11 Tasty Fast-Food Dupes You Can Find at Walmart
Fast-food restaurants are beloved for several reasons: they're quick and convenient, they're relatively cheap compared to traditional full-service restaurants, and the food is pretty delicious as well. So, it's no wonder that so many Americans make fast food a regular habit. Yet, as low-priced as it might seem initially, repeated trips through the drive-thru can wind up costing a lot.
Instead of visiting fast-food restaurants again and again to order your favorite items, you can actually make many of the same foods at home, usually at a fraction of the cost. In fact, it's pretty easy to do this—especially if you're a Walmart shopper.
The retail giant's own house brand Great Value offers numerous items that taste nearly identical to fast-food favorites and can be prepared easily at home. Another perk? Although fast food can be relatively inexpensive, these Great Value-brand dupes often come at a significantly lower cost than heading out to the fast food chains.
From sauces to nuggets to burritos, here are some of the fast food dupes that you can find under Walmart's Great Value brand.
Iced Pumpkin Sliced Loaf Cake
Starbucks fans have long been able to replicate the coffee-shop experience at home just by shopping at Walmart. The retail giant sells Starbucks-brand coffee beans, bottled iced coffee, and even K-cups. It's not just the coffee chain's beverages that can be reproduced, though. Walmart's bakery section has a dupe for one of Starbucks' most beloved food items, as well—the popular pumpkin loaf.
"Walmart's bakery has pumpkin bread loaves that are basically the iced versions of Starbucks' pumpkin loaf," said TikToker user @morganchompz, who goes by the name Morgan Chomps. "They're just as moist, just as flavorful."
According to the TikTok user, the main difference between Walmart's pumpkin loaf and Starbucks' version is the price. At Walmart, a container with eight slices of the iced pumpkin loaf is typically around $5, while one slice from Starbucks can cost almost $4. You can also buy single slices for less than $2 each.
Parmesan Garlic Wing Sauce
The star of the Buffalo Wild Wings menu is, of course, the wings, but those poultry parts would be very bland if it wasn't for the popular sports bar chain's many sauces. Parmesan garlic is one of Buffalo Wild Wings' 26 sauce options, but you don't have to order a batch of wings from the restaurant in order to enjoy that specific sauce. Walmart has a dupe that provides roughly the same flavor profile, offering hints of parmesan cheese, garlic, and Italian herbs.
"This one has those same balanced notes of garlic and Parmesan, and it's a dollar and a half cheaper," TikToker Chomps said in a video.
Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
KFC has so many sides that sometimes it can be hard to choose between them. That problem is solved, though, for customers who purchase the fast food chain's Famous Bowl. The bowl contains mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, shredded cheese, and of course, some of the chain's chicken nuggets. KFC isn't the source for these comforting flavors, of course. Walmart's Great Value brand offers up something nearly identical in its frozen section.
"In Walmart's frozen section, they have this frozen chicken with mashed potatoes meal," TikToker Chomps pointed out. "This has chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and cheddar cheese."
The TikTok user recommends cooking the frozen meal's chicken in the air fryer in order to more closely replicate the texture and taste of KFC's fried chicken.
Chicken Dipping Sauce
While Walmart has shown a knack for replicating popular fast foods, it's equally good at mimicking popular fast-food sauces. This Great Value brand chicken dipping sauce has TikTok users saying it's a spot-on dupe for the highly popular Chick-fil-A Sauce. The listed ingredients of the two sauces slightly differ, but according to some shoppers, they still taste similar enough to be virtually interchangeable.
"Many people think these taste identical, and price-wise, it's worth trying," TikToker Chomps said.
Walmart's house-brand dipping sauce, which costs approximately $2.28 for a 12-ounce bottle, is slightly cheaper than the Chick-fil-A brand sauce, which can also be purchased at Walmart. The department chain sells the actual Chick-fil-A variety for $3.98 for a 16-ounce bottle.
Southern Style Chicken Bites
Not only does Walmart offer a dupe for the chain's beloved sauce, but its Southern Style Chicken Bites are very similar to Chick-fil-A's popular nuggets as well. "They're supposed to have the same kind of breading and slight buttery pickle flavor to them," noted TikTok user Chomps, who recommended pairing the chicken nuggets with Great Value's Chick-fil-A sauce dupe for a meal that's almost identical to one you could purchase at the fast-food chain.
Secret Sauce
Fans have long speculated that McDonalds' top-secret Big Mac Sauce is really just a glorified riff on common Thousand Island salad dressing. While the two taste fairly similar, there is another sauce that tastes almost identical to McDonald's beloved burger topping: Great Value's Secret Sauce at Walmart.
"It's spot on, in my opinion," TikToker Chomps said. "It's super good for making Big Mac salads and tacos."
The 12-ounce container of sauce costs $2.28 at Walmart, which is far less expensive than the fast-food chain's most iconic burger.
Cinnamon Honey Seasoned Butter
Texas Roadhouse is probably best known for its affordably priced steaks, but one of the chain's most beloved items actually doesn't cost a thing. Every table at Texas Roadhouse receives a free basket of warm dinner rolls, which come served with a hugely popular honey cinnamon butter.
Conveniently, the restaurant's beloved spread can be easily replicated at home, with Great Value's Cinnamon Honey Seasoned Butter. According to shoppers, Walmart's butter, which contains just five ingredients, is nearly identical to the butter served on the Texas-inspired chain's bread rolls.
"Comparable to the famous butter served at Texas Roadhouse, this seasoned honey butter has received high praise for its flavor and quality," says Ruiz Asri, the chief knowledge officer and editor of Honest Food Talks. "It's a perfect example of how Walmart can replicate more unique, restaurant-style items."
Homestyle Chicken Fries
Fans were furious when Burger King discontinued its popular chicken fries several years ago. There were so many calls for the fast-food chain to reinstate the much-missed fan-favorite item that Burger King ulitmately decided to bring it back just three years later.
If ever the fast-food chain decides to discontinue the item once again, fans now have an easy solution: just go to Walmart. The store's Great Value brand offers up Homestyle Chicken Fries, which taste just like the ones at Burger King, according to TikToker Chomps.
"Walmart has a version of Burger King's chicken fries," the TikToker said. "Tyson does too, but Walmart's Great Value ones are cheaper and identical to the real deal."
An entire bag of chicken fries, which contains seven servings, costs $6.98, while a single order at Burger King could cost as much as $6.79, according to updated figures posted by Fast Food Menu Prices.
Seasoned Potato Hash Brown Patties
While McDonald's might be best known for its burgers and McNuggets, customers also love the restaurant's potato products. But, you don't have to head out to the drive-thru every time you want a hash brown in the morning. Instead, pick up a pack of frozen Great Value hash brown patties from Walmart. Some Reddit users have said the only difference between the store-bought hash browns and McDonalds' offerings is the amount of salt is on them.
"[McDonalds] hash browns are basically Walmart hash browns with more salt," one Reddit user wrote. "Oven or air fryer and you're good to go."
Another perk of buying Great Value hash brown patties? You're saving money. A single order of hash browns at McDonalds can cost up to $2.29, while a package of 10 from Walmart costs around $3.42.
Stacked Beef Burrito
Taco Bell is known for its regularly rotating menu. Even if some of the taco chain's items are beloved by customers, it doesn't mean that they're guaranteed to remain on the menu. That's why it's convenient that a TikTok user found a dupe for the chain's popular Mexican pizza. Taco Bell's Mexican pizza has seasoned beef and refried beans between two tostada shells, covered with sauce, a three-cheese blend, and tomatoes. Walmart's Great Value version, the Stacked Beef Burrito, isn't too far off.
"I discovered that Walmart has a dupe for Taco Bell's Mexican pizza," TikToker Chomps said, describing the product as "seasoned beef, rice, salsa and refried beans, layered between corn tortillas, and topped with cheese."
While the two items are extremely similar, they're not identical, and the TikToker said that it's because of one extra ingredient: "I think the key difference is this extra layer of rice on the bottom."
Spicy Chicken Nuggets
Most fast-food restaurants offer some form of a chicken nugget on the menu, but Wendy's set itself apart by offering up spicy chicken nuggets. The nuggets were first introduced in 2009, and quickly became one of the fast-food chain's most beloved menu items. While spicy nuggets are relatively unique in fast food, Wendy's isn't the only place that they can be found.
Walmart sells spicy nuggets under the store's Great Value brand. A 27.5-ounce bag comes with five servings, and costs $6.78, while one serving at Wendy's costs $2.99.
"Wendy's has the best chicken nuggets in the fast food game, the spicy ones specifically," said TikToker Chomps. "Great Value Spicy Chicken Nuggets are a great copycat."
The nuggets aren't exactly identical. The TikTok user said that Great Value's are a bit spicier than the ones found at Wendy's, but the store-bought product has the same texture as the fast-food nuggets.
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