13 Walmart Grocery Buys That Are a Waste of Money (Despite Being Cheap)

When it comes to affordable prices, it's hard to beat Walmart. However, sometimes the store's low cost reflects poor quality, meaning not every bargain is worth buying.

While you can still save money on Walmart essentials, you should steer clear of some products that aren't worth the savings. Some items that seem like a steal are not worth the few dollars they cost. They taste subpar, are chock-full of unhealthy ingredients that are bad for you, or both.

When it comes to stocking your pantry, fridge, and freezer, think twice before buying these Walmart bargains.

Store-brand quality can vary widely by category, so a disappointing Great Value item in one aisle doesn't necessarily mean every product under that label is worth skipping. 

Checking reviews and comparing ingredient lists before buying is generally a better strategy than avoiding store brands altogether.

Editor's note: Prices and availability are subject to change and may vary by location.

Price: $1.92

Great Value pasta sauce is affordable, but the value isn't there in terms of taste. Shoppers complain it's watery and flavorless. Besides the lack of taste, Walmart's pasta sauce is also high in sugar and artificial sweeteners, making it detrimental to your health.

Alfredo sauces in general tend to rely on a roux or thickening agents to hit that creamy texture, and a thinner, watery consistency is often a sign the sauce is light on real cream, butter, or cheese relative to water and stabilizers. 

Simmering the jarred sauce longer than the label suggests, and stirring in extra parmesan or a splash of heavy cream, can sometimes help thicken it up if you already have a jar on hand. 

For a better base flavor from the start, brands built around fewer, simpler dairy ingredients tend to hold up better in reviews.

Price: $1.50

Canned soup is a convenient go-to for a meal in a pinch, but the Great Value options are often watery and tasteless.

Additionally, these soups are often high in sodium and low in nutritional value due to their minimal amounts of vegetables and protein. Try Campbell's instead, or, even better, make your own soup from scratch if you have the time.

Canned soups generally rely on salt as a primary flavor booster since it's a cheap way to compensate for less broth reduction or fewer fresh ingredients, which is part of why budget options often taste both bland and overly salty at the same time. 

If you do keep a can on hand, doctoring it with fresh vegetables, a can of beans, or extra herbs while heating it up is an easy way to add both flavor and nutrition. 

Checking the sodium content on the label before buying is also a simple way to compare options at a glance.

Price: $1.98

If you've ever found that your Great Value peanut butter is gritty, bland, and hard to spread, you're not the only one.

Many shoppers complain about this cheap peanut butter, and for good reason. It's full of sugar and added oils, and low on peanuts. Go with Skippy or Jif, instead — they're only a few dollars more.

Peanut butter brands vary in how much of the jar is actually peanuts versus added sugar, oil, and stabilizers, and a shorter ingredient list generally signals a higher peanut content, which affects both flavor and spreadability. 

A gritty texture can sometimes also come from how finely the peanuts were ground during processing. 

For shoppers who want a more natural option without paying name-brand prices, a store-brand natural peanut butter, where the only ingredients are peanuts and salt, is often a better bet than the standard sweetened version.

Price: $16.23

You may think it's hard to mess up coffee, but wait until you try Walmart's Great Value coffee. Actually, don't try it unless you like your coffee to taste bitter and burnt.

Budget coffee usually contains lower-quality Robusta beans, which translates to the taste. If you enjoy coffee every morning, just a few more dollars can make a world of difference.

Robusta beans are generally cheaper to grow than Arabica beans and contain more caffeine, but they also tend to taste harsher and more bitter, which is part of why many budget coffee blends lean on them to cut costs. 

Checking the bag for "100% Arabica" is a quick way to gauge whether a coffee is likely to taste smoother before buying it. 

Brewing budget coffee slightly weaker than the package suggests, using a bit less grounds per cup, can also help mellow out some of the bitterness.

Price: $3.98

While Walmart's baking mixes aren't necessarily of low quality, they're far from being affordable. You may look at the shelf price and think they're a bargain, but consider the ingredients.

Flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder are less expensive than the price of baking mix. Moreover, when you make your own mix, you can avoid questionable ingredients like preservatives.

A basic homemade baking mix typically just combines flour, baking powder, salt, and a bit of sugar or shortening, all pantry staples that cost only a fraction of what a pre-made mix runs per batch. 

Making a larger batch of your own mix and storing it in an airtight container is an easy way to always have a baking base on hand without buying a new box every time. 

It also gives you more control over ingredients if you're trying to avoid preservatives or adjust the sugar content.

Price: $9.42

Pre-packaged deli meats from Walmart may be cheaper than those from other stores, but the quality is lacking. Consumers often complain about the freshness and taste of these meats, leaving reviews noting that they seem stale and taste like little more than salt.

They have a point. Pre-packaged deli meats are high in sodium, nitrates, and preservatives. Shell out a few extra bucks and get fresh deli meats instead.

Pre-packaged deli meats generally rely on higher sodium and nitrate levels than freshly sliced deli counter meats, since those ingredients help extend shelf life in a sealed package that may sit on the shelf longer before purchase. 

Buying meat freshly sliced at a deli counter, even at the same store, often results in a noticeably different taste and texture, since it hasn't been sitting pre-packaged for as long. 

Reading the sodium content on the nutrition label is a quick way to compare options if freshness is a priority.

Price: $5.33

Many shoppers find Walmart's produce to be disappointing, even with organic options like this Marketside spring mix, despite its low price point.

Reviewers note that the freshness is lacking, and the produce often starts to spoil quickly after arriving home. Worse, the produce that appears fresher is often tasteless. Consider shopping at a farmer's market to avoid Walmart's low-quality produce.

Bagged greens are typically harvested, washed, and packaged in bulk before being distributed to stores, which means they've often traveled further and sat longer than produce from a local farmer's market or a smaller-batch grocery supplier. 

Storing greens with a paper towel inside the bag or container can help absorb excess moisture and slow down spoilage once you get them home. 

Rinsing and drying the greens again before eating, even if the bag says "pre-washed," can also help freshen up the texture and flavor.

Price: $5.97 (on sale from $6.97)

Walmart's rotisserie chicken should be your go-to for a quick, affordable weekday dinner. But is it worth it?

Many shoppers find it dry and tough. Some go as far as to say that sometimes they find it hard to tell the meaty parts apart from the bone.

Rotisserie chickens can dry out quickly once they're pulled from the heat and left sitting under a warming light or in a display case, which is part of why timing your purchase matters. 

Buying one that's just come out, rather than one that's been sitting for a while, generally gives you a better shot at moist meat. 

If you do end up with a drier chicken, shredding it and tossing it with a bit of broth or sauce for tacos, soup, or a chicken salad can help mask the texture issues reviewers mention.

Price: $7.27

Pre-cut fruit and vegetables often cost more than regular fruit and vegetables. Worse still, the freshness and flavor aren't always there. Avoid products that require you to pay more for convenience, and opt for the whole thing instead.

Pre-cut produce is generally priced higher per pound than whole fruit largely because of the extra labor, packaging, and faster turnover required to keep it looking fresh in the case. 

Because cut fruit is exposed to more air once sliced, it also tends to lose moisture and flavor faster than a whole piece of fruit stored in the fridge. 

If convenience is the main draw, cutting up a batch of fruit yourself once a week and storing it in an airtight container is generally cheaper and fresher than buying pre-cut portions each time.

Price: $17.47 (on sale from $19.68)

Frozen fish, especially Walmart's Great Value Frozen Tilapia Skinless & Boneless Filets, isn't of good quality for the money, despite its relatively cheap cost.

The most common complaints about this product are a watery texture and the presence of bones in supposedly deboned fish.

This product comes in a 4-pound bag with 16 servings, at 20 grams of protein per 4-ounce serving, and is treated with carbon monoxide to help the fillets retain their natural color during freezing, according to the product label. 

Patting the fillets dry with a paper towel before cooking can help reduce some of the watery texture reviewers mention, since excess ice crystals from freezing release moisture as the fish thaws. 

Checking carefully for stray bones before cooking is also worth the extra minute, despite the "boneless" label.

Price: $6.82

While some Great Value granola bars are tasty and affordable, many consumers complain about their flavor and texture, describing them as overly sweet or cardboard-like.

To avoid disappointment, try KIND bars or Larabars made with simple, quality ingredients like nuts and fruit. While pricier, they're not filled with cheap ingredients like artificial flavors and corn syrup.

Budget granola bars often rely on corn syrup and refined sugar to bind the oats together and add sweetness, which is part of why they can taste more like a candy bar than a whole-grain snack. 

Checking the sugar content and ingredient order on the label is a quick way to compare bars, since ingredients are listed by weight, so sugar appearing near the top is a signal the bar leans sweet. 

Pairing a granola bar with a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts can also help round out the snack nutritionally.

Price: $5.97

While chicken nuggets are convenient comfort food for many, they're often made of low-quality chicken parts unfit to make their way into the fresh meat section.

Worse still, they're often filled with preservatives, salt, and additives. Just buy chicken breast and make your own chicken nuggets at home. They'll be a healthier alternative that tastes better.

Mass-produced frozen nuggets are often made from mechanically separated chicken, a process that strips meat from the bone using high pressure, which results in a finer, less identifiable texture than nuggets made from whole cuts of chicken breast. 

Making your own version at home is fairly simple: cutting chicken breast into pieces, coating it in breadcrumbs or panko, and baking or air-frying it takes only slightly more effort than heating a frozen bag, and it lets you control the salt and ingredient list.

Price: $7.88

Open any online forum, and you'll read complaints about Great Value pasta meals. Shoppers seem to hate the Pesto Cheese Tortellini and the Beef Stroganoff the most.

According to them, these pasta meals barely contain any meat. Besides, they taste so bland that even adding seasonings at home cannot redeem them, despite their high sodium content.

Pre-packaged pasta meals like these typically use a small amount of meat relative to pasta and sauce to keep manufacturing costs down, which is part of why reviewers often describe them as sparse on protein. 

Because the sodium is usually baked into the sauce itself rather than added at the table, seasoning after the fact tends to boost saltiness rather than fix the underlying blandness. 

A homemade version, even a simple one using pantry pasta and a jarred sauce doctored with fresh herbs and extra protein, generally delivers a more balanced result for a similar amount of effort.

To save money on groceries, you can always count on Walmart to deliver affordable products. However, you should stay away from deals that seem too good to be true.

Instead of picking up the cheapest alternative, look at the ingredient list and skip anything that contains too many fillers and preservatives. Reading customer reviews before shopping can also point you in the right direction.

Comparing the price per ounce or per serving, rather than just the sticker price, is another useful habit, since a larger package at a slightly higher price can sometimes work out cheaper in the long run. 

Keeping a short mental list of the store-brand items that have disappointed you in the past can also help you shop more efficiently on future trips, without needing to re-research the same products each time.