A range of premium salted crisps from brands and supermarkets went head to head in a blind taste test
A perfectly salted crisp is an unbeatable snack that can be enjoyed at lunch, a picnic and at a buffet. There’s plenty on the market too, with Kettle and Tyrrells leading the branded versions.
Many of the major UK supermarkets offer their own premium crisp ranges, which are available in large bags perfect for sharing. They even offer a wide range of flavours, but in my opinion, you can’t beat a traditional salted crisp.
Kettle and Tyrrells crisps are both on the pricier side, so I decided to see if any supermarket offerings could match up to the big brands. My partner and I tried a range of crisps from Lidl, M&S, Asda, Co-op and Tesco in a blind taste test.
They went up against the brands, and we had a surprising result. Both of us chose the same supermarket crisps as our top two out of the seven we tried. We then combined our rankings to create our list from worst to best.
Tesco Finest Lightly Sea Salted (crinkle cut) – £1.50
Unfortunately, Tesco really fell short in our blind taste test. We struggled to find the supermarket’s standard premium crisp, so we had to include their crinkle-cut version in the test.
As a result, we decided not to rank this crisp by texture as it wouldn’t be fair. However, it wasn’t the texture that let it down. We both found there to be hardly any flavour to the crisp and it was far too bland for us. Upon tasting it, it was clear this crisp would be at the bottom of the list.
Rating: 1/10
Tyrrells Lightly Sea Salted – £2.75
I thought the branded crisp would rank much higher on the list, but it wasn’t salty enough for our tastes. We both like crisps that pack a punch, so were after something more. If you aren’t too keen on overly salty crisps, this would be a better choice.
Rating: 3/10
M&S Hand Cooked Lightly Sea Salted Crisps – £1.80
This crisp tasted most similar to the Kettle ones. They were nice and thick, but sometimes these crisps felt a little too hard. If you are after a cheaper version of the Kettle crisp, this is it.
Rating: 5/10
Lidl Deluxe Hand Cooked Crisps Lightly Sea Salted – £1.15
Lidl’s crisps had a good crunch and more salty flavours than the Kettle crisps. However, I found some of the crisps lacked an even level of salt and were rather bland. Maybe we need to give them a good shake before opening the bag next time.
Rating: 6/10
Kettle Lightly Salted Crisps – £2.64
The branded crisp had a good level of salt for us and wasn’t greasy. Some of Kettle’s crisps were quite thin, but we didn’t mind that. They had a good crunch and a salty taste you’d expect.
Rating: 7/10
Asda Exceptional Hand Cooked Sea Salted Crisps – £1.34
Coming in a close second, Asda’s premium crisps had a strong saltiness. This may be too much for some, but we enjoyed the salty taste.
Rating: 9/10
Co-op Irresistible Hand Cooked Lightly Sea Salted Crisps – £1.70
Both of us named Co-op’s crisps as our favourite, and for good reason. They had the perfect salt ratio and were neither too hard nor too crunchy. You could tell you were eating a premium crisp, and it certainly rivals the brands. For us, we would pick Co-op over Kettle and Tyrrells as it was a clear winner.
Rating: 10/10
