The cheapest supermarket for your plant-based shopping
For the full range of plant-based goods we selected, Asda was the cheapest supermarket. For a smaller basket of vegan groceries, discounter Aldi beat the competition.
We compared a basket of popular plant-based staples across six of the major supermarkets – Asda, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's Tesco and Waitrose – over a three-month period to see where was cheapest to pick up a typical vegan collection of groceries. We found you could save £5.55 on the total basket by shopping at Asda, rather than Waitrose.
We weren't able to include Aldi and Lidl as they don't have as many comparable items. However, we also looked at a smaller basket of goods that included the discounters. Here, Aldi was £6.71 cheaper than the most expensive retailer for the basket, Ocado.
See both sets of results below.
Cheapest supermarket for a basket of plant-based groceries
Our larger basket consisted of 23 items that we compared across six supermarkets. It was made up of a small number of popular branded meat and dairy alternatives, such as Quorn pieces (which are vegetarian, not vegan) and Linda McCartney vegetarian sausages, that were widely available across retailers. We also included cupboard and fridge essentials for a plant-based food shop, such as canned chickpeas, tofu and bagged lentils.
The Vegan Society helped to advise us on what to include on these staples for a balanced plant-based diet.
We analysed prices daily from the end of June through to the end of September, and averaged the price over this time.
The table below shows how much our larger basket cost on average. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see exactly what was in the basket:
| Supermarket | Average price of basket |
 | £31.92 |
 | £33.36 |
 | £33.88 |
 | £35.08 |
 | £37.37 |
 | £37.47 |
Quorn's frozen chicken style pieces didn't vary much in price between retailers or across the time period, with most retailers charging £2.95 throughout. They averaged slightly more at Morrisons (£3) and Waitrose (£3.10).
Linda McCartney frozen original sausages were cheapest over the time period at Morrisons, costing an average £2.10.
Ocado was the cheapest place to buy the Tofoo Company's Naked Tofu, at an average price of £1.89.
Best vegan chicken substitutes and vegan mayo - see the brands and supermarket alternatives that impressed our consumer panel
Our smaller plant-based basket including Aldi and Lidl
The smaller basket consisted of 14 items compared across eight retailers. Some of the items in our bigger shop, such as tofu, bagged quinoa and Vitalite dairy-free spread weren't available at the discounters, in particular, Aldi, over the period we analysed.
It should be noted though that Lidl and Aldi may have a greater range of vegan products at other times of year.
The table below shows how much our smaller basket cost on average at each supermarket. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see exactly what was in the basket:
| Supermarket | Average price of basket |
 | £11.71 |
 | £12.22 |
| £14.14 |
| £15.36 |
| £15.64 |
| £16.55 |
| £18.36 |
Aldi and Lidl were the cheapest places to buy bags of nuts and seeds compared to their rivals. For example, the price of Brazil nuts at Aldi worked out at £1.00 per 100g, compared to £2.08 for M&S's own-label Brazil nuts as sold at Ocado. And chia seeds were £0.66 per 100g at both Aldi and Lidl, compared to £1.50 at Waitrose.
Houmous was also much cheaper at the discounters and Asda (all £0.69), with the next cheapest, Sainsbury's averaging £1.15.
Of course, price isn't the only factor in deciding where to shop. We survey shoppers on the best and worst supermarkets each year. They rate them on a range of measures from product quality to store experience and customer service.
How Which? compared plant-based prices
We looked at the prices of our vegan basket over a three-month period, using an independent price comparison website.
To keep things fair, we included special offers, but we didn't count multibuys or loyalty scheme discounts, such as Tesco Clubcard prices.
For products where the weights varied across retailers, such as the bags of nuts, we have given the unit price of 100g, which means the basket total isn't the price you'd actually pay for the products.
For the tinned products, we have chosen the cheapest option available in each case - sometimes this was a brand and sometimes own label.
At Ocado, if Ocado offered a cheaper own-brand version than M&S then this was the item picked, otherwise the own brand is M&S.
We didn't include fresh fruit or vegetables or bread, rice or pasta, as these are generally staples of everyone's diet and not specific to a plant-based shopper.
We included the Quorn Chicken Style Pieces which contain egg as it wasn't possible to find a similar vegan chicken alternative product that was available across all supermarkets.
The full list of products in the larger basket:
- Linda McCartney's frozen 6 Vegetarian Sausages Original (270g)
- Quorn Chicken Style Pieces (frozen, contains egg) (500g)
- Vitalite dairy-free spread (500g)
- Alpro Plain Soya Yogurt (500g)
- The Tofoo Company Naked Tofu (280g)
- Cauldron Falafels (200g)
- Violife Original Grated Non-Dairy Cheddar Cheese (200g)
- Marigold Engevita Savoury Yeast Flakes With B12 (125g)
- Tin of kidney beans (400g)
- Tin of cannelini beans (400g)
- Tin of chickpeas (400g)
- Tin of coconut milk (400g)
- Own brand houmous (200g)
- Own brand smooth peanut butter (340g)
- Own brand soya milk (1 litre)
- Own brand bag of quinoa (variable weight)
- Own brand bag of red split lentils (500g)
- Own brand bag of brazil nuts (variable weight)
- Own brand bag of cashew nuts (variable weight)
- Own brand bag of walnuts (variable weight)
- Own brand bag of chia seeds (variable weight)
- Own brand bag of porridge oats (1kg)
- Own label double concentrate tomato puree tube (200g)
The full list of products in the smaller basket:
- Quorn Chicken Style Pieces (frozen, contains egg) (500g)
- Tin of kidney beans (400g)
- Tin of cannelini beans (400g)
- Tin of chickpeas (400g)
- Tin of coconut milk (400g)
- Own brand houmous (200g)
- Own brand smooth peanut butter (340g)
- Own brand soya milk (1 litre)
- Own brand bag of brazil nuts (variable weight)
- Own brand bag of cashew nuts (variable weight)
- Own brand bag of walnuts (variable weight)
- Own brand bag of chia seeds (variable weight)
- Own brand bag of porridge oats (1kg)
- Own label double concentrate tomato puree tube (200g)
For more supermarket research, head to our supermarkets advice. To get Which?'s latest tips on rising prices, head to our round-up of the latest cost of living advice.
