6 Frozen French Toast Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

French toast was a weekend staple in my house growing up. While weekdays were reserved for quick breakfasts I could eat on my way to the bus stop, lazy Sunday French toast was something to look forward to. My family always made ours from scratch, which is why I was initially so puzzled when I saw what came out of the elementary school cafeteria on a breakfast-for-lunch day. What was in the little paper basket on my plastic tray was not the soft, doughy French toast I was used to: It was in stick form and looked (and tasted) nothing like French toast as I knew it.

It was a bit unsettling to think that other kids — both in school and at summer camp — thought that these sticks were "French toast." As I got older, I understood the draw of this very clearly factory-made food. To prepare them, you just need to pop the frozen sticks in the microwave, wait about a minute, and then dip them into your syrup of choice. They're kid-friendly, easy to make, and relatively cheap — just don't call them "French toast."

I revisited these sticks in my adulthood and wanted to see which brand made the best version of them. I bought all the brands I could find from local grocery stores, prepared them according to the package directions, and tasted them sans syrup. Since "resemblance to French toast" was out of the question, I instead ranked them based on their texture, flavor, and appeal to all audiences — not just school-aged children.

Kodiak's French toast sticks were one of the reasons I wanted to take on this review. I've been a staunch supporter of the brand and its protein-enhanced products from the beginning (before I switched to buying Aldi's protein pancake mix instead of Kodiak's, which is just as good and significantly cheaper). These French toast sticks were quite pricey, but I figured that the protein enhancement warranted some sort of price enhancement, too.

When I pulled these sticks out of the bag, I immediately noticed that they were taller and wider than other brands and had a sort of rustic look to them. Despite my brand loyalty, I didn't like these sticks at all. As I suspected, it's almost like they're made with a high-protein bread — which people arguably never buy because it tastes awful and is so dry. Likewise, these French toast sticks lacked softness both in the center and around the exterior and were horribly dry — I had to take multiple swigs of coffee to get each bite down.

I don't think that the cooking method is to blame — though the box contains instructions for the oven, as well — I do think the product itself is at fault. They're hearty French toast sticks, but French toast is arguably a recipe that you just don't mess with or need to enhance the protein content of. If you want a high-protein breakfast, just eat a couple of the higher-ranked French toast stick brands with some eggs or breakfast sausage.

Murry's was stocked right next to Stop & Shop's French toast sticks, and the former's price was notably higher. I didn't necessarily consider price to be an important consideration in this ranking, but after I tried Murry's sticks, I realized that price doesn't necessarily correlate to quality.

Like some of the French toast stick brands that ranked above it, Murry's was quite greasy. Although I was glad that it wasn't as dry as Kodiak's sad attempt at French toast sticks, I felt like eating more than a couple of bites of Murry's product was just going to give me an upset stomach. Perhaps the worst part was that, rather than keeping the sticks soft, the greasiness — combined with the microwave cooking method — caused these sticks to dry out rather quickly. As such, in order to truly enjoy these sticks and prevent them from drying out, you'd need to wolf them down within like two minutes of one another — and I don't like to rush my breakfast.

The flavor is also not really developed in these sticks, at least nowhere near the level of any of the brands that ranked higher than it. The primary flavor was oil here. While there was enough sweetness in the background, I tasted more grease than I did anything else. You'd definitely need to soak these in maple syrup for them to be palatable, which wasn't what I was looking for from any of the brands on my list.

In order to ensure a fair comparison here, I tried to get the original sticks from each of these brands. But I could only locate Stop & Shop's cinnamon-covered French toast sticks at my store, meaning it would be one of the only flavored varieties I tried. The box came with instructions for a toaster oven and for the microwave, but I elected for the latter for the sake of time and to simulate how most people would probably prepare them. Take my advice on this one: Either use your toaster oven or just don't buy these altogether.

The cinnamon-sugar coating was apparent on the outside of these sticks when I pulled them out of the box frozen, but when I prepared them in the microwave, I immediately noticed that the moisture of the sticks had caused the coating to go slimy instead of crispy. These sticks kind of tasted like the funnel cake you'd get from the county fair; the cinnamon wasn't particularly bright or spicy, and the sweetness kind of melded together with the grease. There was also an unpleasant meeting of the firm crust of the bread and the soft center, which almost gave off the impression that these sticks were freezer-burned.

These sticks would probably appease a small, hungry child — but I am not a small nor hungry child. They lack flavor and depth, and no amount of maple syrup can cover up their mediocrity.

I will give Great Value this: It is indeed a great value. Its French toast sticks were priced lower than many of its competitors. However, it's not a brand I typically have high expectations of — and that includes when it comes to its French toast sticks. I had high hopes for their texture specifically, especially when I pulled them out of the bag and I noticed that they were much softer than many of the other brands that I tried. However, their flavor left a lot to be desired — mainly because there was no flavor. There were some subtle eggy notes, but the predominant thing I tasted here was grease. It wasn't particularly sweet or cinnamon-y, and I think they're just begging to be doused with syrup or something to breathe new life into them.

Although their flavor was not as good as Stop & Shop's sticks, they were much more plush and less dry than the other brands. 'Though, their exterior was a bit elastic-y, and I had to get my molars involved to gnaw off a bite. While I did like that the center was pillowy, I would recommend cooking them in a toaster oven to dry them out a bit.

These are not sticks that you can enjoy without a cup of syrup, which is why they didn't take a higher spot on this list. If you were feeding them to a child, I don't think they would care about the taste, but I thought they were way too greasy.

Breakfast Best is Aldi's in-house breakfast foods brand. This was one of the only brands I watched in the microwave, and I kind of wished that I hadn't. I could see the grease bubbling on the surface as the sticks cooked, which didn't give me much hope. However, the good news was that these sticks didn't necessarily taste greasy. There was a much more defined sweetness here than with the Great Value French toast sticks, which I appreciated. However, the cinnamon and spice undertones were still noticeably absent.

Even though these sticks didn't taste as outwardly greasy as the others in this race, I certainly felt like their mouthfeel was like licking the bottom of a grease trap. The edges of the stick, where the faux crust was, were much sturdier and less soft than the middle, which was flimsy and absolutely soaked in oil. Would I rather have a greasy French toast stick than one that was outwardly hard and dry like Kodiak? Of course, but when there is an even better option out there, I doubt that I would reach for another box of these again — Aldi super-fan or not.

Overall, these sticks tasted like I remember the ones in my elementary school cafeteria. They're sweet and catered toward kids, but I couldn't help but feel like I needed to take a nap after eating just one of them. How anyone could down more than three in a single sitting is beyond me.

I tried Eggo's French Toaster Sticks before any of the other brands because I figured, given the brand's presence in the frozen breakfast food space, it would do pretty well. These French toaster sticks are unlike many of the other brands' offerings in more ways than one. The French Toaster Sticks are conjoined like a slice of bread (which I think is cute and clever) and come with toaster-only instructions (hence the name). They are also noticeably thinner than the other French toast sticks, though I don't think this is a bad thing. I was instantly enticed by the lacy coating on the outside, which almost made them look like they had been cooked in a cast-iron skillet rather than popped into a toaster.

Despite being quite thin, these French toast sticks had a great balance between crispy exterior and soft interior. They aren't as pillowy as other brands that I tried — as expected — but their flavor all around was excellent. They weren't so sweet that you couldn't eat them with syrup, but you could also get away with a couple of dunks if you wanted to. The level of cinnamon flavor in the sticks was also passable for a kid-friendly French toast stick brand — it wasn't too spicy, but it clearly prevented these sticks from tasting bland.

The price of a box was pretty fair as well, and I think you could get away with eating a couple of slices at a time. They're kid-friendly, easy to prepare, and don't taste bad (even from a grown-up's perspective). What's not to love?

In order to ensure peak freshness, I prepared each of these French toast brands from frozen based on their packaging instructions. Every brand — except Eggo, which only had instructions for toasting — called for nuking the sticks in the microwave for between 80 seconds and two minutes before eating. I also tried the brands without any syrup, though I may have dipped the leftovers in my favorite real maple syrup afterward for a more pleasurable eating experience.

The first thing that I considered when tasting these sticks was their greasiness. They're obviously a processed food product, so I expected that they were going to be a bit oily. However, brands that tasted way too greasy or left a very evident oily mouthfeel or flavor ranked lower than those that were more balanced. I also considered texture when deciding how to rank these brands. French toast sticks should strike a balance between soft and toothsome, and though very few brands accomplished this, I still ranked the ones that were soft and plush above those that were dry and hard. Since I tried these brands without any sort of syrup dip, I expected them to have enough sweetness that they could be eaten solo, or with a cup of syrup (without becoming too sweet). Lastly, I ranked brands that appealed to both kids and adults above those that would only appeal to a limited audience of eaters (read: children under 10).