What Is the Cheapest Supermarket in the UK Today?

Latest Supermarket Price Comparison: Which Stores Offer the Best Value?

Food shopping remains one of the biggest weekly expenses for most households in the UK. Even small price differences between supermarkets can add up over a full year. With grocery prices still under pressure, many shoppers are asking the same question when planning their weekly shop.

So, which supermarket is actually the cheapest right now?

Each month, the consumer organisation Which? tracks grocery prices across the UK’s biggest supermarkets. Their latest analysis, published in March 2026, examines prices recorded throughout February and compares them between smaller everyday shops and much larger grocery baskets.

The results show something important.

There isn’t always a single supermarket that works best for everyone. The cheapest option depends on how much you buy, the types of products in your basket, and whether you use loyalty schemes or cashback tools when you shop.

Understanding how the numbers work can help you stretch your food budget much further.

Cheapest supermarket for a smaller shop

Which? compared the cost of a typical smaller grocery shop made up of 89 everyday items.

The list includes a mix of branded and own-brand products that many households regularly buy, including milk, cheese and Hovis sliced bread.

For this type of shop, Aldi was once again the cheapest supermarket in February 2026.

Lidl came extremely close behind, with only a small difference between the two discounters. Both were noticeably cheaper than the traditional supermarkets.

Average price for 89 items (February 2026)

Supermarket	Average basket price
Aldi	£161.56
Lidl	£162.75
Asda	£181.06
Tesco (with Clubcard)	£181.58
Morrisons	£185.49
Tesco	£185.93
Sainsbury’s (with Nectar)	£186.21
Sainsbury’s	£189.18
Ocado	£203.59
Waitrose	£217.02

The difference between the two discounters was just £1.19.

The gap between Aldi and the most expensive supermarket was much larger. Shopping the same basket at Waitrose cost £55.46 more, which works out at roughly 34% higher.

For shoppers doing smaller shops, this highlights why Aldi and Lidl often remain the cheapest option. Their everyday shelf prices tend to be lower, so you don’t need to rely heavily on loyalty discounts to keep the cost down.

Cheapest supermarket for a larger shop

Which? also analysed the cost of a much larger grocery basket containing 225 items.

This list included a wider range of branded groceries such as Heinz, Kellogg’s and Hovis, products that Aldi and Lidl do not always stock.

Because of this, the discounters were excluded from this part of the comparison.

For the second month in a row in 2026, Tesco with a Clubcard came out cheapest for a larger shop.

Average price for 225 items (February 2026)

Supermarket	Average basket price
Tesco (with Clubcard)	£580.35
Asda	£584.32
Morrisons (with More)	£593.34
Morrisons	£594.09
Sainsbury’s (with Nectar)	£596.93
Ocado	£622.10
Tesco	£629.25
Sainsbury’s	£643.23
Waitrose	£650.11

Tesco’s Clubcard basket came in at £580.35, just ahead of Asda.

Waitrose was again the most expensive supermarket for a shop of this size, costing £650.11, almost £70 more than Tesco with a Clubcard.

What these results mean for your weekly food shop

The February figures reinforce a pattern many shoppers will recognise.

For smaller shops, the discount supermarkets still dominate. Aldi and Lidl keep prices low on many everyday items, so you can often save money without hunting for special offers.

For bigger shops, especially when branded groceries are involved, the balance shifts.

Supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s offer much larger product ranges. Once loyalty discounts are included, they can sometimes compete closely with the discounters.

That is why the cheapest supermarket depends heavily on how you shop.

Do loyalty cards actually make a difference?

Loyalty pricing plays a growing role in supermarket pricing.

Across February, Which? found 199 loyalty discounts in total across the larger shopping list.

These included:

• 110 discounts at Sainsbury’s

• 87 discounts at Tesco

• 2 discounts at Morrisons
  

When Which? analysed the impact of these discounts, the savings were noticeable on larger baskets.

Average loyalty savings were:

• 7.77% at Tesco

• 7.20% at Sainsbury’s

• 0.13% at Morrisons
  

For smaller shops, the impact was much smaller.

Savings averaged:

• 2.34% at Tesco

• 1.57% at Sainsbury’s
  

This explains why loyalty cards matter more on bigger shops where more discounted items are likely to appear in your basket.

How can this save you money?

The key takeaway from the Which? research is simple.

The cheapest supermarket headline does not always translate into the cheapest shop for you.

You can often reduce your food bill further by stacking several savings methods together. For example:

• Use supermarket loyalty cards to unlock lower shelf prices • Switch brands when discounted alternatives appear • Check supermarket cashback apps before shopping• Pay with cashback gift cards when possible Cashback services such as JamDoughnut, TopCashback, Quidco and Rakuten can sometimes return a small percentage of your grocery spend. When combined with loyalty discounts, this can push the final cost lower than the headline basket prices shown in supermarket comparisons. Even a few pounds saved each week can make a noticeable difference over a full year.

Why the cheapest supermarket isn’t always the same for everyone

Range also plays a big role.

Aldi and Lidl offer excellent prices but a smaller product selection. Many households still need to visit a second supermarket for specific brands or specialist products.

Traditional supermarkets offer more choice. That variety can give you opportunities to switch between brands, loyalty discounts and promotions to reduce the cost of your basket.

For some shoppers, the discounters remain the simplest way to save money.

For others, mixing supermarkets and using loyalty offers can produce the lowest overall bill.

FAQs

Which supermarket is likely the cheapest in the UK right now?

Deals and prices change all the time, but for February 2026, Aldi was the cheapest supermarket for a smaller shop of everyday groceries. Tesco, with a Clubcard, was the cheapest for a larger branded grocery shop.

Is Aldi cheaper than Lidl?

Yes, but only slightly. In February 2026, Aldi was £1.19 cheaper than Lidl for a basket of 89 items.

Do loyalty cards really save money?

They can, especially on larger shops. Which? found loyalty discounts reduced prices by around 7% on larger baskets at Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

Is Asda cheaper than Tesco?

Without a Clubcard, Asda was cheaper than Tesco. Tesco only became cheaper for larger shops when Clubcard discounts were included.

Why is Waitrose more expensive?

Waitrose tends to charge higher shelf prices and offers fewer loyalty discounts than many competitors, which increases the overall cost of a typical grocery basket.