8 Grocery Store Sourdough Breads, Ranked Worst To Best

There are many types of bread that come in all different shapes, sizes, and flavors. While some of the more niche varieties have yet to make their way onto grocery store shelves, you can trust that your local Walmart, Aldi, and the like carry a pretty good smattering of basic breads. One variety that has become more popular in recent years is sourdough. You won't just find loaves in the bakery section, but in the regular sandwich bread aisle as well. I credit the pandemic-era sourdough craze that hit nearly every work-from-homer in some way, shape, or form for this. Instead of tending to potted plants and desktop fishbowls, everyone seemed to be attempting to keep their sourdough starter alive in their own home kitchens. The good news is that even if you're not good at remembering to feed your starter at just the right time and use your sourdough discards (pasta, anyone?), you can get a pretty tasty loaf of sourdough at the store. 

A sourdough enthusiast who too has tried and failed to keep a starter alive, I wanted to see which brand of grocery store bread did sourdough justice. So, I bought all the sliced sourdoughs I could find at my local grocery stores (Aldi, Walmart, and Stop & Shop), tasted them, and ranked them from worst to best. Sourdough gets its flavor from the starter, so I wanted to find a loaf that boasted a distinctly funky flavor and solid texture. Did I actually achieve that goal? Read on to find out.

Whoever labeled this Stop & Shop sourdough as "authentic" needs to get a pink slip because it is positively dreadful. I don't think even the most flavorful of mustards and saltiest of deli meats can redeem it. When I grabbed a slice from the bag, I couldn't help but notice how dry it was. While its crumb structure was airy, the bite was like eating a piece of thick cardboard — wholly undersalted cardboard, that is. Even when I smushed my nose against the slice and took a whiff, I couldn't pull out any sourdough notes or funkiness. The bite revealed no clues either, as I found it devoid of any and all flavor. The crust was unremarkable, and there wasn't even any sort of crispiness to give the bite definition.

I can't think of an instance where you would want to add this bread to your cart, let alone call it a sourdough. What's worse is that it was priced pretty darn high for a grocery store bread. I wouldn't even feed this nearly $6 loaf to my dog (and that says a lot, considering she'll eat anything).

I have very, very mixed feelings about Nature's Own sourdough. Right off the bat, you might think that the small slice size (and overall loaf size) would be one of the reasons why I didn't like it, but I actually think that its petite status is one of its biggest (and only) selling points. Not everyone has the shelf space or the need for a massive sourdough boule, making this loaf an excellent option. However, that's kind of where its positives stop. 

Okay, okay, maybe there is one more: The slices are very soft. However, they're soft in a way that suggests they're loaded up with preservatives and who-knows-what. While not far off from other sliced bread brands, anyone craving a homestyle, artisanal sourdough may want to look elsewhere. This artificiality also extends beyond its texture and into its flavor. The aroma doesn't give off anything sourdough-esque, though its flavor comes across more as "something here is rancid" rather than sourdough. While the flavor of a sourdough starter is funky and unique, it shouldn't taste spoiled like this bread did. I figured I was going to put it at the bottom of my list because of this flavor, but I had to rank it above Stop & Shop's loaf because it did in fact have some flavor — just not the right one. 

For a company that makes its literal bread and butter off of its namesake, Panera Bread does a really awful job of making quality store-bought breads and bread-adjacent products, including bagels and English muffins. When I tried its store-bought wheat bread, I was shocked by its lack of flavor and overall robustness, so I didn't have high hopes for its sourdough.

I am happy to report that this bread could have been worse. The slices are sizable and sturdy and could easily hold up to wet condiments like grape jelly or mustard. However, like the other lower-ranked breads on the list, it doesn't really fulfill the "sour" end of the bargain. When I took a whiff, I couldn't pull out any sour notes from either the whole loaf or a single slice. This phenomenon persisted as I ate a piece. The only detectable sour notes came toward the end of the bite and weren't strong enough to the point where I would call this a "sourdough" bread — it's more like a slice of white bread that's just going through a phase.

While I don't like the lack of funky flavor at play, I think that someone who is looking for a more mild-tasting slice wouldn't absolutely hate it. However, there are other mild sourdoughs that delivered a slightly more compelling taste and texture than Panera's product ever could. You're better off just sticking to the "free" baguette you get with your order of overpriced hospital food.

Sourdough is a really difficult flavor to nail in a store-bought product, but going into this ranking, I didn't think there would be a race to the bottom. There was seemingly more competition as to who could create the worst sourdough bread, and Great Value was certainly in it. Great Value, frankly, isn't my go-to brand for quality products. And with a price tag this low, I didn't think that it would be at all competitive, especially with artisan-level brands out there — and I was right. 

This bread is like a step above regular white bread. It has a little stronger aroma compared to the lower-ranked breads, and unlike Panera, I could taste that sourness the moment it hit my tongue. The funk comes across as somewhat salty, not super fresh. It still has a wheaty flavor and a standard white bread texture, though it's clearly a little sturdier than some of the other Great Value breads I've had over the years. Structurally? It's a good bread, but its flavor leaves something to be desired.

If I absolutely had to get a sandwich bread-level sourdough at the store, I might pick up this Great Value product, solely based on its price. Its flavor is more pronounced than the brands that ranked lower, though I was still waiting for a brand to show me that homemade-level sourdough flavor I was craving. Nice try, white bread wearing a disguise, but you didn't fool me today. 

I saved what I assumed would be one of the better breads for last during my taste test. Pepperidge Farm has proven to make delicious products, ranging from a multitude of cookies to breads. And while it was better than any of the other sliced sandwich breads that I sampled, it doesn't hold a candle to the more artisan, craft-made sourdoughs. Yet, it's still not a bad sandwich bread. 

When I first opened the package, I marveled at the appearance of these slices. The loaf was peppered with flour, and it looked like it came straight out of a country food magazine. The bread's structure was sturdy, yet light and fluffy, and this really was a step above the cheaper brands on this list, namely Great Value and Nature's Own. The bread was bouncy and had the perfect toothsome texture. If I needed to rank a bread based solely on its structure, this one would win by a long shot. 

However, its flavor and aroma are just not there, especially when there are tastier and bolder sourdoughs in this very tight race. When I smelled this bread, I couldn't pinpoint any obvious flavor notes besides "wheat." The sour flavor was very light, like background noise to an otherwise decent slice of sandwich bread. I wanted to be a little more wowed by its flavor, though I think that folks looking for an inoffensive bread brand might want to add it to their carts. I, however, crave something that gives me a one-way ticket to funky town. 

I had very, very high hopes for the Essential sourdough slice. Like The Rustik Oven brand, this one is packaged in a half-loaf style and has a higher price point than most people (read: me) would feel comfortable shelling out for a run-of-the-mill bread. Yet, I was very entranced by — what looked like — a cracky crust on the outside. When I gave it a poke, though, I found that this seemingly crispy shell was very soft and pliable.

The bread itself had a ton of moisture, which I was initially surprised by. You would think that a loaf of bread that spends most of its life on a store shelf would be dry as can be. Its crumb structure is also very open and airy and resembles more of the sourdough that you would get from a bakery than a standard grocery store. 

But how was its flavor? Well, I should preface this by saying that the bag gives its sourness a one out of five, meaning it's about as bland as it can be while still being a sourdough. You don't realize it's a sourdough until you get to the end of the bite, where the tang lightly hits the palate before fading away. It's very approachable, though I think a sourdough fiend like myself would feel very disappointed by its lack of flavor. Structurally, though, it was an excellent loaf. If it had a better flavor, it would have easily taken the top spot. However, I did still eat a whole slice after the tasting, so I can't say it was a bad bread entirely.

The Rustik Oven was the first brand that I sampled for this ranking, mainly because it looked like a quality sourdough half at first glance. I was able to find a bag of it at my local Walmart, packaged next to the more premium, artisan breads in what I call the "carbs and more" aisle (breads, tortillas, bagels, and the like). The bread is very firm, though not in a pre-frozen way. It has structural integrity, and I was excited when I noticed that it had a great smell as well. The outside isn't nearly as crusty and defined as some of the other sourdough loaves that I sampled from this ranking — including offerings from Stop & Shop and Specially Selected — but its aroma was quite sour and funky. If you were to close your eyes and take a big whiff, you could easily identify it as a sourdough.

The slice has good structure, making it an excellent selection for sandwiches. While it was a little dry — which I suspect is because it didn't have a crisp crust — it was still salty and flavorful and overall was a good representation of mass-produced sourdough. This is the kind of loaf you pull out for a special occasion, not for your everyday ham sandwich, though, and I ultimately thought that I could have made a funkier sourdough in my own home kitchen. If you're willing to shell out some extra dough, it would be a good store-bought bread — it's just not the best. 

Aldi's Specially Selected sourdough was the only bread I had tried before. The first time I tried it, I didn't think it was remarkable in any way. But when compared to other grocery store sourdoughs, it can really hold its own.

This bread is sour, more so than its peers. The second I opened the bag, the funky smell perfumed out and into my nostrils, making me excited to see what that meant for its flavor. I will say that both times I tried this bread, it was very clear that it was pre-frozen (which makes sense, as Aldi doesn't have an in-store bakery) because it was cold and almost dry. However, this didn't make the bite any less satisfying. It was not as sad and parched as some of my lower-ranked brands, and the sourdough flavor was definitely there with every bite. This bread walks a fine line, though, of being just funky enough without being so sour that it would disrupt toppings or sandwich fillings.

However, I do think there is still room for improvement. It would be nice if the edges were a little crustier and if it wasn't sold to me cold, but I guess I can't complain since its price was under $4 for a pretty massive round. I will be freezing the leftovers and using them for my next batch of French toast. 

For this ranking, I tried all of these breads on the day I purchased them to ensure that they were at peak freshness. I also ate them sans any butter or spread so that I could get the clearest idea of their flavor and texture without any other notes getting in the way.

Since all of these breads are marketed as sourdough, the primary factor for this ranking was based on their funkiness. A good sourdough should separate itself from a plain white sandwich bread and offer some degree of sourness in every bite. While this flavor shouldn't be so overwhelming that it makes the slice unpalatable or overwhelms any potential toppings or sandwich fillings, there should be some unique edge that makes it clear that it's a sourdough. 

Texture was an important consideration as well, though not as vital as flavor. The top-ranked breads on this list could serve as a vehicle for an avocado schmear, sandwich fillings, or butter and jam, as they have strong structural integrity and don't break as easily as the lower-ranked brands. While I don't think any of the sourdoughs on this list rival a homemade recipe — complete with a funky, memorable flavor and sturdy texture — I might consider buying my top pick again.