Supermarket own-brand crisps voted better than Walkers — and they’re £1

Eight crisps were pitted against each other (Picture: Maicey Navarro Griffiths)

We Brits are very particular about our crisps, from flavour to brand.

There’s three varieties in particular that tend to top food surveys: Cheese & Onion, Salted and, of course, Salt & Vinegar.

The later is there for you on a hangover, or when you’re just feeling snacky.

So, with a growing number of own-brand crisps from Tesco to Morrisons entering the chat, we sampled various supermarket Salt & Vinegar crisp brands in a blind taste test.

We pitted them against popular names, Walkers and McCoys, to find out, officially, which is the best on the shelves.

You could say it’s crunch time…

The big brands lost out (Picture: Maicey Navarro Griffiths)

How we conducted the taste test

The Metro team sampled crisps from Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Asda, M&S, Waitrose, as well as branded versions by Walkers and McCoys.

We scored each crisp across five different categories, including appearance, texture, size, taste and price per 100g, giving each product a potential maximum score of 100.

Which crisp won Metro’s salt and vinegar taste test?

Drum roll, please.

It was Asda’s Salt & Vinegar Flavour Crisps 6 x 25g (150g) that took home the crown with a score of 83/100.

Retailing at £1 (67p per 100g), it makes for a very affordable snack.

At Metro HQ, one tester was a ‘big fan,’ calling them ‘really vinegary, not uncomfortably crunchy (there’s a fine line in the crisp world between a pleasing snap and cutting your mouth open) and probably the nicest looking of the bunch.’

Asda won the taste test, with 83/100 (Picture: Asda)

Some points were lost though, due to the ‘slightly oily aftertaste, which lost them a point.’

Another tester said: ‘Lovely and crunchy, strong enough without being overpowering from a vinegar point of view.’

Walkers ranked fifth

In comparison, UK crisp staple brand Walkers only scored 61.5/100, ranking in fifth place, below Asda, Lidl (69/100), McCoys (68.5/100), and Morrisons (67.5/100).

Walkers was deemed ‘well-balanced’ with a nice ‘potatoey’ flavour, but ‘inconsistent,’ as some would be ‘savoury perfection,’ while others ‘missed the flavour duster entirely.’

So while Walkers had average scores for size and texture, it was the flavour which let it down, interestingly with a score of only 10/20.

Plus, at £1.35 or 90p per 100g, it was the 3rd most expensive, with only McCoys (£1.57 per 100g) and M&S (£.120 per 100g) being more pricey.

The runners-up

In second place, the silver medal went to budget supermarket Lidl, thanks to its perfect 20/20 score for its value for money, at 53.33p per 100g, and 80p for the pack as a whole.

Testers said it has ‘the best snap so far,’ though its small size stopped it from reaching first place. Lidl gained strong scores for taste, being deemed ‘nice and vinegary, but reviewers said they ‘wouldn’t actively buy them.’

In third place was McCoys, which was referred to as ‘nice and crunchy,’ but ‘not too strong,’ and could have done with a ‘punchier flavour.’

The texture of the crinkle cut was well-liked, and it had ‘great colour,’ but unfortunately the flavour did not live up to Asda.

However, the biggest weakness was the price. At £1.57 per 100g, McCoys was by far the most expensive option.

McCoys was the best-branded crisp (Picture: McCoys)

In a close fourth place was Morrisons, which was priced at £1.10 or 73p per 100g, offering a solid middle ground between premium brands and cheaper supermarket alternatives.

One taster praised its ‘nice hit of vinegar’ without it being ‘too much.’ It was noted as being a ‘little pale and inconsistent’ in size and shape, but the flavour made up for this.

Another taster said they ‘enjoyed how non-uniform these are,’ and liked the ‘lovely golden colour’ and ‘spot-on texture – somewhat crunchy but still managing to melt in your mouth.’

However, they did knock one point off for lacking ‘tang.’

Morrisons was a middling crisp (Picture: Morrisons)

In sixth place, following Walkers, it was Aldi, with an overall score of 52.5/100. Like fellow budget supermarket Lidl, it did well for value for money, scoring 17.5/20, at 56.7p per 100g, but was let down by its size and taste.

Tasters branded it ‘way too small’ and ‘bland’, with one tester saying it ‘tasted outright stale, with a crumbly dry consistency to match… their pasty hue (marred by a few rogue black crisps) didn’t help.’

Premium supermarkets are on the pricey side

At the bottom of the rankings were M&S and Waitrose, despite both being among the more expensive options.

M&S scored decently on texture and size, but its price of £1.20 per 100g could not compete.

It was reviewed as ‘pale in colour, but not too greasy,’ with a ‘decent crunch’ and ‘fairly standard size,’ but ‘a little too close to ready salted.’

Its strong salt was a common sentiment, with another tester saying ‘each crisp tasted overwhelmingly of either pure salt or (weirdly sweet) vinegar, rather than a nice blend of both.’

Waitrose was the lowest-ranked in our taste test (Picture: Waitrose)

Finally, in last place was fellow fancy supermarket, Waitrose, with a humble score of 46/100. At 80p per 100g, it was the third most expensive brand, after M&S and McCoys, and scored low across the board.

One tester said, ‘I can’t place the flavour, but it doesn’t taste like salt and vinegar. No sharpness/vinegar hit detectable,’ while another said it was ‘insipid,’ and another said it was ‘way too small’ and ‘not strong enough.’

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk

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