We Tasted 6 Off-Brand Pop-Tarts—Here Are the Best Ones
Updated: May 30, 2024
Need breakfast on the go? We tried off-brand Pop-Tarts to find out how well these morning treats stacked up against the original.
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Some days call for a quick breakfast while you’re running out the door. And for many households, Pop-Tarts have been that easy solution since they started selling nationwide in 1965. Kellogg’s debuted Pop-Tarts as a way to offer a portable breakfast, starting off with four original flavors. Now, the brand has an ever-growing list of 21 flavors. (Have you tried the newest Pop Tarts?)
While Pop-Tarts often steal all the glory in the toaster pastry category, what about other brands that offer these breakfast sweets? We decided to put six off-brand Pop-Tarts to the test.
Molly Allen for Taste of Home
Kroger
Kroger sells strawberry and brown sugar cinnamon toaster treats in packs of eight, or you can find a variety pack with blueberry, cherry and strawberry. They’re shaped and decorated with a touch of icing and sprinkles for an almost perfect match to name-brand Pop-Tarts.
The pastry is a touch softer without that classic Pop-Tart snap, but the ratio of pastry to filling is very similar. The strawberry filling has great flavor and packs a punch.
Molly Allen for Taste of Home
Walmart Great Value
The toaster pastries under Walmart’s Great Value label are a steal of a deal. A box of six is just $1, or you can grab a box of 12 for $1.78. However, strawberry is your only flavor option.
These toaster pastries look and taste almost identical to Pop-Tarts. The pastry crust is a touch softer but tastes just the same. The strawberry flavor is delicious and tastes like a perfect duplicate to an original strawberry Pop-Tart. Off-brand foods could help you stretch your grocery budget.
Molly Allen for Taste of Home
Trader Joe’s
If there’s one thing we love about Trader Joe’s, it’s the way the store offers go-to classics with their own twist. At our local TJ’s, we only found a strawberry flavor, but you might get lucky and find cherry pomegranate as well.
These organic toaster pastries have a thicker pastry exterior made from whole wheat flour. However, the flavor is great with a hint of sweetness from the icing. The strawberry filling is made from organic fruit puree. While the filling was tasty, I wished for a bit more. But overall, given their under-$3 price, they were a decent alternative to typical Pop-Tarts made with artificial ingredients.
Molly Allen for Taste of Home
Nature’s Path
These toaster pastries from Nature’s Path look just like Pop-Tarts, but they don’t taste anything like them. And in this case, that’s a good thing. The pastry is simple with a hint of sweetness thanks to light icing and sprinkles. But the real star of the show here is the filling.
Nature’s Path makes its fillings with real fruit and no artificial flavors. There was so much flavor-packed filling in each pastry. We tried raspberry for this test, but you can find other flavors including cherry pomegranate, wildberry acai, blueberry and chocolate.
Molly Allen for Taste of Home
BoBo’s
If you typically bake whole wheat goodies, then you’ll love these. BoBo’s makes baked goods with whole grain oats. Their products are gluten-free and non-GMO, yet incredibly delicious. Their line of toaster pastries includes four flavors: strawberry, raspberry, apple pie and cinnamon brown sugar.
This is definitely a pricy toaster pastry option, especially since there are only three pastries in each box. The pastries are smaller than your typical Pop-Tart, with no icing on the top. They’re made with 18 grams of whole grains, so each bite is incredibly hearty. The flavor of the pastry is absolutely delicious, as is the fruit filling—however, we were wishing for a bit more filling for a punchier flavor.
Molly Allen for Taste of Home
How We Tested Off-Brand Pop-Tarts
Amazon Fresh
The Amazon Fresh brand offers tons of grocery staples delivered to your door, and toaster pastries are one of them. You can order flavors like strawberry, blueberry, brown sugar cinnamon, cookies and creme, fudge and cherry. Each box has eight pastries ranging in price from $2 to $4.
The pastry crust is a bit thicker on these toaster pastries than on regular Pop-Tarts, but only slightly. They’re iced on the tops and dressed up with sprinkles to look just like Pop-Tarts. The flavor is great and the filling is wonderfully tasty.
To find the best off-brand Pop-Tarts across a variety of categories, we searched the aisles of our local grocery stores. We found generic options at Kroger and Walmart, along with brands such as Nature’s Path and Bobo’s. We even ordered a box off Amazon.
Each brand was sampled and assessed based on overall taste and texture, along with how sweet the toaster pastries were. We also took nutritional factors and price into account.
Want more great breakfast picks? We tested name-brand cereals against their generic versions.
Originally Published: April 27, 2023
