I Tried 12 Publix Prepared Foods And Ranked Them Worst To Best

Publix is a highly regarded grocery chain and for no shortage of reasons. One of its top-selling points is the many quality in-house items you can grab from the bakery or deli section. At the bakery, you can find top-tier pies and cakes. At the deli, the Pub Sub reigns supreme as the sandwich that can rival any chain deli offering. But what of the many food items that fall in between those two categories? This article works to bring some of those forgotten heroes — and losers — into the spotlight. 

With a focus on hearty sides, salads, and main proteins, I bought and tried 12 Publix prepared food items with the intent of finding the best and the worst that this grocery store had to offer. I evaluated price, originality, quality, and, of course, taste of each item, comparing it to its peers on the list and similar items you could get elsewhere. Here's which items I'll keep adding to my cart and which will stay languishing in their hot or cold storage.   

It's a truth universally acknowledged that deviled eggs can either be the best thing at the potluck or the worst. There is no in between with these things. It's fitting, then, that this six-count pack of deviled eggs represents one end of the spectrum for Publix prepared food. 

Unfortunately, it's the very worst that Publix has to offer. First, the egg white portion had the unpleasant flavor of stale water. I expect the rubbery white base to be a bland or nearly-neutral flavor in the deviled egg schematic, so the weird watery off-flavor was the first red flag. Then I got to the dreadful filling. 

The overall flavor profile was way too sweet, missing a hit of acidity, spice, or even savory richness to cut through it. I also found its overly creamy filling to be too one-note, something that could be easily remedied by the addition of crunchy pickle or relish. And why were there random black olive slivers used to adorn just half of the eggs? It seems like an endless amount of bad decisions were made in making these. It's best to give the whole affair a hard pass.

Pasta salad can offer a range of experiences. The creamy ones can feel like an amended batch of potato salad, with macaroni noodles taking over as the main starch but the mayo-heavy dressing and rich accompaniments staying the same. Others, like the Bowtie Feta Pasta Salad offered at Publix, are intended to be a less heavy, bright dish, combining acidity, salty cheese, and fresh, crunchy vegetables for a well-balanced side. 

Or at least, I think that's what this pasta salad was attempting. The reality was much more disappointing. To begin with, the feta was massively underwhelming, with a mild, barely salty flavor that faded way into the background. While I appreciate the fresh, crunchy vegetables, they too were very light on seasoning. Really, the main thing you taste is bland, starchy bowtie pasta, and as the pasta is the heaviest ingredient present, it's hard to escape that flavor. It's not necessarily gross, like the deviled eggs, but it still brings next to nothing to the table. 

Baked beans are often cooked in a sauce that combines the sweetness of molasses or brown sugar with the umami-richness of tomatoes, making them a classic complement to smoky barbecue and gooey mac and cheese. Publix's Old-Fashioned Deli Beans are a ready-made version of that, with the formula on the package noting it has brown sugar, tomato paste, mustard, and vinegar laced into the mix.  

After my first bite, I really can only confirm the presence of two of those ingredients. The brown sugar is certainly there, packing a syrupy, rich punch, and the tomato paste pops up in the aftertaste. As for the sharp kick of vinegar or mustard, I couldn't remotely sense those flavors in the lineup. The result is a heap of baked beans that taste more like candy than anything else. While I couldn't accuse it of being as bland as the bowtie pasta, the one-note sweetness was still quite off-putting. There are better and cheaper canned baked bean options mere feet away. 

With a comfort-guaranteed flavor and basic formula, macaroni and cheese is extremely hard to mess up. You can usually trust it as an order from any chain restaurant (with the exception of The Cheesecake Factory), and it normally doesn't disappoint at the grocery store deli station either. The Publix offering looked fairly promising, as it seemed heavy on the cheesy sauce. 

After a quick reheat, I was a little disappointed to find that the sauce still seemed a bit chunky, not creamy. This is a common issue with cold mac and cheese, and can often be remedied with some leftover pasta water, but you can't blame the reheat for the overall unappetizing texture. The noodles were so mushy as to easily become indistinguishable from the sauce. The word "sludge" comes to mind. Much of this can be ignored if the cheese flavor is bold enough, but, alas, this is firmly on the bland side of taste. The best compliment I can give it is that it's not as bland as the bowtie pasta salad or as noxiously sweet as the baked beans. I'd recommend grabbing your favorite boxed mac brand instead of this ready-made option.

As a fan of the Publix Italian Sub, I had high hopes that the Italian-style pinwheels would be a great grab-and-go option when the line at the deli counter is discouragingly long. And this wrap seems to have a lot of interesting things going for it. The bread in question is lavash, a unique leavened flatbread that works well as a wrap, while the filling is a hodgepodge of Italian deli staples, like ham, pepperoni, salami, provolone, and lettuce. 

When it comes to the Italian-style Pinwheels, everything is fairly generous in the portions except when it comes to the antipasto morsels, like pickled banana peppers and roasted red pepper. This is where the roll-ups fall flat, as all the meaty and cheesy filling in the world won't shine if they're not enhanced by some stellar condiments and toppings. Though the ingredient list shows a basil pesto aioli as the main spread, I couldn't detect it anywhere in this dry labyrinth of wrap. Basically, this item felt like an epic missed opportunity to use a bit of acid, fat, or heat to transform something good into something great.     

Publix typically offers two kinds of sandwich sliders in the ready-made section. The first is a Ham and Gouda Slider, and the second is a Turkey & Cheddar Slider. I opted for the latter because I felt like using Gouda cheese was an unfair advantage, and the turkey and cheddar combo seemed more of a humble option to go with. 

These were definitely an understated lunch option, combining basic turkey deli meat with cheddar, mayo, and a bit of mustard. What really makes this slider stand out is its choice in bread. Four King's Hawaiian rolls help take this prepared nosh from ordinary to stellar very quickly. Its sweet taste and pillowy texture are the perfect accompaniment to the salty cheese and savory turkey, offering more nuance than the Italian-style pinwheels. The one major catch with this dish? It would be infinitely cheaper — and still easy — to make at home. When I reach for a fast bite, I try not to waste my money on something I could have just as easily prepped and bagged in my own kitchen. Your money is better spent on more original items from Publix. 

A good, pre-made chicken Caesar salad is worth its weight in gold. Sure, you can shred the chicken and lettuce, toast up some croutons, and whip up some creamy homemade Caesar dressing on your own, but by the time you finish up, you'll have way more dirty dishes than any one salad recipe deserves. Publix's Deli Chicken Caesar Salad was one of the most expensive purchases in my lineup, so I expected it to deliver a high-quality product.

Right off the bat, I was impressed with the size and quality of chicken meat present. The other aspects, like the Parmesan flakes and croutons, were also generously portioned. The most important thing, as with all salads, is that it definitely tasted fresh, putting the humdrum macaroni and cheese and Italian-style pinwheels to shame. As far as the flavor goes, this definitely delivers a more satisfying salty, umami-richness than the sliders. Unsurprisingly, the one weak note is that of the dressing — you just can't get the same quality flavor from a pre-made packet of Caesar dressing that you get at a restaurant. The combination of the hefty price tag and lackluster dressing keeps this item in the dead center of the pack. 

Not everyone knows about the hot soup station in the Publix deli, and that's a shame. First, the prices are pretty competitive. I got a 12-ounce container of hot soup for $5.49, which is roughly the same size as a bowl of soup at Panera, which retails for $8.29 in my area (I'll explain the Panera comparison in just a second). Second, it has a pretty tasty and diverse lineup. The store typically offers four rotating flavors, with some popular options being the classic Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Tortilla, Broccoli and Cheddar, and the Chicken and Wild Rice. I selected the latter for my review, as I think it's one of the most soulful options for soup around.

I was immediately struck by the thick, creamy texture and how loaded it was with rice, chicken, and vegetables. It was giving hearty stew portions on a solid soup budget. Luckily, the flavor also rose to the occasion, offering savory comfort that was neither bland nor overly salty. In fact, the great taste of the soup was extremely familiar to me; a bit of sleuthing practically confirmed my suspicions. According to a Reddit poster, the soup company that supplies Publix is the same one that supplies Panera: Blount. Even if this can't be confirmed, I'd still claim this soup as an equal to the Panera flavor standard, and it's certainly cheaper. If soup is your bag — figuratively speaking — the Publix option is well worth a purchase. 

Potato salad is borderline a religion in the South. Some worship at the altar of mustard and relish-heavy bases; others only bend the knee to the creamy comfort of mayonnaise and hard-boiled egg-laden versions. Typically, the latter reigns supreme with the Southern crowd. Enter Publix's Southern-Style Potato Salad, a dish promising a classic combo of potatoes, mayo, boiled eggs, celery, and pickle relish. 

With my dim experience with Publix's deviled eggs, mac and cheese, and pasta salad, I was assuming this would be as dismal an offering. Luckily, what it got wrong with those was completely righted with this. First, it's properly seasoned and offers plenty of flavor in each bite. Second, the sweetness and tanginess of the pickle relish is perfectly balanced out by salty mayo and spicy mustard. Is it as good as a fresh homemade batch? No, but this is about trading a small bit of quality for a heap of convenience. Keep in mind this comes from a tough Southern critic. The difficulty of landing the dismount on the title "Southern-style potato salad" is enough to have me recommending this to anyone who craves a quick, easy, but no less tasty side dish. 

As a cook who refuses to buy a smoker but loves the tasty food it produces, I'm often scouring my local barbecue shacks for a good brisket, smoked chicken, and pulled pork. My one hang-up is that whatever protein I pick will often come super pre-seasoned or already slathered in a specific barbecue sauce, leaving me no room to customize. It seemed that Publix was offering a solution to my problems, selling plain smoked pulled pork by the pound at the deli counter. 

If you're a fan of using rotisserie chicken for meal prepping, let me recommend you consider using some of Publix's pork to spice up your game. Lightly seasoned with a bold smoky flavor, I got all the benefits of smoked pork butt without any of the effort. Imagine what this could do for your next bowl of pork posole or even the meaty twist it could give to mac and cheese. While it's on the pricier side (keeping it from taking first or second place), you have to keep in mind that this is weighed without any bones, so you're technically getting more meat than you would with a pound of a whole rotisserie chicken. Still, what makes this so great is the non-artificial smoke flavor. I can make a tender pork butt in the crockpot any day, but the smokiness can only be attained through hours of slow roasting in a smoker — or a quick trip to Publix.  

Long have the people proclaimed Publix fried chicken as a delight, and long have I ignored them. I've always been biased toward grocery store deli fried chicken, with Winn Dixie always holding a special, jealous place in my heart. But for this article, I was finally ready to test out whether this item deserved all the hoopla. I went in, ordered a piping hot duo of fried thigh and breast, and took a tentative bite. 

Had "Pride and Prejudice" taught me nothing? Pre-conceived notions and snobbishness had almost kept me from enjoying some of the best fried chicken I've ever had outside of a Baptist Church potluck. The breading was thick and audibly crunchy, packing enough sodium and seasoning to accent the whole bite without making it overly salty. The meat itself was incredibly moist and tender for both the dark meat and the white meat (a crucial distinction that other fried chicken places often stumble on). I even liked eating it on the second reheat, proving its superior quality. The only thing keeping it from the top spot is its lack of versatility, as you can't exactly turn fried chicken into a different meal. Still, the meal you do get is top tier.      

It's hard to review a grocery store's rotisserie chicken offering without addressing the Costco elephant in the room. The obscenely large and perfectly priced Costco rotisserie chicken has long been a staple in my meal prep plans, because that price-to-pound ratio just can't be beat. Money aside, what can be beat is the flavor. Publix can definitely exploit this angle, as the brand offers numerous flavors, from Lemon Pepper to Mojo to the mysterious Mardi Gras. I couldn't resist trying the Mardi Gras flavor, as I grew up in Mobile, Alabama, a place where any local will accost you with the knowledge that we are the birthplace of the first American Mardi Gras, not New Orleans. 

Regional trivia aside, this delicious oven-roasted chicken easily hit all the technical high notes, offering crispy skin and tender, juicy chicken. But that's just background noise to the true star of this dish: the incredible flavor profile. It reminded me of blackened seasoning, a Cajun spice blend that contains plenty of garlic powder, smoky paprika, and a dash of cayenne. Honestly, it's seriously underrated and takes this chicken to the next level. I also loved that I could taste this seasoning in more than just the spice-rubbed skin. It seemed to truly marinate in the meat, making for shredded rotisserie leftovers that brought way more than just bland protein to my prepped meals. For that, this chicken takes the gold. 

For my selection of prepared foods, I referred to recommendations on Reddit and Facebook, as well as attempting to try a broad range of sides, mains, and proteins for the list. I skipped over reviewing Publix desserts and baked goods, as they felt like they landed more in the separate bakery department, rather than the deli/prepared foods one. I also didn't try any dips, as they fit more of the condiment realm than prepared side dish.

For evaluation, I considered price and flavor, then compared them to either other prepared foods on this list or to comparative options from other grocery stores or restaurants. I also considered if an item was versatile enough to lead to other meals (like the pork and rotisserie chicken) or if it was offering something original enough to make it worth a purchase (like with the Turkey & Cheddar Sliders).