6 Best Healthy Buys at Target Under $5

Best healthy buys can be found at just about every grocery store – and big box retailer Target is no different.

At Target, you can find both national and private label products – the latter of which will likely come cheaper by default, assuming no markdowns.

While you may want to consult your doctor about what’s best for your diet depending on your situation, down below we list better health alternatives you can buy at Target for $5 or less. Keep in mind that I used a local store and that prices may vary by location.

Siete Three Cheese Corn Tortilla Chips

I think I may have found my new favorite chip. The Siete Three Cheese Corn Tortilla Chips just launched, with these differing in taste and structure compared with the national brand’s traditional Grain Free Tortilla Chips, which are light and crispy.

The Three Cheese variety is much more comparable to a restaurant-style chip – but the flavor here is spectacular. The ingredients include parmesan cheese, romano cheese, three cheese nacho seasoning, tomato powder, as well as other spices and seasonings.

Overall, this chip reminds me of a mix of Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch Doritos. But the Siete version is much healthier, offering avocado oil and 130 calories per serving. Doritos features 150 calories per serving, is made with seed oils, artificial colors and monosodium glutamate, a food additive that can increase the desire to consume more.

At Target, a 7.5-ounce bag of the three cheese Siete variety can be had for $4.99.

Good & Gather Cereal

Something newer I noticed is that Target is now making its own cereal under its Good & Gather brand. There are a few different flavors, including apple and cinnamon, cocoa and honey oat.

Are they the tastiest in the world? No, but for a healthier cereal with a limited amount of processed sugar, Good & Gather is a solid option. It then becomes a great option when you combine it with the price, as a 10-ounce bag comes out to $4.99.

Compare that to another healthier cereal, Seven Sundays, which costs $7.39 for just eight ounces at Target. The Good & Gather option is a no-brainer if you’re looking to save money.

My personal favorite is the apple and cinnamon variety, which comes with just three added sugars. Again, it’s not the tastiest option on the market, but it’s enough to get the job done if you’re craving cereal.

Date Bars

Consuming dates can be a great sugar alternative because of their rich fiber content. Some snack bar brands like Larabar are using these as part of the sweetener.

But Good & Gather has its own version under a few varieties. Like Larabar, these offer just a touch of cane sugar to enhance the dates.

However, again, Good & Gather wins on the price; even with Larabar on sale at Target for 62 cents per ounce, the private label comes on top at just 61 cents per ounce. My favorite Good & Gather flavor is the chocolate chip cookie dough variety, which also contains cashews. These are a great snack and, on a gut reset day, a great breakfast option.

Organic Oats

At grocery stores, I find it tough to find organic oats. The reason why I prefer to stick to organic here is that these are heavily sprayed with glyphosate, an agent that is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as one that’s “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

While we can debate the dosage that will likely be safe enough for human consumption, you can avoid this agent by buying organic products, which do also contain pesticides – but natural ones. The other alternative is washing products thoroughly – but that’s not feasible with oats.

Luckily, Good & Gather makes an 18-ounce container for $3.79 or 21 cents per ounce. Yes, these are a bit more expensive than Target’s traditional non-organic old-fashioned oats (16 cents per ounce) – but buying them this way guarantees avoiding glyphosate.

Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese

Oftentimes when I go to the grocery store to pick up cheddar cheese slices – I find myself disappointed. The freshness and quality, in my view, tends to wear off rather quickly.

I find that not to be the case with Good & Gather’s reduced-fat mild cheddar cheese. These are light (only 60 calories per slice), and in my experience, the taste quality lasts longer, as does the freshness, than a typical cheddar slice.

Give these a shot, since 12 slices only cost $1.69 at Target and are perfect for burgers.

Organic Good & Gather Sauce

For someone looking for a quality cheap pasta sauce option, Good & Gather’s organic lineup might be perfect.

As opposed to the traditional sauce Good & Gather versions, the organic varieties feature the superior-tasting extra virgin olive oil as opposed to seed oils. It’ll cost 80 cents more ($2.59 in total), but it’s worth it.

The only downside is Good & Gather’s sauce does not feature chunk tomatoes, as seen in some premium brands like Rao’s. However, it’s still a great option for tight budgets, at a fraction of the cost of Rao’s.

My personal favorite is the organic roasted garlic variety.

As always, make sure to compare prices and check sales at different stores. This way you guarantee to maximize savings.