What you need to know before grocery shopping in the UK
We’re brining you the good, the bad and the straight up confusing bits about grocery shopping in the UK. Whether you’re moving or just visiting, this guide will help you come to terms with visiting grocery stores in the UK.
Food Names
The first time I walked into a grocery store in the UK, I was so excited. I may be among the few people who kind of love grocery shopping! But, just a few steps into the produce section of my local Sainsbury’s, I had some anxiety that I hadn’t anticipated.
What’s coriander? It looks like cilantro…
As I approached the ready-made vegetarian meals, things went from bad to worse when practically every meal had courgette and/or aubergine. I was totally lost. Clearly, I wasn’t prepared for all this.
Essentially, there are three things to keep in mind when it comes to food names:
Some foods are unique to the UK and don’t necessarily have equivalents in your home country.
The British some French terms. Serviette, courgette, aubergine, mange tout… the list goes on and on.
A bunch of familiar foods simply have different words. For example, sprinkles are called hundreds and thousands. Who would have guessed!
You’ll want to check out our incredibly comprehensive list of over 100 British food words to help you navigate your way through grocery shopping in the UK! You won’t be lost after reading this!
Local / Metro / City-sized Grocery Stores
If you’re in a city, your local grocery stores will be MUCH smaller than you’re used to. Don’t worry! There’s a few things you can do.
First, get out your handy Google Maps app and look around to see what other grocery stores are in your area. If the closest one is a Sainsbury’s you might find a Co-op around the corner. Go to both and get some variety in your shopping.
If you’ve got a long stay, we also recommend doing some online grocery shopping. You can find everything you need to know about that here:
If you’re really missing a big grocery store, you can always travel out to a retail park or visit the likes of a Tesco Extra.
Grocery Store Branded Items
Depending upon where you come from, you may have a poor opinion of grocery store branded items. You may see them as too cheap, low quality or extremely basic. This isn’t the case in the UK!
Most grocery stores have their own branded items which are offered at different levels of quality. For example, in Sainsbury’s they’ll have their own brand of hummus and then a “Taste the Difference” own label that is offered as more of a luxury item. Tesco have some thing similar that they call “Tesco’s Finest”.
Marks and Spencers has white labelled a lot of goods over the years and has been really successful in doing so. To be fair, they’ve also created tons of their own amazing products. They’re well known for having high quality goods. Though, I admit, the first time I bought their store-branded wine, I was a little suspicious. I soon learned I had nothing to be concerned about!
Ready-made Meals
The UK does ready-made meals well. They can be healthy, preservative, kid-friendly, traveller / hotel room-friendly and just straight up delicious. Marks and Spencer and Waitrose excel in this area and will please practically any pallet.
You’l find a wide variety of cultures represented in ready-made meals but you’ll almost always find: Indian, Thai, Chinese, Italian and something Mediterranean. Honestly, I would happily eat a cheap curry from a British grocery store every day of my life. Don’t pass this up!
Meal Deals
Keep an eye out for meal deals. These are items which, when purchased together, are offered at a discount and create an entire meal.
For lunch, it’s common to find sandwich meal deals which include a bag of crisps and a small drink. Take this opportunity to try out some of the UK’s unique crisp flavours like salt and vinegar, roast chicken or prawn cocktail.
For dinner, try Marks and Spencers for an entree, side and either dessert or bottle of wine for £12. You can’t beat it for the quality!
Drink Options Are Amazing
The UK has some of the best drink options of any grocery store that I’ve been to. Here’s what you need to know:
You can find wine and beer from all over the world and it’s pretty cheap! Waitrose in particular has spectacular beer and wine options (including the best German beer and French wine!).
The Brits love some juicy flavours that are pretty unique: black currant and elderflower. Never had these before? Go ahead and give them a try!
Speaking of juice, the UK has the best bottled smoothies in the world. Do yourself a favour and try an Innocent Smoothie. Hands down. No competition. Best. In. The. World.
Vegan and Vegetarian Foods
The UK is an awesome place to be vegan or vegetarian. British grocery stores have loads of options, even in the ready-made meals section, that are sure to please anyone following a plant-based diet. Marks & Spencers has done an especially good job with this over the past year.
If veggie-based (aka fake) meat is a part of your diet, there are two brands you can’t miss: Quorn and Linda McCartney. If you’re in the US or Canada, you may already be familiar with Quorn who makes a mean frozen fake-chicken. However, in the UK, they also make vegetarian cottage pie, bacon, fish sticks and a ton of other British favourites. Linda McCartney makes the world’s best veggie burgers, sausages and some ready-made meals as well.
You don’t have to miss out on British cuisine just because you’re a veggie!
A few notes for American Expats / Travellers
Salsa is not as hot in the UK. Their hot is about American medium.
Make sure you keep an eye on expiration dates. Bread, for example, has a shorter expiration date. But, if all the expiration dates are too soon for you to finish a loaf, you can always buy a half-loaf (isn’t that a great invention?!).
Don’t freak out on this one: You’ll find the eggs in the baking aisle. Unrefrigerated. Again, remain calm. There’s really no reason to keep eggs cold and it’s common to keep eggs unrefrigerated outside of the US.
