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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Laura Nightingale

'I compared Heinz baked beans to supermarket brands and the best ones cost just 55p'

Cheap, versatile and healthy, baked beans are a staple in many of our kitchen cupboards including mine.

Consisting of one of your five a day, high in protein and fibre, low in fat, gluten-free and suitable for vegans, they are a great all-rounder.

When I am in need of comfort food, and I can't be bothered to cook, I always stick a few slices of brown bread in the toaster, warm up a tin of Heinz and smother my plate with grated cheddar cheese.

I love it and I have fond memories of digging into them with sausages and buttery mashed potato after school, too.

I grew up eating Heinz, and over the years I've tried many of the brand's other varieties including Barbecue Beanz, Five Beanz and Beanz with Pork Sausages (my personal favourite).

With many of us feeling the pinch at the supermarket at the moment, I've been conducting a number of taste tests to see if my favourite food brands can match the cheaper alternatives.

The tins varied in price (Laura Nightingale)

I've compared McVitie's chocolate biscuits, Kellogg's Crunchy Nut and Hellmann's mayonnaise to supermarket-own brands to find the best one.

This week I put my trusty can of Heinz to the test and compared it to cheaper tins from the UK's nine leading supermarkets - Asda, Aldi, Lidl, Morrison's, Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, Co-op, Sainsbury's and Tesco. I rated them in terms of taste, texture, price and overall value for money.

10. LAST PLACE: Asda

Taking tenth place and it had to be Asda's. They were watery, the tomato juice was bright red and I didn't like the taste. That said, these were the supermarket's reduced sugar and salt option as the standard tin was out of stock when I visited my local store.

Price: 50p

Weight: 410g

Asda came 10th (Jonathan Buckmaster)

9. Tesco

The label looked quite attractive with an image of juicy baked beans in a rich tomato sauce. However, in reality, they were so watery and I didn't like them at all.

Price: 50p

Weight: 420g

8. Lidl

Newgate beans from Lidl had a bright blue wrapper and the beans were quite hard in texture, which I didn't like.

Price: 49p

Weight: 420g

7. Heinz

Heinz had a familiar and standout taste and look (turquoise-coloured label), but I can't say they were any superior to the other tins I tried, especially considering they were nearly three times the cost.

Price: £1.40 (from Tesco )

Weight: 415g

6. Morrisons

These were average and at a good price.

Price: 49p (currently on offer for 45p)

Weight: 410g

5. Sainsbury's

There was a clear winner for Laura (Laura Nightingale)

The size of this tin was a fraction smaller than some of the others, not that you'd notice. They tasted okay and they were the cheapest to buy.

Price: 44p

Weight: 400g

4. Marks and Spencer

Things improved a lot more from this point. The baked beans can from M&S was also 400g. It had an attractive label and the tomato sauce was nice and tasty.

Price: 50p

Weight: 400g

3. Co-op

These beans from Co-op were not overly sweet and the sauce was lovely and thick.

Price: 50p

Weight: 400g

2. Aldi

Aldi's Corale Premium Quality Baked Beans were wrapped in a blue and red label. The sauce was really thick and rich, and I really enjoyed them. I thought they were good value for money at 47p as they weighed 420g - 20g more than some of the other tins.

Price: 47p

Weight: 420g

1. WINNER: Waitrose

Waitrose Essential baked beans were in my opinion the best of the 10 tins I tried. While the white value wrapper may put you off, the sauce was the thickest, richest and most delicious. I really enjoyed them, and at 55p I thought they were excellent value for money compared to Heinz.

Price: 55p

Weight: 400g

Laura Nightingale writes for Surrey Live

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