THE hot weather is scorching down on us this month, which means there’s still time to dust off the BBQ and kit out for another garden party.
And, if you look for the best deals, cooking on the sizzler shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg.
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Whether you just like to grill a few sausages or go the whole hog (literally), we’re here to help you find the cheapest deal.
We’ve had a look at a range of supermarkets including Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and more to see which one sells BBQ food for the least amount.
We compared them with each other to come up with a winner for each item.
As always, we do recommend you scout around other stores for good deals, as we might have missed some in our list.
Otherwise, here’s what we found.
Burgers
Burgers are a staple dish to any BBQ – and one that will round up your hungry guests in a flash. So it’s important you know where to find cheap ones, as well as good quality ones.
The cheapest burgers we found were between Aldi’s and Sainsbury’s – both priced at £3.49 for eight.
You might want to go for one of these – our reporter Rosie Taylor thought the Sainsbury’s version “had a delicious meaty flavour and worked well on a BBQ.”
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They do contain the most amount of salt though, so the Aldi version is also a good shout.
The next cheapest were Lidl, Asda and Morrisons who each sell eight for £4.25.
On the more expensive end of the scale, Tesco sells six for £4.55. Rosie said: “The Tesco burgers had a decent burger taste but lacked seasoning.
The texture was claggy and the burger stuck to your teeth when you bit into it, which was quite unpleasant.
At 62p per 100g, they were also the joint most-expensive burgers we tried.”
WINNER: Aldi or Sainsbury’s
Sausages
Sausages are another classic BBQ essential, and one that most people love in rolls or simply as a meaty snack.
The cheapest we found was Lidl’s version, which costs £1.49 for a pack of eight.
We also thought they were well-seasoned in our taste test.
Aldi and Sainsbury’s also sell sausages for the same price, but we didn’t think they tasted quite as good.
At only a penny more is Asda’s version, which costs £1.50 for eight.
Tesco’s sell eight sausages for £1.85, but the most expensive is Morrisons.
They sell a pack of eight for £2.
Rosie said: “These were the most expensive own-brand sausages, at 25p per sausage, but the taste didn’t reflect the price.”
WINNER: Lidl
Crisps
If you need a quick snack to pop in a bowl on the table outside as the food sizzles on the grill, crisps are the way to go.
You won’t want any starving guests eyeing up lunch as their mouths water, so why not give them a light snack to crunch on?
One of the cheapest brands of crisps we found was Lidl, who sell six packets of ready salted crisps for just 65p.
Aldi sell crisps for the same price, but we decided they had too much of a “powdery consistency without much crunch.”
Next on the price list are Tesco and Asda, who sell six packets of ready salted for 82p. But Tesco’s brand did taste slightly greasy, though.
The most expensive was Sainsbury’s, pricing theirs at 90p per six-pack.
WINNER: Lidl
Orange juice
Lidl is another winner for in the orange juice category
At just 55p it’s £2.20 cheaper than Tropicana juice, and we thought it tasted delicious.
Not too far behind, Aldi sells its own version for 75p, but we thought the juice itself looks quite bright and artificial.
Morrisons sell its own brand of orange juice for 89p per carton, while Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Waitrose all sell cartons for 90p each.
WINNER: Lidl
Morning rolls
Our favourite morning rolls are from Aldi.
They’re Subway dupes and cost just 89p for a pack of four, whereas Subway charge £5.89 for one Footlong BMT.
That means you get four sandwiches for 3p cheaper than one from Subway.
To compare, Tesco also sell finger rolls for 80p. These come in a pack of six, but keep in mind they’re smaller and they’re only available on white bread and not the popular Subway style flavours like Aldi’s.
Morrisons sell a pack of four deli rolls for £1. There’s also a seeded version available for the same price, but these comes in packs of two.
You can also find some multi-seed Vienna rolls at Sainsbury’s. You get four for £1, so they’re the most expensive.
WINNER: Aldi
Ketchup
A condiment favourite – ketchup goes on hot dogs, burgers, and lots of things at a family BBQ!
As it turns out, Tesco sells the cheapest bottle for 52p – far less than Heinz, who charge just over £2.79 per bottle.
Do bear in mind it may not taste the best, though.
Following that, we have Asda’s version at 64p, Aldi’s and Sainsbury’s at 65p and the most expensive, Morrisons, at 80p.
WINNER: Tesco
Cheddar cheese
And finally, the finishing touch to your burger, cheese.
At Lidl, you can pick up a block of cheddar for a mere 45p per 100g. It can go up to £1.79 depending on how much you need though, so be mindful of that.
It may not be the best tasting cheese out there, but we think it’s the best for feeding a crowd, especially for something like a BBQ.
After that, Asda’s version was 50p more expensive per 100g, but Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s cheddar was the most expensive at 53p per 100g.
That amounts to £2.10 per 400g.
WINNER: Lidl
If you want more taste test results, visit our page here.
We’ve also rounded up some cheap garden furniture from summer sales we’ve found – and it could be great for an upcoming garden party.
