7 Best And 5 Worst Store-Bought Garlic Breads

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Imagine a classic red sauce spaghetti dinner. Then imagine a classic red sauce spaghetti dinner with a side of garlic bread. The second one is better, of course, because garlic bread can make practically any meal better. While the best garlic bread is probably from whatever was your favorite Italian restaurant growing up, a fair number of garlic breads on grocery store shelves are still pretty tasty.

Garlic, butter, and a smattering of indistinct green herbs — I think it's supposed to be parsley, but it's hard to really tell sometimes — on a big ol' crusty bread loaf should be a pretty foolproof recipe for deliciousness. However, a surprising number of grocery store garlic breads just aren't all that satisfying. 

To help the discerning shopper stick to only the best grocery stores have to offer, I picked up 12 premade garlic breads from seven different grocery stores near my home in Las Vegas and tried them all over the course of two days. Included are frozen products and fresh bakery aisle options alike, divided between straight-up garlic breads as well as garlic Texas toasts. Based on my findings, ahead are the seven best and five worst garlic breads available in grocery stores.

Prices are as of the date of publication and may vary based on region.

By sheer quantity, I'd guess that most grocery store garlic bread is technically Texas toast. What sets Texas toast apart from other styles of bread is that it's thick-cut and buttered on both sides. Not all Texas toast, then, is garlic bread, but the numerous versions that feature garlic certainly qualify. One of the best garlic breads I tried from my field of 12 was Pepperidge Farm's Garlic Texas Toast.

What stood out to me most about my Pepperidge Farm garlic bread was the size of each slice, wider, at least, than that of any other product I tried. Once I bit into my big ol' slice, it sort of collapsed in on itself. The experience of lightly crispy, airy bread effectively reducing in size mid-bite was satisfying. For what it's worth, other Texas toasts had nice crusts on them and my Pepperidge Farm garlic bread was pretty soft throughout, but that didn't really matter. 

Its flavor was super garlicky and buttery, like any good garlic bread should be. Notably, I didn't find it particularly salty, so the garlic and butter were doing plenty of heavy lifting. Simply put, if I were craving a garlic Texas toast and someone served me Pepperidge Farm's, it would pretty perfectly hit the spot. An eight-slice box was $4.49 at Albertsons.

Whole Foods products might just have the widest average gap in quality between its high end and low end of any major grocery store. Since Whole Foods is supposed to provide premium quality, its products can fail to live up to their elevated price tag and presentation just as often as they genuinely deliver on that promise. My Whole Foods 365 brand Garlic Texas Toast fell into the latter category, ranking as the single best garlic Texas toast I tried of all.

The outside of my Whole Foods garlic Texas toast slice was plenty crispy. Then, when I bit into it, that outer crust gave way to an ample softness. Its flavor was the most garlic-forward of any of the garlic breads I tried, matched by plenty of butter and a healthy dose of salt. 

I did notice the Whole Foods Texas toast's packaging recommended defrosting it in the fridge before putting it in the oven, and since I didn't have time to do that, I thought I might have to qualify my thoughts with an asterisk. Nope — even without that extra step, I found the 365 garlic Texas toast a pretty perfect reminder of why slathering Texas toast in garlic butter is one of the five best methods for making garlic bread. An eight-slice box was $4.49 at Whole Foods.

Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread by Whole Foods' 365 brand ranks comfortably among the 13 best things to buy at Whole Foods. But not all Whole Foods breads are created equal — whereas its 365 brand's Garlic Texas Toast was a standout product, on the level of the Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread, the Whole Foods Market Kitchens brand garlic bread, available at room temperature in the baked goods aisle, was a pretty major disappointment.

I did, for what its worth, think the bread used as the base of my Whole Foods Kitchens garlic bread was pretty solid. One package contained a pretty enormous hunk of nice, crusty bread, sliced down its center. But, while each half was ostensibly seasoned with garlic, butter, and parsley, I couldn't really taste any of those ingredients. Butter was the foremost of those flavors, and that was ultimately disappointing when butter is an ingredient plenty of people are likely to already have at home. 

With zero garlic flavor, I don't think there's any reason to buy the Whole Foods Market Kitchens Garlic Bread over a plain Whole Foods bread that can be adorned at home. A loaf was $5.29 from the Whole Foods bakery department.

Walmart may not have the best reputation compared to most competing grocery stores, but its store-brand products are occasionally pretty solid. For example, compared to Spam, Walmart's Great Value luncheon meat is actually the superior product. Also of a surprisingly high level of quality is Walmart's Great Value Garlic bread.

Something that stood out to me as soon as I cut into my Walmart garlic bread was that it left no crumbs on my cutting board. As expected, its bread component was super soft, hence the lack of crumbs. Rather than becoming too tough or chewy, that softness was matched by a spongy texture that made it satisfyingly easy to eat. Meanwhile, its flavor was jam-packed with garlic, butter, and salt. 

There's really nothing elegant about Walmart's Great Value Garlic Bread — its signature softness was, notably, a Franken-food quality, and not really something indicative of a high-quality product — but garlic bread in general isn't very elegant. Maybe it's not that surprising, then, that Walmart made a garlic bread that's a little basic, but satisfying on a visceral level. A mini-loaf was $1.86 at Walmart.

From my local Smith's — a store under the Kroger umbrella — I picked up a fresh garlic bread from the bakery department as well as a store-brand garlic bread from its freezer aisles. Inverting my experience with Whole Foods, my fresh garlic bread from Smith's turned out to be a good deal better than its frozen counterpart.

As is immediately apparent from its appearance, Kroger's Bakery Fresh Goodness Garlic Bread has a little more on it than just garlic, butter, and parsley. The red seasoning I think might have been paprika, but it was insubstantial enough that I couldn't taste much. Meanwhile, I could have sworn it was topped with parmesan, but its ingredients listed no dairy. I did notice granulated onion was listed, so I think perhaps the combination of garlic, butter, and onion approximated a parmesan-like quality. Its garlic flavor was, admittedly, a little weak, but the other flavors made up for it. Texturally, while some of its edges were excessively crispy, I got some bites from the middle that successfully balanced crust with a soft interior. 

A lack of garlic was my least favorite thing about my Kroger Bakery Fresh Goodness Garlic Bread, but its solid texture and salty, umami-rich flavor were enough to satisfy as a good garlic bread all the same. A half-loaf was $1.99 at Smith's.

When shopping at any of the stores under the Kroger umbrella, in addition to 13 Kroger secrets every shopper should know, make sure to opt for its bakery department's garlic bread over the Kroger-brand garlic bread in the freezer aisle. The former is pretty good, and the latter is really not.

First of all, Kroger's frozen Classic Garlic Bread is huge — unnecessarily so. It was the only garlic bread I tried in my field of 12 that went into the oven at 450 degrees, probably because of its size. It came out excessively crispy and basically flavorless. Texturally, it was a bit too chewy on the outside, and a little too air soft in its center. It also got crumbs everywhere. Making matters worse was the fact I only ever tasted the faintest hint of garlic, and only after a few bites. Butter, herbs, or even salt were missing entirely. 

There were admittedly some decent third-party garlic bread brands in my Smith's store's freezer aisle, so there's essentially no reason to pick Kroger's Classic Garlic Bread over virtually any alternative. A loaf was $2.00 at Smith's.

According to an online search, some Albertsons stores seem to sell fresh garlic bread in the bakery department. That was unavailable at my local Albertsons, however, so the only store-brand garlic bread I was able to procure was a frozen package of Signature Select Original Garlic Bread.

While I ultimately liked my Signature Select garlic bread enough to warrant a recommendation, its level of quality was more middle-of-the-road than unqualifiedly excellent. Most important was the fact I could taste garlic, which single-handedly put it in a tier above some of the lesser products in my selection. While it was subtle, I felt that it tasted closer to the wild, almost bitter character of raw garlic than garlic that's been, say, roasted or pan-fried. Its butter and parsley, however, were just lightly perceptible, bordering on negligible. Texturally, my Signature Select bread was on the softer side, albeit with a bit of crust on its outside. While a little softer or with a bit more crisp would have been better, nothing was truly wrong in that regard. 

Even if there are better options on freezer aisle shelves, including the Pepperidge Farm Garlic Texas Toast beside it at Albertsons, I don't think the Signature Select Original Garlic Bread will leave anyone disappointed. One loaf was $3.99 at Albertsons.

Some of Target's store-branded groceries are solid — after all, there are at least eight grocery items worth buying at Target. That said, I now know not to count Target's Market Pantry Garlic Bread among them.

My first thought upon biting into my loaf of Market Pantry garlic bread was that its texture was pretty okay, contrasting a crispy top with a soft center. What initially seemed like a strength was soon negated by the fact that the bread became excessively gummy in my mouth over time, requiring quite a bit more chewing than I would have liked. Making matters worse was a flavor I found off-putting. Of the featured ingredients I only perceived butter, sans garlic or herbs. In addition, I picked up what I would describe as an off note. It was slightly sweet, slightly bitter, and completely unwelcome. 

Target's Market Pantry Garlic Bread was the only garlic bread in my selection that I stopped eating not because I felt content but because I was grossed out and didn't want any more. One loaf was $1.99 at Target.

I think there's an argument to be made for New York Bakery as the foremost garlic bread brand in grocery stores, at least based on stores I've visited. Not only do major grocery store chains like Albertsons, Kroger, and Walmart all carry its products, but its New York Bakery selections usually span at least a handful of items. For simplicity's sake, I went with its baseline Garlic Texas Toast.

Whereas most of my favorite garlic breads featured strong garlic flavors, I found the garlic component of my New York Bakery Garlic Texas Toast on the subtler side. Plus, it had no raw garlic sharpness, tasting more like a mellowed out roasted garlic. That was fine, though, because it was paired with ample butter and a perfectly crisped up bread. New York Bakery's Texas toast slices are thick and crispy on the outside, but with plenty of inner softness to prevent them from becoming unwieldy. 

I enjoyed my New York Bakery Garlic Texas Toast plenty, and garlic bread lovers who prefer their garlic on the subtler side might just find this to be their ideal option. An eight-slice box was $2.79 at Smith's.

Aldi sells garlic bread in both its bakery department and freezer aisle, under two separate store brands. Its bakery department garlic bread is part of its L'oven brand, under which the chain likewise packages sliced bread, bagels, English muffins, tortillas, and various other baked goods.

While that L'oven branding suggests something on the fresher end of the spectrum, my Aldi L'oven Fresh Garlic Bread was so bland, its bread's freshness or lack thereof was ultimately negligible. The bread itself wasn't all that bad, featuring a decent crispy and soft contrast. But, even if the bread was okay in a vacuum, the fact that I could taste its natural flavor pretty prominently wasn't great. From its topping, I got just a bit of butter that faded fast and the barest hint of parsley — garlic was pretty much nowhere to be found. With little else competing for real estate, the natural bread flavor was at the product's forefront, which is almost always indicative of a subpar garlic bread. A loaf was $3.85 at Aldi.

The L'oven Fresh Garlic Bread in Aldi's bakery aisle is a classic loaf of garlic bread, sliced down the middle and buttered on both flat surfaces. In contrast, Aldi's freezer aisle garlic bread is a sliced Texas Toast. It's packaged under the Bremer brand, which is used for various premade frozen foods.

I had tried and was disappointed by the L'oven garlic bread first, so I approached my Bremer Garlic Texas Toast with the hope it would be Aldi's superior garlic bread. Nope — it was also bad. Both texturally and flavor-wise, my Bremer garlic bread didn't take long to devolve into a mass of nothingness. Its flavor, for what its worth, featured a little bit of garlic and a little bit of butter. However, a lack of salt or other seasoning meant those simple components had to do a lot of heavy lifting, and they failed, disappearing completely as I was still chewing. Furthermore, an initially satisfying crispy crust became an excessively gummy mass over time. Simply put, Aldi cannot seem to make a good garlic bread. An eight-slice box was $2.15 at Aldi.

Katz Gluten-Free Garlic Texas Toast is good, but it's not so good that even those who don't require a gluten-free diet will find it a suitable replacement for "real" garlic bread. That's okay, though, because it's very plainly a quality product, tasty enough to land in "pretty good for gluten-free" territory for those without dietary restrictions, and "absolutely delicious" territory for gluten-free adherents.

There's no getting around the fact the gluten-free bread is a little weird, simultaneously crumbly and insubstantial, falling apart easily while lacking heft. That didn't totally bring the experience down for me — someone with no allegiance to gluten-free products — because Katz went big on every other ingredient. Before I even tasted my Katz Texas toast, I could see that it was slathered in more garlic butter than pretty much any other product in my selection. That remained apparent when I tried it, with plenty of butter, garlic, and salt all making a significant impact. Katz even wraps each slice of Texas toast in its own plastic wrapper, which added to the sense I was enjoying a premium product. 

I don't ever see myself buying Katz's gluten-free Texas toast for myself, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who wants or needs to eat gluten-free. A four-slice box was $5.99 at Sprouts.

To select my field of 12 garlic breads, I searched the online inventory of every major grocery store near my home in the suburbs of Las Vegas. From a given brand or label, I prioritized straight-up garlic bread, and if plain garlic bread wasn't available, I opted for Texas toast instead. Furthermore, I went with baseline Texas toast or garlic bread whenever possible, avoiding, say, garlic breads with added parmesan if a simpler option was available. The only instances in which I featured two products from one brand were when a store produced both frozen and unfrozen bakery department garlic breads.

I tried each of the products I chose over the course of two days, starting with the literal garlic breads on the first day before moving on to the Texas toasts on the second. From each garlic bread I had maybe four or five bites of multiple slices taken from both the edges and center of the loaf. Of each Texas toast I had at least three-quarters of a slice, if not a whole slice, depending on how much I felt I needed to assess the product. My findings are based entirely on this experience, and not any past thoughts I may have had on the featured brands or products.