Gluten Free Staples: Price Comparison Of The Big Brands

1st October 2019
Blog post
We all know that living on a gluten free diet is expensive. So, I’ve had a little shop around to see if I can save you a bit of money on your weekly shop!!

Hopefully it’ll provide some cheaper gluten free options for you too!

**All the prices were checked mid Sept 2020. They do not include any deals or offers. Prices of some brands vary from one supermarket to another, but not by a lot!**


Bread

The BIGGEST bug bear amongst the gluten free community. Lets be honest, I’m never going to get close to the “regular” bread price, but you might be surprised at the disparity between brands.

All of the loaves have different weights & number of slices so I’ve worked out the PRICE PER SLICE and ordered them from cheapest to most expensive.

All prices for white loaf.

LOAFPrice/ LoafWeight of a SlicePrice per Slice
Asda £1.5038g11p
Tesco £1.8037g12p
Warburtons £1.5927g14p
Sainsburys £1.8044g15p
Genius £2.5036g17p
Juvela £2.8029g20p
Schar £2.5025g21p
Promise £3.0040g25p
Morrisons £1.8047g30p
Bfree £3.0040g30p

Verdict:

  • Jess, you need to stop looking at the loaf price and start thinking about the price per slice!! Before, I’d have thought Morrisons loaf would have been the cheaper gluten free option at only £1.80 but its joint most expensive if you look at how much you’re actually paying for a slice!!
  • I prefer a couple of the more expensive brands (e.g Promise) but maybe I should only use them for sandwiches and stick to a cheaper brand for toast/breadcrumbs etc.

Note: that the nutritional values vary from one brand to the next too so worth having a look at those too when you’re deciding!


Pasta

Second biggest bug bear!

So, what’s the benchmark? A 1kg bag of non-gluten free fusilli pasta from Tesco costs 10p per 100g. Lets see how close we can get…

Brandper 100g
Morrisons12p
Lidl*19p
Asda20p
Tesco20p
Marks20p
Sainsburys25p
Coop31p
Waitrose38p
FREEE50p
Barrila63p
Garofalo75p

*I think Lidl only have a spaghetti, not a fusilli but I had to include it because everyone really rates it.

Verdict:

  • Cheap & cheerful: Morrisons is the one!! Very close to the price of “normal pasta”
  • Closest to the real deal: I think you’ve got to pay up and get Barilla or Garofalo. What’s the difference? The pasta is cut through a metal-formed die to give it a rough edge & allow the pasta sauce to stick to it! You can tell the difference but it comes with an expensive price tag.
  • I have a bag of each in the cupboard. Supermarket own for normal days, posh stuff when I’m having a treat 😉

If you’re trying to save the pennies, AVOID the lentil/pea based pastas!!! They tend to cost significantly more.


Cereal

Get out the gluten free aisle!!! Did you know lots of “own brand” cereals in the normal section are naturally gluten free??? This one will save you a fortune!! Here’s some examples. They have all been checked on the Coeliac UK app as of 23/9/2020.

Asda Own>Corn Flakes
>Honey Nut Corn Flakes
>Frosted Flakes
>Rice Snaps
Morrisons Own>Corn Flakes
>Honey Nut Corn Flakes
>Frosted Flakes
>Rice Crackles
>Choco Crackles
Waitrose Own>Rice Pops
>Corn Flakes
Tesco Own>Corn Flakes
>Honey Nut
>Frosted Flakes
>Rice Snaps

** NOTE Tesco’s recently removed all of their products from the Coeliac UK app. They’ve added some back, but the cereals have been left off. On twitter, they’ve been telling everyone the recipes have not changed but I haven’t been able to verify this with Coeliac UK so eat at your own risk!!

Sainsbury’s – sadly you will have to stick to the gf aisle here. I couldn’t find any suitable items in the normal section (correct me if I’m wrong!)

Quick note on Barley Malt Extract – most of the cereals above contain barley malt extract but at levels below 20ppm and therefore coeliac safe (although not suitable if you have a separate barley allergy). If you want more info how to find out if barley malt extract is gluten free, read my blog post here.


Flour

Here’s a comparison of some different brands

BrandPrice per kg (self raising)
Lidl£1.29
Sainsburys£1.50
Asda£1.50
FREEE by Doves Farm£1.70

Verdict:

  1. The price of FREEE varies a lot from store to store. Plenty of places (e.g. Tesco) sells it for £1.70 but Planet Organic sells it for £2.50. Shop around!!!
  2. I bake a lot so I buy the wholesale 16kg bags of flour on the Doves Farm FREEE website. In my opinion, its the best flour but if you’re not a regular baker, I’d just go with a supermarket own brand.

Dairy Free Cheese

You’d think I had shares in this product given the amount of times I’ve gone on about it…but ASDA FREE FROM MOZZARELLA!! Its £2 for a grated bag vs Violife at £2.50 for grated or £2.30 for a block

What about the other supermarkets? Tescos £2, Sainsburys £2.50, Waitrose £2.35, etc etc… But honestly, I only rate Asda’s own and Violife so don’t waste your money and stick to those!!


Dairy Free Milk

Don’t buy it from the fridge. Get long life. Its the same thing!!

I watched a programme called Supershoppers – 26th May and found out that the fridge milk is exactly the same product as the long-life, just with a different carton, shorter shelf life and higher price.

Example: Alpro Almond: Fresh £1.80, Long life £1.50. Alpro Soya: Fresh £1.40, Long Life £1.50. (prices from Asda)


Hope this has been helpful! If you’ve got any other brands/products you’d like me to add, please shout!

I think this post might help with some cheaper gluten free options too: Click here for my “Gluten Free On A Budget Tips!”

Jess x

1 Comments

  • Ann-Marie Gallagher

    12th February 2021 at 5:14 pm

    Dear Jessica,

    Thank you for the valuable information you’ve shared. It’s so very helpful.

    Ann-Marie x

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