Whether you're a dipper, a drizzler, or a straightforward salt-and-pepper fan, none of that counts if your chips fail to meet the mark. Crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle - that's all that's required for a proper chip. While big names such as McCain Foods rule the freezer aisle, they come with a hefty price tag.
Fortunately, supermarket own-label options are improving all the time. To determine whether the premium price is genuinely justified, journalist Shania King-Soyza sampled four supermarket frozen chips back-to-back against the well-known McCain brand. One emerged as the clear winner for being crunchy, fluffy and flavourful - and it's £1.60 cheaper than McCain.
Taste test methodFor this chip taste test, Shania visited Sainsbury's, Aldi, Lidl, and Marks & Spencer. She cooked all the frozen chips for an identical length of time, adding extra cooking time only to those brands that required longer in the packet instructions.
The chips were cooked in Shania's deep fat fryer filled with vegetable oil (a neutral-tasting oil) to ensure their natural flavour remained the focal point. Once prepared, she consumed the chips without any additional seasoning or condiment.
After sampling the plain chips, Shania then introduced salt and pepper to boost the taste. As Shania comes from a large family of nine, she invited the children in her household to also take part and offer their opinions.
Below, Shania and her family compiled a ranking out of five based on crispiness, fluffiness, flavour, and visual presentation.
Sainsbury's Stamford Street Food Co chips - 1/5
Coming in at the bottom of this list is Sainsbury's, which had taken Shania by surprise. Given her previous taste tests, including Shania's best supermarket bakery and the best fruit and vegetable aisle rankings, Sainsbury's has consistently been a personal favourite of hers.
Shania has been buying these chips for years, as they are decent value for money (£1.65). Yet when examining their actual worth, these chips fall rather short compared to rival offerings. Shania gave the chips' crispiness a score of one out of five, as there was barely any crunch whatsoever.
Shania's brother simply described them as "stodgy" when discussing its flavour and taste. These chips weren't particularly fluffy either, despite their short and chunky appearance.
In 2023, Sainsbury's replaced its Basics frozen food range with fresh packaging under the Stamford Street Food Co name. Chief Commercial and Sustainability Officer at Sainsbury's, Rhian Bartlett, told the Retail Bulletin: "Our own brand products are becoming more and more important to our customers as the cost of living crisis continues to impact so many households up and down the country.
"This is why we've worked to consolidate and rebrand the Stamford Street range to help our customers more easily find it in stores and online. Offering customers delicious food at affordable prices has been at the heart of Sainsbury's for over 150 years, and this is why I'm so proud to see these products now on shelves."
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Marks & Spencer comes in fourth place with their home-style chips priced at £2.90. The supermarket has built its reputation on delicious flavour and premium quality, which typically justifies its somewhat elevated price point compared to rival stores.
Despite being cheaper than McCain, the quality falls considerably short. In terms of crispiness, M&S chips excel, yet they're lacking in fluffiness.
Appearances can be misleading; visually, these chips look appetising and seem thick. In reality, however, they tasted like an odd, thick French fry owing to their minimal filling. The flavour also disappointed, with the chips tasting as though they'd simply absorbed the fryer oil, unlike their competitors.
According to Ocado, "M&S Homestyle potato chips are made from British potatoes and are coated in a light batter." A bag is supposedly sufficient for up to 10 people, yet filling one medium-sized bowl consumed nearly half the packet.
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Lidl's Harvest Basket Homestyle chips - 3.5/5
Lidl's Harvest Basket brand features a selection of potato products, including chips, hash browns, wedges and more. These chips sit firmly in the middle ground.
At £1.59, these chips deliver a respectable crunch, nearly matching the Marks & Spencer's offering. What sets them apart is their superior fluffiness and flavour. Nevertheless, these chips fail to provide the same overall value as their rivals and proved rather disappointing. If you're on the hunt for a superior chip from this supermarket, their skin-on fries at £1.89 come highly recommended. They may be slightly pricier, but the taste is wonderfully rich and moreish, complementing both ketchup and mayo perfectly.
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Since 1957, "McCain (has) revolutionised the food industry by pioneering the frozen chips market, making it easier for families to enjoy convenient and delicious potato products at home and further popularising the classic fish and chips experience", said the official chip site.
"Using the very best potatoes and a unique crunchy coating, McCain Home Chips are perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, so you can enjoy your favourite potato side at home."
It is plain to see why McCain remains the nation's top chip brand; the fluffiness of these chips is akin to biting into a cloud. The gloriously soft interior earned a five out of five. Where these chips fall short, however, is in their crispiness. McCain delivers a decent crunch, but at £3.20 per bag, there is room for improvement.
The flavour was perfectly acceptable, yet lacked the wow factor of the overall winner. Visually, though, they look premium and are incredibly tempting. Shania's nephew kept reaching for more despite her protests to save room for the remaining brands. Shania had fully expected these to take the top spot, but nothing could have prepared her for what came next.
Overall marks:
Shania lives next door to six supermarkets, all within a short stroll of one another, yet she rarely visits Aldi because she tend to favour the quality and value offered elsewhere. However, Shania now feels obliged to rethink this stance after sampling Aldi's frozen chips. These chips were utterly delicious, with the first mouthful catching her completely off guard as Shania and her family exclaimed "whoa, that's good".
The crunch on the chips was genuinely impressive, delivering just the right level of crispiness with every bite. While not quite as crispy as its rivals, such as Marks & Spencer and Lidl, Shania still awarded it four out of five. The chips also boasted a wonderful fluffiness.
McCain provided a superior, fluffier chip, but theirs was so chunky it resembled more of a roasted potato; whereas Aldi's Four Seasons struck the ideal balance between fluff and crunch that the other brands simply couldn't match.
According to Open Food Facts, these chips are comprised of "potatoes 91%, sunflower oil 5%, modified potato starch, rice flour, dextrin, salt, raising agents (diphosphates, sodium carbonates), dextrose, maltodextrin, paprika extract, curcuma powder, thickener (xanthan gum)".
The taste of these potatoes genuinely distinguishes them from the competition. Shania believes it is the inclusion of paprika and curcumin powder that delivers a more-ish flavour to these chips without overwhelming them. Much like the M&S chips, this Aldi bag is visually impressive, boasting long, generously thick-cut chips that appear gloriously golden. All things considered, Aldi delivers the ultimate all-round chip for £1.45, earning it the top spot.
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