Often, the biggest selling point for frozen food
is convenience. If you're big on making things easy for yourself,
these are the stores with frozen sections to hit up, as well as those to avoid.
Trader Joe's has one of the most dedicated customer bases in the country, with multiple
social media accounts showing off weekly hauls and reviewing new products. Fans spread the word
quickly when seasonal products return, and in general, many of the brand's items,including
the frozen stuff, are routinely championed as being among the best. Redditors particularly
love the Indian-style frozen entrees and the various types of mac and cheese.
There is one major drawback, though: Short seasonal runs and discontinued favorites
can break your heart. Even long-offered products can suddenly disappear, never to return again. If
you're lucky and can find out which external company made the product for Trader Joe's,
you might be able to find a substitute. If you can't, however, there's not much you can do other
than contact the company and hope they change their minds. But even with that key setback,
you're more than likely to find something you love in the Trader Joe's frozen section.
Aldi is a German chain that has established itself as a favorite among shoppers in the
U.S. Its focus on store brands and low prices has gained it a huge number of followers whose
enthusiasm rivals that of Trader Joe's fans. You'll often find copycats of brand-name
products that let shoppers buy food at nearly the same quality for much lower prices. For example,
Insider contends that the company's high-protein ice cream could be a dead ringer for Halo Top.
The stores often stock items on a rotating basis, including in the frozen section, meaning that
sometimes shoppers will have to wait for their favorite products to return. But ask people what
they like in the frozen section, and you'll get a range of products with enthusiastic reviews.
The combination of low prices, detailed recreations of popular brand-name items,
and all-around good reviews make Aldi one of the better frozen food sellers out there.
This Texas-based chain is another fan favorite, known for terrific prices and quality,
as well as community spirit and support. Just as a huge snow and ice storm hit in 2021, an H-E-B
location in Leander that had lost power allowed people to take their groceries without paying.
"I realized, wow, they're letting us just leave without paying."
Good will aside, the company is known for having a wide variety of unique frozen foods.
My San Antonio lists pepperoni lasagna, vegan meatless southwest fiesta tacos,
and breakfast flautas among the best frozen products for
customers to try. One Redditor claimed they normally don't like frozen meals,
but extolled the virtues of the chain's frozen smoked brisket mac and cheese, writing,
"H-E-B has really knocked it out of the park with these."
Between the selection and the great reviews, H-E-B is a sure bet when it comes to frozen food.
Walmart is a truly massive store chain, and as such it gets some flak for putting
smaller stores out of business. Which is a fair criticism, but it's also true that by being so
massive, your local Walmart is basically guaranteed to have everything you need.
The company also tries to put stores in areas that don't have a lot of low-priced options,
and some have contributed to the revitalization of the surrounding neighborhoods.
Walmart actually became the largest grocery retailer in the country in 2022,
which honestly isn't a huge surprise. Not only is it nearly unbeatable when it
comes to selection, the company's Great Value store brand is very well-liked.
Talk Business & Politics reported in 2019 that Walmart was focusing on improving its frozen food,
and Redditors have been pleased with the results. So, believe it or not,
Walmart is one of the better grocery chains for your frozen-food haul.
One Quora user slyly asked,
"Is the true definition of Target 'the Walmart for people who think they're too good for Walmart?'"
And yes, Target does sometimes have a reputation for being the "bougie Walmart," but shoppers do
genuinely like the store. Target manages to create a shopping atmosphere that makes you
feel relaxed and seems to always have things you didn't realize you needed.
Target's frozen food is high quality, according to consumers. One YouTube
reviewer specifically singled out the Market Pantry Mac N Cheese Bites for the excellent
texture of the macaroni. Redditors often mention the frozen foods as great options from Target,
be they the store brands or name-brand stuff. While we sympathize with the frustration over
not being able to get out of the store without spending more than you intended,
we'll place Target among the best places for frozen food anyway.
99 Ranch Market has opened more locations across the country over the past few years.
Along with H Mart, the Austin Chronicle has compared this large California-based
retailer to Walmart in terms of its share of the Asian grocery industry
in the U.S. 99 Ranch sells mostly Chinese products, but also offers pan-Asian and
some non-Asian selections, with low prices on produce and other foods.
For frozen food, the company keeps getting kudos specifically for its dumplings. Oregon Live calls
the selection "insane." The dumplings are a favorite on Reddit; numerous Redditors
recommend buying them. Most grocery stores now carry dumplings in one form or another,
and most cities have numerous Asian markets to choose from. So, when people keep identifying 99
Ranch as the place to buy frozen dumplings, then you know that's where you should go..
You may be shopping at a Kroger-owned store without even knowing it.
Besides the Kroger brand itself, the company also operates Ralph's, King Soopers, and Harris Teeter,
to name just a few of its subsidiaries. With that kind of reach, Kroger had better have a stellar
frozen food section, and it does; its products are favorites, and its stores don't skimp.
"Eugenio's four cheese frozen pizza. That's $5.99 at Kroger's."
The company's Private Selection ice cream is a star, with Redditors naming
the Churro and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavors as being particularly delicious.
The store's frozen pizzas also get a lot of positive attention, with Redditors singling
out the Self-rising Crust Pepperoni and Grilled Mushroom and Truffle Oil Thin Crust pizzas.
But what really makes Kroger the place to go for frozen food is simply its reach and selection.
When you have staples garnering enthusiastic reviews on top of
easy availability, you have a winning frozen food section.
If you really want to know what's good at a grocery store, look at what the employees
eat. And you can do just that on Reddit, where some Publix employees listed their
favorite foods under $6 to get on a lunch break. Many of the winners are frozen,
including the frozen pot pies, the frozen pizza, and any "buy one get one" frozen meal.
Publix also has another advantage: Its employees take inventory control very
seriously because they and their managers do not want to have anything go out of stock.
Another Reddit thread shows the extent to which employees are careful about changing products
and monitoring how fast something is selling in the freezer section. With that dedication,
customers should have an easy time finding anything they need.
Redditors have jokingly admitted they had to get bigger freezers to take advantage of a 30% Costco
discount on two-and-a-half gallons of vanilla ice cream. Just like Trader Joe's and Aldi, Costco
has a fan base that watches for new products and announces sales to other fans. According to CNN,
Costco monitors how well products sell and will discontinue those that aren't moving. That makes
room for additional products that customers may like better. While this can lead to someone's
favorite product being taken off the shelves, it lets each store stock items with wider appeal.
"For your 3 o'clock demo, did we say Bagel Bites or turkey tots?"
"Turkey tots."
Among the frozen foods that have captivated customers are multipacks of Amy's Cheddar Beans,
Rice, and Cheese Burritos; the frozen Mandarin Orange Chicken; and, the Chicken and Cilantro
Mini Wontons. While you do need storage space if you're going to shop there, Costco's prices and
focus on selling only what customers really like maintains its place among customers' favorites.
Not every grocery store chain has to go the ever-expanding mega-market route. Save-A-Lot has
decided to keep its locations small, even as the company expands the number of stores and products.
It also focuses on its own in-house brands, with only about 25% of Save-A-Lot's stock coming from
outside. This has proved to be a winning strategy in terms of economics, as the smaller scale lends
itself to well-ordered stores, and loyal shoppers are pleased with Save-A-Lot's convenience.
As for frozen foods, the company has worked on expanding its offerings. And
given the company's dedication to keeping prices low, inventory choices reasonable,
and shopping experiences efficient, the company actually ranks as one of the better places to buy
frozen food. If you need to shop quickly but still get a full freezer's worth of food for the week,
you may want to head to Save-A-Lot if there's one near where you live.
Grocery Outlet is a fun place to look around because its stock is constantly changing. The
chain sells overstock and clearance items that buyers score by staying on the lookout
for major savings. It's the same tactic that a lot of discount stores use, but Grocery Outlet's
buyers strive to find the types of deals that create memories, such as when they sold four
Halo Top pints for $5.99. Vice President of Marketing Layla Kasha told Forbes that was her
"favorite buy ever." Store stock is also highly tailored to the community that each location
is in and can contain high-end items such as antibiotic-free meat and organic foods. However,
that means the products on the shelves change frequently and are different from store to store.
Each location should have basic items like frozen vegetables,
but you can also discover some hot deals on other frozen foods. However,
the random changes in product selection actually makes Grocery Outlet one of the worst places to
shop for frozen foods on a consistent basis. If you're set on buying specific brands regularly and
don't want to settle for whatever happens to be available, this is not the place you want to go.
Big Lots used to be a lot more like Grocery Outlet is now. While the company has sold household goods
and supplies at low prices for years, they used to also be known for their eclectic non-perishable
food selection that consisted mainly of overstock and closeout products. Around 2014, Big Lots
started transforming its food selections to look more like that of a conventional grocery store,
with name brands and more consistent offerings stocked among the nostalgic candy selections.
But in more recent years, it has scaled back and moved away from frozen goods in many locations.
That's one key reason why Big Lots is one of the worst places to go to for frozen food:
You can't count on each store actually having a good selection. And even if you know the location
you're going to has a freezer section, it's not likely to be that extensive. Big Lots started
scaling back their frozen offerings in 2019, claiming a lack of consumer interest. If you just
need a few basics and know your location sells frozen foods, you may be OK. But for packing your
freezer for your comprehensive weekly shopping trip, or looking for fun new things to try,
Big Lots is one of the worst places to try. You'll likely have to make a trip to another store.
The high-end, celebrity-favorite organic market Erewhon may have only a few locations limited to
southern California, but its prices have garnered its national attention. Tales of $12 water,
$50 vinegar, and other astounding markups have spread across social
media and baffled shoppers who don't know why people would fork out $3 for
an individual slice of bread or $9.99 for dental floss. One Redditor wrote that they
like to think Erewhon's prices were created by Lucille Bluth from "Arrested Development."
"I mean, it's one banana, Michael. What could it cost? Ten dollars?"
The market offers a decent selection of frozen foods, a fair number of which are under $10. But
the company's prices in general are a good bit higher than what you'd find at other markets.
For example, Erewhon lists Alden's Vanilla Bean Ice Cream at $13.99 for 1.5 quarts,
while the same product costs only $9.99 at Sprouts, and that's when it's not on sale.
If you don't mind paying those prices, then it wouldn't be a bad place to shop at all. But for
anyone who shops on a budget or the majority of folks who likely can't bring themselves
to pay that much, those prices make Erewhon one of the worst places to buy frozen food.