TOMATO sauce is the UK’s favourite condiment – but which supermarket brand makes the best one?
We’ve tested all the supermarket own-brand versions of ketchup against leading brand Heinz to see which one is the tastiest and the best value for money.
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We’ve scored each tomato ketchup out of 10 for taste and 10 for value, based on the price per 100g.
Here’s how they scored out of 20 overall:
Heinz Tomato Ketchup, £3 for 460g
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This is a classic and one of the UK’s favourite sauces for a good reason.
It’s just the right balance of tomato sweetness and vinegar tang – but it comes at a price.
At 65p per 100g, it was four times more expensive than the cheapest supermarket version.
- Taste: 10/10
- Value: 5/10
- Total: 15/20
Tesco Tomato Ketchup, £1 for 555g
9
The Tesco ketchup was very watery and fell out of the bottle when it was turned it upside down, before I’d even had a chance to squeeze it.
It tasted thin, vinegary and sweet – a bit like very diluted Heinz.
It was one of the cheaper versions we tried at 18p per 100g.
- Taste: 4/10
- Value: 7/10
- Total: 11/20
Asda Classic Tomato Ketchup, £1 for 550g
9
Asda’s ketchup had a thick, gloopy texture and a strong, artificial tomato flavour.
It reminded us of stodgy tomato soup.
But at just 18p per 100g, it was less than a third of the price of Heinz.
- Taste: 5/10
- Value: 7/10
- Total: 12/20
Sainsbury’s Tomato Ketchup, 90p for 460g
9
We weren’t impressed by the Sainsbury’s ketchup.
It had a very fake tomato flavour that made the whole thing taste like the plastic bottle it came in.
It was also one of the most expensive supermarket own-brands, at 20p per 100g.
- Taste: 5/10
- Value: 6/10
- Total: 11/20
Morrisons Tomato Ketchup, 90p for 450g
9
Morrisons’ version had a decent tomato taste and a subtle vinegar tang.
It was similar to Heinz but felt a bit cheaper, without such a full flavour.
And it was gloopy and sticky, meaning it was hard to squeeze out of the bottle.
This was one of the more expensive own-brand versions, at 20p per 100g.
- Taste: 8/10
- Value: 6/10
- Total: 14/20
Aldi Bramwells Tomato Ketchup, 89p for 560g
9
Aldi’s ketchup was darker than the others and contained more tomatoes per 100g than Heinz.
But it was so tangy with vinegar that it reminded us more of brown sauce than sweet ketchup.
It was quite sloppy and splashed out onto the plate.
But at just 16p per 100g, this was the cheapest version we tried – and four times cheaper than Heinz.
- Taste: 6/10
- Value: 9/10
- Total: 15/20
WINNER
Lidl Batts Tomato Ketchup, £1.05 for 560g
9
This Lidl ketchup was a great copy of Heinz.
It was packed full of tomato taste and had a good balance of sweet and vinegar flavours.
Our only issue was that a pool of vinegar fell out of the bottle on the first squeeze, but the texture was fine after shaking.
This is a close second to Heinz – at 19p per 100g, it is less than a third of the price.
- Taste: 9/10
- Value: 9/10
- Total: 18/20
Essential Waitrose Tomato Ketchup, 95p for 470g
9
Waitrose’s Essential ketchup was one of the most expensive supermarket own-brands, at 20p per 100g.
But it had a bizarre taste that reminded us of canned sweetcorn – and was far too sweet.
- Taste: 6/10
- Value: 6/10
- Total: 12/20
How to save money on your supermarket shop
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
