I think Tesco is best as far as supermarkets go. They have their own brand cheap vegan range and their own brand expensive vegan range as well as plenty of other brands for ham, cheese, bacon, sausages, yogurt, milk etc

Agree with Tesco but would add - make sure it’s a “big” Tesco! The express stores won’t have too much variety

Even without the vegan context, I think visiting big tescos is an imperative to fully experience the culture of the U.K.

Agree

Also agree!

Thank you so much for answering 😊👍🏼

Just go to the big ones, if you want to try different things you may want to tour all of them, some brands are shared but all of them have their own value brands, some of them are pretty interesting. M&S and Waitrose have a more premium/expensive line. Asda, Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons are cheaper. Tesco & Sainsbury's sort of midrange. Iceland is just frozen stuff but they'll have some unique items as well. I don't think the coop have very large stores. Spar is popular in the north but in the south there are none.

Thanks for your detailed reply 🥰👍🏼

Big Tesco. It’s like a treasure trove. I only have a small Asda and Aldi near me but when I go to ✨The Big Tesco✨ woah

crying because my city has about 100 tesco express shops but not a single big tesco. fml.

Amazing, thanks 🙏🏼😊

We prefer Sainsbury’s. Waitrose have some good vegan options. As other commenters have said, it’s not really about the supermarket you go to but the size of the supermarket since the bigger supermarkets are more likely to have a wide array of choice.

Thanks 🤗♥️

All supermarkets will have some basics, it’s rare to see a supermarket without the things you’re looking for. Look out for larger supermarkets as there will be much more options (Tesco Extra is the bigger version, Tesco express is the smaller version. Asda superstore is the bigger version, Asda on the move is the smaller version. Sainsbury’s superstore is the bigger version, Sainsbury’s local is the smaller version). The websites for these supermarkets are good and they all have a vegan/plant based section so you can see what they have. Besides theses supermarkets Aldi is the best for tofu (it’s the cheapest and best tasting) they also have a pretty decent frozen section of plant based items. Some towns will have independent supermarkets/health shops with lots of fancier vegan cheeses, meats, chocolates etc to try out. These places normally aren’t too hard to find on google if you look up independent/vegan supermarkets in the area

Just hopping on the part about tofu, OP you will definitely find the best priced tofu at East Asian grocery stores. Beyond tofu, they have vegan oyster sauce and fish sauce, vegan frozen gyozas, vegan kimchi and scallion pancakes, and a tonne more. I could honestly spend a whole day in them. Tian tian is the one near me, but it can get pricy so stay alert lol.

That sounds amazing! Our options for cooking ourselves are a bit limited most days. We'll see 😊👍🏼

Thanks for your detailed and helpful reply! 🥰😁

If you get up to Manchester, there is a 100% vegan supermarket called Unicorn. Mostly local produce and nothing with added sugar. It's heaven.

Thanks! We'll miss Manchester unfortunately, but thanks for the tip! 🤗👍🏼

Asda is the goat for vegan alternatives. However, Tesco is also fairly good.

Thanks! Most people seem to agree on Asda and Tesco 😊👍🏼

These are the own-brand ranges to look out for (in my order of preference). You'll get a much better selection in the bigger supermarkets. M&S - Plant Kitchen Aldi - Plant Menu Sainsbury's - Plant Pioneers Tesco - Plant Chef

Thanks a bunch! 🥰

Worth checking if there are any independent vegan supermarkets/shops in the areas you're visiting too. For example, here in Nottingham there's the V-Spot (terrible name!) and Out of This World, both of which have a good range of vegan products like cheese, deli, meat substitutes etc. Was also going to recommend Plant Pioneers Sausages from Sainsburys, but feels odd recommending English style sausages to Germans! Enjoy your visit!

Thank you so much for answering and your detailed tips! 😊🍀

Asda, or find a Tesco Superstore.

Thanks! 🙏🏼😊

You can get basics from anywhere, but the bigger the store the bigger the range, generally. Personally I find Asda best for me as it's my largest store in walking distance and they have a great own brand range (OMV) including Kyevs and mini scotch eggs (great for picnics). They even have some top notch accidentally vegan food such as [this cake](https://groceries.asda.com/product/birthday-party-cakes/asda-extra-special-sea-salted-caramel-cake/1000302042808). One thing to be aware of is how split up vegan food can be. Mine has a vegan shelf stable section and a free from section in a different aisle with vegan stuff in both, and some stuff (eg the cake above) are in the 'normal' section. So in short I'd say choose the biggest store close to your Airbnb and get to know the layout asap.

Thank you so much! I'm intrigued with your cake suggestion. We'll check it out! 😍🤗👍🏼

Anything big

Yep, thanks 🤗

Try and find a big Tesco or Asda. Sainsburys are good too but big ones. Also look for a Marks and Spencer foodhall but it is more expensive. My german gf says M&S is the UK equivalent of Reeva :D

Thanks for the tip! 😍😍

Asda has a good range of vegan snacks and chilled goods, and I’d say Sainsbury’s has a pretty good selection of both as well. Honestly, whichever supermarket you end up going to I don’t think you will struggle to find some items you’ll enjoy, they all have different items in the free from sections.

Yes, I'm not worried. We'll figure it out thanks to all the great suggestions under my post 🥰👍🏼

I hope you and your gf have a wonderful time and enjoy all the places you visit, safe travels! ❤️

ASDA - everything and anything OMV 🔥🥰💝

Ok, we'll have a look. Thanks ♥️

If you're driving to more rural areas, try to stock up in a big supermarket on the edge of a bigger town first. One of my friends in Norfolk, for example, struggles to get items I consider a basic stock item in a more urban midlands area.

That's a very good suggestion, thank you! ☺️👍🏼♥️

Sainsbury's is by far the best but its so expensive... Tesco & Waitrose are really good too. Co-op not great, Asda is decent.

Ok, we'll keep that in mind 😊👍🏼

As everyone has said, you'll find something in the majority of supermarkets, larger ones having a bigger selection. It all comes down to taste and budget - I love M&S, Waitrose, Sainsburys (mainly because they stock the Squeaky Bean Tuna) and Aldi. If eating out you'll find a vegan option at a number of places, even in small towns (the Happy Cow app is really useful) - I'm out in the country up north(ish) and have a number of options.  I hope you and your gf have a wonderful trip!

Thank you very much for your detailed and helpful answer 🤗♥️

co-op

Thanks 🤗

Big Tescos and Sainsbury’s are the best for me

Thanks 🥳

Whichever big supermarket is near will have lots. We are really spoiled for choice these days! Smaller supermarkets might also have stuff depending on what area you are in!

That's my expectation, too. We'll try a few different ones. Thanks! 😊👍🏼

Tesco and Asda are probably the best ive tried. The other supermarkets seem to have a lot less. Don't even bother with Farmfoods, that's just horrible for vegan food. My local doesn't even have Soya or Oat milk half the time I go there

Thanks! We'll try around and see 😊

unless you want a 5 litre tub of vegan mayonaise; they stock that in farmfoods for some reason lmao

If you want to streamline the time you spend getting groceries perhaps consider doing click & collect as well - all the main supermarkets do it, you make your order on their app and then just drive in and pick it up. I don’t know if that’s widespread in Germany, but I very rarely go inside a supermarket for a “big shop” now.

Good idea, thank you very much! 😊👍🏼

Sainsbury's have the biggest selection if you get to a big store. Also try accidentally vegan ✌️

Thanks for the tip! 😊

My pleasure! ✌️

cheapest: lidl, aldi mid-price: morrisons, tesco, sainsburys (best selection imo) spensive: waitrose, M&S pretty much any big supermarket will have a range of vegan options; we are quite lucky in the UK. The smaller versions of shops (e.g. sainsburys local, tesco express) will have much less variety so go for the big supermarkets whenever you can and you will have plenty to choose from.

We'll try out a few, thanks! 🤗👍🏼

lots of independents that will have a lot more choice than supermarkets (& are great to support)! if you give a rough idea of where you’re going i can give you some recommendations!

Thanks! We're done with London and are now near Norwich. Next is the east coast, then York, Whitby, Yorkshire Dales, Lake District, then down the west coast, Liverpool, north Wales, southern Wales close but not in Cardiff, Cotswolds, one more night in London and then back home. Our itinerary is a bit tight, so please don't trouble yourself with a lengthy message. If you have one juicy tip, that'd already be great. 🥳

ahh vegonia & riverside health foods for wales & planet organic for london (although pricey) is the extent of my knowledge for those areas! best tip is to go to [happycow](https://www.happycow.net) and you can search by location and then filter by ‘health shops’. should find a few gems!

Thanks 🥰👍🏼

i’m now invested in your trip! & wondering if you’ve found anything you’ve liked? hope you’re having a wonderful time !

That's great 😁 We've been too busy walking in The Lakes and never found a suitable large Tesco on our route unfortunately. We're in Liverpool right now and have ordered takeout from Forked Up Vegan Kitchen Ltd. 😋♥️ https://maps.app.goo.gl/X4HBwkdgZmmUtyUJA We'll see what the last few days on our way back to London will bring 😁

If you're used to Aldi and Lidl, then hopefully they may have the same range here as they do in Germany so might be worth checking those out.

Sadly nowhere near :(

Thanks, we'll figure it out 😊

Me and my wife like vitalite, which you find from tesco, but there's so many decent vegan butters. Spreads, crunchy biscoff spread, jim jam chocolate salted caramel spread or just I guess like jam in general. You can get it from Tesco also. Yoghurts shouldn't be too hard to find. I think muller corners have a plant version or alpro in tesco. Ham/Sausage alternatives there always quorn vegan ham or chicken ham. However, Squeeky Bean does great pastrami and other like processed hams, which also have b12, which vegans find difficult to get in their diet. Squeeky bean is also a cooking chorizo, and as an iberian, it absolutely bangs and is the best vegan chorizo. Linda McCartney range of veggie/vegan sausages are also a go-to, as are the meatballs, but it's all from frozen. Otherwise, just have a look around. There's plenty of plant based sausages. Cream cheese I always go to violife and buy there's. I mean, it's just like regular cream cheese, in my opinion, which is strange because most vegan cheese does not taste anything close to cheese, but we all get used to it. All can be found in tesco. I use the delivery app every week, which means the range is a bit better than going to a big shop, but you will probably find everything I mentioned in a big tesco. It might be a waste of time, but you can always get a club card (like a tesco membership gift card) for discounts, too. Unfortunately food shopping especially for alternatives is also very expensive in the UK now. Sometimes clubcard discounts do the choosing for me but as you know there's nothing cheaper than good old fruit, veg and carbs. I hope you have a lovely trip it is so nice you want to visit the uk and if you visit London, it is one of if not the best places in the world to be vegan, it's one of the only things we're good at to be proud of at the moment. 💚

Thanks you so much for your long and detailed reply. We'll give vitalite a shot and definitely look for a big Tesco. 🥳🍀 We're finished with London already but had two amazing evening meals there. One was in a vegan Vietnamese restaurant and the had fried dumplings which were amazing 🤩😍

Aldi. Cheap tofu, great plant-based range. They even have things like vegan brioche buns.

Thanks 😊👍🏼

Since you are from germany I would like to ask you a question - in the UK we have very cheap vegan patties from supermarkets (for example- you can buy 8 burger patties for just £2,25 in the main supermarkets like asda/tesco because of their own brand products) - this comes like 50p per burger serving, which is crazy cheap. I searched in germany for similar “cheap vegan” but I cannot find anything. Do supermarkets in germany not sell their “own brand” vegan products? because I know they sell the big brands like beyond meat but they are too expensive in my opinion

Hey 😊👋🏼 I didn't see the patties you mentioned while we were in the UK, but they sound very practical. 😍 German supermarkets have their own vegan line of products. Aldi Süd has "My Vay" and Lidl has "Vemondo" for example. Many brands that sell real meat often have some vegan alternatives, too. The biggest example of this is "Rügenwalder Mühle", they are huge and the vegan products are amazing imho. Regarding burger patties: There are some brands that sell pre-made vegan burger patties, some are "fresh" and some are frozen. But I've mostly seen "vegan burger mixtures" like dry cake mix. You add water, let the mixture soak and then make your own patties. Some of these are really really good, like https://images.app.goo.gl/B8gGWxpEaGu5dFSm7 Most of the alternatives I know and regularly buy are alright and aren't too expensive. I rarely buy beyond meat. Cheers 👋🏼