These £2.49 supermarket brand roast potatoes just beat Aunt Bessie’s as UK’s best

Forget the turkey or Brussels sprouts, everyone knows roast potatoes are the main event at any Christmas dinner. 

But if you haven’t quite perfected the recipe for 🎉delicious crispy a♔nd fluffy spuds, don’t worry, supermarkets have got you covered. 

With the festive season just around the corner, Which? has unveiled the best frozen supermarket spuds, pitting major brandﷺs McCain and Aunt Bessie against own-brand rivals. 

And, shockingly, two sup꧒ermarkets’ roasties have beaten out Aunt Bessie’s ♉iconic potatoes in a blind taste test. 

Who came out on top, we hear you ask?

Well, there was a joint winner this year, and they come from either end of the supermarket s🀅pectrum.

Aldi’s Specially Selected Beef Dripping Roast Potatoes and M&S M𝔍aris Piper Roast Potatoes were both praised as ‘good-looking potatoes’ that ‘had a flavour that pleased most of our testers’, according to Whiಞch?.

They each scored 74%, with testers praising both for their fluffy insides and crispy outsides. This is actually the second year running that Aldi has been in the top spot.

At just £2.49 for 1kg, you unsurprisingly get the most bang for your buck with Aldi, which is regularly named as the UK’s cheapest supermarket, while M&S’ offering is £3 for 800g.

Each potato was rated by a panel of 65 people who judged them blindly based on taste, texture, aroma a🎃nd appearance, sharing with the consumer group what they liked and disliked. 

Here’s the best of the rest…

2. Aunt Bessie’s 

Aunt Bessie’s Duck Fat Roast Potatoes (£4.50 for 7ℱ00g) scored 72%, but 80% loved the ‘appetising colour of these roast potatoes’. 

Which? said testers loved the crunchy outside and good consistency of the inside the most, but ꧒the flavour was ♏less enjoyable than the top picks.

Nearly half liked it, but a third said it was too weak 🍬and 42% claimed that the insides were a bit on the dry side.ꦉ 

Unlike all the other potatoes tested that use beef fat, Aunt 💎Bessie’s uses duck fat. They’re also the ♚most expensive on test.

3. Morrison’s, Sainsbury’s, & Tesco 

Tying for third place was Morrison’s Best Beef Fat Roast Potatoes (£2.75 for 800g),  Sainsbury’s Maris Piper Roast Potatoes with Beef Dripping (£2🅰.95 for 1kg), and Tesco’s Finest Beef Dripping Roast Potatoes (£3♋ for 800g), each scoring 71%.

Two-thirds enjoyed the texture of the Mor🐓risoꦍn’s potatoes and a half found the crispy outside just right, according to Which?. A ‘crunchier bite’ and a ‘stronger flavour’ would’ve upped their score, however. 

Sainsbury’s, meanwhile🥀 were described as ‘nice-looking potatoes with a generally liked texture, inside and out’. While a little under half felt the fl൲avour was right, 43% wanted a stronger taste. 

And Tesco potatoes were described as ‘a good all-rounder’. According to Which? more than half enjoyed the flavour and crispy outsides, and around two-thirds liked the texture of t🐓he insides,♛ but the flavour was found a little lacking by 38%.

4. Co-op & Waitrose 

Co-op Irresitable Beef Dripping Roast Potato🐲es (£3.40 for 750g) Waitrose Frozen Roast Potatoes in Beef Fat (2.75 for 800g) ca💜me joint fifth in the test scoring 70%. 

Which? said 60% of their panel rated the flavour of Co-op’s ‘good-looking’ spuds, while a s♏imilar proportion enjoyed the texture of the inside. Although 54% liked the crispy outsides, 38% felt they could do with more of a crunch. 

Two-thirds of those who tried Waitrose spuds enjoyed the texture, but the outside was🅠 less popular, with 45% wanting it to be crispier and 38% having done with a stronger flavour.

5. Asda

Which? Describes Asda Extra Special Beef Dripping Roast P𝓡otatoes (£2.75 for 800g) as ‘lacklustre compared with o🀅ther potatoes on test’. 

The spud scored 68% overall and while the texture of ♓the inside was enjoyed by more than half, a similar proportion found the outsides lacked crispiness, and nearly half wanted a stro﷽nger flavour.

6. McCain 

M🌠cCain Triple Cooked Roasts (£3 for 700g) ranked last with 60% overall. ‘Unappetizingly pale looks and too-weak flavour dragged the꧋se potatoes down,’ according to Which?. 

More than half liked the initial crunc𓆉h, but 43% said they weren’t crispy enough.

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