The best supermarket sausages: taste tested

delicious. team

Written by the expert and completely food-obsessed team behind this website, our social channels and our monthly magazine.

Find more

When a group of readers visited delicious. HQ recently we asked them to test an autumn staple: sausages. Popular for both weeknight dinners and weekend breakfasts, sausages are a stalwart of the British shopping basket thanks to their starring role in favourite meals including bangers and mash, the full English breakfast and sausage casserole. We put 26 varieties from a range of supermarkets to the test to discover the best.

Testing was conducted blind and without packaging, so tasters didn’t know who produced each product or how much it cost. Keep scrolling for the supermarket sausage winners, including pork and plant-based bangers. Plus: discover the delicious. team’s pick of the best sausages to order online, too.

The best supermarket sausages: taste tested

The best pork sausages

We were looking for juicy links with a satisfying bite, true pork flavour and well judged seasoning. We tested outdoor-bred or free-range pork sausages only.

Winner: Waitrose No.1 Free Range Lincolnshire Pork Sausages
The top crowdpleaser. Tasters enjoyed the coarse texture, visible herbs and distinctive notes of sage. Available from Waitrose (£4.50 for 400g)

Runner up: Lidl Deluxe Cumberland Pork Sausages
Plump and moist, these browned nicely and had pepperiness, but tasters felt they could do with a little more flavour. Available from Lidl (£2.49 for 400g)

The best plant-based sausages

We were searching for appealing-looking vegan sausages with textural integrity and savoury flavour.

Winner: This Isn’t Pork Plant-Based Sausages
Decent looking with a good texture. ‘Meaty’ and a bit spicy, with a distinctive aftertaste. Pea protein based. Available from major supermarkets; see here for stockists (£3.50 for 270g)

Runner-up: Moving Mountains Plant-Based Sausages
Surprisingly firm texture and good appearance, but testers wanted the seasoning to be punchier. Ingredients include oyster mushroom, soya protein, pea protein and wheat gluten. Available from Ocado (£4 for 240g)

The best online butcher sausages

Prefer to order your meat online? Here are options from some of the delicious. team’s favourite online butchers.

Daylesford Organic Outdoor Reared Pork Sausages
Free-range pork from Gloucester, seasoned with black pepper, coriander, nutmeg and mace. Available here (£4.99 for 400g)

Pipers Farm Natural Plain Pork Sausages
Plump sausages with pure meaty flavour: only salt, pepper and oats are added to the slow-reared native breed pork. Available here (£6.25 for 6)

Farmison The Nidderdale Sausage
Made with free-range Yorkshire pork, there’s a touch of chilli powder and pimento in the recipe for these bangers. Available here (£6.95 for 396g)

Field & Flower Farmhouse Sausages
Petite but perfectly formed, these classic free-range sausages are ideal for breakfast. Available here (£5.18 for 384g)