Food prices: Pasta bake, fish finger supper and spag bol prices surge by over a quarter

Popular family meals such as pasta bake, fish fingers, chips and beans and homemade spaghetti bolognese are among the dishes that have surged by almost a third in price over the course of the year.

For the quick pasta bake for four people, Which? analysed the prices of jars of pasta sauce, packs of penne pasta and cheddar cheese. The consumer body found that across the supermarkets the average cost of the meal had gone from £2.68 (67p per portion) in the three months to the end of May 2022 to £3.39 (85p per portion) for the same period 12 months later – an increase of 27%.

When Which? looked at a regular fish finger supper with chips and beans, it found the overall price went from £3.06 (76p per portion) to £3.79 (95p per portion) – an increase of 24%. This was mainly driven by baked beans which went up by an average of 36%, although there were some baked beans that went up far more than this. HP Baked Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce (415g), for example, went from 54p to 95p at Asda – a hike of 77%.

Read more: UK inflation falls to 8.7% in April but high food prices persist

Frozen chips saw one of the biggest average increases on Which?’s shopping list, at 23%, with some varieties doubling in price. Own brand French Fries (900g) were up from 83p to £1.75 at Sainsbury’s, an increase of 110%. A similar item at Lidl – Harvest Basket French Fries (900g) – went up 99% from 68p to £1.35 during that same time period.

For households who prefer to cook from scratch, Which? also looked at a standard spaghetti bolognese recipe which included beef mince, onion, carrots, stock, garlic, chopped tomatoes and dried spaghetti, as well as olive oil to cook with. The meal went up from £5.53 on average (£1.38 per portion) in the three months to the end of May 2022 to £6.63 (£1.65 per portion) for the same period in 2023, or an extra 20% on average across the eight supermarkets.

Some of the key ingredients saw much bigger increases, however, with own label beef mince 4% fat 500g going from £2.89 at Tesco to £4.60 – an increase of 59%.

Which? head of food policy Sue Davies said: “The cost of food during this period of economic uncertainty has turned the pleasure of mealtimes with loved ones into a nightmare for the millions that are struggling to afford food.

“Supermarkets must put their customers first by stocking budget lines in all of their stores, including convenience stores, to ensure easy access to basic, affordable food ranges as well as provide transparent pricing so people can easily work out which products offer the best value.”

Read more: UK households paying an extra £833 on groceries as food inflation remains high

Which? also looked at a typical Sunday lunch of roast chicken, potatoes, peas, broccoli, carrots and gravy as well as vegetable oil to cook with. It found that while it was the most expensive overall, the increase was 13% – the smallest of the meals included in Which?’s analysis. For a family of four the overall average across the supermarkets in 2022 was £6.43 (£1.61 per portion) increasing to £7.28 (£1.82 per portion).

While vegetable oil (43%) and chicken gravy granules (40%) stood out as having large increases across the supermarkets when Which? looked at individual products, own label Asda Frozen for Freshness Garden Peas 1kg surged from 76p to £1.33 – an increase of 74% over the course of 12 months.

The consumer group analysed the prices of almost 26,000 food and drink products in May for its inflation tracker at eight major supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.

Watch: When will food prices start to fall?

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