Cheapo food ("value/basics" etc)

Van Hellseek

Van Hellseek

Van Hellseek

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So do you cut any corners with your shopping and substitute more expensive things for the uber-low priced alternatives? I've been trying some of Tescos value range to see if there's anything that would save me a bit on my weekly shop (not that I need to, but I just don't like spending money pointlessly because I'm a tightarse ;) )

So here's what I've tried and my opinions (I'll update as I try more) :

Tesco Value Grated Cheese - Was pretty much awful. The taste itself wasn't too vomit inducing, but the texture was far too soft, and the smell wasn't cheesy like cheese, it was cheesy like feet. And iirc it wasn't much (if at all) cheaper than their standard range grated cheddar, you just got a little more. Totally not worth it.

Tesco Value pot noodle - Only have pot noodles a couple of times a year, and last time I did I tried the tesco value ones because they were a quarter of the price. But, unfortunately they just tasted dirty (at least that is to say dirtier than regular pot noodles), and unlike the real thing they don't come with sauce/flavour sachets.

Tesco Value Frozen Mixed Veg - This one is a win. I usually use fresh veg, but doesn't hurt to have a bag of this stuff sitting in the freezer. For what it is I can't flaw it really.

Tesco Value Cheese and Tomato Pizza - I mean the large "fresh" £1 ones. The base is horrible, the sauce tastes chemically, and as for the cheese, there's not much on it at all, and well... remember the foot cheese I mentioned earlier? :o

Tesco Value Ready Salted Crisps - They actually taste perfectly fine, but I don't buy them just because they're a little too greasy.

Tesco Value Potato Rings - I figured these would basically just be the same as Hula Hoops, but they are thinner, saltier and taste a bit like cardboard.

Tesco Value Beans + Value Beans With Sausages - After you become accustomed to eating imitation baked beans in Asia then the tesco value variety are just as good as heinz/HP/branston etc. :p They're just baked beans in cheapo sauce same as all the others, just with a touch more liquid in the can. My only real criticism is that these days they're not really much different in price to the others. I remember when they were around 12p a can, now they're around 40p+ :o And as for the variety with sausages, well just imagine adding 5 lumps of (cheap) dog food to your beans.

Tesco Value Tortilla Chips - These are alright. They're noticeably thinner and harder/drier than the more expensive ones. I imagine they'd be fine with a dip, but on their own I'd steer clear tbh.

Tesco Value (salted) Butter - This is absolutely fine IMO. It's butter, pure and simple. It tastes exactly the same as more expensive varieties. The only difference I can tell is the packaging which isn't foil-wrapped like the other stuff. But I take my butter out of the packet and keep it in a tuppaware box in the fridge anyway.

Tesco Value Ketchup - I bought this for some mcdonalds style cheeseburgers I was making at home. I figured the value ketchup would actually taste more like the McD's stuff. I was wrong, it was rank. (runny and tasted chemical-y) And it stained my carpet. :(

Tesco Value (plastic) Cheese Slices - Depends what you're eating them in. Theyre fine in (non-gourmet) burgers/muffins etc. I can't tell the difference between these and 'Kraft Singles' when they've melted a bit. But eaten alone it's obvious that theyre thinner and smell a bit funky.

Tesco Value Pasta - It's alright, but noticably heavier/stodgier than the higher priced variety. Wouldn't buy it again.

So all in all not a massive success so far. :D
 
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Hmmm only thing that springs to mind is Sainburys 'basics' tortilla chips. I buy these and make my own cheesy nachos with salsa and jalepenos, tastes pretty good :)
 
The local supermarket here is a Sainsburys, so I'm going off that, but I guess the white label stuff is pretty much the same anywhere.

For veg we often go for the value pack depending on whether it is cheaper than loose or not. Probably not fruit though. Also I've found the value blocks of butter tend to be alright. We mainly drink fizzy water here too, so we just get the value bottles of that.

The wine snobs here will scoff, but I actually quite like the "house wine" line of reds in Sainsburys too. £4.49 for the pinot noir seems pretty decent to me.

Oh, and I go for the value bags of some frozen veg too. Mainly frozen peas and the finely chopped bags of mirapoix/soffritto veg which saves me shelling out for stuff like a whole bunch of celery when I only need one stalk.
 
I buy budget tinned Iceland kidney beans when doing batches of chilli and occasionally frozen fish from there when doing fisherman pie.

We often buy Co-op pasta which I prefer to the 'leading brand' and baked beans. That's about it.
 
It's all Sainsburies here so it's whatever they're calling their basics range now.

  • Tinned sweetcorn is fine, unsalted and unsweetened.
  • Bread is awful, but most of the Sainsburies bread range is just as bad, including the bakery bread. It's claggy, underseasoned and gives me gut bloat. I honestly don't know what they do to it.
  • Baked beans. The sauce is very runny and tastes heavily of artificial sweeteners, which I don't like. I can't eat them.
  • Chopped tomatoes. I don't buy premium tinned tomatoes because these are fine for pasta sauce or anything needing chopped toms.
  • Fresh potatoes. So I stopped buying the Taste The Difference range of potatoes. I couldn't tell the difference. Then I met a guy who runs the production line in a potato sorting and packing factory. Turns out the potatoes are actually the same but the TTD ones are the ones that are picked out to be the same size. Same goes for onions, which are now quite a lot more expensive when you buy them loose.
  • Orange squash. Just disgusting. Tastes like chemical flavourings and sweeteners. I used to scoff when people said this, but I honestly don't know how people can drink this.
 
Cannot stand the basics/ value/ smartprice beans, they're unbelievably salty/ chemically and the sauce to bean ratio is off the chart. Disgusting flavour.

Basics cheese is ok to melt on things but I wouldn't really buy it to eat cold because it's got next to no flavour.

Basics crisps - Awesome, cheap as anything, have a couple of bags and it's the same amount as a proper bag. And they're crunchier/ more flavoursome than walkers air in a bag style crisps (Which are complete crap and they've ruined them).

Value pizza - A mate cooked me one, basically no cheese, very heavy and stodgey base, the tomato sauce is a bit "fairy liquidy"

Basics custard creams/ bourbons - Taste as good as any other

Basics digestives - Awful, never found any own brand even half as good as mcvities for digestives.
 
Basics/Value/Smartprice kidney beans - All fine for a chili once rinsed :)

Basics Yoghurts - Disgusting. Very little fruit and the yoghurt itself is more like curdled milk than creamy. Avoid.
 
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I actually like tesco value 74p microwave meals: lasagne, macarroni cheese, etc.

And the tesco equivalent of Krave cereal is fine.

Everything else, probably not.
 
Value stuff has less additives, less sugar, less salt etc too... To keep the costs down but the upshot of this is the value foods are better for you because of this.
 
shadesofgrey said:
Value stuff has less additives, less sugar, less salt etc too... To keep the costs down but the upshot of this is the value foods are better for you because of this.
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No, they have less real ingredients in there and more hydrogenated vegetable fats/ flavourants/ salt/ sugar because things like that are cheaper and easier to throw in and pad the food out.
Value stuff is almost exclusively the worst for health for this reason.
 
Vegetables are generally fine, tinned tomatoes, tinned beans, sweetcorn and the like. I avoid budget meat, it's generally poor quality, and heavy in fat and added water.
Drinks, squash, fruit juices are fine.
Toothpaste, shower gels, shampoo are all fine. Much prefer spending about 20p on a bottle of tesco value shower gel than a few quid on some radox or whatever.
 
No, they have less real ingredients in there and more hydrogenated vegetable fats/ flavourants/ salt/ sugar because things like that are cheaper and easier to throw in and pad the food out.
Value stuff is almost exclusively the worst for health for this reason.
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I'll meet you half way and admit that is true for certain food stuffs (junk food, esp with hydrogenated fats and corn syrup) you are totally wrong when it comes to real food stuffs like tinned beans, cereals, tinned tomatoes, pasta etc.

Independant research has shown that these types of value food has less salt, less sugar and less additives than brand food. Hence they are more healthy for you.
 
MisChief said:
Hmmm only thing that springs to mind is Sainburys 'basics' tortilla chips. I buy these and make my own cheesy nachos with salsa and jalepenos, tastes pretty good :)
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They are good,

I also buy a lot of the Sainbury's Basic dried pasta, it's fine.

Beans wise I can't remember which supermarket it was, but I did buy some Basic Baked Beans, opened the tin and found it contained Kidney Beans. :confused:
 
I get a lot of smart price stuff.

Mature and extra mature cheddar is good. If a bit crumbly.
Sweet corn is awful
Bacon is fine
Mince meat is fine
Turkey is fine
Chicken is fine
Sweet and sour sauce is fine
Eggs are fine
Pasta is fine
Frozen fish fingers are awful...

Mostly it seems to be you get the odd shapes and sizes.... But not particularly poor quality...

kd
 
Depends on what you buy. Sainsburys tinned/frozen fruit and veg is just the same as other brands I find. Cheese isn't as nice but good for pizzas/nachos/cheese pasta bakes etc. Sainsburys premium cola tastes better than coke/pepsi i think. thier high juices also taste better than robinsons. If i was buying cheap crisps it would be whatever aldis/lidl have as supermarkets tend to have more air than potato in them.

I find if you think the stuff tastes ok or prefer it then you can save a couple of quid of your weekly shop. Don't think I could have a value only shopping trolley though.
 
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