I compared supermarket bakeries—there was a clear winner

During your weekly shop, there’s nothing like walking by the bakery aisle to glance at sweet treats while getting a whiff of freshly baked bread. Each supermarket offers a different range of pastries, bread, doughnuts, cakes, and more, but not all stores offer the best quality, value for money, and both unique and traditional options. 

6. Aldi 

Ranking (a well-deserved) last place is Aldi. As much as I love this supermarket, it is only really good for affordable household essentials and not premium food. Unlike its competitors, Aldi lacks a fresh bakery section in most stores.

According to the Foodie, most Aldi stores “don’t feature a butcher or fishmonger onsite, nor a deli or a bakery. Aldi claims that its relatively small stores lead to fewer products, less waste, greater efficiency, and more savings.”

However, “in 2018, Aldi began test-driving in-store bakeries, with a smattering of U.S. locations that included select stores. And in 2024, select British Aldi stores began adding bakeries as well. Word is still out on whether the chain plans to widely expand this feature.”

My local Aldi doesn’t feature a fresh bakery section, so when I walked into the store, I wasn’t expecting a French patisserie, but I also wasn’t prepared for the lack of options. The bakery section even felt smaller than the last time I visited, with items such as the popular school cakes being missing. 

The store mainly offered different breads, with a small section for cakes, doughnuts, pastries, and other snacks. It also lacked any new seasonal options that its competitors had. Unfortunately, due to its small selection, Aldi was destined to be last—and it was a waste of a visit.

5. M&S

It pains me the most to put Marks and Spencer so low on the list, as I love this supermarket so much. From its aesthetically pleasing interior to its vast selection of high-quality goods, heading into any M&S feels like stepping into foodie heaven. 

However, compared to the other chains, the store is quite pricey. The majority of the freshly baked items were priced between £1.50 and £2.30, and very rarely were items priced below £1. The cheapest good was a bread roll for 50p.

My biggest shock was discovering that one almond croissant costs £2.60. It just seems outrageous to shop frequently at M&S… no matter how delicious their products are. 

If you fancy treating yourself to a baked good at the superstore, then I suggest trying a Yumnut (a hybrid between a yum yum and a doughnut) or the white chocolate all-butter cookies. Try to resist purchasing much else, though, unless you’re prepared to break the bank.

4. Asda

Asda has a special place in my heart as it was my mum’s go-to supermarket when I was growing up. I especially adored walking past the medium-sized bakery section, where we would pick up blueberry muffins and a dozen iced ring doughnuts. 

Despite being the UK’s third-leading supermarket, Asda failed to impress customers, coming joint last for in-store shopping, according to a recent survey conducted by Which?. The watchdog revealed: “Several customers told us their local stores often have bare shelves and unmanned checkouts.”

I visited the supermarket around 6 pm on a weekday, and I was surprised to see plenty of baked goods still on the shelves. The selection always hits the sweet spot of having a great pastry, bread and cake ratio. Just like most supermarkets, Asda featured a Krispy Kreme section. 

But I was mostly drawn to these caramel and pecan buns, which were a great alternative to the basic cinnamon roll or ice bun. There were also Halloween and Christmas-themed snacks at a decent price.

However, I wasn’t really blown away by any of the options there. The selection was decent but smaller than its competitors and offered nothing extraordinary.

3. Lidl 

Lidl is extremely popular and is the normal “go-to” winner due to its affordable prices and unique variety. I have to admit, the display always looks so enticing that you cannot help but have a look and buy something.

According to a report made by the Grocery Gazette in 2024: “Lidl has been crowned the most popular supermarket bakery, selling an average of 122 croissants every minute and one jam doughnut every second.

“Lidl’s bakery also has been boosted by social media-inspired innovations, such as its ‘Chocolate Cronut’—a combination of a doughnut and a croissant—which sold once every two seconds.”

I have to admit that walking past the pack of powdered jam doughnuts was a difficult task, but the star of the show is the toffee-filled yum yums. However, I felt the selection could have been a bit bigger and featured more “classical” British foods, but each branch is different, so maybe my store just had fewer options.

I also noticed that certain foods were stale and hard. I recommend reaching for the goods furthest to the back as they are the freshest. Lidl also loses points as its pre-packaged bakery section featured rather plain and boring options. 

2. Sainsbury’s

I’m a massive Sainsbury’s fan, and its bakery section is proof of why. No other supermarket feels more quintessentially British than this one.

From school cakes, tea cakes, all-butter flapjacks, apple turnovers and gingerbread men, you can find all of your favourite, nostalgic and classical snacks at Sainsbury’s. The store offers a large selection of pastries, doughnuts, snack bites, and cookies.

Adjacent is an equally sized bread range with rolls, baguettes, sliced loaves, and naan. You can also find festive treats, such as the Halloween Witches Brew cookies and the Christmas snowy yule log bites. 

According to the Which study that compared the best to worst supermarkets, Sainsbury’s ranked sixth. The watchdog said: “Sainsbury’s put in a solid performance in our customer satisfaction survey.

“The UK’s second-largest supermarket is joint third for online grocery shopping and mid-table for in-store.” It was tough deciding not to rank the retailer first, but Morrisons had the edge. 

1. Morrisons

Morrisons has taken the top spot for the best supermarket bakery for me. Although it doesn’t have a fresh section where you can hand-pick individual pastries or bread, the bakery is so vast and big that it doesn’t need one. 

Every store has a fridge section dedicated to chilled sweet treats, but Morrisons offers a bigger and better range for the value of money, such as their large cup of Strawberry trifle, which costs just £2.25.

That’s cheaper than the M&S almond croissant (and more filling). Their small bites snack range is the biggest I’ve ever seen, and adds a delicious twist on classic British treats like their jam mini teacakes with strawberry marshmallow in the centre, giving them the edge over Sainsbury’s.

My biggest recommendation is the fresh raspberry croissant, which costs £1.89 (you get two in a pack). It tasted just like a jam doughnut, but less heavy and doughy. The flavoursome jam was the star of the show against the flaky and buttery pastry. 

This snack is almost too good to be in supermarkets; biting into it feels as if I stepped into France and purchased a freshly made croissant. Without exaggerating, I dream about this croissant every day.

It’s so unique yet underrated compared to the Yumnut at M&S and the Cronut at Lidl. Bethan Shufflebotham, a reviews journalist from Manchester Evening News, released a similar supermarket bakery ranking in 2022.

Speaking of Morrisons, she said: ” It was Morrisons bakery where I felt there was the most originality, choice, and value, and I managed to get eight items for under £5. The supermarket has an offer where you can pick up six pastries or rolls for £2, making each one 33p each – even cheaper than Lidl.”