Gluten Free Staples: Price Comparison Of The Big Brands

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!**

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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.

LOAF	Price/ Loaf	Weight of a Slice	Price per Slice
Asda	£1.50	38g	11p
Tesco	£1.80	37g	12p
Warburtons	£1.59	27g	14p
Sainsburys	£1.80	44g	15p
Genius	£2.50	36g	17p
Juvela	£2.80	29g	20p
Schar	£2.50	25g	21p
Promise	£3.00	40g	25p
Morrisons	£1.80	47g	30p
Bfree	£3.00	40g	30p

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!

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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…

Brand	per 100g
Morrisons	12p
Lidl*	19p
Asda	20p
Tesco	20p
Marks	20p
Sainsburys	25p
Coop	31p
Waitrose	38p
FREEE	50p
Barrila	63p
Garofalo	75p

*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.

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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!)

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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.

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Flour

Here’s a comparison of some different brands

Brand	Price 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.

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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!!

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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)

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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