Sainsbury's Basics good/bad items

rcpbiggles

staceysteve wrote: »

Hi, Great thread!

For me good items are:
Ham - surprising I have found no difference
Frozen mixed veg - needs a bit more cooking than it says on the pack but ends up good
Apples - really nice, small but perfect for my son
Cheese (full flavour) - bit waxy but good when there aren't any good offers on
Diced Pork shoulder - I was dubious, say it in one of their recipes and tried it in a casserole, was lovely!
Chicken Breasts (not frozen) - I see no difference with normal Sainsbury's chicken.
Salsa
Batter mix - makes great pancakes!
Eggs - can be small sometimes but otherwise good!
Toilet Paper - I begrudge paying money to flush it down the toilet quite literally! so I am glad this is good.
Tinned Chopped tomatoes - no difference
Bagged Sweet Popcorn - get as a treat for us when we wana watch a movie instead of spending over £3 at the cinema!
Frozen prawns - really titchy but I used them in a curry and they were lovely.
Stir fry veg - again I saw it in one of their recipes tried it and I saw no difference - although there isn't a major price difference think its only 10p
Garlic bread baguette - again no difference
Neapolitan Ice Cream - no difference

Bad items: not that many that I tried so far but:
Mint Sauce - very watery and sour
Vanilla Ice Cream - I put this here but I'm not sure - it is white and not as good but my son eats it and likes it

Overall I think Sainsbury's Basics is better than Tesco Value - much better selection and I will continue trying more of it also.

Agree with all of these! My kids love the vanilla ice cream. Ready salted crisps are great too.
I have to admit to being slightly embarrassed yesterday when I saw how much orange and white packaging I had.... but i soon got over it when I saw thought how much I saved!!

vavavoum06

I buy regularly the following "basic" items, and no complains so far:

Green olives
Black olives
Mozzarella cheese balls
Cheddar
Bananas
potatoes
carrots
madeira cake
creme caramel
apples (on the small size but fine for my kids)
plums
apricots
Salami
Brie (even better than expensive brand, I'm French, I know my bries!!!)
Washing up liquid(when you can fid it!)

Probably some more, but cannot remember. Wouldn't try any ready meal or equivalent though.
So far so good.

HTH

slatter4

Agree with most of the posts above except for the sliced cooked chicken which none of us liked.

One to add to crisps though - Potato Rings. We actually prefer them to Hula Hoops as they are crispy and not as hard. The children make me laugh when they try and convert all their friends as well (especially the few friends that are label snobs) lol.

helenbn17

I'm gonna make this my challenge for 2010, to shop in Sainsbury's only purchasing 'Basic Range'.

I've been a real sucka for the 'special offers' 'BOGOFs' and have cleared out my cupboards, I was horrifield to discover plenty of out of date tins/packets etc

This year I aim to: :money:

*shop in sainsbury's
*aim to purchase 'basic' range
*only buy what i need and not discover tins/packets at the back of my
cupboards next year !!!
*Try to stick to a budget (value yet to be decided)

Buffy_the_Vampire_Bat

A word of warning to you all...do not keep Basics air freshener and Basics shaving foam on the same shelf in the bathroom...

Last week I managed to spray air freshener on my legs, and shaving foam in the air...think I might put a dab of different coloured nail varnishes on the lid of each one to make distinguishing between them in a hurry that bit easier

Seriously though, the shaving foam is a new addition to our trolley, and I use it on my legs and underarms no problems. Also loving the diced pork (as others have said it makes great casseroles - I made a lovely one using the pork, some Basics onions/tinned tomatoes/white wine/mixed herbs, and bulb of fennel cut into wedges...the sort of thing you could call "slow cooked pork with fennel" and serves to guests )

tanmu

I use and like:

bin bags
foil
cling film
sandwich bags
toilet rolls
kitchen roll
toilet cleaner
bleach

orange/apple juice
bananas
carrots
mozzarella
tinned toms
kidney beans
sweetcorn
frozen prawns (small, but great for prawn cocktail curries or stir fries)
smoked salmon - good for pasta or sandwiches
avocados
sweet peppers
tomatoes
potatoes (unless the rooster brand are on offer!)
chicken wings - they only sell a basics option
tortilla chips

hubby sometimes buys the salami, peanut butter and crumpets, but I am not a fan and wouldn't buy them personally

sarahdonnelly

Avoid basics cling film, doesn't cling and pieces don't cut on the cutter very well! It's the only bad basics product I've come across so far though.

Cazza79

My partner and I regularly buy the Basics Mushroom Tortelloni. It's very good value for the size of the bag £1.47 (approx) for about 500g when you consider some of the other stuffed pastas on the market. It cooks in 8 minutes, has a nice rich mushroomy flavour and is generally very good value. The meat one is nice too but not as good as the mushroom one!

kingbing

The Tortilla chips are excellent. Real corn flavour and not too much salt or the horrible flavourings that virtually all tortilla chips seem have by law. They are probably closer to real Mexican tortilla chips than any of the more expensive ones.

dbelle

Interesting to see in the first post back in 2008 that the chopped tomatoes were 21p and now they are 35p!

I have noticed that they slowly crept up the prices of Basics as people started buying them more to save money - naughty!