'Best' supermarket sausages - and it's not Aldi, Morrisons or Asda
Budget supermarket Lidl has trounced premium rivals in a major blind taste test of pork sausages – just in time for the Bank Holiday barbecue season. A 65-strong panel of ordinary consumers, independently recruited and blindfolded to branding, tucked into sausages from major retailers and household brands in a test designed to uncover the best bangers Britain has to offer.
Three emerged as Best Buys, with Lidl 's Deluxe Pork Sausages not only topping the charts with a score of 77%, but also clinching the Great Value accolade thanks to their modest £2.49 price tag for 400g – just 62p per 100g. Described as 'good looking and succulent', Lidl's sausages won praise across the board.
An impressive 80% of tasters rated the meaty flavour as perfect, with two-thirds saying the herb and spice balance hit the mark. Around 75% liked the salt levels, and a similar number were pleased with the texture – judged to be neither too coarse nor too fine.
However, they come with a health warning. Two sausages contain 11.5g of saturated fat, more than half the recommended daily limit for women.
M&S and Sainsbury's serve up premium picks
M&S 's Collection British Outdoor Bred Pork Sausages and Sainsbury's Taste the Difference British Pork Sausages both scored 75%, earning Best Buy status. M&S's offering, at £4.50 for 400g (£1.13 per 100g), was praised by three-quarters of tasters for flavour, juiciness and salt levels.
Two-thirds liked the texture, although opinion was split on the seasoning. These were also the joint priciest on test.
Sainsbury's sausages, £3 for 400g (75p per 100g), were dubbed excellent all-rounders. More than 70% gave top marks for pork flavour, juiciness, and seasoning. But a third found the appearance too pale.
The also-rans
Despite a polished reputation, The Black Farmer Premium Pork Sausages (72%) fell just short of Best Buy status. At £3.50 for 400g (88p per 100g), they impressed with juiciness, but a third of testers found the seasoning underwhelming.
Asda 's Exceptional Classic Pork Sausages followed closely with 71% – third cheapest at £2.98 for 400g (75p per 100g). Though flavour and texture were applauded, almost half of testers found the seasoning lacking.
How the rest of the field stacked up
Morrisons The Best Thick Pork Sausages – 70%: Tasty with good aroma, but texture divided opinion. £3.25 (81p/100g).
Aldi Specially Selected – 69%: Satisfying texture but a little bland. £2.49 (62p/100g).
Co-op Irresistible – 69%: Juicy but pale. £3.60 (90p/100g).
The Jolly Hog Proper Porker – 69%: Decent but unremarkable. £4 (100p/100g).
Iceland Luxury The Ultimate – 65%: Juicy yet bland and pale. £4 (100p/100g).
Waitrose No.1 Free Range – 62%: Juicy but let down by looks and seasoning. £4.50 (113p/100g).
Heck 97% Pork Sausages – 54%: The biggest disappointment. Over 60% found the pork flavour too weak and more than half wanted more seasoning. Notably, Heck sausages use beef collagen casings. £3.25 (81p/100g).
Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of Home Products and Services, said: 'Sausages are a summer barbecue staple for many, so it's important to pick the right ones that will have your guests queuing up for more. Lidl came out on top for our taste tests, impressing with their juicy texture and meaty flavour. While pricier than Lidl's, M&S and Sainsbury's also dished up impressively succulent sausages.'
How the sausages were tested
The sausages were blind-tested in April 2025 under controlled conditions at a specialist lab. Participants, chosen to reflect a representative UK demographic, tasted sausages individually in private booths to prevent influence from others, Which? said.
Each sausage was scored based on:
50% flavour
20% appearance
15% aroma
15% texture
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Rare KitKat bar spotted back on UK shelves as Sainsbury's shoppers fill trolleys with ‘brilliant' flavour
Shoppers express their excitement for brand new sweet treat CHOC SHOCK Rare KitKat bar spotted back on UK shelves as Sainsbury's shoppers fill trolleys with 'brilliant' flavour Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A RARE KitKat bar has been spotted back on UK shelves by eagle-eyed shoppers. The unique bar has sent chocolate fans running to the supermarket to fill their trolleys with the "brilliant" new flavour. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 The new KitKat flavour can be found in Sainsbury's This exciting sweet treat can be found in Sainsbury's for £1 a bar. The rare flavour goes by the name KitKat Chunky Funky and is Nestle's latest limited edition bar. The sought-after snack features a cocoa wafer in a marbled milk chocolate and white coating. Shoppers have been quick to express their excitement with one describing the chocolate as "absolutely brilliant." While another added: "Oh I need to get to the shop." KitKat isn't the only brand to recently launch a new flavour, as another popular confectionery brand has just released an all new caramel edition of their cult classic treat. Terry's have launched a chocolate caramel which is exclusive to the co-op for now. Shoppers in frenzy over cheapest Dubai chocolate arrival in major Irish store at just €1.79 Shoppers were also quick to spot two new chocolate bars on shop shelves last month. Cadbury's released a new Bournville dark chocolate which became an instant hit among nut fans. A spokesperson said: "We're excited to be introducing two delicious new flavours to our Cadbury Bournville range, Salted Caramel and Chopped Hazelnut. "We're excited to be introducing two delicious new flavours to our Cadbury Bournville range, Salted Caramel and Chopped Hazelnut." How to save money on chocolate We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar. Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs... Go own brand - if you're not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you'll save by going for the supermarket's own brand bars. Shop around - if you've spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it's cheaper elsewhere. Websites like let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you're getting the best deal. Look out for yellow stickers - supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they've been reduced. They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged. Buy bigger bars - most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar. So if you've got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Marks & Spencer announces exact date it will close 100-year-old flagship store after ‘never recovering from Covid'
Another M&S store is soon to reopen after an exciting revamp END OF AN ERA Marks & Spencer announces exact date it will close 100-year-old flagship store after 'never recovering from Covid' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MARKS & Spencer has confirmed its historic flagship store will close in a matter of weeks, after failing to recover from Covid. The popular supermarket has been serving Wolverhampton shoppers since 1929, however it will soon be closing its doors for good. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 M&S has announced the closing date of one of its flagship stores Credit: Google Maps The store is located on Dudley Street, Wolverhampton and will stop trading on September 27. M&S regional manager, Calum Telford, said: "I would like to say a massive thanks to all our customers who have shopped with us over the years and our colleagues, past and present, who have contributed to the store. "We have a proud history in Wolverhampton and are working with the city council to find a suitable alternative food location. "This is part of our wider investment into the Black Country, including modernising our Merry Hill store, and we will keep the local community updated." Mr Telford added: "In the meantime, conversations are continuing with our store colleagues and we will offer them alternative roles at M&S wherever possible." Staff at the Dudley store have also been informed that it has been confirmed by bosses that the business hopes to find a suitable alternative city location to open a new dedicated food store. M&S first announced the store's closure last month after sharing that it had been performing "less well for a long period of time." According to bosses, this is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, from which the shop "never fully recovered." In a statement made at the time, Mr Telford said: ""Our UK-wide store rotation programme is all about reshaping for growth and making sure every M&S store delivers the best possible shopping experience for our customers. "That's why we have made the tough decision to propose the closure of our Dudley Street store. M&S launches first-of-its-kind store "Sadly, the store has been performing less well for a long period of time and has never fully recovered from the Covid pandemic." This comes after M&S announced in 2022 than it intended to reduce its number of traditional department store openings from 247 to 180, while also opening an additional 100 new food halls by April 2026. Also, earlier this summer company chairman Archie Norman said the firm was looking to exit "struggling town centres" as part of a £500 million plan to update its retail store portfolio nationwide. Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Council has stressed that it has been working alongside M&S to try and find a new location for a food hall in the city. A council spokesperson said: 'It will be sad to see M&S leave the Dudley Street store at the end of September - but they remain committed to Wolverhampton and we are working with them to identify suitable locations that fit their new business model. 'We appreciate how unsettling this is for staff, and the council's Wolves at Work employment support team is connected with M&S to support workers and their families. "We are also keen to see the privately-owned Dudley Street site brought back into use quickly. 'As everyone knows town and city centres across the country are changing and we fully understand M&S's difficult decision was driven by wider, changing market conditions and customer behaviour." In brighter news, M&S is set to launch its revamped food hall at Merry Hill shopping centre this Friday. Wolverhampton Council have said despite the sad news about the department store closure, there are lots of regeneration projects set to create new homes and jobs to look forward to. A spokesperson added: ""The transformation of the city centre includes thousands of new city centre homes at Smithgate and Canalside; better connectivity and safer public spaces; a world-class entertainment venue at the University of Wolverhampton at The Halls; a new independent cinema at the Chubb Building; a growing commercial district at the Interchange and a new £61million City Learning Quarter which opens this autumn and will bring thousands of new visitors to our city centre every week.' Why are retailers closing stores? RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis. High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going. However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025." It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024. End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker. It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date. This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023. It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns. The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker. Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations. Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes. Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. "By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Marks & Spencer announces exact date it will close 100-year-old flagship store after ‘never recovering from Covid'
Another M&S store is soon to reopen after an exciting revamp END OF AN ERA Marks & Spencer announces exact date it will close 100-year-old flagship store after 'never recovering from Covid' MARKS & Spencer has confirmed its historic flagship store will close in a matter of weeks, after failing to recover from Covid. The popular supermarket has been serving Wolverhampton shoppers since 1929, however it will soon be closing its doors for good. Advertisement 2 M&S has announced the closing date of one of its flagship stores Credit: Google Maps The store is located on Dudley Street, Wolverhampton and will stop trading on September 27. M&S regional manager, Calum Telford, said: "I would like to say a massive thanks to all our customers who have shopped with us over the years and our colleagues, past and present, who have contributed to the store. "We have a proud history in Wolverhampton and are working with the city council to find a suitable alternative food location. "This is part of our wider investment into the Black Country, including modernising our Merry Hill store, and we will keep the local community updated." Advertisement Mr Telford added: "In the meantime, conversations are continuing with our store colleagues and we will offer them alternative roles at M&S wherever possible." Staff at the Dudley store have also been informed that it has been confirmed by bosses that the business hopes to find a suitable alternative city location to open a new dedicated food store. M&S first announced the store's closure last month after sharing that it had been performing "less well for a long period of time." According to bosses, this is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, from which the shop "never fully recovered." Advertisement In a statement made at the time, Mr Telford said: ""Our UK-wide store rotation programme is all about reshaping for growth and making sure every M&S store delivers the best possible shopping experience for our customers. "That's why we have made the tough decision to propose the closure of our Dudley Street store. M&S launches first-of-its-kind store "Sadly, the store has been performing less well for a long period of time and has never fully recovered from the Covid pandemic." This comes after M&S announced in 2022 than it intended to reduce its number of traditional department store openings from 247 to 180, while also opening an additional 100 new food halls by April 2026. Advertisement Also, earlier this summer company chairman Archie Norman said the firm was looking to exit "struggling town centres" as part of a £500 million plan to update its retail store portfolio nationwide. Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Council has stressed that it has been working alongside M&S to try and find a new location for a food hall in the city. A council spokesperson said: 'It will be sad to see M&S leave the Dudley Street store at the end of September - but they remain committed to Wolverhampton and we are working with them to identify suitable locations that fit their new business model. 'We appreciate how unsettling this is for staff, and the council's Wolves at Work employment support team is connected with M&S to support workers and their families. Advertisement "We are also keen to see the privately-owned Dudley Street site brought back into use quickly. 'As everyone knows town and city centres across the country are changing and we fully understand M&S's difficult decision was driven by wider, changing market conditions and customer behaviour." In brighter news, M&S is set to launch its revamped food hall at Merry Hill shopping centre this Friday. Advertisement Wolverhampton Council have said despite the sad news about the department store closure, there are lots of regeneration projects set to create new homes and jobs to look forward to. A spokesperson added: ""The transformation of the city centre includes thousands of new city centre homes at Smithgate and Canalside; better connectivity and safer public spaces; a world-class entertainment venue at the University of Wolverhampton at The Halls; a new independent cinema at the Chubb Building; a growing commercial district at the Interchange and a new £61million City Learning Quarter which opens this autumn and will bring thousands of new visitors to our city centre every week.' Why are retailers closing stores? RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis. High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going. However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025." It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024. End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker. It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date. This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023. It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns. The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker. Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations. Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes. Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. "By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.
