The trusty chicken kiev has become somewhat of an example of a comfort food staple over the years.
With its crumbly breadcrumb coating and melt-in-your-mouth garlic butter centre, it's a dish that you absolutely cannot go wrong with.
Not only is this simple dish a staple for everyone across the country, it has had a bit of a resurgence recently with supermarkets in favour of changing the name to Kyiv, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Which is exactly why one reporter from MEN decided to do a taste test and try out six different supermarket versions of what they call a "go-to comfort dish."
Visiting Sainsbury's, Tesco, M&S, Aldi, Asda and Morrisons, Bethan Shufflebotham of the Manchester Evening News found that one budget priced version at 83p for one was the winner.
Here is how she got on...
Sainsbury's
Sainsbury’s, leading the way with the chicken kyiv name change, offers two British garlic and herb kyivs in a ‘crispy, golden crumb’ with buttery garlic and parsley filling. The kyivs cost £2.30 and weigh approximately 130g each, taking 21 minutes to cook from chilled.
The chicken is chopped reformed chicken, which isn’t particularly uncommon with kyivs, I’ve found, but the meat was moist, with a crisp crumb and well contained butter. The sauce tasted rich and wasn’t oily, as can be an issue with some kyivs. Overall, my week of garlic-infused lunches was off to a good start.
Tesco
Tesco recommends chicken kyivs for a fuss-free midweek meal, ideal with ‘mashed potato to mop up the sauce’ or salad and jacket potatoes. I’ve been opting for even less faff than that, and sandwiching my kyiv in between a slice of bloomer bread for a garlicky, buttery, chicken butty.
Tesco’s chopped and shaped chicken kyivs weigh around 135g each, and cost £2.30 for two. Clubcard members can get a pack for £2.
They take 22 minutes to cook, and while they had good flavour, the meat texture was a bit gristly for me, and made the experience slightly less enjoyable. However, there was a great amount of garlic butter, so much that it was spilling out - but I was able to mop it up with my bread.
M&S
It’ll come as no surprise that M&S had the most expensive chicken kyivs, selling two 143g chicken pieces for £3. That said, it appeared to b the only one of the lot to not use chopped reformed chicken, made with M&S assured chicken from farms in the UK.
The British chicken kyivs are flavoured with garlic butter and coated in golden farmhouse breadcrumbs, taking 30 minutes to cook in the oven. The filling was very well contained with not spilling or splitting, and it was very much a butter, still maintaining a creamy consistency, rather than being super runny, which was different from the others.
Aldi
Aldi’s offering came in at £1.65 for two Ashfields breaded garlic chicken kyivs - 83p for one - weighing around 130g each. Chopped and shaped, the chicken takes 20 minutes to cook from chilled, and features a crispy breadcrumb coating and garlic butter filling.
Aldi’s chicken kyivs did appear to be on the smaller side of the scale, but were very tasty and provided a quick, easy and cost effective meal. Small but mighty, it ticked all the boxes.
Asda
At Asda, shoppers can find two garlic and herb chicken kyivs for £2.15. The chopped, shaped and formed chicken was one of the biggest of the bunch but a similar weight to the other supermarkets at 130g each.
Unusually, it notes on the packaging that the garlic is not from the UK, but the chicken is. I also noticed that Asda’s had one of the best ‘use by’ dates on it.
The chicken took 25 minutes to cook and didn’t split in the oven - though I do recommend using tin foil to cover your baking trays to avoid mess. The kyiv was very garlicky and tasted very nice. Served with rice, it was very filling, and seemed good value for money.
Morrisons
Another chopped and shaped option from Morrisons, with crunchy breadcrumbs from which the garlic and parsley centre oozes. These are usually £2.20, but are currently reduced to £1.99 - however Aldi’s are still cheaper.
The Morrison’s kyivs cook in 35 minutes, but similarly to Tesco’s, I found the meat quality wasn’t amazing and the texture a little gritty. The flavour of the garlic butter was nice, though.
Overall, Aldi had the best priced chicken kyiv, and it was very tasty too. On the other hand, M&S’s £3 kyivs were the only ones not made from chopped reformed chicken, so you really are paying for quality. That said, for a quick, easy, fuss free and delicious dinner - Aldi have my vote.
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