently changed). That way, you know everything is good, and now you can narrow down what kind of snack mood you're in — sweet, savory, crunchy, chewy, there's a little bit of everything. If you have room in your cabinet, you might want to grab one of each!

When you think of trail mix, you might think of nuts, chocolates, and candy-coated pieces. But there's a whole world of flavors out there to consider. Aldi specifically has over a dozen trail mix options, so you might not have considered the Aldi Southern Grove Sweet & Spicy Cajun Trail Mix among the best. It came in first place in our Aldi trail mix ranking, and it also ranked quite high in a general Aldi spicy snack round-up. The mix is delightfully complex with sweet, spicy, and salty elements.

We get peanuts and almonds, which are somewhat expected, but everything else is unique and creates a fascinating mixture that you might not think would work. We have spicy Cajun-style corn sticks, roasted corn, honey-roasted sesame sticks, and, best of all, butter toffee peanuts. The latter of which offers a crunchy and sweet addition that truly creates a compelling flavor profile on the tongue. We encourage you to give it a try, even if it sounds like the elements won't work.

Nacho tortilla chips already have a name brand associated with them: Doritos. But there are many other options on the market, including Aldi's Clancy's brand. The Clancy's Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips were the runner-up for best gluten-free snacks at Aldi because of their texture and cheesy profile. These are explicitly labeled gluten-free, making them a fantastic option for those who want to avoid gluten. Doritos, on the other hand, are not outright labeled as gluten-free. 

Clancy's are thin and crunchy, but they can hold up well when dunked in your preferred dip. The cheesy element is flavorful, and some people say it's a great Doritos alternative, while others say it tastes the same. Clancy might not be the first nacho cheese chip that comes to mind, which means they are certainly underrated. If you love Doritos and you want to save some money, give these a try.

If you are familiar with shrimp chips from Asian markets, then you might think there is no way Trader Joe's could make a comparable product, but you would be surprised. Plenty of people really enjoy the Trader Joe's Garlic Shrimp Chips, whether they appreciate the flavor or simply don't have access to an Asian supermarket nearby. When we tried it, the balance of garlic and shrimp flavors made it enticing to eat. Each chip has visible and prominent seasoning, so you know you won't get a boring bite. It's perfectly savory, with a wonderfully light, airy, yet incredibly crunchy texture. 

If you have access to an Asian market, it certainly doesn't hurt to support a small local business. However, the TJ's version is a welcome and underrated alternative, since you wouldn't expect them there. Don't skip these next time you're picking out chips at Trader Joe's; they're pretty new, from late May 2026, so you might not have come across them yet. Once you try them, they probably won't last very long in your household. Eat them alone or try pairing them with tuna salad.

We get it, there are a lot of potato chip flavors out there. Common ones might include plain, salted, barbecue, or salt and vinegar; even that last one doesn't necessarily appeal to every consumer. So, a ketchup-flavored chip might also fly under the radar for a lot of U.S. customers (it's more popular in Canada). However, the Trader Joe's Ketchup Flavored Lattice Potato Chips are a fantastic option to add to your cart. It has the tang of vinegar, but not quite as strong as a salt and vinegar chip, and then it has a slight touch of umami from the tomato powder and sweetness from sugar. 

This is a complex and easily snackable item. The flavor itself makes it underrated, and it's worth trying if you can muster the courage. When we bought these chips for the first time, we were amazed and wished that we had tried them sooner. After giving them a taste, you might realize they are not so quirky after all and that the flavors pair wonderfully. Customers think they are delicious and find it hard to pace themselves when eating them. It doesn't hurt that they make the perfect road trip snack, along with other TJ's nibbles.

Sprouts has plenty of snack options on its shelves, but we doubt the Freeze Dried Mangosteen ever made it onto your shopping list. The 1.05-ounce bag is small and hidden amongst all the other items, so it's not necessarily easy to spot. It doesn't help that the packaging is somewhat plain and unassuming (especially if you are unfamiliar with mangosteen). When you pick up fruit-based snacks, you might be buying those little gummies or fruit leathers; a freeze-dried option might not even have been a consideration. 

Next time you're trolling the Sprouts aisles, keep an eye out for the mangosteen because it provides a complex, interesting, tropical flavor that you can't replicate with other fruits. The freeze-dried element adds an extra crunchy texture when you're in the mood for something more dynamic than a basic potato chip. They are slightly tangy, partially sweet, but totally delicious — it's comparable to a blend of lychee, strawberry, pineapple, peach, and grape. The product was considered a must-buy among Sprouts-brand snacks because it's so easy to devour.

There are a plethora of plain potato chips out there, so how good could a Great Value one be? Well, it turns out Walmart's Great Value Ripple Potato Chips are a sleeper hit that rivals other grocery brand chips. It beat out a bunch of other store-brand chips in our ranking, including Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, for first place out of 16 options — that's to say, it's extremely good. The ripple texture adds mouthfeel, while the oil and salt only enhance the overall flavor of the potato base. 

It's almost like the spuds melt in your mouth, with the perfect combination of potato and salt. The chips are highly rated on Walmart's website, with thousands of reviews — most of which are 4 or 5 stars. They are loved for their durability, which makes them excellent for dipping. Others say that they're similar to Lay's or Ruffles, so don't overlook these plain-looking chips on your next Walmart run. They are more than meets the eye.

We're back with another trail mix option, but this time from Target. The Good & Gather's Dill Pickle Trail Mix features peanuts, corn sticks, almonds, and other ingredients coated in dill seasoning. The dill pickle element makes it more of a hidden gem than a more widely known flavor combo with things like white chocolate chips or M&M knock-off candies.

Plenty of people find dill pickles disgusting, but they might appreciate them in trail mix form. You won't get the wet, textural issues that might make pickles unpleasant to eat. Dill pickles may seem like a funky trail mix flavor, but this stands out for its tangy, zesty seasoning that coats every bite. Rather than wet pickle, you get dill and garlic notes on crunchy add-ins like corn sticks, pepitas, and almonds. Favorite Day used to carry a very similar dill pickle trail mix, which ranked No. 2 in a Favorite Day trail mix taste test, but it looks like it was swapped with the Good & Gather version (the ingredients are extremely similar). If you've seen this trail mix but never made the jump to get it, now is a good time.

It can be easy to overlook the Good & Gather Strawberry Mango Twisted Fruit Ropes in Target's snack aisle, but they deserve a spot in your cart. They might seem geared toward kids for lunch time or a soccer practice snack, but anyone can enjoy them. Our writer, who considered them a must-have Target snack, said these had a welcome, unexpected fruity tang. This helps them avoid feeling too sweet or overly sugary, which can be the case with some fruit snacks. 

Plenty of reviews on Target's website back up the sentiment that they're sour but still incredibly fruity. One reviewer even said they taste like a glass of juice. The fruit-tang combination is because they are made with real fruit and vegetable juices. One thing to note is that while they might look Twizzlers-esque, that's just their shape. They won't peel, but don't let that deter you. They're wonderfully chewy with a real fruit flavor that some even say tastes homemade.

You can certainly find plenty of salt and vinegar chips at grocery stores from big-name brands, but Whole Foods has a unique spin on the flavor. Its 365 Himalayan Salt and Apple Cider Vinegar Kettle Chips are a must-try that you might have passed by thinking they were ordinary. They certainly look average by the packaging alone. It offers a similar profile, sure, but they're a little more complex and nuanced thanks to the addition of apple cider vinegar. The ingredient imparts a mildly sweet tang to the potato chips, enhancing the flavor. 

Even the Himalayan salt adds depth, making it well worth snacking on. The potato chip has gotten multiple accolades from Tasting Table writers. One considered it one of the best Whole Foods snacks to buy, while another ranked it the second-best salt and vinegar chip among 13 brands. These are definitely satisfying to nosh on because of the upgraded taste and appearance.

To be considered for this list, the item had to be exceptional and rated highly by Tasting Table staff — save for the Target trail mix, which was recently revamped, but still came highly regarded. After that, we were specifically looking for things that would be considered underrated, such as options that already have popular name-brand versions of the snack or with mundane, easy-to-miss packaging. In the case of the former, you might not think a grocery-store brand offers a comparable product. 

Some of these fly under the radar because they offer unique flavors that might not appeal to the average customer, or perhaps they are one of many types of said snack — for example, there are a lot of spicy snacks from Aldi that you might not think a trail mix would be among the top options.