So recently while trying to meal plan for the upcoming weeks, I tried to add a lot of cheap Staples to help lower our grocery costs. After searching everywhere I found that the Dollar Tree has a pound and a half bag of pasta for a dollar! This is significantly cheaper than elsewhere unless you're buying in bulk. I was worried about the quality, but I used them in casseroles and with spaghetti one night and didn't seem to notice any difference. It certainly won't be a good as fresh pasta but if you need to feed your families for cheap, it's an option! ☺
I will definitely keep an eye out for those bagged pastas. I shop at Dollar Tree a lot, and I've bought their boxed pastas and was pleased with them. Actually, I like their boxed penne pasta in particular, because they're a little shorter and more bite sized than the other brands out there such as Barilla. If there is a Save-A-Lot in your area, they often sell these really large bags of mini rigatoni for like $1.50 or so. Those are another favorite of mine when cooking pasta dishes, since they're easy to eat and they cook up faster than the larger size rigatoni. Speaking of Dollar Tree, while their pasta's are good, I would be careful with buying pasta sauce there. The few that I tried were really bad. One came in a plastic pouch, and was supposedly hand made in small batches, all natural, etc... When I tasted it, it had an awful bitter, metallic taste to it, and we had to throw it out.
To be honest there isn't much difference between dried pasta, maybe a small percentage of ingredients of wheat or eggs. Dollar Tree does does some good value dried goods, and also boxed mac and cheese. I've never tried the sauces as I prefer pesto, or to make my own, or stick to the well known brands. I find there is too much sugar in most of them, and a tin of tomatoes, garlic paste, herbs, and onions is cheaper and fresher.
I don't usually buy pasta at Dollar Tree because most pasta is around $1 no matter you buy it. I usually wait until Publix supermarket has the BOGO on Mueller's or Barilla pasta and then I use two coupons, one for the "buy one" and one for the free item, so they end up being 2 for $1.
@ohiotom76 Thanks for the tip! I try to make my own sauce anyway, but I'll be sure to avoid theres as well! I've even seen a Save-A-Lot, but if I ever see one in my travels I'll be sure to check it out! I also like the size of the pasta as well, it's less to chew on and is good for children because of the slightly smaller size! @Theo That seems to be the conclusion I've come to as well. I've always wanted to make my own pasta to save money, but the shelf life of boxed pasta is so much longer than shelf that I would be afraid to make the effort and then waste it by not using it in time. I also love to make pesto or alfredo sauces myself, since they're pretty simple to make it takes no time to whip it together, sometimes jarred sauces are nice when it's a lazy day though! @ACSAPA I wish that we had a Publix in our area! I always see such amazing coupon deals but the closest Publix to me is a couple of states away. :/ I bet you've probably got an amazing couponing stockpile. I used to coupon a lot but there aren't many stores around here with good deals anymore, so I've gotten off the couponing train. :/
This is very good to know, but we don't have a Dollar Tree in Hawaii, but we got Walmart. One pound of durum wheat pasta is 1.12, very cheap and I like it. Durum wheat pasta tastes the same as other pastas.
