Late August is when easy breakfasts, packed lunches, and fast weeknight dinners start mattering again. A pantry stocked with food you can actually build meals around is more useful than a cabinet full of snacks that disappear in two days.
Walmart has several basics sitting at genuinely low prices right now, including canned goods under $1, breakfast staples for a few dollars, and shelf-stable proteins that can rescue dinner when there is nothing fresh left in the fridge.
Prices are accurate at the time of publishing but may vary by store or sell out quickly.
Great Value long grain enriched rice
A five-pound bag of rice for $3.67 works out to about 4.6 cents an ounce. Walmart lists a comparable five-pound bag of Mahatma white rice at $4.98, so the store-brand option saves more than a dollar without forcing you into a giant bulk bag.
Rice earns its shelf space because it stretches almost anything. Add beans, eggs, frozen vegetables, leftover chicken, or a little broth and seasoning, and you have the base of a cheap meal. It also keeps well enough that buying it before you are completely out rarely turns into wasted food.
Great Value old fashioned oats
The 42-ounce canister of Great Value old fashioned oats is $4.38, or 10.4 cents an ounce. For comparison, Walmart lists an 18-ounce Quaker canister at 16.6 cents an ounce. The Great Value canister is also currently available for pickup and delivery in Walmart’s listing.
Oats cover more ground than breakfast bowls. Use them for overnight oats, homemade granola, muffins, cookies, or as a binder in meatloaf. If weekday mornings are about to get more rushed, a canister that can turn into several weeks of breakfasts is a better use of pantry space than individually packaged options.
Great Value all-purpose flour
At $2.38 for five pounds, this flour comes to just 3 cents an ounce. Walmart lists a 10-pound bag of Gold Medal all-purpose flour at 4.7 cents an ounce, so you do not need to buy twice as much just to get a low unit price.
Even households that do not bake bread every weekend can get plenty of use from flour. Pancakes, biscuits, pizza dough, cookies, gravy, breading, and simple homemade sauces all start here. The five-pound size is also manageable if you have limited cabinet space and no interest in storing restaurant-sized sacks of ingredients.
Great Value pure granulated sugar
A four-pound bag of granulated sugar is about $2.97, depending on location. That puts it around 4.6 cents an ounce, while Walmart currently shows larger bags of C&H granulated sugar at a higher unit cost.
This is not a stock-up suggestion for anyone who barely uses sugar. But if you bake, make sweet tea, can late-summer fruit, or regularly find yourself paying convenience-store prices for a small bag after running out, four pounds for around $3 is sensible. Sugar stores well when kept dry, so there is little reason to wait until the holiday baking rush to replace an almost-empty bag.
Great Value vegetable oil
The 48-ounce bottle of Great Value vegetable oil is around $4.18. Walmart describes it as a neutral soybean oil suitable for baking, frying, stir-fries, and dressings, so it can cover most everyday cooking without keeping several specialty oils on hand.
Cooking oil is easy to overlook until the bottle is nearly empty and dinner is already underway. A full bottle under $5 is useful insurance for households that cook at home regularly, particularly going into fall when baking and one-pan dinners tend to pick up. If you mostly use olive oil for finishing food, keeping a cheaper neutral oil for frying and baking can also make the pricier bottle last longer.
Great Value creamy peanut butter
This 40-ounce jar is currently on rollback for $3.74, down from $4.18. That is 9.4 cents an ounce. Walmart’s own comparison section lists a 15-ounce jar of Jif Simply at 19.9 cents an ounce, more than double the unit cost. Pickup and delivery are currently available in the listing.
Peanut butter handles breakfast, school lunches, snacks, smoothies, and the occasional spoonful eaten over the sink when cooking feels like too much work. The larger jar makes particular sense for households that go through it regularly. If a 40-ounce jar would linger for a year in your pantry, the cheaper unit price is less important than buying a size you will finish.
Great Value no salt added black beans
A 15-ounce can of Great Value no salt added black beans is $0.92. Each can provides several servings and gives you a shelf-stable source of protein and fiber for less than a dollar. Walmart’s listing also notes that the can has an easy-open top, which is handy for lunches or quick dinners.
Black beans can bulk out tacos, quesadillas, rice bowls, chili, salads, soups, and scrambled eggs without adding much to the cost of a meal. Canned beans cost more than cooking dried beans from scratch, but they save time and require no planning. At under $1 a can, that convenience is still cheap enough to justify keeping several on the shelf.
Great Value diced tomatoes
Great Value diced tomatoes in tomato juice are $0.92 for a 14.5-ounce can. Walmart lists them for slow-cooker meals, sauces, and chili, but they are just as useful for soups, taco fillings, shakshuka, and quick pasta dinners.
Under a dollar is a good price for an ingredient that can change the direction of dinner without requiring anything fresh. A couple of cans also make it easier to turn rice, beans, pasta, or leftover meat into something that feels like an actual meal. Tomatoes are one of those pantry basics that tend to get used eventually, so buying a few while the price is low does not require much storage or menu planning.
Great Value spaghetti
A one-pound box of Great Value spaghetti is $1.24, or 7.8 cents an ounce. Walmart says the box contains about eight two-ounce servings, and the product is currently available for pickup and delivery even where shipping is unavailable.
For households trying to keep a few inexpensive emergency dinners around, dry pasta is difficult to beat. Toss it with jarred sauce, canned tomatoes, butter and Parmesan, pesto, or vegetables that need using up. It also gives you a dinner option that does not depend on remembering to thaw meat at 7 a.m., an organizational skill some weeks simply do not provide.
Great Value chicken broth
A 32-ounce carton of Great Value chicken broth costs $1.50. The carton is shelf-stable and resealable, and Walmart currently shows pickup and delivery availability in its listing.
Broth is one of the cheapest ways to make basic pantry food taste more complete. Cook rice in it, loosen a sauce, make soup from leftover vegetables, add it to stuffing, or use a splash to keep reheated chicken from drying out. At this price, it makes more sense to keep a carton around than to discover halfway through a recipe that you are out and substitute plain water while pretending that was always the plan.
Great Value chunk light tuna
A five-ounce can of Great Value chunk light tuna in water is $0.87. Walmart currently lists it for shipping, pickup, and delivery, and the can provides a shelf-stable protein option for well under a dollar.
Tuna sandwiches are the obvious use, but the better reason to keep a few cans around is flexibility. Mix one into pasta, make tuna cakes, add it to a salad, or combine it with crackers for a lunch that does not require a grocery run. Single cans also let smaller households stock up without committing to a bulky multipack that may occupy the pantry until the next presidential administration.
Great Value chunk chicken breast
The two-pack of 12.5-ounce Great Value chunk chicken breast is $5.22, or $2.61 per can. Walmart lists the same-size two-pack of Swanson chicken at $6.98, putting the store brand $1.76 lower. The Great Value pack is currently available for shipping, pickup, and delivery.
Fully cooked canned chicken is not glamorous, but it is useful. One can can turn into chicken salad, quesadillas, buffalo chicken dip, soup, pasta, wraps, or a quick casserole without thawing or cooking raw meat first. It is especially handy for small households where buying a larger package of fresh chicken can create leftovers nobody actually wants by day four.
Great Value complete pancake and waffle mix
The 32-ounce box of Great Value complete buttermilk pancake and waffle mix is $2.02, or 6.3 cents an ounce. Walmart lists a 40-ounce box of original Bisquick at 11.4 cents an ounce, so this is a noticeably cheaper route to weekend breakfasts. Pickup and delivery are currently available.
Because it is a complete mix, you are not starting with a long ingredient list every time someone wants pancakes. It also works for waffles and can stand in for more involved breakfast baking when mornings get busy. At just over $2, keeping a box around costs less than one drive-through breakfast for a single person.
JIFFY corn muffin mix
A box of original JIFFY corn muffin mix is still just $0.72. Walmart currently shows the 8.5-ounce box available for pickup and delivery, and larger multipacks are listed at the same or lower unit price.
Seventy-two cents does not buy much in a grocery store anymore, which is why this one stands out. Corn muffins can make a pot of beans, chili, soup, or leftover barbecue feel like a fuller meal with very little work. One box is also a sensible size for smaller households that do not need a huge bag of cornmeal and the extra ingredients required to make cornbread entirely from scratch.
Great Value unsweetened applesauce
The 46-ounce jar of Great Value unsweetened applesauce is $3.64, or 7.9 cents an ounce. Walmart currently shows pickup and delivery availability for the full-size jar.
A large jar costs less per ounce than the little cups and pouches that dominate lunchbox aisles, as long as you have a container to portion it into. Applesauce works as a snack, lunch side, oatmeal topping, or baking ingredient, and the unsweetened version gives you more control over what gets added. This one makes the most sense for households that will actually finish a 46-ounce jar after opening it.
Great Value saltine crackers
A 16-ounce box of Great Value saltines costs $1.88 and comes divided into four sleeves. Walmart currently lists pickup and delivery availability, although shipping may be unavailable depending on location.
Saltines are cheap pantry insurance for soup nights, sick days, quick snacks, and those moments when the refrigerator contains cheese but absolutely no plan. Add peanut butter, tuna, hummus, or sliced cheese and they can also fill in for a more expensive packaged snack. The separate sleeves help if you do not go through crackers quickly, since opening one does not expose the entire box to stale-air consequences.
Great Value no salt added whole kernel corn
This 15.25-ounce can of Great Value whole kernel corn is $0.78. Walmart currently shows pickup and delivery availability, making it another useful pantry vegetable that comes in under the $1 mark.
Canned corn can go into tacos, chili, soups, casseroles, rice bowls, salads, or a quick skillet with beans and seasoning. It also gives you a vegetable on nights when the produce drawer is looking grim and a separate trip to the store would cost more in time and impulse purchases than the can itself. The no-salt-added version leaves the seasoning up to you rather than the factory.
Great Value crunchy raisin bran
An 18.2-ounce box of Great Value crunchy raisin bran is $2.76, or 15.2 cents an ounce. Walmart currently shows both pickup and delivery availability for the single box.
Late August is when cereal starts earning its keep again. It is fast enough for school mornings, works as a dry snack, and does not require anyone to operate a skillet before coffee. At under $3, this box also gives you a lower-cost breakfast backup for mornings when eggs, yogurt, or fresh fruit have run out. If your household burns through cereal quickly, the store-brand price matters a lot more over a month than saving 20 cents on a one-off snack.
