Roast potatoes are a staple of many meals, but especially roast dinners. While homemade roasties come out on top, sometimes a quick frozen potato chucked in the oven does the job.
Roast potatoes from well-known brands such as Aunt Bessie’s and McCain were sampled by Which?’s 65-strong panel in a blind taste test. The panel compared them to eight supermarket offerings, including Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, and Tesco. Surprisingly, a supermarket brand topped the rankings.
Aldi and M&S were the joint-highest scorers in the taste test, with Aldi’s taking the top spot for the cheapest potatoes in the taste test.
Aldi’s flavour impressed the tasters, who were also fans of the fluffy interior and crispy outsides. They retail at £2.59 for 1kg, compared to M&S’ £3 for an 800g bag.
Aunt Bessie’s came next, with 80% loving the appetising colour of the potatoes. The testers said they were crunchy on the outside with a “good consistency” inside.
However, the flavour wasn’t highly rated with some feeling it was “too weak”, and others claiming they were slightly dry.
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Aunt Bessie’s potatoes use duck fat, whereas the rest of the potatoes use beef fat, and they’re a whopping £4.50 for 700g, so look out for special offers to get the best value.
Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco scored just fractionally lower than Aunt Bessie’s, followed by Co-op, Waitrose and Asda.
Morrisons spuds retail at £2.75 for 800g, whilst Sainsbury’s potatoes cost £3.25 for 1kg. Tesco’s beef dripping spuds are £2.75 for 800g, and Co-op roasties are £3.35 for 800g.
Two-thirds of testers liked the look of Waitrose’s roast potatoes but felt they lacked flavour and a crunchy exterior.
Asda’s beef-dripping potatoes lacked crispiness and nearly half of Which?’s testers wanted a stronger flavour.
McCain came in last place in this year’s taste test, losing marks for looks and flavour. Which? said: “An unappetisingly pale exterior and weak flavour dragged these potatoes down.”
More than half liked the crunch levels, but 43% felt they weren’t crispy enough.
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