Ketchup is widely used on various dishes, especially with chips, burgers, sausages and sandwiches. With many ketchup brands on the market, I wanted to see if and how they differed from one another.

I blind taste tested ketchups from supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, M&S and Waitrose to see which one was my favourite. Heinz and Hellmann’s were also thrown into the taste test to see if I could spot the branded versions, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Lidl — £1.05 for 650g

I immediately liked this ketchup as it wasn’t too sweet nor too strong and had a good consistency. I was pleasantly surprised to find out this one was Lidl’s, and for the price, I’ll definitely be buying this again.

Lidl’s ketchup contains less sugar than Heinz and is far superior, with a delicate tomato taste running through it.

Rating: 10/10

Morrisons — £90p for 450g

Morrisons was second in the blind taste test, and initial hopes were high after seeing a rich red colour and thick consistency.

However, despite its good consistency, it had too much of a tang and was a little too strong for a condiment.

Rating: 5/10

Waitrose — 95p for 470g

Waitrose’s ketchup had an initial tang that I wasn’t so keen on, but mellowed into a lovely tomato taste.

I think it could’ve been slightly stronger in taste as it was quite mild, but if you don’t like strong sauces, this is perfect.

Rating: 6/10

Heinz — £2.50 for 460g

The most expensive ketchup in the taste test, I thought I could spot Heinz’s ketchup a mile away, but I was so wrong.

Compared to the sauces prior, this sauce was way too sweet for my taste buds and tasted a little flavourless. I was so surprised when I found out this was the ketchup I had been eating my whole life, but I found Lidl’s much tastier, personally.

Rating: 3/10

Asda — £1 for 550g

My boyfriend, who was adamant it was a branded version, explained that it had a lovely flavour and consistency.

I also found Asda’s condiment pleasant and thought it worked well with fries, but found it to be slightly tangy.

Rating: 8/10

Aldi — 89p for 650g

Despite its bargain price, this wasn’t enough to justify the super sweet, tangy taste it left in our mouths. It was slightly watery in consistency and wasn’t very pleasant.

It also made me cough as it hit the back of my throat due to its tang. However, if you like a super sweet ketchup, you may find Aldi’s one nice.

Rating: 1/10

Sainsbury’s — 90p for 460g

I have tried this ketchup in the past and remembered that I found it to have too much of a tang and tasted a lot like vinegar.

Whilst I didn’t hate it this time around, it definitely wasn’t my favourite nor one I would be reaching for.

Rating: 4/10

Tesco — £1 for 555g

Whilst my boyfriend found Tesco’s ketchup to be fairly pleasant, I found it to be way too overpowering and way too sweet.

I also wasn’t a huge fan of the consistency, as it was quite runny and dripped off the chip.

Rating: 3/10

Marks and Spencer — £1 for 495g

Despite being the most excited to try the M&S ketchup, we were both disappointed when we found out it was this one after the taste test.

It was way too thick and tangy to be a ketchup, and we both agreed it would work great as a relish in a burger instead.

Rating: 2/10

Hellman’s — £2 for 473g

Hellman’s was slightly cheaper than Heinz but still expensive compared to supermarket brands. It was super tasty with a good balance of flavours, so much so that I thought it was Heinz, and I have been using this ever since, along with Lidl’s ketchup.

It has a nice squeezy bottle too, which I didn’t think made a huge difference, but it does when it comes to how much ketchup comes out.

Rating: 8/10

Thoughts:

Of course, all condiment flavours are down to personal preference, and whilst I preferred a slightly more savoury taste, others may love a sweet-tasting ketchup.

However, it was Lidl that took the top spot in the ranking, thanks to its flavour, consistency, and bargain price.

I was also gutted to not recognise Heinz’s ketchup and realised I may have only been purchasing it due to it being a well-known brand, but I think I will be converted to other ones from now on.