What’s good in Lidl? (Vs Tesco)

[rainbowsandraspberrygin]

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!

The Greek yoghurt is brilliant. Not the Greek-style so much, but the proper Greek is amazing.

The Somerset Crunchy Vintage Cheddar 😘👌

The 'loose' vine tomatoes, my goodness...

I think their whole XL chickens are exceptionally good

We recently tried the frozen 'luxury' pies and they were okay. They certainly weren't Pieminster, but they're only a quarter of the price...

Beef and stilton (2 pack)
Chicken and leek (1 two person pie)

I buy avocados all the time and they are great 9+ times/10. Agree the large vine tomatoes are lovely. Tbf all the fruit/veg in mine is great but my sister says her store is awful/disorganised etc so I think there can be local differences

Personally have never got on with doing the weekly shop at Lidl.Fruit and Veg and the own brand cereal bars and crisps awful quality (biscuits fine to be fair!) Always seems to be something out of stock that I need.
Have tried switching on several occasions and gone back to Tesco every time.
I'm not a fan of doing a hybrid thing and having to go to multiple places though, so if you are willing to do that you might be OK.

I did buy other stuff but none of it was that great, but the things i mentioned were particularly bad.
But there doesnt seem much choice of anything really . I am adventurous in what i will try and eat, there is very little food i dislike. Just find Lidl very limited in choice, i get more choice in our local Turkish supermarket and which has much more choice of fruit and veg.

@WinterOnItsWayOut yes it is very store dependant we have the store from hell nearby, the baskets look as though they have been used as waste bins and the store smells like soured milk and rotting meat I did actually complain and I saw one of the staff doing her weekly shop in the new Aldi nearby so she must know how rank it is, on the other hand near my workplace there is a brand new store with the diffused lighting and clean fridges and clean floor tiles and it’s a nice relaxed shopping experience and very well stocked

They do bigger packs of chicken thigh fillets which are better value than tesco…
The JD Gross dark chocolate is lovely.
The creamy natural yoghurt is very good too.

I like Lidl but you do have to be careful with the age of the fruit and veg. I was on auto-pilot today and bought a box of 6 lemons - one was mouldy (and the box was transparent, so I could have checked it underneath).

It's great for all things soap/cosmetics. These are all pretty much the same anyway, whether you pay £0.99 or £7.99 for a bottle of shower gel. I buy a litre of bubble bath for about 90p and decant it into a shower gel bottle. Their 4-ply toilet paper is pretty good too.

Ketchup was one of the very few things where I used to buy the branded product. Then I was getting some chips one day at a van and it had Lidl brand ketchup ("Kania", I think). Couldn't tell the difference from Heinz, so that's £3 a bottle saved now.

avocados are definitely more disappointing now

i got rid of the lidl plus as all i seemed to get was a free bakery goods, and at least other shops give a better loyalty card

@samarrange Lidl own brand sauces are Batts.

I just checked our ketchup bottle and it's made with 170g of tomatoes for 100g of finished product. Heinz is only 148g (so worse quality).

greek yogurt
cooked meats
washing powder

I only buy fruit and vegetables if I will be eating them very soon.

I always buy their washing powder, it’s excellent value and does the job.

I also buy their own brand of dog food pouches. My dog loves them and they are a fraction of the price I was paying from a pet food store.

These are the best for me:
Pork mince- the best!!! (Tried every supermarket)
Cheese
Sanitary towels and daily pads
Kitchen roll, toilet paper
Jams
Eggs
Bakery
Garlic bread
Popcorns (3× in blue or red box)

Wholegrain mustard, cheaper stock cubes, better selection of nuts/dried fruit. Some seasonal sweet stuff - nougat, stuffed dates, etc

Does anyone remember if Lidl carries actual Yorkshire Tea brand tea? I need to get some more this week and wondering if I should hit Iceland instead.

ETA: Sometimes Iceland isn’t the cheapest for a number of items anymore, at least locally.

Hi - yes it does and I’ve just realised I forgot to update the thread.

I’ve only been a few times due to timings and life!! Which was my worry tbh.

I’ve found Lidl great for coffee (azera style), kids crisps and snacks, household items and yogurt. That’s it so far as i didn’t get far and had a child in tow.

I did notice that their fruit and veg looked very good and a great selection of nuts and herbs too.

thanks to all who advised - I will need to go back again!!