Pancake Day is one of the best food-centric celebrations in the UK, marking the start of the Christian Lent period before Easter.
Supermarket shelves are piled high with shake and make mixes and an array of topping choices - with fun frying pan kits and tools to ensure everything runs smoothly.
But after a long and stressful day at work, sometimes the last thing you want to be doing on a Tuesday evening in March is flipping pancakes and cleaning splattered batter off the oven splashback.
So I’ve scouted the supermarkets for the best, and cheapest American-style pancakes so all you need to do is pick what toppings you’ll have this Shrove Tuesday, which falls on March 1.
The price of a pack of large, fluffy pancakes in Aldi, Asda, Tesco, M&S, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s ranged from 79p to £1.60 - but do you really ‘get what you pay for’ when it comes to these sweet brunch staples?
Here’s my verdict:
Tesco
Tesco are selling four buttermilk pancakes for £1 - making them 25p a pop. I’d say they were daily evenly sized, with a good thickness that wouldn’t leave them falling apart in the toaster.
Once warmed, they had a rather cakey texture and were a little bit sickly as a result - I prefer my pancakes a little fluffier.
The flavour was nice, and dunked in maple syrup, they were rather moreish.
Other reviewers have suggested that they pair well with bacon, writing: “Great with bacon and maple syrup. Perfect for a wakeup meal.”
Another added: “Had these for breakfast with bacon and strawberries and they were amazing!”
Aldi
Aldi’s pancakes also come in a pack of four, but are one of the cheapest to buy at 79p - no surprise there though, of course.
Their ‘super soft and fluffy’ pancakes are described as ‘giant’, but I do consider that a bit of a stretch, as they’re no bigger than any of the other pancakes in this roundup.
Slightly darker in colour to some of the other pancakes here, and there was some variation in the thickness of the pancakes in the packet - however, they tasted lovely and were, indeed, rather soft and fluffy.
Asda
The only pack of pancakes to contain not four, but five pancakes, was Asda. And at £1 a pack, these scotch pancakes came in at 20p each.
What I like about the Asda pancakes is that they’re made fresh in store, so are likely to be the most recently baked out of this bunch.
They’re also on multibuy for two for £1.50 - ideal if you’re feeding a bigger family, too.
The pancakes were all pretty equal in size, and were definitely more of a scotch pancake rather than the American version, which don’t feel as heavy, either.
One customer said: “Whenever I try to make my own pancakes it always results in flour all over the kitchen, the first couple burnt, and by the time I am done - cold pancakes.
"These however, take all of that effort away and leave you with nothing but perfect, fluffy, light and delicious pancakes.”
M&S
Last year, M&S launched their Percy Pig pancakes for Shrove Tuesday - what hasn’t that little pink fellow got his face on these days?
On the face of it, they look like pretty regular pancakes, but have a pink strawberry flavoured ring around the edge.
Coming in with the highest price tag, four pancakes cost £1.60, so 40p per Percy Pig pancake, which seemed extortionate really - but I guess these aren’t just any pancakes.
There are some people who adore anything to do with Percy Pig, but even the original sweets weren’t my cup of tea.
For me, these pancakes are really sickly and taste a little synthetic, and feel a bit like a children’s birthday party.
That said, if you have got little ones, they’d likely enjoy the fun and excitement of these pink pancakes.
Morrisons
Thick, fluffy and made with free range eggs - Morrisons ‘The Best’ buttermilk pancakes come in a pack of four for £1.45 - on the higher end of the price scale.
Even in thickness, but somewhat not in terms of shape, these pancakes were pretty delicious, not too cakey and not too stodgy.
And according to one shopper, they freeze quite well too. They gave the pancakes five stars, writing: “After I had ordered these, it became apparent that we wouldn't get round to using them before the "use by " date so I froze them.
"Probably about a month or so later, I took them out of the freezer.
“We had them for brunch with sugar and orange juice and they were superb. All the taste without the messing of making a pancake! Would recommend them heartily and now deliberately keep two packs in the freezer.”
Sainsbury’s
Last but not least, I tried the Sainsbury’s 79p large buttermilk pancakes, which are part of the supermarket’s Aldi Price Match scheme.
These were one of the darkest pancakes, but it didn’t affect the flavour. They were very sweet and not too thick, but still fluffy and enjoyable.
One reviewer described them as perfect, saying: “Very tasty, microwave for 1 min and stick some maple syrup on, perfect.”
In conclusion, I’ve already eaten enough pancakes to see me through to the big day, but if I were going to buy just one pack to enjoy on March 1 with no fuss or cleaning up, it would be either Morrisons or Sainsbury’s - I’d be least likely to buy M&S
