Are Dollar Tree Spices Worth It? (How to save Money on Spices!)
Meal planning and deciding what you are going to eat as a family for the next week, can get old pretty fast. Yes, it is necessary if you want to keep your grocery bill in check, but to be honest it gets boring after a while. Why does restaurant food always taste better than what I cook at home?
The reason food at restaurants tastes better than what you make at home, usually comes down to spices! Chefs liberally season food to bring out the best flavors, while home cooks are just trying to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible. By using more spices in your cooking, you can make eating at home a treat and end up saving a ton of money by not eating out!
Are Spices from the Dollar Tree worth buying?
As I was researching where people buy their spices to save money, 3 major places kept coming up: Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Amazon.
I also came across many articles that said that buying spices from the dollar tree was not worth it because of the cost per ounce being so much higher. This statement kept bugging me because for the most part, I just wasn’t sure if it was accurate.
I am a huge fan of numbers and wise buying, so I decided to go on the ultimate bargain hunt for spices. Since Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Amazon are the most popular places to buy spices, I was going to compare 10 different spices to find out once and for all if Dollar Tree Spices were actually worth buying!
The rules of this challenge are that I went to my local Dollar Tree and took pictures of whole ingredient spices (meaning no blends just one ingredient in the jar), I used Walmart. com & Amazon to find the same spices in any size that was the cheapest available in terms of price per ounce, and I did not look at 3rd party retailers on the site. (3rd party retailers can change prices a lot whereas items fulfilled by Walmart or Amazon typically don’t vary a lot in price.)
Now I was very serious about comparing prices for the best deal that was available at each location. In most cases the item I chose to compare was the Walmart brand or the Amazon brand because those typically were the cheapest per ounce option. I also did not go through a zillion pages in my search, I went with everything that was found on the first page because 71% of all clicks on a product usually happen on page 1 of results.
Here is the outcome of my price comparison of 10 spices at all 3 retailers. Out of 10 products, Dollar Tree won 2 times, Walmart won 4 times, and Amazon won 4 times.
| Spice | Store | $ Price | Size | Price per Ounce |
| Black Peppercorns with Grinder | Dollar Tree | $1.25 | 1.5 oz | $0.83 (WINNER) |
| Walmart | $4.98 | 4 oz | $1.25 | |
| Amazon | $4.76 | 2.5 oz | $1.90 | |
| Black Peppercorns | Dollar Tree | $1.25 | 2 oz | $0.63 |
| Walmart | $4.98 | 5.8 oz | $0.86 | |
| Amazon | $7.79 | 16 oz | $0.48 (WINNER) | |
| Ground Black Pepper | Dollar Tree | $1.25 | 2 oz | $0.63 |
| Walmart | $12.12 | 18 oz | $0.67 | |
| Amazon | $8.77 | 18 oz | $0.49 (WINNER) | |
| Garlic Powder | Dollar Tree | $1.25 | 6.52 oz | $0.19 (WINNER) |
| Walmart | $0.98 | 3.4 oz | $0.28 | |
| Amazon | $9.01 | 24 oz | $0.38 | |
| Ground Cinnamon | Dollar Tree | $1.25 | 2.25oz | $0.55 |
| Walmart | $1.18 | 2.5 oz | $0.47 | |
| Amazon | $7.03 | 18 oz | $0.39 (WINNER) | |
| Himalayan Pink Salt | Dollar Tree | $1.25 | 5oz | $0.25 |
| Walmart | $3.63 | 17.6 oz | $0.21 | |
| Amazon | $13.05 | 80 oz (5lb bag) | $0.16 (WINNER) | |
| Basil Leaves | Dollar Tree | $1.25 | .95 oz | $1.31 |
| Walmart | $0.98 | .80 oz | $1.22 (WINNER) | |
| Amazon | $7.74 | 5 oz | $1.54 | |
| Onion Powder | Dollar Tree | $1.25 | 2oz | $0.63 |
| Walmart | $0.98 | 3.25 | $0.30 (WINNER) | |
| Amazon | $8.36 | 22 oz | $0.38 | |
| Kosher Salt | Dollar Tree | $1.25 | 16oz | $0.08 |
| Walmart | $2.48 | 48 oz (3lb box) | $0.05 (WINNER) | |
| Amazon | $13.89 | 96 oz (two-3lb boxes) | $0.14 | |
| Iodized Salt | Dollar Tree | $1.25 | 26oz | $0.05 |
| Walmart | $0.44 | 26 oz | $0.02 (WINNER) | |
| Amazon | $10.04 | 52 oz (two-26oz can) | $0.19 |
So, this means buying spices at the Dollar Tree is not worth it right? Nope! If you look at the sizes of most of these items, you will see that you had to buy a huge amount at Walmart or Amazon to beat the prices at Dollar Tree!
5 Reasons to buy Spices from the Dollar Tree
When buying spices, price per ounce is important but it isn’t the most important thing to everyone. What I mean by that is sometimes in order to get the best price you have to compromise in other areas that may make the price not worth it for your family. Let’s look at some scenarios where buying spices at the Dollar Tree makes the most sense!
- If you have a very small kitchen or pantry area in your house or apartment. Buying spices in huge amounts that come in very large containers is not going to be very helpful to you if you don’t have the storage space. In this case buying smaller sizes is a much better fit for your home. So, if you don’t have enough space to store a 5lb bag of Himalayan pink salt, buying it from Amazon may be cheaper but think about how much space a 5lb bag is going to take up for the years that it takes to use it all up.
- If you only use a spice occasionally, then buying spices in large amounts is not going to be economical for you. Spices typically have a shelf life of 2-4 years if stored properly, the only exception to this is salt which has no expiration date. Buying an 18oz container of ground cinnamon is cheaper per ounce from Amazon, but if you are not going to use over a pound of cinnamon in 4 years, it probably is not worth the money if you have to throw it out. After a few years, spices will begin to taste stale or lose their potency in flavor.
- Will you need additional containers to use the spice? Most of the time when I see someone buying spices in bulk, they end up storing a small amount in a glass or metal container in their cabinet. Then they store the rest of the spice package in their pantry. This is totally fine if you have the space to store the extra amounts, but if you take into account the cost of the containers, is this option really saving you money? Using the bigger containers are tricky too, for example if you try to add a little bit of a spice it is very easy to accidently use a lot more then you intended with these really large containers.
- If you have a small budget and can’t afford to spend a lot of money up front just to buy spices, then buying a smaller version is just going to be more economical. For example, if you have a weekly grocery budget of $75 you don’t really want to spend $8.77 on just ground black pepper. That would be almost 12% of your budget on just one spice alone.
- If you want to test out a new spice. Before buying a huge amount of a new spice that you haven’t tried before, consider buying a small amount to see if you like it first. A study by consumer reports found that during taste tests, most people could not tell the difference between cheap and expensive spices!
14 Alternative Places to Save on Spices
If you are an avid home cook and love to cook with spices, you may notice that the selection at your local dollar tree may be a little small. Here is a list of other places you should check out to buy spices. Don’t forget to look at the price per ounce, the size of the package, and how much you think you will actually use before purchasing so you can make a wise buying decision.
- Aldi
- Lidl
- Warehouse stores like Costco & Sam’s (don’t forget to keep in mind how much you will use before it expires and if you have enough space to store it)
- Amish or Mennonite Grocery Stores
- Discount Retailers like Big Lots, Ollies and TJ Maxx
- Dollar General
- Independent Grocery Stores (also known as IGAs)
- Ethic Grocery Stores (Indian, Oriental, and Mexican)
- Grocery Outlet Stores
- Local Co-Ops/ Farmer’s Markets
- Natural Grocers and Health Food Stores
- Restaurant Supply Stores
- Ethnic/Authentic Mexican Aisles at chain grocery store (same spices but usually much lower prices)
- Bulkfoods.com
- Penzeys.com
What are the most common seasonings used in the United States?
The two most common spices in the United States should not come as much of a surprise, they are salt and pepper. They are so common that it is hard to go to any restaurant and not see them on the table!
Unfortunately eating too much salt can lead to health issues, so you may want to keep your salt intake in check.
Lots of seasoning blends are really just flavored salt, so check out seasoning blends that specifically state that they are salt free. Then you get all the flavor and not all the extra salt in your meal.
Get Adventurous in the Kitchen with Spices
If you are tired of eating the same meals over and over again, try some new spices! There are literally so many ways to spice up the meals that you cook frequently.
Try adding an Italian seasoning blend to canned tomato sauce and the flavor is so much better!
Look at the seasoning blends you currently use frequently and make your own versions! I used to buy a kit for chili making because the taste was just so good. Then I realized that it was literally a bag of chili powder, a little bag of salt, and another bag of mesa flour. I never used the mesa flour, so I just started buying chili powder to make chili.
We love to use taco seasoning for lots of different dishes besides just tacos. I realized that I didn’t always need to use a whole packet every time that I cooked, so I started only using a little bit and saving the rest of the packet in a little ziploc bag. Eventually I found a great deal on a large container of taco seasoning and now I can just use what I need and the price for the bigger container was so much cheaper than buying the little packets.
My family loves to use ranch seasoning in lots of dishes especially in homemade pizza crust. So just like the taco seasoning, I found a large container that was much cheaper than buying the little packets.
Take the time to really look at the seasonings you currently use and see how you purchase them. There may be a cheaper way to buy them in bulk or there may be a cheaper place to buy them.
Every week I try to experiment with a new recipe that I find on Pinterest so I am trying out lots of new spices. This keeps our weekly meal plan different and exposes us to new flavors!
For more money saving tips, don’t forget to check out “Saving Money on Kids Birthday Parties” or pick up a free savings challenge like “2022-2023 Back to School Savings Challenge- Free Printable Tracker“.
