Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Emma Gill

I bought some basics from the 'cheapest supermarket' to find out how cheap it really is

Budget supermarket Lidl has been declared the 'cheapest supermarket' for the last three months, but how cheap is cheap?

According to Which? the retailer has come up trumps in the list of supermarkets since November, when it was Aldi who took the top spot.

As part of its analysis, Which? compares the prices of a basket of 23 items each month to see where shoppers are paying the most - and the least.

Read more: The £28.07 Asda Smart Price shop that's causing such a stir amid cost of living crisis

The full list of products used for the comparison isn't published to avoid supermarkets skewing the results by reducing certain items, but we know it includes own-brand products such as apples and eggs, as well as branded goods such as Hovis wholemeal bread.

Lidl's basket of 23 items came in at £24.21 for February, compared with the most expensive at Waitrose costing £33.71.

It beat Aldi by just 62p, but every penny counts when there's a cost of living crisis to contend with.

We've been taking a look at some of the basics in Lidl to see exactly how much they cost and how they compare with other supermarkets.

How cheap is cheap? We visited Lidl to find out (Manchester Family / MEN)

It's not intended to be a full shopping list, just a glimpse at some of the things that regularly make it into our weekly shop.

We bought a mixture of own-brand and branded items to see how the supermarket fared.

While many of the items, such as potatoes, carrots and milk, can be found at the same price elsewhere - particularly at Aldi - there were some stand out bargains.

These included a litre bottle of Vimto for £1.09 - the same size bottle costs £1.60 at Tesco and Asda - and a 300g pack of honey cured chicken for £1.25.

Lidl's 'when it's gone it's gone' deals are also worth looking out for and we picked up a whopping 680g XXL pack of 24 reduced fat meat balls for £3.99.

24 meatballs for £3.99 (Manchester Family / MEN)

I was a bit surprised by the price of the spaghetti pasta - at 55p for 500g - as I was pretty sure I'd seen a lower price tag on the shelf, perhaps for a different brand.

Despite that, Lidl's website lists the price of the Baresa brand we bought as 45p, perhaps another indication of how quickly prices are rising.

A more pleasant surprise was the pack of three 415g tins of Heinz beans and sausages for £2.49 as in most places Heinz products have seen a price hike, meaning you struggle to find a tin for less than £1.

Even with Tesco's trusty Clubcard the tins cost £3 for three. Individually they're £1.40.

Sainsbury's also has a three-pack for £3, while Asda trumps them all with its six tins for £4 offer - just under 67p a tin.

According to Which? Lidl has been the cheapest supermarket since November, when it was Aldi who took the top spot (Manchester Family / MEN)

Where do you do your shopping? Do you shop around for the best prices or stick to one place? Have you found your weekly food bill is rising? Let us know your views in the comments here.

Here's our shopping list from Lidl

  • Maris Piper potatoes 2.5kg - £1.15
  • Carrots 1kg - 40p
  • Skimmed milk 4 pints - £1.15
  • Heinz beans and sausages 3 x 415g - £2.49
  • Vimto 1L - £1.09
  • Orange juice 1.5L - £1.09
  • PG Tips 240 pack - £3.99
  • Red grapes 500g - £1.49
  • Butter - £1.48
  • Wheat Biscuits (36 pack) - £1.69
  • Cheese and tomato pizza 300g - 99p
  • Spaghetti 500g - 55p
  • 12 large free range eggs - £1.89
  • Rice 1kg - 45p
  • Tomato and mascarpone sauce 350g - £1.19
  • Cheese (30% low fat) 400g - £1.79
  • Unsmoked bacon 300g - £1.35
  • Warburtons Toastie loaf - £1.10
  • Honey cured chicken 300g - £1.25
  • Reduced fat meat balls 680g XXL - £3.99
  • Warburtons potato cakes - 69p

READ MORE: My family ate nothing but Asda Smart Price for a week and it cost less than £50

READ MORE: My kids tried beans from all the supermarkets and thought this 32p tin were Heinz

Sign up to our Manchester Family newsletter here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.