In the midst of the cost of living crisis, many families are looking at how to make cheap meals that will help fuel the day. And one low-cost option might not be a particularly likely choice for breakfast - but my verdict may see you reaching for them in the bakery aisle.
I haven’t eaten crumpets for around ten years, but recently saw a Facebook post that pointed out that many supermarket packs are ‘cheaper than a loaf of bread’.
While Warburtons are the brand name everyone’s mind automatically shifts to, I was keen to see if some of the cheaper supermarket own-brands could live up by comparison, and rekindle my crumpet love.
READ MORE: I tried six supermarket microwave mac and cheeses - and one smelled like feet
I set out to pick up the cheapest pack of crumpets from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Lidl and M&S to find the best crumpets for the lowest price - and one blew all the others out of the water. It was really no competition.
In the stores, I tried to pick the best date on each pack and found that they were all good for three to four days. Though, kept in the right conditions, I imagine they’d last an extra day at least.
The only store I wasn’t able to pick up crumpets in was Lidl, where they’d all sold out by 6pm. I never realised they were such a popular breakfast item, but discovered that in M&S and Sainsbury’s, they had clearly sold well too.
Here’s what I found when I bought crumpets from every supermarket:
Price and pack size
There was a huge price difference between the cheapest and most expensive crumpets in this list, the lowest price being 25p for Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Morrisons, but £1.10 for M&S’s ‘ultimate’ crumpets - a difference of 85p.
Most of the crumpet packets cost 25p, but Sainsbury’s were 33p, however, they also had the largest pack size of eight crumpets. All bar M&S still worked out at around 4p per crumpet.
All of the other crumpets came in packs of six, but larger pack sizes were available in store.
Texture and appearance
Ahead of toasting, I took a good look and feel of all the crumpets I was about to consume. Sainsbury’s and Aldi offered noticeably thicker baked goods, but the rest were all fairly uniformed.
Tesco’s option looked darker on the top, having been baked well, while Asda, Morrison’s and M&S looked on the paler side. To touch, Aldi’s was the most firm but had a good colour on the base, with Asda and Morrisons providing a softer texture.
It was difficult to have any idea which would taste the best at this point, but I was excited to find out.
Taste and verdict
I toasted each crumpet for around two minutes before adding a little bit of butter. Crumpets are said to be a relatively healthy, low fat breakfast - it’s what you top them with that makes the difference.
On taste testing, Asda’s crumpet had a nice flavour, but quite a spongy texture, while Aldi’s consistency was much more pleasant. Sainsbury’s thickness made their crumpet more chewy, and while some people might enjoy this, I found them a bit of a chore to eat. Tesco’s thinner, well-baked crumpets were easier to chew, and on par with M&S’s flavoursome sourdough crumpets.
But it was Morrisons who absolutely knocked the rest of the supermarkets out of the park with their Stephenson’s Bakery crumpets.
On toasting, it looked as though they were struggling to get any colour, but when I removed them from the toaster and added butter, they were perfectly toasted.
They had a satisfying crunch on the base, and their airy texture retained heat well. Morrison’s cheap range really surprised me with their fluffy crumpets with decent flavour, enhanced with a small amount of salted butter.
For adults, a crumpet breakfast works out at 8p a head without any toppings, and children may only eat one with some fruit or peanut butter, so I’d consider it a healthy, low cost option that seems to satisfy hunger until lunch time - ideal for half term when kids are eating parents out of house and home.
