10 Grocery Items to Avoid, According to Professional Chefs

If you want to cook like a pro, avoid these groceries.

Cooking like a chef requires restraint, editing, and precision. And no surprise, those skills are also required to shop like a chef, too. While the latest frozen fusion concoction at your favorite grocery chain may seem like it needs to be in your cart and subsequently acquire permafrost in your freezer, if you love to cook, you may be better off spending your grocery budget elsewhere.

So, we checked in with professional chefs who shared the items they never buy at the grocery store, at specialty shops, farmers markets, and even online. Without these products, the pros say you’re in for more of that wow factor, cooking inspiration, and excellent, pro-level food coming out of your home kitchen. Without further ado, here are the items chefs typically avoid at the grocery store, and some alternatives to help round out your shopping list.

Related: 10 Grocery Shopping Habits from Professional Chefs

Pesto

What’s that? You don’t like store-bought pesto. You’re not crazy: Store-bought pesto is a hard no for many. “Pesto is so easy to make at home from whatever herbs or greens you like, or need to use up,” says chef Suzanne Cupps of Lola’s in Manhattan. “Plus, you can make it nut- or dairy-free, if needed. I make a basil and arugula pesto with sunflower seeds, chili flakes, olive oil, and lemon zest.” Try this combo, or any pesto on fish, grilled chicken, roasted spring vegetables, or pasta.

Tomato Sauce

A good jar of Rao’s can be helpful to have on hand in a pinch, but consider making your own in minutes. “I will never buy [jarred] tomato sauce to make pasta with,” says Kat Petonito, executive chef of The Duck & The Peach, Meli, The Wells, and La Coll in Washington, D.C. “The sauces in the store are full of sugar and preservatives, and honestly do not taste very good. Instead, buy canned whole organic plum tomatoes, blend them up, and cook them down with your favorite aromatics. This creates a beautiful sauce in 20 minutes. Also, no judgment. I understand the need for a quick meal!”

Salad Dressing

Shaking up your own salad dressing can be faster than reading the ingredients label on some pre-made salad dressings. “I personally do not like the taste of herbs or spices sitting in vinegar and oil for an extended period of time,” says Camille Becerra, chef and partner of Ace Hotel Brooklyn, As You Are.

“I can’t tell you the last time I bought salad dressing. I make a salad almost every day, making my dressing using freshly washed lettuce,” says Kiano Moju, author of AfriCali: Recipes From My Jikoni. “Most days I’ll dress the lettuce using Maldon sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh lemon juice. I love this combination more than any bottled salad dressing. To switch things up, I’ll make the dressing inspired by Ethiopian-style salad in a separate bowl adding finely chopped seeded chilis—jalapeño or Serrano—and half a clove of grated garlic to lemon juice, sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil.” Moju also doesn’t spin all the water off her lettuce, which helps balance out the acidic lemon in the dressing.

Broth

A box of broth is a commodity, but what if you could always have flavorful broth on hand, for free? Save your veggie scraps (anything from herb stems, to carrot peels, to garlic skins) in the freezer and when you have enough, it’s broth time. “I have developed a practice of making sure I have a few quarts of broth in my freezer at all times,” says Becerra. “To make my broth, I use my vegetable scraps and mineral-rich and vitamin-rich ingredients like mushrooms and herbs. I would never consider sipping store-bought stock, so I wouldn’t use it in my cooking either.” Cover your scraps with water, add salt and any aromatics or a Parmesan rind, and simmer for a few hours before straining, cooling, and transferring to containers to return to the freezer or refrigerator.

Related: Delicious Ways to Upgrade a Bowl of Ramen—Even If It's Instant

Pantry Staples

Yes, oil and vinegar are commodities, but they’re also essential in so many dishes, they should be top-notch. “I buy staple pantry items at specialty food stores,” says Ji Hye Kim, chef and owner of Miss Kim in Ann Arbor, MI. “These are the building blocks for your dishes. Always buy olive oils with the harvest date on the bottle. Great building blocks in your pantry, including vinegar and spices, will help you whip up most vinaigrettes and many sauces almost as fast as you can just pour pre-made dressings from a bottle. It’s also better cost-wise, so I definitely prefer to invest.” Yes, a $14 bottle of olive oil can stretch a lot further than a pre-made salad dressing. Chef math.

Pre-Grated Parmesan

Sorry for making pasta night slightly harder, but it’s only getting better, too. “Most grocery stores have thankfully increased their selection of quality premium products, but one thing I still see is packaged, pre-grated ‘Parmigiano.’ This should be avoided at all costs,” says Anthony Mangieri, founder of Genio Della Pizza and chef and owner of Una Pizza Napoletana in New York. “True Parmigiano [Reggiano] is a culinary masterpiece, and one of the greatest gifts Italy has bestowed on humanity. Please seek out the real thing, preferably aged 36 months, and take the extra minute to grate it fresh when you need it. [It’s] life changing.”

Peeled Garlic

Round up a prep cook, you’re only buying whole cloves of garlic from now on. “I refuse to buy peeled garlic. I know it’s a huge convenience, but I can not stand the way it smells,” says Melissa Rodriguez, chef and partner at Mel’s in New York. “I don’t buy it for my home or my restaurant. I think it starts to ferment, and for me that smell just lingers and I can smell it after it’s been cooked.” John Tesar, chef and owner of KNIFE Italian in Irving, Texas, agrees. “I would never buy chopped garlic in a jar, or any herb purees sold in a tube,” he says. “These things can be purchased fresh and are readily available, at both the supermarket and a farmer’s market.”

Bread

Unless your grocery store has an in-house bakery, skip the baked goods. “When it comes to bread, I find that mass-produced supermarket loaves often lack the depth of flavor and texture that I look for in bread,” says Christopher D'Ambrosio, executive chef at Take Care in New York “Instead, I prefer to support local artisan bakeries or bake my own bread at home, where I can control the ingredients and enjoy the satisfaction of freshly baked, crusty loaves with superior taste and quality.”

Related: 7 Grocery Items to Avoid, According to Food Safety Pros

Seafood

Seek out a local fishmonger or seafood market to source your aquatic proteins. “I straight up refuse to buy fish from my local supermarket, which is sad because there are so many great fish options where I live in Narragansett Bay that we just don't see at the big chain stores,” says Kevin O'Donnell, chef and owner of Giusto and Mother Pizzeria in Newport, Rhode Island. “I also have a very hard time buying meat at the supermarket. Even if it says ‘natural’ or ‘hormone and antibiotic-free’ it still makes my skin crawl a little bit.” To the butcher!

Sausages

Sausages are an artisanal product, and pre-packaged sausage just won’t cut it with tubed meat connoisseurs. “I wouldn’t buy most sausages, from Mexican chorizo to Andouille. Making it at home or buying it from a specialty supplier is always the way to go,” says Bob Bennett, executive chef of Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, MI. “Second would be bacon. There are folks out there, like Nueske's, that just blow away the commercial bacon market.”

For more Real Simple news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Real Simple.