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What’s good in Lidl? (Vs Tesco)

116 replies

rainbowsandraspberrygin · 27/04/2025 20:10

Hi all - first time posting. Going to try Lidl soon as Tesco is just so expensive and I find they don’t always have good offerings for own brands. Examples being, kids snacks and azera type coffee. By snacks I mean own brand biscuits/bear yoyo type things.

what are your must buys?! What should I look out for?

I do love getting a Tesco delivery as it’s less stressful - but could do hybrid!

OP posts:
ouch321 · 28/04/2025 00:26

I thought Tesco price match a lot of Lidl and Aldi prices...

Lidl is known for having a good instore bakery but other than that it's like any supermarket but smaller so selling fewer variants of each product.

4kids3pets · 28/04/2025 01:19

Funny enough a fair few of my family and friends have swapped to be lidls from Tesco in the last month...I personally been going for a couple of years as started to see Tesco and Asda shooting up prices. The price match nowhere near makes up for the expensive other things Tesco do. But I've loved it and based on my friends and familys responses there enjoying getting more for your money. The only thing I have to go elsewhere for is Daz

Wigtopia · 28/04/2025 01:24

Fruit and veg is great, and their hazelnut chocolate is lovely. I’m also a big fan of their Columbia coffee beans - tastes amazing but is also the cheapest I’ve found. Also cheap feta - I think it’s 89p a pack vs £2ish in other supermarkets. Eggs are pretty cheap too, and their flour and sugar are sold in 1.5kg bags rather than 1kg bags so you get a lot more for your money.

can you tell I shop there a lot?!

Annialisting · 28/04/2025 01:27

Salads, fruit and vegetables are good. Their baked in store range is excellent, from bread rolls to apple turnovers. I bought a side of salmon from there recently and it was perfect. Their own range of magnum type ice creams are fabulous.

NeilDiamondsBlowDry · 28/04/2025 01:38

I go especially for their West Country spreadable butter in the small black tub

Roselilly36 · 28/04/2025 03:06

I shop at Lidl, but I think they’re fruit and veg is poor and doesn’t last long, as it isn’t refrigerated in store, I prefer Aldi for fresh fruit and veg.

Guavafish1 · 28/04/2025 03:31

Aldi

fruit and veg are better
bakery is nice
Toiletries, washing and cleaning products are very good
most things are similar … I’m not keen on their cereal and some of their cheaper crisps.

I think the main issue with Aldi for me, is it lacks choices and my locate one runs out of popular items… out of stock.

babyproblems · 28/04/2025 03:59

Am in France not in UK but I think the fruit & veg in Lidl is utterly crap! Here it doesn’t last and the selection is rubbish. 3/4 of the shop is food in packets. Maybe it’s different in the UK I don’t know. The only thing I’ve ever used from Lidl and thought was nice was a hand soap at my mums. It was in a French style bottle and very strong lavender scent! My mum asked if it was the same as the one we have in our downstairs toilet which she remembered as being amazing- it isn’t the same one, the one I had was Diptyque but the fact she thought this one could’ve been the same says something serious about it!!

I think the plants and flowers at Lidl are good sometimes. I suspect in the UK they match Tesco prices mostly anyway!

bigboykitty · 28/04/2025 04:56

Bakery is great, especially the toffee yumyums. The cheeses and yoghurts are good quality. The cloudy apple juice is delicious and the not-from-concentrate OJ. The unsalted packs of nuts and dried fruits are good too. Pretzel and oreo chocolate are both really yum. I agree the ice creams (coffee Italian ice cream 😋) are great and the food from themed weeks is delicious, for example Greek week and the Feta and Spinach filo wheel and my children love the German themed week foods. Wines are really good and well priced - much better than the standard supermarkets. I generally find the quality very good and prices are low. I've rarely bought anything that's been disappointing and when I give friends anti-pasti and snacks, they always ask if I've been to Waitrose. It's worth getting the app for discounts and freebies. Disclaimer - I don't work for Lidl!

rainbowsandraspberrygin · 28/04/2025 06:04

Amazing ideas - thank you. Will reply more later.

Thanks for Aldi tips also. Unfortunately my nearest Aldi is a bit further away - making Lidl more achievable.

OP posts:
ChopstickNovice · 28/04/2025 07:00

I love:

-bakery, especially the pretzels and croissants
-salmon is quite cheap
-steaks

Don't like:

-fruit seems to go off very fast.

rainbowsandraspberrygin · 28/04/2025 08:28

Wigtopia · 28/04/2025 01:24

Fruit and veg is great, and their hazelnut chocolate is lovely. I’m also a big fan of their Columbia coffee beans - tastes amazing but is also the cheapest I’ve found. Also cheap feta - I think it’s 89p a pack vs £2ish in other supermarkets. Eggs are pretty cheap too, and their flour and sugar are sold in 1.5kg bags rather than 1kg bags so you get a lot more for your money.

can you tell I shop there a lot?!

Edited

Thanks for this - good to know about the coffee!!

OP posts:
rainbowsandraspberrygin · 28/04/2025 08:29

ChopstickNovice · 28/04/2025 07:00

I love:

-bakery, especially the pretzels and croissants
-salmon is quite cheap
-steaks

Don't like:

-fruit seems to go off very fast.

Bakery seems to be popular amongst the replies - thanks all. This could help with our snack dilemma!!

OP posts:
rainbowsandraspberrygin · 28/04/2025 08:30

bigboykitty · 28/04/2025 04:56

Bakery is great, especially the toffee yumyums. The cheeses and yoghurts are good quality. The cloudy apple juice is delicious and the not-from-concentrate OJ. The unsalted packs of nuts and dried fruits are good too. Pretzel and oreo chocolate are both really yum. I agree the ice creams (coffee Italian ice cream 😋) are great and the food from themed weeks is delicious, for example Greek week and the Feta and Spinach filo wheel and my children love the German themed week foods. Wines are really good and well priced - much better than the standard supermarkets. I generally find the quality very good and prices are low. I've rarely bought anything that's been disappointing and when I give friends anti-pasti and snacks, they always ask if I've been to Waitrose. It's worth getting the app for discounts and freebies. Disclaimer - I don't work for Lidl!

Great about the juice and nuts. We eat a lot of nuts so that’s good to know. And yogurt.

glad I posted now. Thanks all so much.

OP posts:
rainbowsandraspberrygin · 28/04/2025 08:31

Roselilly36 · 28/04/2025 03:06

I shop at Lidl, but I think they’re fruit and veg is poor and doesn’t last long, as it isn’t refrigerated in store, I prefer Aldi for fresh fruit and veg.

Seems a fruit and veg has mixed reviews. Will go and investigate!

OP posts:
Poonu · 28/04/2025 08:33

bigboykitty · 28/04/2025 04:56

Bakery is great, especially the toffee yumyums. The cheeses and yoghurts are good quality. The cloudy apple juice is delicious and the not-from-concentrate OJ. The unsalted packs of nuts and dried fruits are good too. Pretzel and oreo chocolate are both really yum. I agree the ice creams (coffee Italian ice cream 😋) are great and the food from themed weeks is delicious, for example Greek week and the Feta and Spinach filo wheel and my children love the German themed week foods. Wines are really good and well priced - much better than the standard supermarkets. I generally find the quality very good and prices are low. I've rarely bought anything that's been disappointing and when I give friends anti-pasti and snacks, they always ask if I've been to Waitrose. It's worth getting the app for discounts and freebies. Disclaimer - I don't work for Lidl!

The freshly squeezed OJ is delicious but not cheap at £3/4

EleanorReally · 28/04/2025 08:34

humous
bread
brown sugar
mayonaise
mini mock snickers bars
cheese crackers
pork

RaraRachael · 28/04/2025 08:40

I buy all my fresh meat from Lidl. It's always excellent quality. Also their inshore bakery stuff is good. Their pizzas and fresh pasta are also good value

Pinkerama · 28/04/2025 08:48

I get a weekly Tesco delivery and do a top up shop in Lidl mid week.

Eggs, bread flour, nuts, seeds, frozen salmon, frozen veg (sweetcorn and peas), canned mackerel, canned sweetcorn, chilled pizza bases, yoghurt, halloumi, feta, ice cream, biscuits, crisps, tea bags, Italian week espresso coffee beans, fresh pastries and bread are all cheaper and good quality in Lidl. For kids I get fruit pouches, wipes, bear yoyo type snacks (although I haven’t seen them in store lately) and rice cakes. These are also all good and cheaper than Tesco. The nappies are ok, but not as good as pampers imo. They’re much cheaper so I use them during the day when I change them often, but not at night.

Milk, butter and pasta are the same price in both supermarkets, so I usually get them in my Tesco delivery for convenience.

The fresh fruit and veg are not great in Lidl. Often you find some that are already bad in a bag or punnet. They don’t last very long and often are not tasty (blueberries or mangoes are sour, but if you keep them more than a couple of days they just go off for example). Their ‘green’ bananas are already ripe and then go black very fast, although DH still eats them, so I buy them occasionally.

1apenny2apenny · 28/04/2025 08:49

I’ve gone off Lidl, their fruit and veg is terrible, I’ve found Tesco much better. I also think Aldi is better than Lidl.

bruffin · 28/04/2025 08:50

ouch321 · 28/04/2025 00:26

I thought Tesco price match a lot of Lidl and Aldi prices...

Lidl is known for having a good instore bakery but other than that it's like any supermarket but smaller so selling fewer variants of each product.

The instore bakery in Lidl really isnt good, the danish etc leave a coating of oil on my tongue, really not very nice

Naughtynorma · 28/04/2025 09:10

Their almond croissants are better than any supermarket except Waitrose. My husbands Portuguese colleague rates their pasties de nata and my Spanish and Italian friends shop there for cheese, salami, chorizo and ‘specials’
i always have one of their big jars of grilled red peppers in the cupboard. All my day to day cheese comes from Lidl - Parmesan, feta, strong cheddar. West county block butter, Earl Grey teabags (biodegradable- no plastic)
Their olives are better than Tesco.
Dishwasher tablets and non bio washing powder and liquid are good.
coffee beans are great value.

Naughtynorma · 28/04/2025 09:12

And the other week I impulse bought a Lemon tree!…beware of the random temptations

Annialisting · 28/04/2025 09:51

My salads, fruit and vegetables are always good. I wonder if it depends how busy the shop is?

NeilDiamondsBlowDry · 28/04/2025 13:14

they do a 100% NUTS peanut butter which is a fraction of the price of Pip & Nut and tastes EXACTY the same called Maribel, plus their high fruit conserves are delicious as is most of the chocolate, lovely crackers and they do a scottish all butter shortbread which won a blind taste test . The regional weeks throw up some very interesting products, lovely continental cheeses for example.

i have noticed with the price match in tesco their aus chardonnay is real plonk compared to the Lidl one they are comparing it to. The Hortus small batch gin is also fantastic

random one - the huge roll of white non stick baking paper

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