Supermarket food that's much better that you expected: pls name.

There isn't an Aldii or a Lidl near me, its all Waitrose and Sainsbury's...damn!
I do get to Asda and find their Extra Special range just as good as more expensive supermarkets. Ditto their fresh meat and the bakery. I save loads while others turn up their noses and go to Marks or Waitrose, the fools!

I have noticed a definite increase in the numbers of posh(ish) cars in Lidl and Aldi car parks recently. More value conscious 'middle class'?

When talking about Lidl, I forgot to mention their humous, which is the best ready-made we've had, if you like it grainy. Also their shortbread fingers and version of jaffa cakes are delicious and good value.

At Tesco, we've discovered the halal range of chicken (they do other halal meats as well, but we like the chicken), though this is not available at all Tescos. It's extremely flavoursome (is that a word?) and leaves fat (NOT water!) when cooking - reasonably priced, too!

Been on an economy drive in recent months and decided to give Sainsburys "Basics" range a shot. When compiling my order on line I put Basics in the search box after booking slot etc and the whole range comes up as a list. The prices are excellent and taste/quality is good to the following are our favourites:

Frozen: Fish Fingers, Sausages, Garden Peas
Fresh: Unsmoked Collar Bacon, Liver & Bacon Pate (tube), Corned Beef, Chicken Legs, Red Leicester cheese.

Also from their general Range: Wholegrain Fruit & Fibre cereal and me ALL TIME SAINSBURYS Favourite is 1kg frozen Straight Cut Oven Chips "Be Good to Yourself" always lovely and on special BOGOFF at the moment!

Occasionally shop in Tesco's and a lot of their "Everyday Essentials" range is good too. I also like Lidls and Aldis and a fiinal word for Wilkinsons - their Discreet Pads (aka Tena pads) are EXCELLENT!!! As far as I'm concerned better than the originals! Phew that was longer than expected - sorry folks

The best Tena Type pads are IMVHO and after extensive research - Superdrug's own brand.

I hope this will all fit on here. I'd done a cut 'n paste on all the recommendations so far so people can print out a shopping list to help with Christmas. Apologies if I've missed anything out, please keep the posts coming!

GRANSNET Supermarket favourite buys:

ALDI
Aldi Specially Selected Maris Piper Oven Chips....delicious and almost as good as home made oven chips.
Aldi cut flowers are better kept than the Lidl branch I frequent, and a great deal cheaper than the flowers in any of the big supermarkets.
I can highly recommend Aldi's venison steaks, £6.99 in the freezer section. They are marinated and vacuum-packed, from New Zealand. Lovely and tender, and could actually feed 4, not 2, as each of the two packs contains two chunky steaks. We had them for Sunday lunch and they were lovely.
Must be good if they are from NZ. Glad to hear that the NZ farmers getting a bit more entrepreneurial about their produce.
Aldi packs of wraps are much cheaper than the supermarkets and very good.
Any of Aldi's cold meats ... sumptious!
 Aldi 3 bird roast, available especially near Christmas and Easter, is lovely, and so much cheaper than the M&S or Waitrose versions. I must admit I have not tried these other brands so can't compare the taste. Carving is so easy when catering for larger numbers. They do other variations of boneless roasts which are also great value and succulent.
I'm fairly certain that my DS who has been a chef, used the Aldi 3-bird roast one Christmas. And he's fussy!
I've used the 3 bird roast from Aldi, too. It tastes great, feeds 4 people easily, just be sure to rest it and have a very sharp knife, otherwise it won't cut neatly across the different textures and stuffing. Also, their frozen salmon en croute is surprisingly good.
Aldi free range chickens are only £4.99
Agree about the Aldi three bird roast and it can be cooked from frozen so great in a panic situation.
Aldi are really good for Mortadella, Milano, Breasola and I really like their sliced Pancetta. The Parmigiano and Grana Padano are good too. Aldi have just got in a great Panforte for £2.99 - I couldn't buy the ingredients for that. Sorry about the Italian bias, but why would you buy anything else?
Aldi do a chocolate fudge cake (think its in the frozen part) someone brought me the orange flavoured one and I thought who can I give this to? as I don't like orange flavoured stuff..but!!!! guess who ate the majority of it yes twas meeee.....warmed in the mocrowave for about 5 seconds and topped with whipped double cream the Aldi chickens are soooooooo juicy even I can't dry them out by cooking them too long!
Aldi's stoellen cake is quite the best I've ever tasted and they also do these mini chocolate bars that are so delicious it's hard to only eat one! (there are 5 in a pack
Aldi's own-brand Spanish Toro Loco Tempranillo £3.59 is gorgeous. According to the reviews, this red wine excelled in blind taste tests alongside reds costing nearly ten times as much, including a £30 M&S Barolo. One of the criteria for it winning a prize was that it would be available in large supplies, and they usually do have it in stock when I go in.
Just tried Aldi Maris Piper oven chips with lightly dusted yellowfin sole, peas and a squeeze of lemon - delicious. Just got to decide which Moser Roth chocolate to have with coffee. Can't wait to try the Toro Loco tomorrow. Must try all the other recommendation too.
Aldi marmalade which was recommended by Which, I think, beating several well known makes. Really tasty with a good tang.
Aldi and Lidl, have superior chocolate. I have to walk briskly past those shelves
The hazelnut chocolate at Aldi is gorgeous and not expensive.
Aldi Genoa cake is truly scrumptious !
There's a chocoholic's site somewhere on the web, they rave about Aldi varietal chocolate bars. They're made apparently by Germany's top, oldest chocolate company under a false name.
I've found Lidl's to be every bit as good!
Aldi - rum raisin and nut chocolate; 70% and 80% dark chocolate lovely to eat and cheap enough to cook with; hot smoked salmon fillet; very good parmesan cheese.
Aldi Gianni's Cornish Ice Cream made with clotted cream. It really is delicious one of the nicest I've tasted and much cheaper than leading brands under £3 for a 2 litre carton.
Aldi frozen dessert ranges are excellent value. Plum custard puddings and various lovely strudels. Their cheesecakes look good as well. They are very worth sticking in the freezer. Aldi Chocolate "Moser Roth" brand, really special dark chocolate some with sour cherry filling and some with chilli, among other flavours. Aldi also sell exceptionally good value pure maple syrup and really excellent pure virgin olive oil.
Article in the Telegraph today - Good Housekeeping survey of Christmas puddings put Aldi's orange-topped Christmas pudding second behind Waitrose, which was top, and ahead of Fortnum and Mason (disappointing apparently). We had one last year - it was delicious. I expect they'll fly off the shelves now, so I'd better get my skates on!
Just noticed Aldi came second in a blind Christmas pud tasting competition. Waitrose first Fortnum and Masons came 29th. so it's Aldi for us this ChristmasDay
For the home baker various sugars and dried fruits available so much cheaper than other supermarkets. Their Italian glace cherries are really nice not as sticky as the French and 99p 100grms. I don't like their flour though, currently using Allinsons SR flour 1.5kg for 99p at my local Home and Bargain store. Neither am I a fan of their fresh produce as some of it never goes off which makes me wonder if it has been genetically modified.

Aldi and Lidl are cheap enough to try without breaking your budget.

My hounds also wish to give the bark of approval to Aldi sardines in oil.
Aldi Magnum dishwasher tabs are brilliant and got a best buy from "Which".
Another vote for Aldi Magnum dishwasher tabs, and Aldi marmalade. I will be buying the Maris Piper oven chips next time I go in.
They have venison steaks in the freezer section. Got the rum and raisin chocolate - scrumptious! Picked up several other recommended items like washing up liquid, veg and continental ham (Italian ham cooked with sun-dried tomatoes). Lots of bargains.

ASDA
Asda venison burgers are excellent, as is Asda cauliflower cheese. The latter goes perfectly with Asda Lincolnshire pork sausages.
I do get to Asda and find their Extra Special range just as good as more expensive supermarkets. Ditto their fresh meat and the bakery. I save loads while others turn up their noses and go to Marks or Waitrose, the fools!
We weren't really burger eaters (much) till we found these (Asda venison burgers), but we are now (not usually in a bun though as DH is limiting his carbs). Great with hot veg such as curried cabbage or fried toms, onions and mushrooms.
Last week I bought a pair of creme brulee from Asda for £1 - served in dinky little glass dishes - a bargain!
Asda's toffee topped choux buns with real cream - 2 for £1
Asda, even though I detest my local store, do a fab line in Belgian Choc Cookies, on offer last week for £1.00 a pkt. Sorry but all gone now and the price has gone up
I have just done a price comparison on my last Asda shop and found that my £75 worth would have cost £20 more at Waitrose!

LIDL
Stilton, nicely ripe though not from specified cheese maker as it would be in Waitrose, but none the worse for that. Feta good too.
The most fabulous Potato Gratin in the chilled counter, just 89p open and put in dish for oven for 35mins absolutely delish, plenty for two servings.
It would cost me more to make myself by the time I paid for cream/fresh garlic. Packaging does vary for some reason.
Lidl smoked salmon, very good value, and the large prawns in the chiller.
Lidl smoked salmon is excellent - better than M&S.
Their small lasagne is plenty for one and very tasty too.
Lidl's cold meats are pretty good.
Lidl do the 3 bird roast, this will be the third Christmas that we have had it.
Their large prawns at £2.49 for around 24 to 28 prawns are an excellent buy, really good for my own chowder recipe and for curry. They stay large, firm and meaty. Also use their smoked haddock in the chowder too!

Lidl Nasi Goring from the freezer around £3 for 2 more than generous portions.
Lidl is good for fruit and veg and the GC love the mini choc ices they do (so do I). The apricot and other jams they do are brilliant and have a much higher fruit content than those in other supermarkets.
Lidl are currently selling frozen steak & kidney puddings (British Pudding Company?) that are absolutely yum!

Lovely suet pastry, beautiful filling in good proportion, recommended!
it's the season for it, isn't it? They also do a chicken & leek one, which is good, but not as good as the steak & kidney.
Bought a Lidl vacuum packed beef joint for Sunday (hung for 21 days). It was absolutely delicious. Cost about £12.50 and enough for 6 people. Blasted on the outside for 20 mins then cooked at 190, it was very tender. Recommended
I bought one recently too! There was a really good deal on large beef joints (they had one a while back on large pork joints) I cut the beef in half and put one section in the freezer. We have eaten both bits now, and very good they were too, as was the pork.
We also buy chicken joints from Lidl, I use their packs of thighs for my spicy lemon chicken, good quality and good value.
Their rump steak at £3.99 for 2 good sized steaks has never disappointed.
In fact, the only thing that I have ever bought from Lidl that did let us down was "The Swede That Wouldn't Die".
Lidl has good fruit & Veg, especially Abate Pears when they're in season. A couple of years ago Lidl had some Fragolino wine in for a few weeks - reminded me of holidays in the Veneto. In Italy, Lidl sell packs of chunks of Grana Padano which are great for nibbling but sadly I've not seen them here. When Lidl or Aldi are having an Italian week I always buy the jars of Amarene cherries in syrup. They keep for ages in the fridge and are a fraction of the normal price. Lidl had a lovely Colomba for £3.99 at Easter (Carluccio's about £13!)
XBolt for men Eau de Toilette! It smells almost identical to Hugo Boss "Bottled" (the one that doesn't have a name on it apart from "Boss") and is............ £3.99!

I spent almost £30 last year on a bottle of the Boss one!
There was a lot of publicity around the fragrance, as apparently it beat some of the top of the range ones in a blind test.
Cien shampoo and conditioner, just as good as Pantene
Lidl's shower and bath gels and creams are good quality too.
Have emailed a friend to ask if she needs anything, she asked me to pick up a bottle of Lidl's own Amaretto type stuff. Apparently her husband likes it in his morning coffee!
Lidl's German Christmas range. The Gingerbread House is the BEST and the GC love doing it!!
At Christmas, Lidl's Panettone is delicious. Oh and stollen.
You are so so right about Lidl's Panettone it must be about the best I have tried with exception from the one my Italian friend made for us at a dinner party one year. Their fruit and veg are always best quality and fresh; far better than other supermarkets and the prices are excellent
Off to Lidl later to look at all these recommended products, although must avoid the panettone, which I would be tempted to eat all in one day -I love it warmed in the microwave or in a bread and butter pudding.
We have always looked in Lidl for a boxed wine which we used as House Wine at the ridiculous price of about 80 centimos, very palatable indeed.
Lidl's tiger bread is fab - tho' not available in all their stores. Their cold meat and fruit and veg is good and good value. You do need to know your usual prices but on the whole theirs are good.
Lidl crumpets; just d e l i ci o u s this afternoon in front of the fire!!
Aldi and Lidl have superior chocolate. I have to walk briskly past those shelves.
Adding Lidl liquid wash from another thread and chocolate florentines.
There's a chocoholic's site somewhere on the web, they rave about Aldi varietal chocolate bars. They're made apparently by Germany's top, oldest chocolate company under a false name.
I've found Lidl's to be every bit as good!
Lidl W5 washing up liquid, just as good as Fairy and much cheaper (I have found with some supermarket own brand economy versions you need to use twice as much)
Lidl W5 glasses wipes, v. cheap and leave your specs gleaming and smear free!
Lidl paper serviettes and candles
Lidl magazine came with the paper today; a good glossy with all our recommendations in it! Plus a few hints. Have you tried their Sea Bass...........delicious!
Yes, their sea bass is great and so are the Basa fillets, which are identical to those sold in Tesco, but half the price.
Can recommend Lidl's Formil range of laundry products. Their DeLuxe range seems to be made by the same company that provides Tesco's Finest, and at a cheaper price. I love the DeLuxe chocolate cake - so rich and moist and chocolately! In the same range, the fish pie (freezer) is wonderful and serves 2 generously. Parma ham is excellent, their Eridanous creamy yoghurt is divine and (if you like goat cheese), the chevre is unbeatable. We also like their Coquette brand of chicken soup (in a tin) - almost as good as home made.
When talking about Lidl, I forgot to mention their humous, which is the best ready-made we've had, if you like it grainy. Also their shortbread fingers and version of jaffa cakes are delicious and good value.



M&S
Ultimate Mash - ymmmm!!
M&S large lasagne is lovely and so is their haddock mornay.

MORRISONS
Buffalo Mozzerella. Just like being in Italy!
Twinpack potato salad and coleslaw. Potato salad good. Coleslaw very, very yummy!
Quality ground coffee was delish!
The cheap own brand potato salad and coleslaw is lovely in Morrisons and their own cheap brand crisps are lovely for a treat at 38p for 6 I think.
My tips are Morrisons Savers range, especially French wholemilk set yogurts and cottage cheese. Their meat and fish is really good and their fresh produce much better than it used to be.
Morrisons new Kitchen range is also very good I think. Still find it difficult to even contemplate ready meals but tell myself that after 45 years of cooking for general hoards, parties, teenage boys, other family and drug addicts it's time I let someone else do it sometimes!
Morrisons Kitchen Caulifower Cheese, I buy this to go with a roast with all the trimmings, it works out cheaper than making from scratch and has a better flavour then Waitrose (if we are having cauli cheese as a sort of "main" I do make it myself.)
Just noticed Aldi came second in a blind Christmas pud tasting competition Waitrose first Fortnum and Masons came 29th.

SAINSBURY
Sainsbury's mini pork belly joints with caramelised apple stuffing. They come in a pack of two and were in the 3 for £10 range, so worked out at only £1.65 each. Quick to cook and had a lovely flavour. If they still have some on offer next week I'm going to buy a few packs. Been on an economy drive in recent months and decided to give Sainsbury's "Basics" range a shot. When compiling my order on line I put Basics in the search box after booking slot etc and the whole range comes up as a list. The prices are excellent and taste/quality is good to the following are our favourites:

Frozen: Fish Fingers, Sausages, Garden Peas
Fresh: Unsmoked Collar Bacon, Liver & Bacon Pate (tube), Corned Beef, Chicken Legs, Red Leicester cheese.

Also from their general range: Wholegrain Fruit & Fibre cereal and me ALL TIME SAINSBURYS Favourite is 1kg frozen Straight Cut Oven Chips "Be Good to Yourself" always lovely and on special BOGOFF at the moment
for the freezer.
Lovely Belgian Chocolate cookies.
Taste the Difference Dijon Mustard

SUPERDRUG
The best Tena Type pads are IMVHO and after extensive research - Superdrug's own brand.

TESCO
Tesco shepherds pie, carrot and swede mash, and cauli cheese, have to say they were all very good, better than Marks!!

I was surprised. The cottage pie actually tasted of good quality mince gravy and mash was tasty too.
Occasionally shop in Tesco's and a lot of their "Everyday Essentials" range is good too.
At Tesco, we've discovered the halal range of chicken (they do other halal meats as well, but we like the chicken), though this is not available at all Tescos. It's extremely flavoursome (is that a word?) and leaves fat (NOT water!) when cooking - reasonably priced, too!
Just tested Tesco Finest mince pies .... well you have to test for the best before Christmas don't you lol ..... and they are beautiful.
I will throw in Tesco 70% dark chocolate - miles cheaper than the big brands but still goes down v nicely with a cuppa

WAITROSE
Waitrose Organic Marmalade, tastes better than my home made one!
Waitrose steak and kidney puddings, the ones in the chill cabinets
Waitrose seafood tagliatelle, I've just had it for the second time in a fortnight, and if I had another one in stock, would eat it immediately (it's supposed to be a portion for 1, but it's bloody yummy for goodness sake!)
Waitrose seem to sell mini haggis most of the year.
There was a time when I would drive miles out of my way to buy Waitrose own-brand Baked Beans. I had read of a blind tasting carried out for (I think) the Sunday Times, in which they had come out top all round. That would have been over 30 years ago... I wonder if they are still good. The sauce was thick, with just a hint of spiciness... Heinz seemed bland and gutless by comparison.
Waitrose essential English mustard and their FRESH tartare sauce

WILKINSONS
A fiinal word for Wilkinsons - their Discreet Pads (aka Tena pads) are EXCELLENT!!! As far as I'm concerned better than the originals!

Are the birds in this three bird roast free range. Have they had decent living conditions?

I'm not sure about buying cheap cut flowers either. The workers can suffer dreadful conditions. I would rather pay a bit more and be sure they are Fair trade.

That's a good point jingle

We have a really good florist in the village where I buy flowers everyweek and when I need flowers for something special they know more about what I am looking for and I think I get a good deal.

I feel that way about my butcher too - he will sharpen my knives for me every now and again, save bones for the dog etc.

But, being pragmatic, having a tasty three bird roast that can cook from frozen, in a panic situation, is well worth it!

Well yes. That's true. I find Waitrose easy-cook chicken breast joints very useful. Not sure if they are free range. But I think I trust Waitrose to source well farmed produce.

Yes. Best to buy flowers locally.

Golly, Isthis you have been busy. That was a good idea. Many thanks.

Isthis I am stunned and amazed at your compilation! Well done you! (Are you any good at filing and tidying paperwork, if so and you feel the urge, I have plenty you could be getting on with.................................) Seriously, thank you!

Yes isthis I meant to say well done too!

We visited an old friend recently who was an agronomist advising growers who supply the supermarkets.
He said that all the supermarkets source their stuff from the same suppliers so you will be getting exactly the same Brussels sprouts from M&S as from Aldi.
He also said that the supermarkets take a very punitive attitude towards the growers - for example if you take a pack of sprouts back because one of them looks a bit yellow, the grower will be fined many times the original cost.
I don't like any of the supermarkets and don't trust them either!

That's so helpful Isthis, thank you.

Thanks isthis

Wow, isthis. One to print out and keep!

Another one - Aldi's fromage frais desserts, with a layer of fruit sauce underneath, in the chiller section. At 39p each, they are identical to the ones I have bought for 99p in a local deli. Delicious.

janeainsworth I totally agree. For 20 years now I have always half-humorously referred to supermarkets as "the work of the devil". I just want to remind people what they're trading for very minor gains.

Supermarkets perpetually remind us that they are good value and money saving. They're not. A recent survey showed that very often, local independent shops are cheaper. But it's impossible to compare like with like, local shops virtually always give better service. Not difficult, when supermarkets give no service at all. Very few of the staff know anything about the products, or are encouraged to. I drives me crazy when I ask a question and they reach for the packet and start reading it. Er .... I can read too you know.

The food is often very very old. Ages ago I read a traumatising article in a national newspaper about just how old much supermarket food is. Potatoes, for example, are often kept in gas store for up to a YEAR before they're packaged and sold. It's all decided by what price they can be bought for from farmers vs what price can be charged to shoppers. Apples the same. Much "fresh" produce. The Best By dates don't mean that it's recently harvested at all.

Again I remember a Tesco chief saying they weren't interested in stocking anything that can't be on the shelves 12 months a year. What a horrific thing to say! What happened to the seasons?

Also despite promises, I see no sign at all of local produce in any of my many local supermarkets.

And Yes they do drive producers into the ground. And they destroy our town and inner-city variety and choice in a way I find truly offensive.

And what do we get back in retur?. The God "convenience" - nothing else. It's a false God and we are absolutely the losers.

retur = return

So....the purpose of this thread was....what?

For me, the purpose is to wring the best value I can out of supermarkets and give the likes of Tesco a run for their money. Keep the bargains coming - my shopping bill is falling and I have tried a few new things on recommendation. Thanks

We went to Aldi last week just for a look round. Since then the S.O. has been back to buy some wine; says it's nearly £1 cheaper than he usually buys and it's really good. I'm going there next week [I would've got carried away the first time]. Their deli wraps were much cheaper than the ones I usually buy; I use them a lot as they make cheap filling little meals and use up things like the last bit of salad in the bag. I'm hoping to cut my working hours next year so I'm doing everything I can to save money; this thread is really helping.

My point was only that isthis seemed to be decrying ALL supermarkets, yet asking for information on good buys. There have been some recommendations from the bigger chains (such as Tesco!).