CAN you host a family party this summer without breaking the bank?
With the cost of food rising, we’ve tested some summer favourite products to find out which supermarket own-brand goods and the best quality for the price.
We found one bargain supermarket was perfect for dipping to during the summer
We bought regular own-brand houmous from Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl.
We scored it out of ten for taste, taking into account how healthy it was.
And we also rated the houmous out of ten for value, based on the price you pay per 100g.
Here’s how the houmous scored out of 20 overall:
Aldi’s houmous was our favourite
WINNER: Aldi The Deli Houmous
This houmous from Aldi was really tasty and had a smooth texture that was perfect for dipping.
It also had the lowest salt content, at 0.32 per cent.
At just 35p per 100g, it was the joint cheapest and definitely excellent value for money.
Taste: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Total: 17/20
Lidl was joint cheapest on our list
Lidl Meadow Fresh Houmous
The Lidl houmous had a pleasant taste but a strangely bitter aftertaste.
It was also quite chunky in texture, with hard gritty bits in. It was the joint cheapest at 35p per 100g, so it wasn’t bad considering the price.
Taste: 7/10
Value: 8/10
Total: 15/20
Sainsbury’s tasted nutty with a lovely savoury flavour
Sainsbury’s Classic Houmous
The Sainsbury’s houmous sweated in the packaging and a layer of watery liquid oozed out on the top, so it might not be ideal for a BBQ in hot sunshine.
But it had a nice nutty taste and was more savoury than the other own-brands we tried.
Taste: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Total: 14/20
Asda’s was oddly sweet – but also joint cheapest
Asda Houmous
Asda’s houmous said it came with a “twist of lemon” but we found that made it taste oddly sweet.
At 35p per 100g, it was the joint cheapest with Aldi and Lidl.
Taste: 5/10
Value: 8/10
Total: 13/20
Tesco’s didn’t have much taste
Tesco Houmous
The Tesco houmous was surprisingly tasteless considering it contained 0.9 per cent salt – by far the highest salt content of all the own-brand products we tried and almost triple that of Aldi’s version.
The texture was quite gritty and grainy but it was easy to dip breadsticks and cucumber into.
At 60p per 100g, this was the second most expensive houmous we tried.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 5/10
Total: 11/20
Morrisons was the most expensive houmous we tried
Morrisons Houmous
This version from Morrisons had a good taste of chickpea and garlic but the texture was gritty and it was so thick it was difficult to get onto cucumber sticks.
At 68p per 100g, it was the most expensive houmous we tried and it also had the highest saturated fat content.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 4/10
Total: 10/20
If you’re planning the perfect summer BBQ, we’ve tasted all the supermarket sausages to find the best banger for your buck.
And if you believe no party is complete without some fizz – check out our review of supermarket proseccos.