People Are Sharing All Of The "Cheap," "Fake," Or "Processed" Foods That Taste So Much Better Than The Expensive Version

Let's face it, everyone loves ~fancy~ things, but when it comes to food...particularly comfort food, sometimes the cheaper the better. Redditor u/burgher89 asked, "What’s an ingredient you prefer the cheaper/fake/processed version of rather than the real deal?" Here's what people said.

1."Hot sauce. I have many in my home collection, but my favorite is the cheap supermarket Louisiana style. Trappey's Louisiana hot sauce."

2."Better Than Bouillon over homemade or fancy store-bought broth/stock. The vast majority of the time I’m too lazy to make my own broth, and when a recipe calls for it it, Better Than Bouillion tastes better than anything else. You just dissolve it in warm water and voilà."

3.Peanut butter. I've tried all the fancy, organic nut butters out there and I can tell you with certainty: Nothing satisfies a peanut butter craving like a $3 jar of Jif creamy PB.

4."American-style processed cheese is perfect in some situations. Say you're making a cheese sauce for macaroni. You can use whatever bougie cheese you want for 80% of it, but you have to add a little of the processed garbage singles to get that velvety texture. And nothing beats the simplicity and creaminess of fake American cheese on a grilled cheese sandwich."

5."Campbell's tomato soup. Fancier versions of tomato soup taste like marinara sauce to me, but there's nothing quite like Campbell's creamy tomato."

6."Nacho cheese sauce. I could go through this stuff so quickly. I love it on everything — eggs, chili, quesadillas, cheesesteak, even broccoli."

7."Shake 'n' Bake bread crumb coating for pork chops. I've made my own pork cutlets from scratch, and it's just not the same. It never tastes like that boxed stuff."

8."Popcorn 'butter.' I know it's not real butter, but that movie theater butter flavor just hits different."

9."Boxed mac 'n' cheese. Whether it be Kraft or Annie's, I love them all. And while gourmet mac 'n' cheese is totally delicious, there's something unparalleled about the boxed stuff. It's my ultimate comfort food meal."

10."You can give me a bougie grilled cheese sandwich with fancy ingredients like Brie and sliced apples, but really I just my grilled cheese stuffed with Kraft singles and dipped in ketchup."

11."Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup. The fancier kinds taste better, but they're often disappointing. Campbell’s scratches a very specific itch that the other stuff doesn't. It probably has to do with the nostalgia of it."

12."Mustard. I'll admit that I do appreciate fancy mustard too from time to time, but give me that sour French’s Yellow any day."

13."Frozen toaster waffles are better than homemade, IMO. Call it the nostalgia, the crunch, or the preservatives, but damn that stuff hits the spot every time."

14."That fake Parmesan that comes in the green bottle is horrible...except for when it’s on pizza. I cannot get myself to enjoy real Parmesan on pizza. It just doesn’t work. It has to be the fake stuff."

15."Corned beef hash out of a can. I like the fancy restaurant version, but nothing beats the canned stuff with a fried egg and lots of pepper."

16."Canned tuna. I love most fresh fish, and fresh tuna steak is all well and good, but I know it's strange, but I will always choose the canned stuff."

17."Heinz ketchup. Nothing homemade or store-bought ever comes close. I've tried 'healthy' organic ketchup, but it isn't the same."

18."Ramen seasoning packets, the kind loaded with delicious MSG. No offense to homemade chicken soup, but every now and then you just need that extremely salty, heavily seasoned broth."

19."Imitation crab, the kind used in California rolls. It's far cheaper and, IMO, tastier than real crab most of the time (plus way less work to eat)."

20."McDonald’s french fries. I'd pick them over the fanciest french fries on the planet. To me, the McDonald’s version tastes exactly how french fries are supposed to taste."

21."Cheap drug store milk chocolate. There's a time and a place for fancy chocolate, but I almost always prefer the fake stuff — you know, the $1 bag of little chocolates wrapped in colorful foil."

22."Pancake syrup...the fake maple syrup. The authentic, expensive kind is so thin that it just soaks right into your waffles or pancakes."

23."I'll take a cheap Burger King Whopper burger over a gourmet restaurant burger any day. The sophisticated restaurant kind are always too tall and overstuffed."

24."Boxed stuffing beats homemade stuffing every single time, no question."

25."Ramen. I've ordered ramen at restaurants, and a fancy bowl just doesn't scratch the same itch as a cheap bowl of Nongshim noodles from the grocery store."

What's your favorite "junky" or "cheap" food that you prefer over the fancier version? Tell us in the comments!

Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.