If you’re looking for a Mysupermarket alternative in the UK, then I hope this page goes some way to filling the void. Here are over 100 best value food ingredients.
Scroll to the bottom if you want to know how the items on this page were chosen, or when to forward a question to me.
Listed below are the best prices I could find for common ingredients, their price by weight, and where to find them. (The price by weight is why they might not be the “cheapest”, but a cheaper packet with less in it is not great value overall). Each category is mostly in alphabetical order. Making this page made me hungry, so if any of it isn’t in alphabetical order, you’ll know at which point I wandered off for a snack…
Fruit
Apples 79p per bag (funsize) combined with multibuy Lidl
Avocado £1.09 for 4 Aldi
Bananas 76p/100g Lidl/Aldi
Black olives 55p-61p/340g; 17.9p/100g Lidl
Cherry tomatoes 75p/350g; £2.14/kg Lidl
Limes 19p
Lemons 85p x5 Sainsbury’s or 17p each
Pears same as above or 66p per bag Tesco (Rosedene farms) – £1.08/kg
Pomegranate 65p Lidl
Prunes 75p/410g; 18.3p/100g Tesco/Sainsbury’s
Raisins price to beat £3/1kg
Sundried tomatoes £1.05/285g; 36.8p/100g
Salad tomatoes £1.54/kg Tesco
Frozen blueberries Lidl/Aldi 33.5p/100g
Frozen cherries £1.69 Aldi (or 34.7p/100g Tesco on offer)
Frozen strawberries £1.75/500g Lidl/Aldi
Tinned red grapefruit 80p Sainsbury’s; 15p/100g
Grains And Pulses
Barley 11p/100g Tesco (quick cook 64p/100g…)
Brown bread 36p/800g Lidl/Aldi
Brown rice 9.9p/100g Lidl
Couscous 55p/kg Aldi
Egg noodles 19.7p/100g Lidl
Red Lentils 69p/500g; 13.8p/100g Lidl
Green lentils 49/400g (tinned) Aldi
Oats 75p/kg Lidl/Aldi/Tesco (Lidl’s comes in a recyclable paper bag)
Pasta – spaghetti Hubbards @ Sainsbury’s 40p/1kg or 4p/100g
Wholewheat fusilli 42p/500g; 8.4p/100g Lidl
Quinoa £1.09/300g Aldi
Vegetables And Salad
Frozen broccoli 85p/1kg; 8.5p/100g Aldi/Lidl
Frozen mixed vegetables 79-85p/kg Aldi/Lidl
Frozen mushrooms 69p/500g Lidl
Frozen peas 62p/900g; 6.8p/100g Lidl
Frozen peppers 69p/500g Lidl
Frozen chopped onions £1/650g; 15.4p/100g Iceland
Frozen spinach 11p/100g Iceland
Frozen sweetcorn 79p/1kg; 7.9p/100g Aldi/Lidl
Frozen mushrooms Lidl/Aldi 13.8p/100g
Aparagus £6/kg Aldi/Lidl (or on offer at the majors)
Beetroot (not in a jar) 19.8p/100g Lidl
Carrots 59p/kg Aldi/Lidl/Sainsbury’s or 68p/1.5kg wonky Aldi
Courgette £1.60/kg Sainsbury’s
Garlic – individual 16p Tesco or 62px4/77px5 multipack Tesco/Lidl/Aldi
Greens 54p/500g; 11p/100g Tesco/Lidl/Aldi
Kale 28p/100g
Rocket 57p/70g; 81p/100g Lidl
Sweet potato 95/kg
Tins And Other Staples
Kidney beans 7p/100g Lidl or 28p
Mixed beans 45p Aldi 400g
Other beans e.g. Haricot, Cannelini, black beans etc. 49p Aldi 400g or 50p Tesco on offer
Reduced sugar baked beans 7.5/100g Sainsbury’s
Butter beans 30p Lidl 400g
Chickpeas 30p Aldi/Lidl 400g
Stuffing mix 34p/170g; 20p/100g Lidl (aka seasoned breadcrumbs – consider making your own![link])
Tomato puree 34p Aldi/Lidl
Chopped tomatoes 7p/100g Aldi/Lidl
Wheat bisks (Weetabix) £1.89 x 36 Aldi/Lidl
Caster sugar 99p/kg Lidl
Flour 3p/100g Asda/Aldi/Lidl
Ready to roll Pastry (puff) 20p/100g Asda (22p/100g almost everywhere else)
Drinks
Ground coffee £1.09/227g or 48p/100g Aldi (same Hubbards in Sainsburys’)
(Lidl Bellarom £2.39/500g)
Fairtrade instant coffee £1.69/100g Aldi
Tea £1.15 Lidl
Diet lemonade 17p/2 litres – Aldi/Lidl
Fruit squash 85p Lidl/Aldi
Tonic water £2.99 multipack or aim for 32p/1l
Rose £4.75 Lidl
Prosecco can be bought for £6 max at Aldi/Lidl/Tesco
Soya Milk 59p/1l Lidl
Sauces, Oils And Spreads
Coconut oil £1.69/300ml; 56.3p/100ml Aldi
Honey £1.05 Aldi or Lidl/23.1p/100g
Houmous 69p; 37.5p-40p/100g Lidl
No added sugar ketchup 23p/100ml Tesco/Sainsbury’s
Marmite 90p/100g Iceland
Maple syrup Clarks 500ml at the majors £1/100ml
Dijon mustard 35p/200g; 17.5p/100g Lidl
Olive oil 28.2p/100ml Lidl
Sugar free Dolmio 20p/100g Tesco
No added sugar Napolina 20p/100g Sainsbury’s
Peanut butter £3.99/kg tubs Aldi or £1.25 small jars (or £5.24/kg on sale at Holland and Barrett before stacking with other offers)
Pesto 39.5p/100g Lidl
Salad cream 59p Lidl
Sesame oil 72p/100ml Sainsbury’s
Red/white wine vinegars 23p/100ml Tesco/Sainsbury’s
Vegetable stock cubes 49p/100g Tesco
Worcester sauce 72p/150ml; 48p/100ml Lidl
Snacks
Cashews £1.59/200g; 79p/100g Aldi (unless stacking offers in a Holland and Barrett sale)
Whole almonds £1.45/200g; 72.5p/100g Lidl
Blanched or ground almonds £1.27/150g; 84.7p/100g Lidl
Walnuts £1.29/130g; 99p/100g Lidl or Aldi
Pecans £1.79 150g; £1.20/100g Aldi
Popping corn £2/kg the majors (e.g.Island Sun brand)
Dairy And Eggs
Free range eggs – multipack – 12.6p/100g Aldi
Cheddar – Aldi/Lidl/Asda
Lactose free cheddar – Arla on offer at the majors £1.50 (rrp £1.80)
Milk
Lactose free milk 85p/l Aldi/Lidl
Lactose free yoghurt 35p/100g Tesco
Goats cheese £1.59/150g or £10.60/kg Lidl
Feta £1.50/370g cubes; £4.05/kg Tesco
Halloumi £1.49/225g; £6.62/kg Aldi
Plain yoghurt 65p Aldi/13p/100g
Sugar free chocolate 79p/100g Aldi (Choco-Low or 85p/100g Sainsbury’s)
Fish
Tinned tuna 69p Lidl per tin or £2.69 4 pack Aldi
Tinned sardines 34p Asda
Frozen fish 3 for £10 Iceland
Branded Snacks
Nakd raisins Holland and Barrett during penny sales = 25p per bag
Nakd bars same – should work out at 50p per bar max, less if stacking offers
Anything Else
Herb plants 52p Aldi/Lidl
Protein pasta Aldi (edemame, mung bean, black bean) £1.79/200g
Spices 80p/100g world food aisle Sainsbury’s
Vegan protein powder Try Bulk Powders, some offers bring the bulk vanilla down to £1.10/kg
Otherwise the cheapest I’ve seen is Holland and Barrett offers at around £1.87/kg
What makes the best value food ingredients?
How to use this page and when to challenge anything in the blog comments/ contact me with suggestions.
The below explains a bit more about what makes the best value food ingredients a savvier spend than the cheapest ingredients.
Items on this page are the lowest price per weight/quantity. For any debate on flavour and quality versus price, read the Taste Tests instead. (If the link is not working, jump on the mailing list and you’ll get updated as soon as the page is live).
Prices are approximate and might be beaten by promotional offers. I will consider adding an offer price to this page if it’s an offer that runs many times per year i.e. Holland and Barrett’s penny sale.
Regards Holland and Barrett, in addition to running the same sales on rotation, you can usually stack offers there. So with a discount code,
free delivery, loyalty coupons, cashback via Topcashback etc, it can work out cheaper overall.
Prices might also vary locally/depending on brands stocked.
The fruit and veggie fresh prices can also vary seasonally. I will add an organic list if there’s enough demand.
If I’ve listed an offer price as cheapest, that will be because a regular multibuy offer beats the lowest price across the board otherwise, so the best value option is to stock up then.
I’ve only compared prices; I’ve taken the maths of the sellers for granted, so if the price per weight doesn’t look right for the overall price, this will be the supermarket’s mistake (by all means, point it out and I might change it).
The way to treat this list therefore is as a price to beat rather than Bible. Anything that says price to beat above means the ingredient is priced almost exactly the same across most outlets and I couldn’t find a retailer that was significantly cheaper.
“The majors” refers to Tesco/Sainsbury’s/Morrisons/Asda i.e. you are unlikely to find it all, let alone cheaper, at a discounter (Aldi/Lidl).
If there’s no seller mentioned at all, then it’s not competitively priced anywhere (or it’s competitively priced everywhere, depending on whether you’re a glass half full, or glass half empty kinda person).
The majority of the time Lidl and Aldi are matched for price, so there’s no need to tell me if I’ve only put one of them down, but you found the item the same price in the other. Assume for your own benefit that this will often be the case.
If you don’t live near a discounter, or a large supermarket at all (E.g. central London), then weigh up the cost of travelling further out versus paying for online delivery. There are worthwhile discount codes for the latter if you use it to stock up on long life ingredients and fill your freezer.*
Assume anything listed is own brand (economy category) if not stated otherwise.
I tried to do a meat section…but I don’t buy meat, and you will likely save money by default if you buy less meat anyway.
I’m human at the end of the day too, so there might be the odd booboo. I hope this page saves you some money though.
So…comment on any of the food posts on the blog if you find something cheaper only after taking the above into account.
Otherwise I’ll only make changes to this page if there’s something you think warrants a place in the best value food ingredients.
Did you find this page useful? Do you want more pages to help you spend better? Join the mailing list to always stay up to date with any new features like this.
What this page isn’t
The reason I bothered to create this list is because the retailers own sites don’t always reflect the best value food ingredients available. Mysupermarket closed in March, but for many users their website meant entering queries over and over again anyway, and regularly I found items cheaper in passing because they would leave out lots of items too.
While this page isn’t a comparison service because I’ve selected the best value I can find, I understand some of us still want to shop around for dietary reasons, or have different ideas about what’s an essential weekly ingredient etc. I’m mostly plant-based and the list reflects that.
My brain is wired to remember prices very easily and make instant comparisons, so don’t worry, I do have a life. My nerdiness worked on autopilot while creating most of this page, so that you can save some time, mental energy, (and money!).
Ideally you would be able to rely on this list of best value food ingredients for most of your shop, or at least use it to decide where to make the majority of your savings.
P.S. I’m not liable for any spending decisions you make. Remember that brands can and do amend their prices from time to time (but this also means we sometimes find something even cheaper!)
*Online delivery is a bit up in the air as I write this during coronavirus unless you are vulnerable, but I hope it will be an option for
everyone again in the near future.
