Asda has regained its crown as Britain's cheapest supermarket for a big shop, taking back the crown from its major rival Tesco.

A basket of 228 items at Asda was £574.26 last month, which was £10.89 cheaper than a shop at Tesco with a Clubcard, according to consumer group Which?

Asda had been consistently the cheapest supermarket for a big shop since December 2024, until Tesco took the title in February. 

Without a Clubcard, the same shop at Tesco jumped to £625.10, an eye-watering difference of £40.15.

Sainsbury's showed competitive pricing for its Nectar members, with the large shop costing £591.32. However, for those without a Nectar card, the price climbed to £638.24, making it 11 per cent more expensive than Asda.

Waitrose remained the most expensive for the big shop at £653.17, which is £78.91 (14 per cent) more than the same shop at Asda.

Aldi and Lidl are not included in the comparison of 228 items because the German discounters have a smaller range of products compared to the other supermarkets.

Aldi retained its title as Britain's cheapest supermarket, holding off its competitor Lidl by just 99p.

A basket of 95 items at Aldi cost around £171.32 on average, narrowly more expensive than its rival at £172.41 .

However shoppers using Lidl's reward system Lidl Plus would be able to bridge the gap to 172.31.

Which?'s analysis showed Asda took third place for the smaller shop at £193.37, comfortably beating Tesco with a Clubcard (£198.07).

Waitrose was once again the most expensive supermarket for a smaller list, totalling £235.70 - a staggering 38 per cent (£64.38) more expensive than Aldi.

The list of 95 items included both branded and own-brand items, such as Birds Eye Peas, Hovis bread, milk and butter.

The analysis includes special offer prices and loyalty prices where applicable, but not multibuys.

Reena Sewraz, Which? Retail Editor, said: 'Aldi continues to be the king of the small shop, but this month we've seen Asda pip Tesco with a Clubcard to the post for a larger list of groceries.

'Our data shows that loyalty schemes like Clubcard and Nectar continue to play a huge role in pricing, but it's important to remember that some retailers, like Asda and Aldi, are offering these low prices to everyone, regardless of whether they have a card or not.

'With the cost of living still a major factor for UK households, being selective about where you shop for different types of trips can save you over £70 a month.'

The data is based on availability across supermarkets each month, taken from its longer list of just over 200 items of some of the UK's most popular groceries.

The list of 200 generally remains unchanged from month to month, other than being occasionally changed to reflect consumer shopping habits - as it was last month.

But Which? never shares the full list of products with retailers because it wants to avoid any attempt to skew the results.

For each supermarket, Which? uses an independent price comparison website to work out the average price of each item across the month, then adds those up to get each store's average price.

UK retail food prices are already 38 per cent higher than pre-Covid levels and experts fear further significant increases if disruption caused by the war in Iran continues.

Data experts at Assosia found that the typical price of a family shop had increased by 41 per cent or nearly £30 on the total in March 2021 of £71.82.

The biggest percentage increase was for one litre of own-label olive oil which was up from £2.85 in 2021 to £6.66 now – an astonishing rise of 133 per cent or £3.81.

In second place was a cucumber, up from 44p to 99p – a rise of 128 per cent or 56p; while an Ambrosia rice pudding can increased 114 per cent or 93p from 81p to £1.74.