Dollar General Food Items That Are Completely Overpriced

When you walk into a Dollar General, the food prices aren't horrible, but a few items are absolutely overpriced. It can be easy to miss the fact that some products cost more than they should unless you do a price comparison.

The Dollar General exists for your convenience. Being smaller than the average grocery store, Dollar General helps shoppers get in and out faster. Plus, the chain with more than 20,000 U.S. locations may be closer than the nearest grocery store, especially in rural areas. The convenience factor allows it to get away with charging a little more, which is one reason some people don't buy food at Dollar General.

When we compared Dollar General food prices to the prices at other grocery stores near us, they were usually fairly similar. However, we ran across a few items that were more than just a few pennies higher at Dollar General. Some were around a dollar more or even several dollars more, but we found one item that was shockingly over $13 more. The higher prices seem to occur most often in Dollar General's frozen food section and with items sold in bulk. However, we also found some very overpriced items among the spices and coffee and in the baby section. In general, you should use your instincts. If the price seems much higher than you think it should be, it probably is. Here's a list of the items that we found to be more expensive at Dollar General than elsewhere.

The box of Pillsbury Toaster Strudel at Dollar General is likely an impulse buy, and it's an overpriced one at that. First, you imagine how nice, sweet, and toasty the strudels will be when they come out of your toaster, oven, or air fryer. Then, suddenly, the sweets go straight from DG's freezer case and into your shopping cart. There are six strawberry-flavored Toaster Strudel pastries inside the box, which includes icing that you can squeeze out on top of the strudels once they're heated. But it's not as great of a deal as you might originally think.

The cost of a Pillsbury Toaster Strudel box at Dollar General is $4, which comes to about $0.67 per strudel. That doesn't sound too bad. However, at Walmart, you can buy a box of six Pillsbury Toaster Strudel pastries for $2.96, making each strudel cost only around $0.49. So, you're paying more for that impulse splurge at DG.

We noticed that the design on the box looks a little different between the one available at DG and at other stores. The product at other stores has a note at the top of the box stating that icing is included. However, there is icing in the box at DG, too. Since all the stats are the same, it appears that there is variety in the box designs.

It's hard to resist Hot Pockets, and that's probably why Dollar General figures it can get you to buy them at an inflated price. After all, who can resist the prospect of some type of liquid pouring like hot lava out of a corner of one of these babies and onto an unsuspecting body part? You know you want them. You'll probably make them the moment you get home.

However, the price tag on the Hot Pockets at DG should be a red flag that you might be paying too much for your craving. Both the Ham & Cheddar Hot Pockets and the Premium Pepperoni Pizza Hot Pockets we found at our local Dollar General store cost $8.50 per package. There are five Hot Pockets in each box. If you think of it in terms of each pocket costing $1.70 and being a 310-calorie meal, it's perhaps not too bad of a deal unless, of course, you compare it with prices at other stores.

At Walmart, we found both these flavors for $6.27, making the box $2.23 cheaper than at DG. Walmart's price comes out to only $1.25 per pocket. So, if there's another grocery store near you that carries Hot Pockets in its frozen food section, you might want to make an extra stop and walk a few extra steps to save yourself some money.

When you find a bag of El Monterey Burritos in the freezer section of the Dollar General, you may not realize that the price is higher than at other places. After all, it comes in an 8-pack and represents several thought-free meals that you can pull out of your freezer when you need something fast and convenient to eat. Plus, it's one of the best brands for frozen burritos available.

We found packages of both El Monterey Beef & Bean Burritos and El Monterey Bean & Cheese Burritos for $6 at our local Dollar General. So, the presence of meat doesn't seem to affect the cost. Even though the $0.75-per-burrito price tag may make you feel like you're eating at Taco Bell back in the 1980s or 1990s, you're still paying more for these burritos than you should. If you stock your freezer with these on a regular basis, you should know that you can get a better price elsewhere.

When we checked on the price for El Monterey Burritos at other stores, the lowest option was at Walmart, where both flavors cost only $4.98 per package. That's $1.02 less than you'd pay at the DG. So, rather than paying $0.75 per burrito at DG, you can pay about $0.62 per burrito at a store like Walmart the next time you decide to stock your freezer with burritos.

So, there you are, at Dollar General, and you come across a Lasagna With Meat Sauce from Stouffer's in the freezer section, but it looks a little expensive. Do you buy it for the luxury of a tasty and convenient meal, or do you pass on by? The choice is up to you, but once you see that price tag, there's no getting around the fact that it includes the cost of convenience. However, here at Mashed, we found it to be the best Stouffer's frozen dinner available, so it's tempting.

Stouffer's Lasagna With Meat Sauce costs $16.50 when you buy it from Dollar General. Anymore, that's the cost of a single entrée at an inexpensive sit-down restaurant. However, this is a large family-sized frozen meal with seven servings. So, it comes to around $2.36 per slice. Even if you eat more than one serving, it's still a justifiable price.

However, if you have the option to buy a Stouffer's frozen lasagna elsewhere, the price difference is big enough that it might be worth a second stop before you get home. We found it at Walmart for $13.48, which is a savings of $3.02 compared with buying it at DG. At only about $1.93 per serving, it's a pretty good deal. Plus, you can use what you saved by not buying it at Dollar General to get a packaged salad and make the meal a little more healthy.

Most of the frozen pizzas at Dollar General seem to be in line with prices at other stores, but not all of them. The Tombstone Four Meat Frozen Pizza is one that we noticed to be overpriced. It's true that Tombstone is one of the best brands of frozen pizza. So, if this flavor sings a louder siren song to you than others do, you're going to have to be willing to pay a higher price if you get it at DG.

You'll pay $6.25 if you buy the Tombstone Four Meat Frozen Pizza at DG. Assuming you eat a fourth of the pizza, the cost comes to about $1.56 per serving. That's not too bad. A fourth of one of these Tombstone pizzas is still cheaper than one of the huge pizza slices in the food court at Sam's Club or Costco. But you can still do better elsewhere if you can actually find this flavor.

We initially found the Tombstone Four Meat pizza available at Walmart for $4.82, which is $1.43 less than at DG. However, it went out of stock at Walmart in the few hours between finding the price and writing this article. So, the high price tag at DG might be because of its scarcity. The only other place we could find this particular frozen pizza still available was through Instacart at Harps Food, where it's on sale for $5.59. That's still $0.66 cheaper than at DG if the sale holds.

If you think the price of Eggo Waffles at Dollar General looks a little high, you are correct. The cost of food has gone up quite a bit recently, but Eggo Waffles are still simple enough to not be that high usually. Just how much does a little flour, water, oil, eggs, leavening agent, buttermilk, and some vitamins cost? It's still not a whole lot. So, if you see a high price on a box of Kellogg's Eggo Waffles at DG, it's probably because it's overpriced.

Our local Dollar General has Buttermilk Eggo Waffles available for $7. With 24 waffles in the box and two waffles per serving, it comes out to either $0.29 per waffle or $0.58 per serving. That's not too bad of a deal for breakfast even if you do add butter and fill all the little squares in the waffle with your favorite jelly, maple syrup, or honey. However, you can get your waffle fix cheaper elsewhere. Buying in bulk isn't always the deal you think it's going to be. So, watch those prices. The 24-count box is still a better deal than buying two 10-count boxes at $3.50 each at DG, but you can buy it cheaper in bulk elsewhere.

You can buy the same bulk package of Buttermilk Eggo Waffles at Walmart for just $5.97, which will save you $1.03 per box. So, you'll only spend about $0.25 per waffle or $0.50 per serving (a 10-count box at Walmart is $2.97).

Even if they're not the best-tasting pizzas in the world, the rectangle-shaped pizzas in a Totino's Pepperoni Party Pizza Pack can really hit the spot. However, if you find yourself trying to figure out whether the price is a good deal, it's not. Even four rectangle-shaped pizzas from Totino's shouldn't cost that much, and you know it deep down. But whether you still grab them is up to you and how much you want to "party."

A Totino's Pepperoni Party Pizza Pack at the Dollar General store costs $9.50. A serving is half a rectangle-shaped pizza, so with four pizzas in the box, there are eight total servings. That brings the per-serving cost to $1.19 and the per-pizza cost to about $2.38. Granted, that's cheaper than buying Totino's Party Pizzas individually since they're all $2.50. However, if you want the pepperoni flavor, the only option is the 4-pack. So, that's how they reel you in. While your math tells you that the bulk option is cheaper than the singular option, it doesn't tell you the bulk price you'll find elsewhere.

If you're at Walmart, you'll find the 4-pack of Totino's Pepperoni Party Pizzas for just $7.64, which is $1.86 cheaper than at DG. The single packs at Walmart are a little cheaper, too, at just $1.97, which is a few cents cheaper than at DG. So, once again, Dollar General has overpriced a bulk product that shouldn't cost nearly as much.

Moving on to the seasoning section of the Dollar General store, you'll mainly find great prices, but not for everything. For example, some store brand seasonings there are just $1, with seasoning mixes for just $0.75. Even the brand name seasonings are pretty close to what you'll find elsewhere. With all the good prices on seasonings and spices, we were a little surprised to notice how much of an outlier a 6-ounce box of Old Bay Seasoning was.

If you opt to buy your Old Bay at the Dollar General store, you'll end up spending $5. Sure, it's a popular seasoning that is a staple in many cupboards through the generations. But you shouldn't be paying $5 for it. If you are, the price is way more than it should be.

At Walmart, Old Bay Seasoning is just $3.33 a box. Do the math, and you'll realize that by buying it at the Dollar General, you're spending $1.67 too much for a fairly common seasoning. Don't let all the other good prices on spices at Dollar General fool you.

If you're thinking about buying McCafe K-Cup Pods at Dollar General, you're likely paying too much. McCafe isn't the best coffee in the world, but we've found it to be a decent compromise when  looking to avoid more expensive alternatives. It's not bad, but it's not amazing either. However, if you're doing your shopping at DG, be aware that the 24-pack of McCafe Premium Roast Medium Coffee K-Cup Pods may not be the deal you think it is.

The K-Cups at DG range from $4.75 to $16.95, depending on the brand and the number of K-Cups in the box. While most products are pretty close to what you'd expect from other stores, the $15.95 McCafe Premium Roast Medium K-Cup Pods are way overpriced. You're getting them for $0.66 per pod, which is cheaper than the $0.77 per pod you'd spend on a 22-pack of Dunkin' Original Blend from DG. The chain is probably expecting you to do the math comparing the Dunkin' brand and the McCafe brand and think you're getting a deal, but you're really not when compared to prices for the same product elsewhere.

If you were to buy your McCafe 24-pack of pods at Walmart instead, you'd pay only $12.98, which is $2.97 cheaper than at Dollar General. That comes to only $0.54 per cup of coffee, which is a much better deal. So, know that buying your McCafe K-Cups at DG could be costing you more than you think.

The most overpriced food product we found at Dollar General is Similac Advance Infant Formula With Iron. There are myriad reasons why formula is the only food choice that some parents have for their babies. Pair that with the fact that some babies can't tolerate every brand as well and the fact that Dollar General may be the only place for parents and caregivers to get formula for miles around, and you can see why we think jacking up the price of one brand of baby formula is a rather loathsome practice.

A 12.4-ounce container of Similac Advance Infant Formula with Iron at Dollar General costs a whopping $18.95. The number of servings in the canister depends on the age of the baby since babies' stomachs grow as they grow. However, the price comes out to about $1.53 per ounce of powder. What's worse, it's the only formula that's even in stock at our local Dollar General. If that's the case elsewhere, it could leave desperate parents and caregivers with no choice but to pay a high price to feed an inconsolably hungry baby.

Meanwhile, at Walmart, you can buy the same type of baby formula in a slightly larger 13-ounce canister for just $5.37. The difference of $13.58 between buying formula at the dollar store and getting it at a regular grocery store is kind of appalling. The Walmart version comes out to just $0.41 per ounce.