The winning brown sauce was the cheapest in the taste test
Brown sauce is used to spice up various dishes, especially bacon and sausage sandwiches. I am partial to a slathering of HP sauce whenever I indulge in a fry-up.
It is a staple in my cupboard, and I even use it when cooking dishes like Shepherd’s pie or beef stew. With a brown sauce, I need one that packs a punch.
HP has been on the market for over 100 years and was created in my hometown of Nottingham. As a self-confessed brown sauce connoisseur, I decided to see if any other brown sauce brand could rival HP and was left surprised.
Many supermarkets offer their own brown sauces, which are cheaper than the branded HP one, which is typically priced around £3.90 for 600g. I taste-tested brown sauces from Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Lidl, M&S, Asda, and brand Daddies to see which stacked up the best.
Sainsbury’s – £1.10 for 450g
As soon as I tasted the Sainsbury’s offering, I knew it would be bottom of the rankings for me. The sauce looked watered down compared to the HP version and didn’t have as much of a kick as I wanted. The flavour just felt completely off.
Rating: 1/10
M&S – £1.15 for 475g
I had high hopes for the M&S sauce, but was left wondering if I’d picked up a bottle of mango chutney instead. The flavour felt all wrong to me and was far too sweet. It had more of a kick than Sainsbury’s, but I couldn’t get past the sweetness.
Rating: 2/10
Daddies – £1.14 for 400g from Asda
The branded brown sauce had the kick I was after and provided the spice I expected from a brown sauce. It was far better than Sainsbury’s and M&S, but I found I needed to use quite a bit of sauce to get the full flavour.
Rating: 6/10
Lidl – £1.15 for 530g
Lidl’s brown sauce had a strong smell as soon as it left the bottle. It has the spice and tanginess expected with a brown sauce. I just wish the flavour was slightly stronger, but if you are after a milder brown sauce, this would be perfect.
Rating: 7/10
Asda – £1.16 for 460g
The most expensive bottle for the taste test came from Asda, and when I first poured out the sauce, I had some concerns as it was much lighter in colour than the others.
However, upon tasting the sauce, it was a very close comparison to HP. All the right spices and tanginess were there. For me, it was a close call to decide to take the top spot, but Asda narrowly missed out.
Rating: 9/10
Aldi – 99p for 455g
The winning brown sauce was the cheapest in the taste test. It was the most similar to HP, and even rivals the brand when it comes to packing in all the flavours.
Aldi’s sauce has a great consistency and has everything I love about a brown sauce – depth and tanginess. I would even pick it over HP next time I need a brown sauce, and I will be saving a penny or two by doing so.
Rating: 10/10
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