I tried mashed potatoes from Tesco, M&S, Aldi, Lidl, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's to see which was best for flavour, convenience and price
05:31, 15 Jan 2026
Mashed potato is the perfect comfort food for the colder months.
In an ideal world, I would make my own mash every time but the reality is that I'm often rushing headfirst into tea time from a busy day juggling work and family life so buying ready made mash is a luxury I feel is well worth it.
Using ready made mash, which takes just a few minutes in the microwave, makes me more likely to whip up a fish pie or cottage pie and it's great to pair with sausages or steak bakes.
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But a single bag of Aunt Bessie's mash doesn't provide enough to feed a family of four so I have to buy two to make it work. At a cost of £3 each, this soon adds up.
I wanted to see if a supermarket own brand could be just as good for a fraction of the price so I bought bags and tubs of mash from Asda, Tesco, M&S, Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury's and Morrisons to see how they compared in terms of price, convenience and flavour.
Aunt Bessie's Mashed Potato
Aunt Bessie's Mashed Potato costs £3 for a 650g bag of frozen mash from Tesco, which works out to 46p per 100g.
It's made with only five ingredients - 83% potatoes, 11% whole milk, 4% butter, salt and white pepper - and contains 143 calories, 3.8g saturated fat, 0.0 sugars and 0.60g salt per serving.
Taking just three minutes to microwave, this one tasted great - really fluffy, soft mash that was ideal with sausages or on top of a fish pie. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars.
Tesco Mashed Potato
Tesco Mashed Potato costs £1.85 for a 900g bag of frozen mash, which works out to 20p for 100g so less than half the price of the Aunt Bessie bag for considerably more.
This one contained more ingredients even though it had a high potato ratio - 88% potatoes, water, concentrated butter, dried whole milk, salt, emulsifier: mono-and diglycerides of fatty acids, turmeric powder and white pepper.
Per serving, it contains 161 calories, 3.6g saturated fat, 1.0 sugars and 0.64g salt.
It took three minutes and 30 seconds to microwave.
This cooked easily and had a good consistency and texture. We served it with steak pie but it would be solid enough to put on top of a fish pie or cottage pie too.
It was nicely seasoned, you could see the pepper flecks in the mash, and it didn't taste at all powdery or processed, it just tasted like real mash. We liked it and gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Morrisons Mashed Potato
Morrisons Mashed Potato costs £1.60 for a 750g bag of frozen mash, which works out to 21p per 100g.
This one had even fewer ingredients - just 83% potatoes, milk, butter and salt.
Per serving, it contains 139 calories, 2.4g saturated fat, 1.5 sugars and 0.49g salt.
It takes three minutes to microwave.
This went very smooth once cooked but it seemed to shrink down considerably.
The flavour was good but the texture was quite cloying in the mouth and I had to add lots of gravy to make it palatable. I gave it 2 out of 5 stars.
Aldi Mashed Potato
Aldi Mashed Potato costs £1.19 for a 700g bag of frozen mash, which works out to 17p per 100g, making it the cheapest of all the mashed potatoes.
Made with 82% potatoes, reconstituted milk, 2% concentrated butter, salt, emulsifier: mono-and diglycerides of fatty acids, turmeric powder and white pepper, it takes four minutes in the microwave to cook.
Per 100g serving, it contains 105 calories, 1.8g saturated fat, 0.9 sugars and 0.69g salt.
This was great - packed with flavour and a nice consistency that gave it a bit of bite. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars.
M&S Mashed Potato
There was no frozen mashed potato in store when I visited M&S so I pumped for a fresh pack of M&S Mashed Potato from the fridge instead.
It cost £1.25 for 450g, which is said to serve two and works out to 28p per 100g, making it the most expensive of all the supermarket own brands.
Made with 93% potatoes, butter, whole milk and salt, it had a four-day shelf life and was suitable for freezing
Per 100g, it contains 89 calories, 1.3g saturated fat, 1g sugar and 0.23g salt.
It takes four to five minutes to heat in the microwave.
It looked really pretty as it had a piped top. Initially, I thought it tasted really creamy and nicely seasoned without even needing to add gravy.
However, after a while, it became a little sickly. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.
Asda Mashed Potato
Asda Mashed Potato costs £2.05 for a 900g bag of frozen mash, which works out to 20p per 100g.
It promises 'heartwarming mash for a real taste of home' and can be microwaved in three and a half minutes.
It's made with 82% potatoes, whole milk, butter oil, salt and black pepper extract.
Per serving, it contains 110 calories, 1.2g saturated fat, 0.6g sugars and 0.33g salt.
This was a nice big bag of mash - great for a cottage pie for a family of four.
It went really smooth upon cooking in the microwave.
The mash was packed with lots of flavour and not too sickly. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
Overall verdict
Whilst we enjoyed the Aunt Bessie frozen mashed potato, there was one we liked just as much and it was actually 29p cheaper per 100g.
That was the Aldi frozen mash. My only criticism would be that it would be better in a slightly bigger bag as 700g is not enough for a family of four but two bags - 1.4kg - is too much so I ended up with half a bag in the freezer.