We Tried as Many Cracker Brands as We Could Find — And the Winner Tastes Buttery, Crunchy, and Is Absolutely “Delicious”
Dipped into tomato soup, on a charcuterie plate, or eaten straight from the box, crackers are the ol’ reliable snack that’s always there for us in our time of need. Flour, some kind of fat, and water make crispy, crunchy magic that has been beloved for centuries.
While you can make totally delicious homemade crackers, grocery shelves are bursting with boxes that offer convenience and flavor. So to find the best store-bought option, we wrangled a few friends of The Kitchn and spent an afternoon tasting a whopping 12 different cracker brands (with tons of water on the side, of course).
So, What’s the Best Cracker?
Ritz Crackers were buttery, crunchy and brought out all of the nostalgic feels from our group of testers.
We focused on the most popular brands, focusing on plain flavors (no cheese or herbs or mix-ins of any kind), and included a variety of name- and store-brand crackers based on availability and price. The brands ranged in price from $2 all the way up to $7, though most were around $4 at the time of this tasting. We also requested input from our editorial team to round out the list of 12 competitors.
After an afternoon sampling more than a dozen brands, a clear winner emerged. Its distinctly buttery taste swooned our tasters and it’ll likely do the same for you.
Best Crackers: Ritz Crackers
When all the tallies were counted, we weren’t surprised to see Ritz Crackers take the top spot — it has been one of America’s best-selling crackers for most of the past century. Of course, we didn’t know that during testing. A few buttery rounds looked nearly identical, and although they tasted similar, Ritz had an irresistible flavor and satisfying crunch, according to our panel of tasters, making it the clear winner of this test.
In addition to delivering on taste, other testers, like Ali, our associate groceries editor, gushed over how “nostalgic” they tasted (the rest of the group agreed!). Several crackers veered too dry, but this one wasn’t one of them.
What’s So Great
- Buttery
- “Satisfying crunch”
- Classic
Good to Know
- N/A
Buy: Ritz Crackers, $3.99 for 12 ounces at Target
Runner-Up: 365 by Whole Foods Snack Crackers
These rectangular, lightly golden-brown crackers were another shining star amid the sea of crackers. 365 by Whole Foods Snack Crackers reminded one taster of the “crackers they ate as a kid, but somehow better.” (They ranked these as their top pick.) Another tester agreed, and added that they were “crispy and savory” and would go great with a “sharp Cheddar” (we love specifics).
When the test was over, the leftover sleeve of crackers were the first ones claimed by one enthusiastic taster: “They’ll be the centerpiece of my cheese board tonight.”
What’s So Great
- Nostalgic
- Savory
- Cheese board staple
Good to Know
- N/A
Buy: 365 by Whole Foods Snack Crackers, $4.99 (on sale) for 16 ounces at Amazon
Honorable Mention: Back to Nature Classic Rounds
One tester described the Back to Nature Classic Rounds in four words: “buttery, salty… so good.” We agreed! In fact, a few of our testers found this brand to be so satisfyingly familiar, they actually thought it was Ritz Crackers (and wrote it down on their score sheets). To be fair, they looked nearly identical. Right?
The only thing that kept this cracker from landing a higher spot? A few testers found it to be ever so marginally dry.
What’s So Great
- Salty
- Buttery
Good to Know
- Tastes a lot like a Ritz Cracker
Buy: Back to Nature Classic Rounds, $4.87 for 6.5 ounces at Instacart
Honorable Mention: Club Original Crackers
Nostalgia was the unexpected theme of this taste test, and the Club Original Crackers were no exception. They’re crunchy and lightly salted, and although plain “were plenty snackable on their own,” Ali notes. That being said, a few other testers found them to be a bit “too dry.” It still racked up high-enough marks in our test to earn this very honorable mention (just add jam or serve with soup).
What’s So Great
- Snackable
Good to Know
- A bit dry, to some
Buy: Club Original Crackers, $4.06 (on sale) for 13.7 ounces at Walmart
Wildcard: Chicken in a Biskit Original Baked Snack Crackers
For this taste test, we focused mostly on classic, salted crackers, but made a special exception for Chicken in a Biskit Original Baked Snack Crackers (they’ve been around for decades, after all). As the name so clearly states, these crackers had a chicken seasoning (their ingredients contain dehydrated, powdered chicken), which our group of testers absolutely raved about. In fact Ali, who had never had these crackers before, made a note to herself — mid taste test — to write the brand down afterwards so she could “absolutely buy these again.”
They are salty. In fact, some found them a bit too salty. (They want a cracker that’s a blank canvas rather than a completed work of art).
What’s So Great
- “Really flavorful”
- Savory
Good to Know
- For some, a little too salty
- Seasoned
Buy: Chicken in a Biskit Original Baked Snack Crackers, $3.99 for 7.5 ounces at Target
How We Tested the Cracker Brands
We recruited six testers to randomly taste 12 different store-bought cracker brands sold at grocery retailers today. Each brand was served in small cups, alongside a jug of water (for palate cleansing!) and broccoli. Ali randomly assigned them a letter — from A through L — to conceal the brands’ identities.
Tasters were encouraged to sample the crackers in random order (to avoid giving any particular brand an advantage). They were also handed a notepad and encouraged to sample each brand in random order before marking down their notes, ratings (on a scale of 1 to 5), and rankings. It was only at the end of the test when all the scores were tallied that the winners were revealed.
Did your favorite cracker brand make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below.
This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: We Tried as Many Cracker Brands as We Could Find — And the Winner Tastes Buttery, Crunchy, and Is Absolutely
