Cheddar is the nation’s favourite cheese, and there’s a whopping difference in price between Sainsbury’s organic, standard and budget cheddar – so which one is the best?
Who doesn’t love a good bit of cheddar? While a fancy cheeseboard is never something I’d turn down, you simply can’t beat the classics sometimes — especially perched on a cracker or bubbling away in a toastie.
One thing that has genuinely taken me aback since entering adulthood, though, is just how pricey cheddar cheese can be. The big-name brands, especially, came as quite the shock, which is why I’ve firmly made the switch to supermarket own-brand varieties.
But even then, there are some notable price gaps between what’s sitting on the shelves — particularly at Sainsbury’s.
Most supermarkets nowadays stock their own-brand goods across several pricing tiers. I’ve noticed this for a while, but always found myself wondering just how different these products could really be, given how alike they all appear, cheddar especially.
So this week, I picked up three blocks of cheddar from Sainsbury’s — each at a different price point — and put them through their paces in a taste test to crown the ultimate winner.
To keep things straightforward, I tried a couple of slices on crackers, giving the cheese every chance to speak for itself. I’m a big fan of mature cheddar, so I made sure to go for the same strength level four across all three.
I genuinely wasn’t expecting much of a difference, but one cheese came out on top by a clear margin — here’s what I made of all three.
SO Organic Mature Cheddar – £3.50
Naturally, I kicked things off with the priciest of the lot. Sainsbury’s organic cheddar was the most expensive option I could find at my local branch, setting me back £3.50 for a 270g block.
It’s no great surprise that organic produce carries a heftier price tag. Apparently made by Wyke Farms in Somerset using British organic milk, that premium cost is fairly easy to justify.
The cheese had a pleasantly sharp aroma straight away, which was an encouraging sign. Slicing it up and popping it on a cracker, I was pleased to find it wasn’t rubbery in the slightest — a frustrating trait that lets down many a cheddar.
The taste didn’t disappoint either, coming across as wonderfully creamy with a satisfying tang that made it feel far more upmarket than its price suggests.
Better still, there was no nasty aftertaste lingering — another trap that cheaper cheddars often fall into. My only complaint was that the flavour felt ever so slightly lacking, and it was a touch on the dry side.
Even so, I’d happily pick it up again without hesitation.
Rating 3.5/5
Sainsbury’s Mature British Cheddar – £2.50
Next, I moved on to the mid-range option, which came in at £2.50 for a 220g block. While it’s a slightly smaller portion than the organic variety, it still works out more affordable per kilogram.
Worth noting is that all three cheeses looked and smelled remarkably similar — so much so that it was genuinely tricky to tell them apart once they were sitting on the crackers. As for this particular one, it was probably my least favourite of the three.
It packed quite a punch, though perhaps not in the most pleasant way. It seemed to miss the mark on balancing tanginess with creaminess, leaving behind a bitter aftertaste that was difficult to get rid of.
I could see this working well in a toastie or in cooking — think macaroni cheese or lasagne. But eaten on its own, it simply didn’t quite measure up.
Rating: 3/5
Stamford Street Cheddar – £2.49
Onto the third and final cheese in my tasting session: the Stamford Street block. This is Sainsbury’s most affordable range, featuring hundreds of other products throughout the store, from fresh fruit and vegetables to garlic bread and pasta.
This block weighed almost twice as much as the mid-priced option and cost marginally less — admittedly only by a single penny — yet I remained pleasantly surprised. Ultimately, though, everything hinged on flavour.
It cut into lovely clean slices, and the taste was genuinely excellent. It was by far the creamiest of the selection, and while I’d had concerns it might taste rubbery or artificial, this luckily wasn’t the case.
There was a satisfying sharpness to it, and even when simply placed atop a cracker, it tasted wonderful.
The price point is unbeatable too, making this my clear favourite and the one I’d really recommend buying.
Rating: 5/5
