From Aldi’s £1.09 chocolate spread to Sainsbury’s 70p spaghetti, these budget and off-brand ingredients have won their place in experts’ hearts and store cupboards
People who cook for a living are paid to make things you and I won’t – or feel we can’t – make at home. Their aim is to retain your custom. It follows that their recipes or tips often feel a little out of reach. It is aspirational fare. They’re still trying to knock your socks off.
It is when you ask a chef what they cook for themselves after a late-night shift, or what they shove on their shelves for their toddler’s midweek tea, that you get the good stuff: the deeply relatable, the always useful, the budget-friendly.
