Britain’s best budget bakery aisle revealed: you, your £5, and six supermarkets—who gives value?

One trolley. A tight budget. We sampled pastries, bread and treats to find where your pound stretches furthest.

Armed with prices, portions and a sweet tooth, we compared bakery aisles at Lidl, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons. We looked for freshness, variety, nostalgia bakes, and straight-up value. One chain nudged ahead. Another failed to show up to the fight.

How the bake-off was judged

• Value per item: headline prices and real portion size.
• Range: pastries, loaves, doughnuts, cakes and seasonal specials.
• Freshness: texture on the shelf and time-of-day availability.
• Originality: twists on classic British bakes and new ideas.
• Convenience: layout, concessions and ready-packaged options.

Lidl’s bakery is a phenomenon: around 122 croissants a minute and one jam doughnut each second fly through tills.

The rankings at a glance

Store-by-store: what you get for your pound

Aldi: the bakery that isn’t always there

Aldi’s strength is cut-to-the-bone pricing on basics. That model shows in bakery. Many stores still have no dedicated fresh counter. Where shelves exist, you’ll find loaves and a small pastry run, but seasonal specials felt thin. The choice can look cramped, and favourites like “school cake” weren’t on show during our visit.

Aldi has trialled in‑store bakeries in select locations since 2018, with limited UK expansion in 2024—roll‑out remains uncertain.

If you want a cheap sliced loaf, you’re sorted. If you want range or a treat-led browse, this isn’t the stop.

M&S: gorgeous bakes, jolting prices

M&S presents bakery like a jewel box. It smells right. It looks right. Then the shelf tickets bite. Plenty of lines sit between £1.50 and £2.30, with a 50p bread roll at the lower end and a single almond croissant at £2.60. The flavour rarely misses. The weekly budget does.

Pick up a Yumnut or white chocolate all‑butter biscuits if you’re treating yourself. For a full basket of bakes, you’ll pay.

Asda: dependable, but playing it safe

Asda evokes nostalgia: muffins for the drive home, iced rings by the dozen, and a familiar Krispy Kreme pod in many stores. At 6pm on a weekday, shelves were still sensibly stocked and the caramel and pecan bun offered a welcome twist on the usual iced roll.

The range hits the basics well. It just doesn’t deliver a “must‑grab” hero that pulls it up the table. Reasonable value, sensible choice, limited flair.

Lidl: social media stars with a freshness caveat

Lidl’s bakery pulls crowds with bold, photogenic bakes and tight pricing. The numbers tell the story, with croissants and jam doughnuts racing out at eye‑watering speed. Trend spins such as the chocolate cronut keep it lively and help drive impulse buys.

Pro tip for freshness: reach for trays at the back when shelves look tired—later bakes often sit there.

On test, a few items felt tougher by evening, and the pre‑packed section looked plain compared with the warm counter. Still, the value-per-smile ratio remains strong.

Sainsbury’s: the taste of British comfort

Sainsbury’s nails the classics. School cakes. Tea cakes. Butter flapjacks. Apple turnovers. Gingerbread men. Add rolls, baguettes, sliced loaves and naan, and you get a very complete shop. Seasonal bakes—think spooky biscuits now, snowy bites next—help it feel current without losing its roots.

Consumer polling puts Sainsbury’s mid‑pack overall, yet the bakery feels top-tier for familiarity and breadth. On another day, this could have taken the crown. Today, a rival edged it on value and invention.

Morrisons: value, ideas and a quiet pricing sting for rivals

Morrisons wins because it stacks strong pricing with creative spins. There’s no need for a staffed pick‑and‑mix when the aisles carry depth. Chilled desserts include a generous strawberry trifle at £2.25—less than a single M&S almond croissant, and far more filling. Small bites push playful takes on British favourites, such as jam mini teacakes with a strawberry‑marshmallow centre.

Six pastries or rolls for £2 makes each just 33p—pound‑stretching that undercuts many rivals.

The raspberry croissant two‑pack at £1.89 stands out. You get the jammy hit you expect from a doughnut, but with lighter, flaky layers. It tastes patisserie without the patisserie price tag.

What this means for your weekly shop

• Chasing variety on a budget: Morrisons gives breadth and strong multibuy deals.
• Craving British classics: Sainsbury’s curates the nostalgia hits in one sweep.
• Impulse treats and trends: Lidl serves viral bakes that feel fun and affordable.
• Premium pick‑me‑ups: M&S remains the splurge stop, not the everyday basket filler.
• Back‑to‑basics bread: Aldi covers essentials but won’t satisfy a sweet selection hunt.
• One‑stop family top‑ups: Asda stays practical, with steady stock into the evening.

Timing, freshness and waste

Arrive in late morning for the best overlap of fresh trays and full range. Evening shops can work, but scan for sheen and spring: a fresh doughnut glistens; a croissant should flex and flake. If bakery looks tired, pivot to pre‑packed or chilled desserts to avoid disappointment.

Freeze surplus buns and pastries the day you buy them. Reheat croissants at 170°C for six to eight minutes from room temperature to revive crispness. Day‑old bread turns into excellent croutons or breadcrumbs—stretch every penny.

Price checks that change behaviour

Anchoring matters. A single £2.60 croissant at a premium store makes a £1.89 two‑pack elsewhere look like a steal. Shoppers respond to these contrasts. When your budget is £5, choosing the right aisle can double your treats without lowering quality.

£5 at the winner buys a multibuy and a dessert. £5 at the priciest counter may buy just two items.

Set a simple rule: compare per‑item and per‑pack prices before you reach for the tongs. Keep a mental shortlist of two bargains you trust in each store, so you can switch shops without losing value.

Seasonal swings and what to watch next

Seasonal lines can mask price rises. A themed biscuit at “introductory” pricing may vanish by January. Track the core items you buy weekly—rolls, a standard doughnut, a basic croissant—and build your value map around them. For Aldi shoppers, keep an eye on branches adding a bakery bay. For Lidl fans, watch freshness late in the day. For M&S loyalists, use targeted treats to avoid basket creep.

If you feed a crowd, calculate cost per bite. Six pastries for £2 at Morrisons feeds a family for pennies, while a single‑serve premium pastry tilts the budget fast. Mix one hero treat with a few low‑cost fillers and you get the win: smiles, variety and change left in your pocket.