10 Frozen Copycats Of Your Favorite Chain Restaurant Appetizers To Get On Your Next Grocery Trip

For a lot of chain restaurants, the appetizers are the real draw. Take Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits, which have somewhat of a cult-like following, or Outback Steakhouse's iconic Bloomin' Onion. Those are the dishes that kick many a meal off on a high note, and they're usually the ones that disappear the fastest. Some are so good that people don't mind traveling or paying delivery fees to get them. But what if we told you that you can recreate that same appetizer experience at home, no reservation required?

Take a walk through your grocery store's frozen aisle and there's a good chance you'll find several products that look like and taste just like popular chain restaurant appetizers. Many food manufacturers actually chase restaurant flavors on purpose because they know those items will be a hit with shoppers. More often than not, those restaurant copycats offer better value than what you find in the actual restaurant, and they're certainly more convenient.

With that in mind, we dug through online forums and social media platforms to find frozen foods that shoppers consistently compare to popular chain restaurant appetizers. The items below, all from major grocery chains, have earned repeated praise for tasting similar to the originals, or at least close enough to make a restaurant trip unnecessary. According to countless shoppers, these frozen foods will give you real-deal restaurant flavors straight from your oven or air fryer.

Visit an Olive Garden and the first thing to usually hit your table is a basket of the chain's complimentary breadsticks. They're soft and slightly chewy, which makes them great for dipping in sauces. Plus, they offer hints of rich butter and garlic. Provided you order an entrée and are dining in, the breadsticks are endless, but obviously that doesn't apply to take-out or delivery. If you want a back-up stash that you can tuck into anytime at home, many say Walmart offers a very close copycat of Olive Garden's bread sticks.

Each box of Walmart's Great Value Garlic Bread Sticks comes with six frozen breadsticks and retails for about $2. By comparison, Olive Garden's bread sticks are priced at about $4.50 for six if you order them for take-away or delivery. Simply pop the Great Value frozen breadsticks in the oven for eight to 10 minutes, and they should come out fluffy and wafting yeasty, garlicky aromas.

In terms of taste, many customers say the Great Value bread sticks taste exactly like Olive Garden's, and others say they even rival the originals. That makes sense when you consider that Olive Garden gets its breadsticks shipped in partially pre-baked. Employees simply heat them up, brush them with margarine, and sprinkle them with garlic salt. According to the Great Value packaging, Walmart's bread sticks are made with real garlic, so that's a step above.

Chili's is known for its hearty Tex-Mex creations, and one of the more interesting offerings is the Southwestern Eggrolls, which feature chicken and veggies wrapped in a tortilla and deep fried. Although we placed them in the mid to low-end of our ranking of every Chili's appetizer, there's no disputing that many people love them. If you're a fan, you might be interested to know that Aldi sells almost an exact replica.

The Appetitos Southwestern Style Egg Rolls feature eight frozen rolls per box, and they ring in at $6.99. That's about half the price of what you'll pay at Chili's, where the Southwestern Eggrolls cost $15.49. The ingredients are nearly identical in both versions with a mix of chicken, black beans, jalapeños, corn, red peppers, and spinach wrapped up in a fried flour tortilla. However, Chili's adds Jack cheese to the mix, and the Appetitos egg rolls feature mozzarella.

By most accounts, the Appetitos egg rolls can hold their own against Chili's version. One reviewer even said on Facebook, "I NEED these as a CONSTANT staple in my house ... They are SO much better than the Chili's version!" The only downside is they don't come with any sauce, so you'll have to source that yourself. If you want to serve them like Chili's does, consider going for a creamy avocado ranch sauce. 

Where do you go when you're craving crispy fried chicken? For many people, the answer is Chick-fil-A. People love that the chain only uses quality chicken breast, and that it's breaded in flavorful spices and fried to crispy perfection. The chicken nuggets are one of the most ordered dishes at Chick-fil-A, just behind the waffle fries and chicken sandwich. For anyone chasing that same crispy-on-the-outside, juicy-on-the-inside experience at home, Costco has a frozen option that people keep recommending.

Costco is no stranger to copycats. In fact, the company often seeks out well-known brands to create its Kirkland Signature products, which are then priced very competitively. While Chick-fil-A is almost certainly not the creator of the Kirkland Signature Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks, many customers say the size, texture, and flavor are extremely close to the chicken chain's nuggets.

The Kirkland Chicken Breast Chunks come in a 4-pound bag that costs about $13.99. The breaded chicken is fully cooked and just needs to be reheated in the oven or air fryer to crisp up. By comparison, Chick-fil-A's chicken nuggets are priced at $11.95 for eight nuggets, $14.55 for 12, and $27.75 for 30. While there are some who say nothing beats the OG Chick-fil-A chicken, by most accounts, Costco does a pretty decent copycat. Plus, you have to admit it's a pretty stellar deal.

Even if you've never eaten at an Outback Steakhouse, you might be familiar with the Bloomin' Onion. It features a giant onion that's cut into "petals," battered, deep fried, and served with a creamy, spicy sauce. According to Outback's website, one out of every four appetizers ordered at the chain is a Bloomin' Onion, and roughly eight million are sold every year. With that in mind, it's not surprising that Trader Joe's came up with its own version.

Trader Joe's Onion Flowers cost $5.49 per box versus $11.99 for one Bloomin' Onion at Outback. Each box includes two individually wrapped frozen onions that have been cut into flower shapes, battered, and deep-fried. You can stick them in the oven or air fryer, then serve them with your choice of sauce. The package states they're vegan, which is a nice selling point for plant-based eaters. For reference, the Bloomin' Onion is not vegan as it contains eggs and milk.

There are a few other differences between the two dishes that customers point out. For one, the Onion Flowers are smaller. The entire box weighs 300 grams, which is just over half a pound, while each Bloomin' Onion weighs about a pound. Several customers also say that the Onion Flowers don't crisp up as nicely as the chain restaurant's version, particularly in the middle. They're not exact replicas, but if you're looking for a quick and easy vegan appetizer you can make at home, the Onion Flowers are a decent choice.

Taco Bell is always dropping new menu items to keep things interesting, but for many people, it's all about the classics. The Taco Bell Mexican Pizza is a fan-favorite, so much so that when Taco Bell took it off the menu in 2020, customers urged the chain to bring it back. The chain acquiesced and put the pizza back on the menu in 2022. Perhaps Costco picked up on all that love because it started carrying a total copycat of Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza: the Dos Bandidos Mexican-Inspired Layered Pizzas.

Both chain's pizzas feature two tortillas (flour for Taco Bell and corn for Costco) filled with a ground beef and bean mixture. The Dos Banditos pizzas also feature cheddar Jack cheese in the filling, and they're topped with tomatoes and green onions. Taco Bell tops its pizza with a Mexican-inspired pizza sauce, tomatoes, and a three-cheese blend. One pizza will cost you roughly $6.39 at Taco Bell (depending on location), while the Dos Banditos pizzas cost $18.89 for a box of six.

If you're looking purely at value, the Dos Banditos pizzas are cheaper, as they work out to about $3.15 per pizza. It should be noted that reviews are mixed about them though. Some say they're the absolute bomb, while others say they don't crisp up well unless you double the cook time. Some also say that the corn tortillas give them more of a tostada vibe.

Red Lobster is renowned for its affordable seafood dishes, many of which are shrimp-centric. In our roundup of the appetizers you should always order at Red Lobster, the Parrot Isle Coconut Shrimp came out on top thanks to its combination of succulent shrimp breaded with crispy coconut and served with a sweet and tangy piña colada sauce. According to many Aldi shoppers, you can enjoy nearly identical flavors at home with the Fremont Fish Market Coconut Breaded Butterfly Shrimp.

While Red Lobster's Parrot Isle Coconut Shrimp rings in at $12.99, a 9-ounce box of the Fremont Fish Market coconut shrimp will only set you back about $4. Inside the box, you'll find about 10 plump shrimp covered with a crunchy coconut coating and a packet of orange marmalade sauce. You can cook the shrimp in a conventional oven, an air fryer, or in a pan. As for the sauce pack, you simply place it in hot water for a few minutes to thaw.

"I couldn't tell the difference between Red Lobster coconut shrimp and the Fremont Brand from Aldi's ... Delicious!!" said one reviewer on an Aldi-focused Facebook page. Many say the shrimp have become a staple in their homes and are great for those times when you don't know what to cook and just want something easy. The orange marmalade isn't quite the same as Red Lobster's piña colada sauce, but nonetheless, fans say it works wonderfully with the shrimp.

Din Tai Fung was once a modest cooking oil shop, but it really took off when owners Bing-Yi Yang and his wife, Pen-Mei Lai, began selling xiao long bao, or soup dumplings, which are different from wontons. Today, the Taiwanese chain has over 165 locations around the world, and it's been awarded Michelin stars multiple times. Of course, it's hard to replicate most Michelin-quality meals, especially with a frozen food offering, but many say the Mila Pork Soup Dumplings from Costco are about as close to Din Tai Fung's as you can get.

The dumplings that put Din Tai Fung on the map are its Kurobuta Pork Xiao Long Bao, which feature marinated Kurobuta pork in a rich soup broth enhanced by ginger and green onions. An order of 10 costs about $17.50 depending on the location. The Mila dumplings at Costco come in a bag that weighs 2.75 pounds and costs about $14.99. Each bag gives you about 50 soup dumplings as well as steamer liner sheets.

According to many shoppers, the Mila dumplings are ultra-flavorful, and they contain a decent amount of pork and broth. They're pretty easy to make either by steaming them or pan-frying them. You may not be getting the rich marbling of Kurobuta pork or the perfect 18 pleats per dumpling like you do at Din Tai Fung, but many people agree the flavors are pretty authentic, making the dumplings a great substitute.

The Cheesecake Factory is renowned for serving up tons of comfort food dishes, some of which are truly creative. The Buffalo Blasts are a good example, as they put a unique twist on traditional Buffalo chicken. They feature shredded chicken that's mixed with cheese and spicy Buffalo sauce, then wrapped in a spiced wrapper and fried until crispy. Can't make it to The Cheesecake Factory? Trader Joe's offers a similar version called Buffalo Style Chicken Poppers.

The frozen poppers from Trader Joe's are pretty similar to the Buffalo Blasts, but with a few small differences. For one, the shredded chicken is mixed with a variety of cheeses, including Monterey Jack, fontina, cheddar, and cream cheese. Then it gets a splash of hot sauce before it's wrapped in filo dough, battered, and fried. You simply pop them in the oven to get crispy bites that the product page says are "as flaky and satisfying as similar apps you'd find at your favorite local haunts." A 9.5-ounce box will set you back $5.49.

Considering that The Cheesecake Factory's Buffalo Blasts cost $19.95 an order, it's obvious that you're getting a much cheaper deal from Trader Joe's. And many shoppers say that the poppers are almost an exact match in flavor and texture, especially if you air fry them. All you need is some blue cheese dressing and a few celery sticks to make it feel like you've brought home takeaway or ordered delivery.

Olive Garden is renowned for its pasta, and the chain gives you plenty of opportunities to start carb-loading right from the get-go with several fried pasta appetizers. Olive Garden's Toasted Ravioli are particularly popular for their crispy exteriors, savory beef filling, and tangy marinara for dipping. However, one of the Olive Garden secrets many people don't know is that some of the appetizers come frozen, including the toasted ravioli. That's why when some people say the ravioli are actually Louisa Original Beef Toasted Ravioli, they may not be too far off.

You can buy the Louisa Original Beef Toasted Ravioli in 40-ounce family-style bags at Walmart and Sam's Club, and a bag will cost you about $9. In comparison, the Toasted Ravioli appetizer at Olive Garden costs $10.29 per plate. Both versions are filled with seasoned beef and lightly breaded to give that nice crunch on the outside. With the Louisa ravioli, you can cook them directly from frozen in your oven or air fryer and serve them with your preferred sauce.

Many people say the similarities between the Louisa and Olive Garden toasted raviolis are uncanny. A Reddit user commented, "Louisa Toasted Ravioli from my local grocery store tastes — exactly —like Olive Garden. Same filling, same coating!" Another user commented on the same thread, "Olive Garden toasted ravioli is just 'Louisa' brand toasted ravioli." We're not sure how true that last claim is, but clearly many people think the store-bought version is a pretty solid copycat.

If you're looking for something to munch on at Burger King before you dive into your Whopper, the Chicken Fries are nice for whetting your appetite. They're made with white chicken meat that's formed into the shape of french fries, then breaded with a coating containing herbs and spices and deep-fried. However, you don't necessarily need to hit up the drive-thru to enjoy these snacks because Walmart sells a pretty convincing copycat.

Sporting a bright orange bag, the Great Value Homestyle Ground Chicken Fries are made in pretty much the exact same way as Burger King's Chicken Fries. You get white meat that's formed into skinny "patties," breaded, seasoned, and deep-fried. The instructions say you can cook them from frozen in the microwave or oven. The bag weighs in at 27.5 ounces and costs just $6.98. That's not bad, considering Burger King charges $4.69 for four chicken fries, $6.69 for eight, and $7.69 for 12.

It's easy to see why people say these two versions of chicken fries are pretty much identical, but how do they compare in taste? Well, many people say that the Great Value Chicken Fries are actually a step above BK's. In a YouTube video, a reviewer did a taste test of the two and said of the Great Value version, "This one definitely had more of a crunch. The breading too just has an overall better flavor. It tastes more like what you'd expect from a chicken nugget."