Sporked Awards – Sporked https://sporked.com Where tastes are tested Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:19:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://sporked.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/cropped-favicon-32x32.png Sporked Awards – Sporked https://sporked.com 32 32 200707005 Vote for the Best New Snacks, Sodas, and More in the Sporked Awards! https://sporked.com/article/sporked-awards-readers-choice-2024/ https://sporked.com/article/sporked-awards-readers-choice-2024/#comments Fri, 29 Nov 2024 11:02:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=45117 The Sporked Awards are back for a third year, and once again Sporked’s editors will be celebrating all the best products we ate in 2024. But this year we’re doing things a little differently: Even though our opinions are flawless, we want to know what you think, too. Did a new Mountain Dew flavor really...

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The Sporked Awards are back for a third year, and once again Sporked’s editors will be celebrating all the best products we ate in 2024. But this year we’re doing things a little differently: Even though our opinions are flawless, we want to know what you think, too. Did a new Mountain Dew flavor really dew it for you? Did Takis Kaboom blow your mind? Tell us! 

Fill out the ballot now—the last day to vote is December 10—and then we’ll announce the winners of the readers’ ballot on December 23, the day our Sporked Awards winners start rolling out. Plus, by filling out the ballot, you’ll automatically be entered in a drawing to win a free piece of Sporked merch. May the best snacks win! 

By submitting your email address to participate in the Sporked Awards 2024 Readers Ballot, you are signing up to receive Sporked‘s bi-weekly email newsletter, as well as future emails regarding the Sporked Awards. Upon receiving your first email, you can unsubscribe by clicking “Unsubscribe” at the bottom.

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Sporked Awards: Best of the Best of 2023 https://sporked.com/article/best-of-the-best-sporked-awards-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/best-of-the-best-sporked-awards-2023/#comments Fri, 29 Dec 2023 14:31:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28809 The best of the best.

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It’s best not to think about the sheer amount of foods and drinks we tasted in 2023. But trust us when we say it was A LOT. And yet, a few still shone in our memories as truly the best food products of 2023. Each Sporked writer/editor picked their top two favorite foods of 2023—because if we had to come to an agreement amongst the three of us, we would still be debating the merits of olives versus salsa, and we all have families to go home to. Here are our top, best of the best picks of 2023.

Jordan’s Picks

CPK Bacon & Caramelized Onion Croissant Crust Pizza

Runner-Up

California Pizza Kitchen Bacon & Caramelized Onion Croissant Crust Pizza

I love California Pizza Kitchen, but their store bought products don’t always bring it. This Bacon & Caramelized Onion Croissant Crust Pizza, however, is perfection. This tastes like an artisanal flatbread from a restaurant. The sauce is so creamy with hints of smoke, salt, and sweetness from the onions and the bacon. The cheese is plentiful. The crust is so flaky, like a pastry from an expensive boulangerie. This is one of the best frozen pizzas I’ve ever had in my life.

Credit: Liv Averett / Target

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Casa Sanchez Taqueria Style Avocado Salsa

Winner

Casa Sanchez Taqueria Style Avocado Salsa

Premade guacamole is not for me. I don’t like the texture or flavor. It’s always too smooth, too citric acid-y, and too lacking in the mix-ins department (onion, cilantro, jalapeno, etc.). My culinary world changed when I found out about avocado salsa. This stuff tastes way more like homemade or restaurant-style guac than store bought guacamole I’ve ever had. This Casa Sanchez Taqueria Style Avocado Salsa is my favorite. It tastes like salsa verde mixed with guacamole and it’s perfect. I buy this stuff regularly now.

Credit: Liv Averett / Target

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Gwynedd’s Picks

Kirkland Breaded Panko Shrimp

Runner-Up

Kirkland Breaded Panko Shrimp

I taste tested a lot of frozen shrimp this year (butterfly, popcorn, coconut). So many are just so…shrimpy. Big, meaty, flavorful frozen fried shrimp are few and far between, and that’s why Kirkland Breaded Panko Shrimp are such a big deal. The breading is crispy rather than soggy. The oil they’re fried in is super fresh tasting. And the shrimp themselves have bite and that signature sweetness that so often gets lost in frozen shrimp. These are sold at Costco so they come in a big ol’ box, but if you can make room in the freezer, you’ll be glad to have these around for quick (and extremely delicious) dinners.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Blue Elephant Thai Premium Curry Sauce Yellow Curry

Winner

Blue Elephant Thai Premium Curry Sauce Yellow Curry

I can’t pretend to be an expert on curry, but everyone in the Sporked office agreed that this packet of Blue Elephant yellow curry sauce is an absolute stunner of an easy simmer sauce. Depth of flavor is what pushes it over the edge. It’s made with both fish sauce and shrimp paste, which combine with the curry spices to create something that’s deeply savory and umami. In our ranking of the best yellow curry sauce, I claimed that this sauce is better than restaurant quality and I stand by that (we’ve all had disappointing restaurant curry, right?). Serve this on chicken, tofu, or boiled shrimp with carrots, potatoes, and other veggies. You will skip takeout once you’ve tried this.

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Justine’s Picks

Santa Barbara Olive Co. Anchovy Olives

Runner-Up

Santa Barbara Olive Co. Anchovy Olives

Do you ever get excited to go home to a jar of olives? I do, when this jar of olives is waiting in the fridge for me. These anchovy-stuffed beauties satisfy all of my salty, umami cravings. They made it onto our list of the best Martini olives—and I definitely use them for that purpose—but I also eat them by the bowlful, I put them into salads, and I toss them into pastas. Essentially, if something is lacking some complexity and punch (even if it’s just my empty mouth), I add a handful of these incredible olives.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Appleton Prosciutto

Winner

Appleton Prosciutto

If I had to pick a store of the year, it would probably be Aldi. I’ve found so many new staples there this year—including their unsweetened applesauce pouches and their marinara sauce, which is a straight up dupe for Rao’s—but this prosciutto (the best prosciutto per our ranking) was my favorite find. Right now, I can buy a package of this incredible prosciutto for just $2.50 from our local Aldi. Are you kidding me? I would normally never trust meat that cheap but this stuff is different. It’s savory and sweet with a smooth, fatty finish—but the fat isn’t stringy like it is in some prosciutto slices. It’s great for paninis or just on its own at midnight when you’re hunched over, head in the fridge like the snack gremlin you are.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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Sporked Awards: The Best New Product We Tasted in 2023 https://sporked.com/article/best-new-product-sporked-awards-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/best-new-product-sporked-awards-2023/#respond Fri, 29 Dec 2023 12:26:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28867 We tried a lot of new products in 2023. Skittles that taste like mustard. Ketchup that tastes like pickles. Coke that tastes like…something we could never quite figure out. We didn’t review every single new food we tasted, but we still managed to review upward of 115 new products this year. When we decided to...

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We tried a lot of new products in 2023. Skittles that taste like mustard. Ketchup that tastes like pickles. Coke that tastes like…something we could never quite figure out. We didn’t review every single new food we tasted, but we still managed to review upward of 115 new products this year. When we decided to pick the best new product of them all, we didn’t scour our reviews. Instead, we thought about which new products stood out the most—the new products that were so delicious they remained top of mind months after we tasted them. Here are the best new products of 2023.

best new product

Runner-Up

Spindrift Nojito

Spindrift frequently releases new flavors, which is awesome because Spindrift is, in my opinion, the best sparkling water brand of them all. Its bevs are made with actual fruit juice and purees rather than weird artificial flavors. Released earlier this year, Spindrift Nojito tastes like a virgin Mojito because it basically is (minus the sugar). You get the tartness of real lime juice and the fresh herbaceousness of real mint. It’s an amazing sparkling water, canned mocktail, and cocktail mixer (I like it mixed with bourbon for Mint Julep vibes) all rolled into one.   

Read the full ranking of the best Spindrift flavors

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

best new products of 2023

Winner

Wendy’s Chili with Beans

I have to be honest: A lot of canned chili is pretty mid. The meat can be weird and low quality. The beans can be grainy and odd. I generally emerge from canned chili taste tests reminded why I make my own. Wendy’s Chili is a different story. It’s super savory and loaded with veggies and tender beans. Wendy’s has always claimed that the chili in their restaurants is made with leftover hamburgers, so I love that the canned version includes a dash of liquid smoke to give it a little bit of burger flavor. This chili is quite salty, but serve it with some good sour cream and you’ll be just fine (unless you’re on a low-sodium diet, in which case you probably shouldn’t be eating canned chili at all). 

Read our full review of Wendy’s Chili

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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Sporked Awards: Best Booze We Tasted in 2023 https://sporked.com/article/best-booze-sporked-awards-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/best-booze-sporked-awards-2023/#respond Thu, 28 Dec 2023 12:23:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28803 You won’t boo this booze.

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Forget the liquor store, you can buy some great booze at the grocery store. In 2023, we tasted all sorts of over-21 beverages you can get at the supermarket, like canned Espresso Martinis, canned wine, stouts, and we even ranked Trader Joe’s beer and boxed wine. A lot of our picks continue to make their way into our fridges, but two really made an impression. In fact, the number one best canned cocktail we tasted in 2023 was so good, both alcohol enthusiasts and those who hate the taste of booze loved it. Check out our picks for the best booze of 2023.

Jim Beam Classic Highball

Runner-Up

Jim Beam Classic Highball

If you’ve ever wanted a whiskey soda—like, an actual soda that tastes like a Whiskey Highball—this is the canned cocktail for you. It’s ultra-refreshing (shocking for a whiskey drink that really tastes like whiskey), with just a hint of sweetness and citrus. We love it when a big brand actually pays attention to the quality of their side hustles, and Jim Beam did just that with this canned Highball. As a bit of a booze snob, I never would have guessed that I would like this drink. But my assumptions were wrong. It’s truly a revelation and one of the best whiskey cocktails in a can out there.

Credit: Liv Averett / Drizly

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Dos Equis Michelada

Winner

Dos Equis Michelada

Sporked’s Jordan Myrick doesn’t like beer. And they don’t really like alcohol in general. But they went bonkers for this canned Michelada, naming it the best canned Michelada in our ranking. But it also got the approval of folks who love beer and other cocktails. It tastes like freshly squeezed tomato juice with just the right amount of salt, citrus, and beer. Dos Equis really hit it out of the park with this Michelada.

Credit: Liv Averett / Drizly

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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Sporked Awards: The Best Aldi Product We Tasted in 2023 https://sporked.com/article/best-aldi-product-sporked-awards-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/best-aldi-product-sporked-awards-2023/#respond Thu, 28 Dec 2023 12:17:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28865 The best Aldi products are delicious, affordable, and you can only get them at Aldi. That’s part of what’s cool about the increasingly ubiquitous discount grocer: Almost all of what they carry is proprietary, so everything costs less and every time you go you’re sure to find something fun you just wouldn’t find anywhere else....

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The best Aldi products are delicious, affordable, and you can only get them at Aldi. That’s part of what’s cool about the increasingly ubiquitous discount grocer: Almost all of what they carry is proprietary, so everything costs less and every time you go you’re sure to find something fun you just wouldn’t find anywhere else. We tried a lot of Aldi products this year. We taste tested all of their cheeses, breakfast cereals, pasta sauces, chocolates, and ice creams. Suffice it to say, we’ve gotten used to keeping a quarter in our pockets in case we need to make an Aldi run. It wasn’t easy to narrow it down to the two best Aldi products we tried this year, but we did come up with two items we’ve continued talking about and buying for our own kitchens. These are the two best Aldi products we tasted in 2023.

best aldi product 2023

Runner-Up

Sundae Shoppe White Chocolate Caramel Ultimate Cones

When we taste tested sundae cones, we were blown away by these Sundae Shoppe caramel-white chocolate cones. The caramel is gooey and plentiful, but our favorite part is that the white chocolate ice cream actually tastes like white chocolate rather than glorified vanilla ice cream. This is such a decadent frozen treat. If you find these at your local Aldi, buy a box asap.

Read the full ranking of the best sundae cones

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

best aldi products 2023

Best of the Best

Priano Pesto Rosso

I personally taste tested 16 jars of Aldi pasta sauce, and even though I suffered from a bit of pasta sauce fatigue, I lost my mind for this red pesto. It’s not like any pesto you’ve had before. Rather than pine nuts and basil, this is made with sundried tomatoes and cashews (plus a couple of hard, nutty cheeses). What you get is a sauce that’s bright and sweet and packed with umami. Yes, you can mix this into a big bowl of spaghetti, but it will also make a great sandwich spread. This is a permanent fixture in my fridge door now.

Read the full ranking of the best Aldi pasta sauce

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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Sporked Awards: Best Costco Products of 2023 https://sporked.com/article/best-costco-products-sporked-awards-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/best-costco-products-sporked-awards-2023/#respond Thu, 28 Dec 2023 12:13:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28683 Trust us, the membership is worth it.

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Costco is a bulk-sized beacon of savings in an otherwise expensive world. And it’s not just good because of the prices. The quality of their in-house brand, Kirkland, is often unparalleled. We spent all year sampling the delicious products Costco has to offer and we’ve settled on two that are our absolute favorites. Grab your membership card and head to the store to buy them ASAP.

best costco products

Runner-Up

Cheese Danish

Our favorite Costco bakery item is also one of the best Costco products we tried in 2023. The dough is flaky, the filling is creamy, and it’s sweet without being too sweet. There’s a hint of lemon zest in the cream cheese that brightens the entire pastry. If you had guests, they would be thrilled to wake up in the morning to a plate of these Costco cream cheese danishes. That being said, you can also just buy a case and enjoy them yourself. There’s no reason not to! They’re so affordable.

Credit: Liv Averett / Costco

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

best costco products

Winner

Kirkland Shrimp Cocktail

Costco makes the best shrimp cocktail you can buy at the grocery store by far. We were blown away by the plump and fresh shrimp. It tastes like a shrimp cocktail you’d get at a nice seafood restaurant. Not only is it the best grocery store shrimp cocktail, but it’s also the best Costco product we’ve tasted all year long. Grab one for your New Year’s Eve and your friends will think you’re very rich and classy.

Credit: Liv Averett / Costco

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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Sporked Awards: The Best Sustainable Food We Tasted in 2023 https://sporked.com/article/best-sustainable-food-sporked-awards-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/best-sustainable-food-sporked-awards-2023/#respond Wed, 27 Dec 2023 11:47:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28863 We love brands that keep the planet in mind. Packaged food creates a lot of waste, so we’re always excited when we taste something great that also happens to be eco-friendly. While we tasted a lot of good, sustainable foods this year, we found two products that really stood out in terms of both flavor...

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We love brands that keep the planet in mind. Packaged food creates a lot of waste, so we’re always excited when we taste something great that also happens to be eco-friendly. While we tasted a lot of good, sustainable foods this year, we found two products that really stood out in terms of both flavor and mission. These are the best sustainable foods we tried in 2023.

best sustainable food 2023

Runner-Up

Lesser Evil Oh My Ghee! Popcorn

Lesser Evil Oh My Ghee! is my new go-to when I buy bagged popcorn. It’s basically buttered popcorn with a twist—instead of butter, it tastes like clarified butter. It reminds me of eating lobster or crab legs. It’s amazing—and Lesser Evil makes an effort to be a planet-friendly brand, too. Their sustainability mission has a few pillars, but the really cool one is that their packaging is made with a plastic additive that creates a biogas that can be turned into clean energy once it reaches the landfill. Makes the popcorn taste even better, tbh.

Read the full ranking of the best bagged popcorn

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

best sustainable products 2023

Winner

Barnacle Foods Kelp Chili Crisp

Chili crisp is an essential condiment for dumplings, fried rice, and so much more, but so many are pretty one-note. You get chili and you get oil—and that’s about it. That’s why we love Barnacle Foods Kelp Chili Crisp. In addition to chiles and oil, it tastes like nori, briny and oceanic. Kelp doesn’t just add excellent flavor. Barnacle Foods sees kelp as a food of the future since it is super low impact to grow (no fertilizer needed) and can buffer the effects of ocean acidification. If you like a little extra umami in your chili crisp, buy this. 

Read the full ranking of the best chili crisp

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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Sporked Awards: Best Ice Cream We Tasted in 2023 https://sporked.com/article/sporked-awards-best-ice-cream-we-tasted-in-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/sporked-awards-best-ice-cream-we-tasted-in-2023/#respond Tue, 26 Dec 2023 13:15:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28800 No, seriously, you will scream for these ice creams.

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If you told five-year-old me how much ice cream I would be eating for work as an adult, she would stop eating her cup of Häagen-Dazs strawberry ice cream in shock. And, I’m pleased to report that I do still enjoy eating ice cream, even after tasting everything from sundae cones, to 23 flavors of Aldi ice cream, to pickle ice cream. Yes, 2023 was a pretty good year for ice cream, and we all found some new favorites. But the team easily agreed on the two best. Here they are, the winners of the 2023 Sporked Award for best ice cream.

Signature Select Rainbow Sherbet

Runner-Up

Signature Select Rainbow Sherbet

This rainbow sherbet is one of those rare foods that lives up to your childhood memories. The colorful melange of red raspberry, green lime, and orange swirl together to make a tangy, creamy dessert that is simply perfect. Not only was it the best rainbow sherbet we tasted, it was also the best sherbet overall. Someone at Albertsons (Signature Select is an Albertsons store brand) really put a lot of love and care into crafting this sherbet. And it paid off. 

Read the full ranking of the best sherbet

Credit: Liv Averett / Vons

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Dr. Bombay Syrupy Waffle Sundaze

Winner

Dr. Bombay Syrupy Waffle Sundaze

Snoop Dogg released a collection of ice creams this year—and they didn’t have to be that good. They probably would have sold off his name and the bold, leopard-spotted packaging alone. But the full line up of Dr. Bombay flavors are good—and this flavor is exceptional. The base tastes like buttermilk waffles. The chunks of waffle are actual chunks of chewy waffle. And the brown butter syrup kicks everything up a notch. There has never been an ice cream quite like this before. It scooped (haha scooped…like ice cream) Ben & Jerry’s and other creative ice cream producers. Snoop Dogg came to play and he has cemented himself in the ice cream hall of fame with this delicious ice cream.  

Read our full review of every Dr. Bombay ice cream flavor

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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Sporked Awards: Best Candy We Tasted in 2023 https://sporked.com/article/best-candy-sporked-awards-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/best-candy-sporked-awards-2023/#comments Tue, 26 Dec 2023 12:47:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28611 It’s the sweetest time of the year.

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The best candy of 2023 was easy to select. That statement might surprise you since we try such a plethora of products. Two candies, however, stood out to us this year as the absolute best and that should really say something. If, like us, you have a massive sweet tooth, buy the best candy we tried this year. It’s not just the best candy of 2023, it’s some of the best candy…ever?!

best candy

Runner-Up

Compartés Blueberry Muffin Chocolate Bar

We were surprised when we tasted the Compartés Blueberry Muffin Chocolate Bar. It’s not just a chocolate bar flavored like a blueberry muffin, this is a blueberry muffin in chocolate form. There are actual blueberries in the bar! It’s delicious and it feels super fancy. This would be a wonderful gift for any chocolate lover in your life (including yourself).

Credit: Liv Averett / Compartes

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

best candy

Winner

Reese’s Caramel Big Cup

The Reese’s Caramel Big Cup is a huge win for candy lovers everywhere. We often see new candy products that seem tasty, but end up being gimmicky. That is not this peanut butter cup. This has multiple layers of chocolate, tons of salty peanut butter, and tons of gooey caramel. I hope they never discontinue these because I think this is the best version of the Reese’s peanut butter cup (yes, Including the Reese’s pumpkin).

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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Sporked Awards: Best Frozen Food We Tasted in 2023 https://sporked.com/article/best-frozen-food-sporked-awards-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/best-frozen-food-sporked-awards-2023/#respond Mon, 25 Dec 2023 12:09:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28793 We freeze to please.

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The frozen food section of the grocery store is a wonderland. Where once there was just frozen peas, waffles, TV dinners, and ice cream, there’s now more types of frozen pizza than anyone could have imagined, Trader Joe’s has frozen appetizers you’ve never even heard of, and, heck, even Gordon Ramsay is making frozen food. So, choosing the best frozen food we tasted in 2023 was no easy task. We debated the amazing mini tater tots from Ore-Ida. We considered Eggo’s new liege-style waffles. And we shared fond memories of eating Trader Joe’s Meatless Cheeseburger Pizza. But in the end, we couldn’t deny the prowess of these two frozen foods. They really wowed us. And we think they’ll wow you, too.

Zatarain’s Blackened Chicken Alfredo

Runner-Up

Zatarain’s Blackened Chicken Alfredo

This frozen pasta from Louisiana spice company, Zatarain’s, was the best high-protein frozen meal we tried in our taste test. But while its 21 grams of protein are impressive, that’s not what earned it a Runner-Up Sporked award. That would be its extremely creamy, extremely cheesy, deliciously decadent flavor. It tastes like some of the best microwavable mac and cheese mixed with blackening spice for kick and topped with chicken that actually tastes like chicken. Frozen pasta is tough to ace, but Zatarain’s did it.

Credit: Merc / Instacart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Bibigo Pho Beef Soup Dumplings

Winner

Bibigo Pho Beef Soup Dumplings

Did you even know you could buy frozen soup dumplings? Well, you can. And these are some of the best frozen soup dumplings out there. They actually taste like pho—but in a dumpling pouch. They really blew our socks off, in terms of execution and innovation. They’re the kind of food you never even thought you needed but now you can’t get enough. You can eat these unadorned or you can dip them into a mix of sriracha and hoisin sauce with a squeeze of lime for a true pho experience. Want to truly experience the wonders of the frozen food aisle, get these dumplings.

Credit: Merc / Instacart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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Sporked Awards: The Best Breakfast Food We Tasted in 2023 https://sporked.com/article/best-breakfast-food-sporked-awards-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/best-breakfast-food-sporked-awards-2023/#comments Mon, 25 Dec 2023 11:35:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28862 Convenience is kind of our thing here at Sporked. That means we’re all about breakfast shortcuts. Why make waffle batter when you can just buy really good frozen waffles? Sure, you could scramble eggs, fry bacon, and bake up some hash browns—or you could just buy a frozen breakfast bowl that takes literally one minute...

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Convenience is kind of our thing here at Sporked. That means we’re all about breakfast shortcuts. Why make waffle batter when you can just buy really good frozen waffles? Sure, you could scramble eggs, fry bacon, and bake up some hash browns—or you could just buy a frozen breakfast bowl that takes literally one minute to cook in the microwave. This year we taste tested everything from breakfast burritos to chocolate cereal, but a few breakfast foods we tasted were real standouts—and they just so happen to make having a delicious morning meal extremely easy. Keep these in your kitchen for lazy mornings.

best breakfast food 2023

Runner-Up

Three Little Pigs Uncured Bacon & Swiss Egg Bites

If you love the bacon and gruyèe sous vide egg bites at Starbucks, you are going to love Three Little Pigs Uncured Bacon & Swiss Egg Bites. They’re a perfect dupe—and you can enjoy them without suffering the indignity of having someone spell your name with three incorrect vowels. They’re fluffy, light, and rich with smoky, salty flavor. Plus, they’re ready to eat after only 40 seconds in the microwave. When I reviewed these back in February, I predicted they’d be getting a Sporked Award. Look at them now! 

Read the full ranking of the best egg bites

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

best breakfast food 2023

Winner

Bacon Toaster Scrambles

I recognize this is a somewhat controversial pick for the best breakfast food we tasted this year. When I brought this savory, egg- and bacon-filled toaster pastry on an episode of Good Mythical More, my boss Link absolutely hated it. But I am holding strong to my conviction that Bacon Toaster Scrambles are, in fact, delicious. The crust is unbelievably flaky and buttery, and the filling is smoky, eggy, and cheesy. When it comes to savory foods you can just pop into the toaster, I don’t think it gets better than this. Toaster Scrambles are not new (I remember liking them back in the ‘90s), but if it’s been a while since you had one, give ‘em another shot.

Read the full ranking of the best Toaster Strudel

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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Sporked Awards: Best Condiment We Tasted in 2023 https://sporked.com/article/best-condiment-sporked-awards-2023/ https://sporked.com/article/best-condiment-sporked-awards-2023/#respond Fri, 22 Dec 2023 12:53:00 +0000 https://sporked.com/?p=28785 Dip it. Dip it good.

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You can never have enough condiments. Seriously, forget the beer fridge. Everyone should have a condiment fridge. Because there are so many great condiments out there. This year we tasted everything from chili crisp to tartar sauce to vegan mayo with plenty of other dippable, spreadable bottles of goodness in between. We had a lot of options to choose from when it came to picking the best condiments of 2023. And while we loved J.L. Craft Special Burger Sauce and can’t get enough of Aldi’s Priano Pesto Rosso, there were two condiments that we are totally obsessed with—and they’re both made by the king of condiments, Heinz. 

Heinz Pickle Ketchup

Runner-Up

Heinz Pickle Ketchup

Okay, let’s start with a disclaimer. Heinz Pickle Ketchup isn’t actually going to hit shelves until early 2024, according to the press release. But we got a preview bottle and we cannot stop screaming about it. It is what it sounds like—pickle-infused ketchup. And it tastes like it, too. It’s Heinz ketchup (the best ketchup) with a zing of pickled flavor. It channels a McDonald’s burger; think about the pickles and ketchup and onions smooshed into the top bun. We cannot wait for you guys to be able to try this—and we will be stocking up on bottles ourselves once it goes on sale.

Credit: Liv Averett / Heinz

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Heinz Mayoracha

Winner

Heinz Mayoracha

It might not seem like we could be more enthusiastic about something than pickle ketchup, but just wait. Because we love Heinz Mayoracha. Seriously, people are getting sick of hearing us talk about it so much. This stuff (a mix of mayo and sriracha) is so much more than the sum of its parts. Yes, you could just mix your own mayo and sriracha together but it would not taste as sublime as this all-purpose condiment. It’s creamy, garlicky, and actually spicy (and it’s one of the best mayos, according to us). You can use it on everything. Put it on a sandwich, drizzle it onto a rice bowl, dip fries into it, rim a gosh darn glass in it for a cocktail. It’s so, so good and you are simply depriving yourself of enjoyment if you don’t try it right now.

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

sporked awards 2023

The 2023 Sporked Awards

We ate our way through hundreds of products this year to find the best. Now it’s time to honor the best of the best.

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