4 Dollar Tree Dupes That Are Better Than Name Brand (And 5 That Are Worse)

The biggest reason to shop at Dollar Tree is, of course, the fact that its prices are typically lower than other stores. In its food aisles in particular are a fair number of apparent dupes of name-brand products available at standard grocery stores. Naturally, the Dollar Tree version is almost always cheaper than its name brand counterpart. With that said, a lower price doesn't always equate to a lower level of quality.

I visited my nearest Dollar Tree and picked up nine products with clear name-brand equivalents. Then, I visited my local Smith's — a grocery store under the Kroger umbrella — and rounded up each of those equivalent name-brand products. After comparing each Dollar Tree item to its counterpart, I was able to determine which were superior to their name-brand equivalents and which couldn't stack up. Based on that analysis, then, the following are four Dollar Tree dupes that are better and five Dollar Tree dupes that are worse than the name-brand products.

Post Country Squares technically predated Pop-Tarts, qualifying among 16 breakfast foods that were invented in the U.S. But it was Pop-Tarts, of course, that came to define their particular style of rectangular toaster pastry. Country Squares eventually changed to Toast'em Pop-Ups, and they remain on store shelves today. That said, they're not typically found at standard grocery stores, but more often at Dollar Trees and occasionally other budget-oriented grocery chains.

I was not aware of the history of Toast'em Pop-Ups prior to trying and comparing the brand's Fudge Toaster Pastries to Frosted Chocolate Fudge Pop-Tarts. Now knowing what I know, I can't say I'm surprised, because my Pop-Ups were, in fact, better. What made them shine was the superior quality of their outer pastry shell. My Pop-Ups were noticeably bread-ier and less filled than my Pop-Tarts, but whereas the Pop-Tarts' breading was bland and cracker-like, the breading on the Pop-Ups tasted like a sort of fudge cookie. A good Pop-Tart bite, then, was dependent on a high filling-to-crust ratio, while every bite of my Pop-Ups was satisfying. So for the best possible toaster pastry, skip Pop-Tarts and head to Dollar Tree for Toast'em Pop-Ups.

It's safe to say Apple Jacks cereal isn't necessarily a great breakfast, based on American breakfast cereal's excessive sweetness. As inappropriate for an everyday breakfast as it may be, the flavor of Apple Jacks is so iconic, it's inspired a fair share of off-brand imitators. Dollar Tree's equivalent product is called Apple Bits, produced by a company called GF Brands. That name, for what it's worth, seems to only share a pair of initials with "gluten free" rather than actually indicate that its products are free of gluten.

What stood out to me most about my Apple Bits was a significant level of crunch, even after soaking in milk for a bit. Their flavor, however, was pretty negligible, consisting of corn puff first and foremost, complicated by just a hint of apple. Completely lacking was a cinnamon flavor, despite a couple of cinnamon sticks on the box. Whereas my Apple Jacks weren't quite as satisfyingly crunchy, their flavor more than made up for that deficiency. An ample dose of cinnamon hit first, before a prominent apple flavor emerged in their aftertaste. So, for a classic cinnamon-apple cereal experience, name-brand Apple Jacks satisfy quite a bit better than Dollar Tree's Apple Bits.

In The Takeout's ranking of 22 Lay's potato chip flavors, Sour Cream and Onion landed ninth. In other words, Sour Cream and Onion is better than most, but it's not quite in the upper tier of Lay's chip flavors. Even if Lay's Sour Cream and Onion is an iconic product, then, there's at least some room for improvement.

After trying Dollar Tree's Home Style Select Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips and Lay's Sour Cream and Onion chips back-to-back, I found that the Dollar Tree product did a much better job of delivering on the sour cream and onion chip experience. Texturally, I did find my Lay's chips superior — they were a little crispier and tasted more like potato, whereas my Home Style chips felt closer to a sort of reconstituted potato mixture. The flavor of the Dollar Tree chips, however, was on-point, combining the identifiable taste of sour cream with ample salt and a hint of onion. My Lay's chips, meanwhile, were dominated by a generic saltiness, with a bit of an onion accent and no sour cream. Even if their potato chip base falls just a little short, Home Style Select's Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips are straight-up tastier than the Lay's product they're emulating.

While it's possible to make a granola bar — among 13 of the best foods to make in preparation for a winter storm emergency — at home, there are those for whom the Quaker brand's iconic Chewy Granola Bars are the standard against which all other soft granola bars will inevitably be measured. Dollar Tree's Sunny Crunch Chewy S'mores Granola Bars are specifically a dupe of Quaker's S'mores Chewy Bars. In my childhood at least, S'mores was the foremost Quaker Chewy Bar flavor, so I wasn't surprised to see that Dollar Tree's equivalent product opted for a S'mores flavor too.

When I first bit into my Sunny Crunch Chewy S'mores Granola Bar, it tasted pretty much exactly like my memory of Quaker's S'mores Chewy Bars. But then, when I actually tried a Quaker bar, some stark differences became apparent. First and foremost, my Sunny Crunch bar lacked a graham cracker flavor, whereas I found that prominent in my Chewy bar. The Quaker Chewy bar was also firmer whereas its chocolate was richer and milkier. To the Sunny Crunch bar's credit, its nutritional content is slightly superior, with a little less sugar, slightly less fat, and a tad more fiber. Sunny Crunch Chewy S'mores Granola Bars are certainly not bad, but they're still not quite as good as their name-brand counterpart.

Before trying my Home Style Select Jalapeño Cheddar Cheese Dip or its name-brand equivalent Fritos Jalapeño Cheddar Cheese Dip, I had high hopes for the Dollar Tree dupe. My Dollar Tree cashier perked up when she saw I was buying the Jalapeño Cheddar Cheese Dip, and she reiterated a couple times how to heat it up the correct way. That enthusiasm set my expectations high.

As it turned out, the flavors of my Home Style Select Jalapeño Cheddar Cheese Dip and Fritos Jalapeño Cheddar Cheese Dip were pretty distinct from one another, and it was hard to pick a winner at first. My Home Style dip's cheese flavor was milder, and its spicy jalapeño component emerged alongside that cheese flavor. My Fritos dip, meanwhile, offered a big dose of gooey cheese up-front, only for jalapeño spice to pop up in its aftertaste. After a few bites of each, I decided that I preferred the milder cheese flavor of my Home Style dip — it tasted more like cheddar, whereas the Fritos cheese was more akin to an artificial Cheez Whiz. Plus, the presence of jalapeño throughout was more satisfying than having to wait for it in the aftertaste as I did with the Fritos product. In the end, my cashier was correct, with Dollar Tree making the superior jalapeño cheddar dip.

Dollar Tree sells an at-home Mac and Cheese kit under the Premier Pantry brand, specifically described as an "Original Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese Dinner." In the mac and cheese aisle at Smith's, I realized that the "deluxe" nomenclature refers to the fact that its cheese sauce is premade. I'm more accustomed to the type of at-home mac and cheese sauce made from a powder with milk and/or butter, but Dollar Tree's sole mac and cheese product is of the so-called deluxe variety. Of course, I opted for Kraft's "deluxe" mac and cheese with its sauce similarly premade in a silver packet for a proper comparison.

While Kraft may be the definitive version available at grocery stores, there's so much more out there than just Kraft mac and cheese. In other words, since Kraft isn't necessarily the best mac and cheese brand, I had thought Premier Pantry might stand a chance. Unfortunately, my experience with the Premier Pantry mac was colored entirely by a flavor that made it actively off-putting to me. After a few unpleasant bites, I likened it to eating an unripe vegetable, activating sensors in my brain telling me to stop. Furthermore, the Kraft mac was creamier and stronger with its salty, umami flavor. The macaroni from both brands, for what it's worth, ended up nicely al dente. That unripe vegetable flavor, however, was impossible to ignore. Kraft's mac and cheese was better than Dollar Tree's by a pretty wide margin.

In Dollar Tree's beverage aisle is a decent selection of 2-liter sodas, each of which is lower in price than even its 20-ounce name-brand equivalent at a standard grocery store. Generally, soda can be counted among 10 grocery items worth buying at dollar stores. Diet Coke is typically my go-to soda, so I picked up its Dollar Tree-equivalent Stars and Stripes Diet Cola.

The first thing I noticed about my Stars and Stripes soda was that it came off milder overall than name-brand Diet Coke — it was less fizzy, had a less syrupy mouthfeel, and gave off less of an impression of sweetness. In place of some of that sweetness was a lime-like flavor, prominent to the extent I would have believed it was a diet lime cola if it were advertised as such. At first I was torn between the milder Stars and Stripes Diet Cola and the bolder Diet Coke, but when I turned my brain off and took a couple sips of each, my gut gravitated toward the Diet Coke. Then, to be doubly sure, I had my girlfriend help me with a blind taste test, and I opted for the Diet Coke again. I thought the bigger flavor was better. With that said, anyone who prefers a subtler soda could very well find Stars and Stripes Diet Cola the superior option. I'm giving Diet Coke the win, but overall, Dollar Tree makes a solid diet cola.

Dollar Tree stores sell a bowl of instant Sriracha Shrimp Ramen under a brand called Thai Authentic. Of course, there's no such thing as authentic Thai ramen — or, if there is, it's probably nothing like Thai Authentic's products — but in the world of instant ramen, authenticity hardly matters anyway.

I compared my Thai Authentic Sriracha Shrimp Ramen Bowl to Hot and Spicy Shrimp Ramen by Nissin, the brand that invented cup noodles. The two products turned out to be pretty distinct. Immediately apparent was how Nissin's softer noodles compared to the firmer, chewier Thai Authentic noodles. While my Nissin noodles absorbed more broth, my Thai Authentic noodles were ultimately better, closer to what's served at a ramen restaurant. The Thai Authentic broth, meanwhile, paired an identifiable Sriracha spice with a sort of general umami and a hint of citrus. My Nissin broth was a little more shrimp-forward, but lacked flavor otherwise. Plus, Thai Authentic's ramen included tiny shrimp in its ingredients packet, which I found fun, even if it wasn't a big needle-mover. For its superior noodles and tastier broth, Thai Authentic's Sriracha Shrimp Ramen Bowl is the greater instant ramen product, "authentic" or not.

Twinkies might not be the best thing in the prepackaged pastry aisle — I prefer Ding Dongs — but they're handily the most iconic. Dollar Tree stores sell a dupe of classic Hostess Twinkies called Baker's Home Vanilla Creme Cakes.

As great as a budget Twinkie alternative might be, my name-brand Twinkies outright smoked my Baker's Home Vanilla Creme Cakes. The foremost issue with my Vanilla Creme Cakes was their lack of filling. Visible on their underside were the holes into which their vanilla cream filling was piped, but the filling only existed in small pockets above those holes. In other words, I got multiple filling-free bites. The cake component was also lackluster, mild in sweetness to the extent it tasted closer to cornbread than an indulgent dessert. My Twinkies were softer, sweeter, and creamier. It's possible someone with a serious aversion to excessive sweetness might prefer Dollar Tree's Baker's Home Vanilla Creme Cakes, but lacking that sort of extreme sweet sensitivity, name-brand Twinkies are the better option by far.

To determine my initial selection of Dollar Tree dupes, I scrolled through the entirety of the Dollar Tree inventory available at my nearest location on the Uber Eats delivery website. Anything that closely resembled a name-brand product, I searched on Google to ensure it was something that could only be found at Dollar Tree or similar outlets. Then, I picked up all my chosen items in person at that Dollar Tree store, before heading to my local Smith's to get all of the name-brand equivalents.

At home, I tried each Dollar Tree product and its name-brand counterpart one after the other. I started with the Dollar Tree product every time, so that I could assess its quality with no preconceived notions. Typically, after trying the name-brand item, I went back to the Dollar Tree product to see how it stacked up with knowledge of its counterpart's quality. My rankings are based entirely on this experience, with no weight given to any prior thoughts I may have had on the featured products.