We found the cheapest Fort Worth store for school lunch and breakfast items

Back-to-school season is here, which, for parents, also means packing lunches.

While Fort Worth’s Independent School District does provide lunch in school cafeterias, some students may prefer to bring their own packed lunch.

According to the 2025 Deloitte Back-to-School Survey, families will pay a little more this year when it comes to packing a school lunch — $6.15 per day, according to Deloitte’s “classic lunch” model. That’s a 16-cent average increase from 2024. The “classic lunch” model averaged out the cost of a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a chicken and avocado quesadilla, a salad and a prepackaged meat, cheese and crackers kit.

According to recent school nutrition data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, lunch costs an average of $2.99 for K-12 students. This means that cafeteria lunches are cheaper than bringing your own, but if you want to pack a lunch, here’s what to know.

We determined a 19-item breakfast and school lunch grocery lists with both nutritious and delicious staple items.

We found that our 19-item breakfast and lunch list costs $53.55 in total from WinCo, making this the cheapest grocer of the ones we surveyed. Divided across five days, that breaks down to $10.71 per day for both breakfast and lunch.

Let’s take a look at the numbers in depth.

Methodology

To gather the data, our team created a shopping list of 19 school lunch items.

At all seven stores, we looked at the cheapest brands. This usually ended up being the store’s generic brand. Of course, to make all the data consistent, we compared items that were the same value in weight (and if not, we calculated the price by weight to make all data consistent).

However, there are a few specifics you should know.

• No sale, clearance, or membership items were noted. We only used the standard price, to ensure a fair estimate across all brands.
• Aldi did not have the Oreo brand. However, they sell a generic version with a brand named Benton. H-E-B also sold a cheaper generic version of Oreos at $3.48 (The Oreo brand is listed for H-E-B in the chart).
• When it came to 18-pack chips, all stores sold Frito-Lay, however, there were cheaper generic options. In the chart, you will see prices for Frito-Lay to keep comparison consistent, but it is important to note that Aldi, H-E-B, Kroger and Walmart all had generic options.
• Besides Oreo and Frito-Lay chip packs, all prices listed under the items are the cheapest available option at each store.
• Tom Thumb’s generic brand is labeled as “Signature” or “Lucerne” for dairy products. 
• Aldi’s cheapest brand is commonly “Friendly Farms” or “Simply Nature.” 
• H-E-B generic brand is “H-E-B,” but their cheapest option is sometimes “Hill Country Fare.” 
• Target generic brands can be found under “Good & Gather” or “Favorite Day” for dairy products. 
• Walmart’s generic brand is “Great Value.”
• Kroger generic brand is “Kroger” or a discount brand they carry called “Smart Save.”

Lastly, it’s important to know which Fort Worth locations we shopped at.

• Aldi: 8977 Tehama Ridge Pkwy, Fort Worth
• H-E-B: 3451 Heritage Trace Pkwy, Fort Worth
• Kroger: 3120 S. University Drive, Fort Worth
• Target: 5700 Overton Ridge Blvd., Fort Worth
• Tom Thumb: 3100 S. Hulen St., Fort Worth
• Walmart: 6300 Oakmont Blvd., Fort Worth
• WinCo: 8968 Tehama Ridge Pkwy, Fort Worth

Where to shop for the cheapest back-to-school meal items

Note: This is not a scientific study, but it is a real reflection of items’ prices at various stores in Fort Worth during the week of Aug. 11, 2025.

Out of the seven stores we shopped at, we found that WinCo is the best option, considering total basket cost. Ranking the seven from least expensive to most expensive, here’s what we found:

• WinCo: $53.55
• Aldi: $55.63
• Walmart: $56.45
• H-E-B: $61.29
• Kroger: $65.91
• Target: $68.13
• Tom Thumb: $76.39

Key takeaways for school lunch shopping in Fort Worth

Some data analysis in this story was conducted using AI. For more information on how the Star-Telegram and McClatchy newsrooms are using AI, go here.

Key takeaways from the data analysis show:

• Frito-Lay variety pack, juice boxes, grape jelly, bagels and deli ham all have the biggest price variation. These may be good items to check for coupons.
• WinCo had the lowest prices for nine items. Buy juice boxes, deli ham and snack staples here.
• Aldi is best for pantry staples and spread. Buy grape jelly and plain bagels here.
• Walmart had the best deal for brand items, like the chip variety pack.

Ella Gonzales

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Ella Gonzales is a service journalism reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions and write about life in North Texas. Ella mainly writes about local restaurants and where to find good deals around town.