Sainsbury's Basics good/bad items

his_missus

I've tried a lot of the basics fruit and veg, does me fine. The basics dried pasta shapes were as god as branded and don't mind the cartons of choped tomatoes. I once tried the 9p (now 19p I think) curry sauce, urgh! Luckily at 9p, it was an inexpensive lesson learnt!

Patr100

The basics bananas in the pack are often fine but do check if the loose ones are acceptable to you - not too green or ripe etc - as they actually work out cheaper!

keicar

his_missus wrote: »

I've tried a lot of the basics fruit and veg, does me fine. The basics dried pasta shapes were as god as branded and don't mind the cartons of choped tomatoes. I once tried the 9p (now 19p I think) curry sauce, urgh! Luckily at 9p, it was an inexpensive lesson learnt!

Funny that we buy the 9p curry sauce to quickly heat in the microwave and pour over our chips, cheaper and as tasty as the chippy! And I don't feel bad about throwing away the waste. My OH sterilises the jars for her jam!

peacock

Patr100 wrote: »

The basics bananas in the pack are often fine but do check if the loose ones are acceptable to you - not too green or ripe etc - as they actually work out cheaper!

How do you find they are cheaper? I always check how much the basics pack would cost if they were loose, and for the last several months it has been much cheaper to buy loose! (eg today a bag is £1.15 and by weight is 75p)

poodledoodledoo

Basics Instant Custard Powder - AWFUL STUFF!!! It has a really strong artificial vanilla flavour and is completely inedible. Asda Smartprice version vastly superior

LoneRifle

looks like the Basics Christmas items are currently in season. Amongst other things I've spotted a yule log, iced fruit cake, Christmas pudding and mince puffs (mince pies substitute). More info can be found at http://backtosainsburysbasics.blogspot.com

T2010

The sponge pud is lovely both choc and syrup. Together with the tinned custard...excellent combination!

T2010

Noticed that Basics beans are now more expensive than Branstons. This is a first...Basic Beans more expensive than a "well known" brand. Basics beans 34p..Branstons multi pack works out 33.33p each.

Patr100

Tried the sausage rolls - cheap but hardly any meat. virtually all pastry.

dasophster

The good (all products mentioned are basics even if I didn't write it in front)....

Tinned basics Red Kidney beans-amazing and even though it says on tin they are split beans all the ones in the tin I used were whole and in perfect condition. Will never buy any other tinned kidney beans again as even wholesale they cost 2x-3x as much as these.

Tinned basics fruit cocktail-fruit cocktail generally is a bit naff but this one is the same quality as any other tinned fruit cocktail with nice sized fruit pieces and tastes lovely

Tinned basics sliced peaches-identical to 'leading brand' but much much cheaper

Basics cornflakes-taste perfectly fine and acceptable and the same if not better than any other own brand cornflakes, unless you're a stickler for kelloggs then try these. Just bear in mind as they come in a bag you need to find the one that hasn't been crushed into powder in the shop

Basics double strength squash-not too keen on the orange but Apple and Blackcurrant is fine, tastes like the Robinsons version but without the nasty aspartame and acesulfame K

Basics white sliced bread- surprisingly ok for 45p, not too soft which I actually prefer as I find 'premium' types of white sliced bread too doughy and soggy

Basics 2.5kg potatoes in bag-great, very fresh potatoes and would not use any others now. They are a different variety every week, all with a different flavour and cooking properties. I use them to make wedges and baked potatoes and to put into stews.

Basics UHT skimmed milk-tastes just like semi-skimmed, I could not believe it! Will not be buying semi skimmed uht anymore

Basics multivitamins-provide decent levels of all vitamins and at 80p for 90 days supply you really can't complain!

Leaf salad-very nice

Frozen fish fingers-much better than some premium brands and more kid-sized which is good

Less good stuff....

White pitta-great and ideal size for kids, the price does keep edging up though and my local branch rarely stocks these

frozen pizza-these are quite nice and quite low in salt and fat/calories for pizza but the cheese burns easily

sultanas-hit and miss sometimes they are lovely and juicy other times they are all stuck together in a big, dry clump

crunchy salad-like cheap kebab shop salad