I Tried And Ranked Brioche From 6 Grocery Store Brands

I spent many years of my childhood with a French bakery owner as a neighbor. I used to go there to get some treats, and it was nearly as good as booking a flight to France. Better yet were the parties at the house, with endless tasty desserts. Since I would always preferred the brioche bread rolls, I wanted to see if a store-bought version could live up to my memories.

While some might think that brioche is a cake, it’s still considered bread because of the yeast. The French bakery ones were buttery and eggy, with a wonderfully fluffy, pull-apart interior. Authentic brioche has a flaky exterior that crumbles as you break into it and a shiny top. Conversely, grocery bakery loaves tend to be softer without that crumbly outside. It’s difficult to find the exact bread I recall (and if you do, they don’t always hit the spot), but many grocery stores carry a version in whole-loaf form.

To find the best grocery store brioche bread, I purchased loaves at six stores, then ranked them mainly based on taste and texture. Price was a factor, as well (since some entries didn’t seem worth the cost). I found one that wasn’t an exact replica of what I remembered, but was pretty darn close in flavor and some aspects of texture. Keep reading to find out the worst from the best, because there were certainly some duds along the way.

I haven’t been impressed with Favorite Day’s bakery offerings in the past, as the Target brand’s baked goods seem to taste old and dry by the time I get to them. I didn’t like the Favorite Day offering in my ranking of grocery store glazed donuts, and the brioche loaf doesn’t fare any better.

A brioche may have a flaky crumb, but it shouldn’t be dry or stale. The Target loaf’s texture felt like it had been sitting there a little too long to be considered fresh (and you can see it based on this photo above). The bread seemed dry and jagged, and doesn’t have the richness I expect in brioche. It was more like a random bakery loaf moonlighting as brioche. It doesn’t contain butter, either, so the buttery essence isn’t there.

Additionally, this is one of the pricier loaves I tried. Even though I purchased the loaf with the furthest out best-by date, this was undoubtedly the worst grocery store brioche option I tried. Reviewers on Target’s website seem to use it for things like French toast, which may better disguise the extreme dryness it would otherwise have.

I tried three chocolate-infused brioche loaves, and thought they’d all rank high given my love of chocolate. But that wasn’t the case. The Specially Selected chocolate chip sliced brioche loaf suffers from a too-hard consistency that doesn’t make it all too brioche-like. It didn’t make me want to sink my teeth into it. Not only that, but the bread imparts some other flavors that aren’t entirely pleasant. It tastes chocolatey at first, but it transforms and leaves a lingering aftertaste of something attempting to be brioche.

I can’t tell if it’s coming from the chocolate or elsewhere, but the bread contains artificial flavor, so it’s certainly in there in some form. On the plus side, we see butter and eggs make an appearance, but it doesn’t taste too buttery thanks to the chocolate chips, further diverting the overall experience. I wouldn’t get this again, but there’s no question this Aldi brioche is way better than Target’s Favorite Day version, so it didn’t come in last.

The Sprouts plant-based brioche bread isn’t anywhere among the best grocery store options, but I have to hand it to Sprouts for offering a plant-based loaf for a bread where butter and eggs are vital. It doesn’t really taste like brioche as a result, lacking the richness I’d expect, but I can give it points for trying.

If you gave this to me in a blind taste test, it might pass for a complex white bread. It has some flavor from its slew of ingredients, including paprika, natural flavors, and even a vegetable protein blend of pea, potato, and fava bean. Plus, it’s incredibly dense and heavy, like you compacted a standard loaf of bread. You can see that in the photo, as the crumb is very dense with little to no air bubbles.

While it’s a good bread, it’s not a good brioche. If you’re vegan, though, it’s definitely worth purchasing in place of a classic egg and dairy-laden brioche. The price is fantastic, especially for a specialty product. I actually double-checked because it seemed considerably lower than the prices of many other brioche breads I tried.

The Marketside marbled chocolate brioche bread comes in a tin tray that makes it look homemade if you were to remove the bag entirely. At first, the airy, tear-apart texture captivated my senses, but then the flavor came in as I began to chew. The chocolate layers look nice, but the bread doesn’t taste too great, hence the bottom-half ranking.

The chocolate filling is made with semisweet chocolate chips, chocolate liquor, and a few other ingredients, but something in there tastes a little off. The loaf itself has artificial flavorings in a couple of areas, and perhaps that’s what it is, but it’s difficult to place. Either way, something artificial stays on the tongue well after swallowing the bread, overtaking any pleasantness it might have at the beginning of the bite.

I like the chic marbled look, but ultimately, the flavors don’t back it up. In a way, I like the somewhat plain taste of the Sprouts plant-based brioche bread more. But at least the Walmart Marketside one seems more brioche-adjacent with the inclusion of butterfat and eggs, giving it a slight lead in the ranking.

The Marketside Sliced Brioche Bread is a solid option, particularly if you find yourself shopping at the big box store for something anyway. It doesn’t have any major issues other than a few others taste better and are more genuine to a brioche. Walmart’s loaf has egg and milk proteins that contribute to that milky, eggy quality, but there’s no butter in sight. Instead, we see canola oil and artificial flavoring. Ultimately, these ingredient swaps alter the flavor a bit, so it doesn’t exactly hit the flavor notes I was seeking, but it isn’t artificial-tasting, either.

The loaf is moist but doesn’t have the richness you’d get from butterfat. If you eat it on its own, it’s clear it’s not the most authentic recipe, but I’d wager it’s still tasty for sandwiches, toast, and other everyday applications where you add other ingredients. It lands itself toward the middle of the ranking because it’s good enough overall, but can’t stand up to some of the richer, tastier store-brand options I tried.

The Signature Select Sliced Brioche Bread is from Albertsons, and, surprisingly, it wasn’t with other store-brand bread loaves in the bread aisle. Instead, it was in the bakery area with other specialty loaves. After trying a few bites, I must say it’s quite nice, with a butter and egg flavor and soft crumb. This is in part because butter and eggs are among the first ingredients (go figure).

Now, on its own, this is a tasty brioche loaf, and it has a more buttery taste than Walmart’s loaf, which puts it in fifth place. I like that it has a soft texture, a distinctly buttery flavor, and a glossy top. It hits a lot of the qualities I was looking for, which helps it rank higher than some other options.

But the price is the biggest caveat. It’s the second-most expensive option, and was still about $1.50 more than the third-priciest loaf from Target. I wouldn’t feel inclined to go to Albertsons to pick this up when (most) of the upcoming options are cheaper and tastier. Even if it were somehow the best loaf, I wouldn’t want to pay the price very often, though maybe for a special occasion. Luckily, I don’t have to worry because other grocery stores offered a better brioche bread.

Speaking of a better grocery brioche, let’s talk about the Trader Joe’s sliced double chocolate brioche. This bread has some pros and cons, but it ultimately hits the spot. It doesn’t exactly have the most brioche-esque texture, somehow straddling the line between airy yet dense. It’s a smaller, more compact loaf, and contains a paper liner you need to remove from the bottom before eating. But at least the chocolate tastes real and rich here, helping its ranking.

The chips are enjoyable and melt on the tongue. My toddler kept requesting a piece, which isn’t a surprise to me. I feel like this would be a tasty, chic bread to bring out for guests or to impress someone. It doesn’t have any bold flavors, but it tastes expensive and authentically chocolatey. The bread contains egg and casein (milk), but not butter.

While I could taste the lack of butter, I didn’t exactly miss it thanks to the addition of cocoa powder and semi-sweet chocolate. Still, it doesn’t hit the precise brioche notes I was looking for, so it misses the top three. But I liked the airiness and think this would be the perfect chocolate brioche loaf for French toast.

Aldi’s Specially Selected Plain Sliced Brioche Loaf is a delight; it’s soft, yet not too delicate. This loaf was my second pick until I tried the next bread, bumping it to third. Another Tasting Table writer quite liked this loaf, too, deeming it a Specially Selected bread worth buying for its sweet, yeasty profile and soft, almost fluffy consistency. I have to agree that this is one of Aldi’s better breads, and it’s clearly better than many other store-bought brioche loaves, too. 

It has a lot of the qualities I was looking for: that soft interior and an egg-forward taste. However, there’s no butter included in the loaf. Somehow, it still has a buttery-ish flavor, perhaps from the milk products (nonfat dry milk, milk protein) and artificial flavor. It doesn’t face any glaring issues on its own. When I ate it side by side with the next one, it was clear Aldi’s wasn’t as flavorful, though, so it comes in third.

It’s a delicious brioche that hits the spot, but it simply wasn’t as authentic as I was looking for. On the plus side, it’s cheaper than my next pick, so if you’re already doing some Aldi grocery shopping, you might as well pick up a loaf. This bread might be a solid base for smoked salmon brioche bites, only made better by the buttery, smoky flavor of the salmon.

I went all around town to get these brioche loaves, and Sprouts was my last stop. I found the plant-based one easily, but couldn’t locate the Sprouts All Butter Sliced Brioche – even with the help of an associate. Eventually, I found it tucked in the very top row of the bread aisle, and I’m glad I kept looking for it before leaving The all-butter recipe really shines through in the decadent flavor, helping it earn second place.

It’s wonderfully soft with a shiny top. The ingredient list is minimal compared to some others on this list, too. I’m not an ingredient snob by any means, but you don’t need much to make brioche, which is clear in this Sprouts recipe that uses butterfat and egg. This has a little more structure and durability than the number one pick, so I’d say this would be good for bread pudding without turning into mush. It can hold up to the custard while still imparting incredible, rich flavors, and the biggest issue is the price.

This is the most expensive brioche on this list, costing $1 more than the one from Albertsons. It’s fantastic, sure, but I don’t usually spend nearly $9 on a loaf of store-bought bread. I’d buy this for an occasional fun weekend brunch or a special occasion. But it would not be part of my weekly bread-buying rotation, even if it’s scrumptious, so it couldn’t top this list.

The Trader Joe’s Sliced Brioche is about as close as I’ve gotten to my dream brioche. Now, it doesn’t have a flaky, crusty exterior, and is excessively soft, in fact, lacking that exterior texture altogether. But the flavor and layered soft interior are about as good as a store-bought brioche can get. It has the eggs and butter I was looking for, which comes across in the flavor. It also has sour cream to add a richer taste and moister texture. This version is why some people might confuse brioche for a cake, since it feels and tastes closer to a pastry than anything else on this list.

This sliced brioche also has such a luxurious pull-apart texture that really reminds me of the brioche I had growing up. None of the other entries had a pull-apart aspect. I couldn’t help but eat it plain — straight from the bag — but it’s tasty with a light toasting and some additional butter. If it lasts long enough to get stale, this is the best bread for making brioche French toast. I kept coming back to this bread, and it was truly the best tasting grocery store brand option.

It may not perfectly mimic the flavors of a French bakery’s brioche, but it’s clearly the best grocery store one I tried. As an added bonus, it’s one of the more affordable loaves (and a whopping $4 cheaper than the Sprouts option). This is the clear winner based on flavor and texture, but the price certainly doesn’t hurt.

It took a couple of days to buy all the bread; after all, I had to hop around to six different grocery stores to pick these up. I ate them plain and untoasted to taste the bread as it comes. I didn’t want to add anything to jumble up the flavor or texture. I also tried a middle piece from each loaf before moving to the next, which helped pinpoint the minor differences between them. This allowed me to notice when something tasted truly richer and buttery, or had a nicer and softer texture than the next one.

To rank them, I considered the flavor, which was vital, followed by texture. I wanted a bread that had a clear egg-and-butter taste, with a soft and luxurious interior. Price factored into some but not all breads, as a few options seemed quite expensive, and therefore less approachable. You’ll see that breads ranked high if they hit the described qualities, whereas lower ranking ones had some issues.