Why Some Sprouts Farmers Market Shoppers Avoid This Breakfast Food

Sometimes, there's nothing that really hits like a good breakfast –– even if that breakfast is made up of old-school dishes you rarely see these days. Unfortunately, if you're working that 9-to-5 or dealing with a lengthy commute to your place of work, you're probably not getting the time to sit down and indulge in a solid breakfast complete with all the fixings. When you do have the time to create a sit-down meal for breakfast or brunch, you might rely on grocery store chains like Sprouts Farmers Market to help with some convenient shortcuts. One item you may wish to avoid when setting up your breakfast spread, though? The chain's organic hash browns.

Not to be confused with home fries (diced potatoes that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside), hash browns are shredded spuds that are supposed to be crisp all the way through. They can be served in a steaming, savory pile on the side of your plate or formed into hash brown patties, like the beloved versions from McDonald's or Trader Joe's (the former of which should definitely be cooked in an air fryer). Salty, crispy, and oh-so-satisfying, hash browns are an elite breakfast side in our humble opinion. That's why it's so disappointing to learn that so many shoppers at Sprouts are more than a little underwhelmed with the high-end grocer's offering, which they allege are all too often mushy and flavorless.

With only organic potatoes on the ingredients list, how is it that Sprouts could do this classic breakfast side so dirty? Well, perhaps therein lies the problem. While the organic grocer likes to tout its reputation as being stocked to the brim with organic items and "clean" products, it seems that, in dumping some of the ingredients more commonly found in packaged hash browns, they perhaps also skipped out on flavor and texture.

"Completely flavorless [and] takes forever to cook," griped one customer. Others said that the potatoes are the wrong kind for this dish, leading to the soggy texture. "I know it says 'product of Italy' on the package so maybe these are made like pasta is," one reviewer joked. That's the polar opposite of the golden, crispy hash browns that you want. And it's not for want of trying: more than one customer stated that they tried multiple bags of Sprouts Organic Hash Browns and various ways of cooking them, only to be met with mushy, downright mashed potatoes every single time.

Unlike mashed potatoes, which are meant to be fluffy and creamy, hash browns are known for their crunchy texture with a saltier bite. If you're prepping for a brunch and want crispy taters, you'll be more than a little annoyed to wind up with a skillet full of mushy spuds. You may wish to skip Sprouts for this side and opt for another brand instead, like the widely-beloved Trader Joe's version.