10 Grocery Store Wheat Bread Brands Ranked Worst To Best

Sandwich bread probably isn't at the forefront of everyone's minds at the grocery store. It seems like everyone has their go-to brand, either because it's cheap or because you've been buying it for many years. So why fix what isn't broken? Well, if you've only tried one brand of bread, you may be missing out on something better, in terms of structure or taste.

Wheat bread, in particular, can be very hit or miss — especially when there are so many nuances as to what "whole wheat" actually means. Technically, white bread is wheat bread (as they're both made from wheat), but whole wheat bread is different. The latter is made from the entire grain, including the bran, endosperm, and germ, whereas white bread has been stripped of everything besides the starchy endosperm. This gives whole wheat bread extra nutrients that white bread doesn't have, along with a darker appearance and more robust flavor. Some wheat breads taste hearty, and others taste like store-bought white breads in disguise. I wanted to see which brands were worth buying, and which ones were better off left on the shelf.

To do so, I purchased an array of whole wheat sandwich breads available at my local Aldi and Walmart. For the sake of comparison, I excluded multi-grain and seeded wheat breads. Then, I tried a slice of each straight from the bag — no butter, no toasting, no nothing — and ranked each brand based on its flavor and texture.

I have tried numerous Sara Lee products over the years while ranking pound cakes and taste-testing frozen pies. My perception of the brand has not changed with time, and as you can assume, its wheat bread is just as lackluster as its other products. 

I didn't expect that I was going to say, "Man, this is a bad slice of bread" at any point in this ranking, but I did after trying Sara Lee's product. I don't mind a crust on the outside of bread, but this one was so dry and unflavorful that I wanted to tear it off. The non-crust part of the bread was mealy and gritty, and quite frankly unpleasant. The flavor was bland and cardboard-like, and it lacked that signature nuttiness that whole wheat bread is supposed to offer. Based on the texture of this bread, I suspected that it had been frozen not too long before it arrived at my local Walmart. But after tasting it, I pondered if the reason why it tasted so stale was because no one was lining up to buy such a boring, flavorless bread.

If you were raised on Sara Lee bread, you may have a different opinion about it than I did. Sure, it's cheap, but life is too short to eat bad bread. Spend a couple of extra bucks and select one of the higher-ranking options on this list.

Unfortunately, the next product on this list was not much better than the last. In fact, something you might not know about Panera Bread is that it makes a downright awful sandwich bread. I've also tried its bagels and English muffins before, though, so I can't say that I was blindsided by its poor product quality. 

The only reason why Panera Bread ranked above Sara Lee was that its slices were larger, and thus can be adorned with more things (not that you'd want to, though). The crumb structure was so tight and the slices were so dry that I felt like I was biting through rubber tires. While I appreciated the occasional chunk of cracked wheat embedded in the slice, it didn't do enough to distract from its tightness and subsequent heaviness. Again, a brand that prides itself on its bread can (and should) do better than this.

The flavor was average at best and nothing to write home about, which doesn't do Panera Bread any favors in this admittedly contentious race. Plus, this bread was almost $2 more expensive than most of the other selections, which makes me ask myself why anyone would buy it in the first place.

Great Value was the cheapest brand of whole wheat I sampled for this ranking, ringing in at upward of $1 less than some of my other picks. But considering that so many of the brand's products can be hit or miss, I didn't have high expectations for how it would fare in a ranking. I've found that the cheaper the bread, the less it tends to hold up when paired with other ingredients, which could spell bad news for a particularly wet sandwich.

The first thing I noticed about this bread was that it was very dry. The crust was dark in color and almost hard, though the bread itself was plush and easy to bite through. While some of the other brands on this list offered some sort of sweetness or nutty flavor, this Great Value slice kind of just tasted like sad, bready cardboard. Sure, Great Value probably didn't intend for someone to be eating its bread dry, straight from the bag, but I was left wishing there was a little emphasis on the nutty wheat taste I've come to love. If you pop it in a toaster and slather it with butter, it probably wouldn't make for a bad breakfast, but there are more high-quality (not to mention, larger in size) slices that I would be more likely to buy instead.

Nature's Own offers standard-sized and small loaves – which is something that I, a person who lives alone, can appreciate. I usually store leftover bread in the freezer, so it's nice to know that I have a small loaf option if I need bread but don't have the freezer space. However, I can't say that I will be buying Nature's Own whole wheat bread again after this taste test.

First, the good. It had a spongy but not overly cardboard-like texture that would be ideal for spreads and sauces. The slices were sturdy and thick, though I think this was more of a detriment. If I were eating a sandwich made with this bread, the slices would be too thick and make the bite 70% bread — which isn't what I want from a sandwich. The bread should be the vehicle for the fillings, and this one dominated the bite. Part of the issue was that, because the bread was so thick, all the attention was on its taste (or lack thereof). It didn't really have any complex, nutty, or compelling flavors going on, and thus tasted very flat. 

The only utility I could see this bread having is making homemade French toast, but I doubt anyone would choose wheat bread for that anyway. There are just so many other, tastier options than Nature's Own, though its numerous size options do give it the upper hand over the lower-ranking breads.

Freihofer's is a brand I've seen several times in my local bread aisle, but this was the first time I had added any of its products to my cart. This bread, at first glance, was remarkably plush and soft, and I'm happy to report that this texture was very evident in the bite as well. If you give it a poke, it springs back almost immediately, and it lacks the same dryness as the Great Value bread that is placed below it. But in terms of flavor, the two are on par with one another.

I don't expect a wheat bread to taste like a multi-grain bread. If anything, I just want a little more nuttiness or something to convince my taste buds (not just my eyes) that I am indeed eating wheat bread. The flavor just wasn't there. It kind of tasted sad and stale, despite the fact that its texture was excellent. The other brands that ranked above it boast a better flavor and would be more appealing to a wheat bread stan. Like Great Value, if you wanted to toast it and slather it with something to hide its flavor, so be it. But it's not a good enough choice to stand alone or warrant making a sandwich with.

Stop & Shop's stone-ground wheat bread was an interesting one, mainly because I don't think I've ever had a store-bought loaf come out with proving issues. There was a band of moist, tight crumb in the center of the slice I tried, while the surrounding area was better textured. This leads me to believe that something went awry with the proving, leading to this partly doughy consistency. The bread itself was quite tight and contracted, which would be ideal for something like a sandwich where you don't want your condiments to soak through the slice. However, the actual structure of the bread was a little too chewy for my liking. 

There was enough wheat flavor present in this bread to warrant a spot above brands like Sara Lee, Freihofer's, Panera Bread, and Great Value, all of which tasted like dressed-up cardboard. But considering that there are better name-brands out there that offer a more consistent slice with a less hard-to-eat texture, I'd be hard-pressed to buy this one again.

I had to take a second look at this bag of Home Pride wheat bread to ensure that I had indeed purchased the right thing. These slices pale (literally) in comparison to the other wheat breads in this ranking. On closer inspection, I was able to see the small flecks of grains studding this loaf, so I was sure that it did indeed pass my whole wheat test — at least in terms of texture. The flavor was like white bread trying to cosplay as wheat bread. It had the soft, clean mouthfeel of a standard white sandwich bread, but with the slight textural edge of the grain pieces.

While I was looking for a nutty flavor from the other breads I sampled, I was astonished to see that Home Pride put its effort instead into making the bread taste buttery. It had the texture and taste of soft potato bread instead of wheat bread, and if you weren't thinking too much about it, I doubt you'd notice it. But sampling all of these breads in a row made it very clear that Home Pride was trying to distinguish itself — a mission in which I do think it was successful. This is the kind of bread you feed to people who turn their nose up to the thought of ordering wheat toast with their breakfast. It's an enigma, and I think it's earned its place among the better whole wheat breads out there. 

If we are ranking these whole wheat bread brands on appearances alone, give Nature's Promise a sash and a crown. This loaf looked beautiful in the packaging, thanks to its striking brown color and specks of oats sprinkling the crust. The slices were uniform and quite large, which makes me think the organic foods brand had sandwiches in mind when it made it. The flavor was also more nutty and robust than almost all of the other brands on this ranking, which earned it some praise from me. However, the reason why Nature's Promise was kept out of the top spot was because of its crumb structure.

All of the other breads on this list were light, airy, and soft. This slice of bread had the consistency of dry leather. It was so compressed that I almost had to use my molars to bite off a slice, which isn't something I should have to do for a sliced sandwich bread. The small specks of oats on the interior of the slice were a nice touch, but it seemed like every bite I took of Nature's Promise's bread went down like a lead balloon — heavy and unrelenting. 

When I eat a sandwich, I don't want to feel bogged down as if I just ate four dinner rolls in a row. This bread, unfortunately, makes me feel like that. It had some high points, though I can't overlook this major textural fault.

Visually speaking, Arnold is what I want to get when I order wheat toast at a diner. These slices were massive and dotted with plenty of oats on top. As a matter of fact, it just looked healthy, which did a great deal in this race. Besides being larger in size than the less premium brands like Great Value and Sara Lee, this slice was also texturally different. While Great Value was drier, Arnold's bread had a spring to it. It was moist, yet sturdy, and didn't have a super strong flavor, which leads me to believe it would be an excellent loaf to make sandwiches with. 

Another perk of this bread, which was not something that other brands on this list had, was that there were pieces of wheat dotting every slice. It wasn't as seedy as a multigrain, but the pieces added texture and made each bite feel robust and healthy. While I would have liked to see a little bit more nuttiness from this loaf, I'm kind of glad that Arnold expressed restraint on the flavor notes, as it makes this a versatile whole wheat bread that can pair with a variety of spreads and meats.

Pepperidge Farm's loaf was a showstopper in this ranking. It was peppered with an oat topping that made it look like it waltzed right out of a bakery. But this bread had more than just looks — it also boasted a great flavor that was more unique than any of the other brands that I sampled. There was an undercurrent of sweetness to this loaf. It didn't take over the entire bite, nor would it be too distracting for a savory topping or sandwich filling. Instead, this honeyed sweetness just carried the nuttiness of the loaf. That robust flavor wasn't forced or overly obvious. Instead, it lingered in the background of every bite, offering a compelling flavor that made me sure that this was wheat bread. It was complex, while still remaining in the realm of a simple sandwich bread.

Despite its wheaty flavor, I don't think that a white bread fan would hate eating it. There were just enough pieces of whole wheat studding it to give it texture, and its flavor never felt stale or dry. Its texture also walked a thin line between being very tight and very light. I didn't feel bogged down by it like I did Nature's Promise or some of the drier selections on this list. All in all, this was an excellent bread and one that I would keep stocked in my freezer for when I have a hankering for a sandwich or toast.

I sampled each bread on the same day I purchased it to ensure peak freshness. I opted to try each slice dry and untoasted so that I could evaluate its structural integrity and flavor without any toppings or additional flavors getting in the way. However, the versatility of the bread and its potential uses were the most important factors when it came to ranking each bread.

I also considered the taste and texture of each bread. Wheat bread should have a slightly nutty flavor, though not so noticeable that it distracts from the topping or sandwich filling. Each slice should also be structurally sound enough to hold up to wet toppings without becoming soft and soggy. The highest-ranked breads on this list boasted compelling flavors, excellent texture, and made me want to come back for another slice. The lowest-ranked breads, however, weren't very flavorful, nor did they have as good a crumb structure.