Remember a time before sourdough ruled the bakery roost? A simpler time, when tiger bread was a fancy weekend loaf, or a French stick would be a solid go-to. Now, sourdough is everywhere and has even become a status symbol. Some bakeries with cult followings sell out each morning (even on weekdays) and have queues snaking out the doors. So of course, supermarkets had to get in on the action and create their own.
Thought to date back thousands of years to ancient Egypt, sourdough isn't new, but what defines it is hard to agree on. “‘Sourdough’ isn't a legally protected term, so technically any bread can currently be called sourdough,” explains Swie Joo, head baker at The Palmerston restaurant in Edinburgh, which bakes all of its excellent own sourdough onsite in its downstairs bakery.
Generally, to be considered a sourdough, the bread must be made with a live sourdough starter (a culture made from natural yeast, not shop-bought, and bacteria) and go through a slow fermentation process. Joo advises checking the ingredients list of a sourdough loaf before you buy because if it has ‘yeast’ listed, it’s not a genuine sourdough, as yeast should not be added.
Sourdough is a leavened bread, meaning the dough naturally rises as a result of the natural yeast, creating the distinct air pockets. A well-made sourdough has a good spongy ‘crumb’ (the bread's internal structure) with evenly sized and distributed air pockets. If fermentation or the bake goes wrong, it can lead to ‘tunnelling’, where the holes are too large and frequent.
In a bid to see if supermarkets could really impress with their sourdough loaves, I taste-tasted my way through more than 20 loaves. Here’s how I got on.
How I tested
First and foremost, I kept the advice from head baker Swie Joo in mind, analysing the ingredient list of each loaf. I then tasted more than 20 loaves, including pre-sliced and non-sliced loaves from all the major supermarkets’ own range. I also tested some well-known branded and higher-end options that are available in supermarkets. Where available, I chose a white loaf, so each sample was as similar as it could be. I ate it plain, in sandwiches and as toast with butter. When taste-testing, I considered the below:
- Crumb: I was looking for a decent crumb (the interior of the bread), which should be spongy, fairly open with evenly sized and well-distributed air pockets. A well-fermented sourdough should have a moderately open crumb with holes and a springy texture. The overall rise was also considered.
- Crust: I noted the exterior of the bread and whether it had a good crusty crunch. I also considered whether any of the loaves had toppings, such as seeds.
- Taste: A sourdough loaf is known for its delicate sour and tangy taste, so I assessed how noticeable this was. I also assessed whether the taste leaned towards traditional white sourdough or had earthy, nutty notes typical of a wholemeal loaf.
- Shelf life: I monitored how long each loaf stayed fresh, noting when signs of staleness and mould appeared. Sourdough tends to last around two to three days before it starts to stale and may show mould after five to seven days. If it lasted longer than this, it may suggest that preservatives were used in the bake.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Emma Henderson is a self-confessed foodie. She was also the editor of IndyEats, The Independent’s monthly digital food magazine, and was twice shortlisted for “best food magazine” at the Guild of Food Writers Awards. She’s sampled everything from Michelin-recommended menus to the best olive oils, so she knows exactly what is worth savouring. When it comes to sourdough, she’s tasted the good, the bad and the questionably stodgy all in the name of journalism. Every loaf in this review has been rigorously tested, from sniffed and sliced to slathered in butter.
The best supermarket sourdough bread for 2025 is:
- Best overall – Wildfarmed white sourdough bread: £4, Waitrose.com
- Best budget option– Lidl large white sourdough bloomer: £1.99, In Lidl stores only
- Best gluten-free – Good Grain Bakery gluten-free seeded sourdough: £5.30, Ocado.com
- Best for toast – Sainsbury's taste the difference white sourdough half bloomer: £1.95, Sainsburys.co.uk
Wildfarmed white sourdough bread
Best: Supermarket sourdough overall
Weight: 600g
Why we love it
- Made using regeneratively grown wheat
- The only B Corp brand I tried
- Great taste
Take note
- It doesn't have a very open crumb
Having a slightly unfair advantage of being a luxury product usually associated with artisan bakers, the Wildfarm brand (co-founded by the unlikely duo of one half of Groove Armada, Andy Cato, and T4 presenter George Lamb) launched a bread range, which got into Waitrose last year.
You might recognise Cato from the Clarkson's Farm TV show, where he featured on an episode talking about the benefits of farming regeneratively (aka, regen). Wildfarmed champions regenerative farming practices, including improving soil health and biodiversity and not using chemicals. Previously, it had just made regen flour and sold this wholesale to bakeries and restaurants. You may have seen its signature ‘W’ branded colourful sacks displayed in bakery windows. Now, its bread range uses this regen wheat from its main farm in France and farms across the UK.
I was really impressed with this regenerative approach, and enjoyed the bread’s slight tang and pleasing chewiness, which I loved using in my weekend bacon sandwiches. The loaf has been slow fermented over two days (32 hours) and has been shaped and scored by hand, which means it certainly looks the part too.
The brand describes its bread as ‘lifechanging’ on its packaging, a lofty tagline. While it's not really changing lives, it is changing the perception of quality bread available in supermarkets, and is bringing regenerative agriculture into the mainstream, showing its connection with farming and the land. This, along with its regenerative ethos, is helping to improve farming standards, which is indirectly changing lives in many ways.
Buy now £4.00, Waitrose.com
Lidl large white sourdough bloomer
Best: Budget supermarket sourdough
Weight: 600g
Why we love it
- Best value in the list
- Large size
Take note
- Can't buy it online
- It took a very long time to go mouldy
Lidl is renowned for creating pretty decent food products that cost significantly less than its competitors, from wines to Greek yoghurt. Even though I knew this, I was still surprisingly impressed with this bake. It has a decent, crunchy baked exterior, quite a springy doughy inside and a delicious tangy taste, along with a fairly decent crumb (the interior of the bread). It far exceeded many of its other peers that aren't even in the budget supermarket range.
It had me going back for more, despite knowing I had plenty of bread to taste – and I think that says a lot. Though worryingly, it lasted a very long time without going mouldy, which suggests it's not as natural as I’d hoped. And without proper packaging, and just a paper bag, there's no information on the ingredients to check and compare.
Buy now £1.99, Lidl.co.uk
Gail’s San Francisco sourdough
Best: Runner-up supermarket sourdough
Weight: 650g
Why we love it
- Excellent crunchy exterior
Take note
- Barely any change from a fiver
Again, it's another slight unfair advantage that this isn’t an actual supermarket own brand, but an artisan high-street bakery that is sold at Waitrose.
Despite what you might think of Gail’s (it's expensive, and accused of gentrification), it does make darn good bread. A classic for a reason, this was likely many people's first early foray into sourdough a few years ago, which has paid homage to the American city where this fermented bake rose to fame (though not where it was invented).
It has a deliciously darkened brown crust that has a nice amount of chew to it (don't worry about teeth breaking here, which some people associate with sourdough). It is also made using a wide range of grains, including spelt, emmer and rye for flavour, which does stand out from the others. It has probably the most open crumb on the list, which at times can be a little too open. It also worked well as a breadcrumb topping for a quick brothy bean stew I made, although it felt a little extravagant to use such an expensive loaf for this.
Later this year, in-store, you'll be able to get your hands on the new Wheat Project breads from Gail’s, made with regeneratively grown wheat.
Buy now £4.95, Waitrose.com
Bertinet Bakery rustic country white sourdough
Best: Pre-packaged supermarket sourdough
Weight: 500g
Why we love it
- Uses heritage grains
- Made by artisan bakers
- Affordable
Take note
- Not as crusty as if it wasn't sliced
Bertinet Bakery, co-founded by Richard and Jo Bertinet in 2012, is based in Bath and has been sold in supermarkets for years. It has a number of Great Taste awards for a handful of its bakes and also runs its own bakery classes.
It has a real focus on baking bread made with heritage and sustainably grown grains, such as wholemeal wheat, rye, spelt, organic emmer and barley (which provide both depth of flavour and nutrition). It also promotes biodiversity and the importance of the relationship with farmers, which is still a drum that needs beating when it comes to bread. The brand says it's the same artisan bread you get at bakeries, but in the supermarket. It has been slowly fermented and hand-shaped without any unwanted extras added in, such as preservatives.
I found this loaf had a nice tang to it, and I really loved it for toast. As it's ‘rustic white’ and full of heritage grains, it looks and tastes more like a wholemeal than a traditional white, which I also loved.
Buy now £2.40, Ocado.com
Waitrose no 1 white sourdough bread
Best: Supermarket sourdough for flavour
Weight: 500g
Why we love it
- Great tangy flavour
- Affordable
This loaf is from Waitrose's No.1 range, which is renowned for offering premium and very good quality products across almost everything from unusual fruits to exceptional cheeses, but often they don’t come at astronomical prices.
This white pre-sliced sourdough pleasantly surprised me, owing to its very impressive flavour. With an intense depth to its tang, it's the best-tasting bread I tried.
Though it doesn't have a crusty exterior, like practically every single pre-sliced and plastic-packaged loaf I’ve tested, as they're more likely to dry out, it does have a good spring. It resulted in some of the best toast and earned a big thumbs up from my other testers, too. If you're hooked, there are also plenty more flavours in the range, including wheat and rye sourdough, dark rye and wheat sourdough, and spelt sourdough.
Buy now £2.25, Waitrose.com
Exceptional by Asda white sourdough loaf
Best: Everyday supermarket sourdough
Weight: 500g
Why we love it
- Even crumb
- Affordable price
Take note
- Pre-sliced meant it was drier
Asda’s sourdough exceeded my expectations, especially as it's a pre-packaged and pre-sliced loaf, which don't tend to be as good as those that aren't. I liked its fairly even crumb, which has decent structure and a good height, suggesting it's been well fermented. Though it doesn't have a properly crusty exterior, you can see that the exterior developed well. I found most pre-sliced loaves looked like they had good exteriors, but likely dried out after being sliced, which affects the crust.
The packaging says it's made using aged wild yeast in the starter, and hopefully that accounts for the nicely tangy flavour we enjoyed. It's one of the better packaged and pre-sliced breads I tried.
Buy now £2.44, Asda.com
Sainsbury's taste the difference white sourdough half bloomer
Best: Supermarket sourdough for toast
Weight: 400g
Why we love it
- Affordable
Take note
- More like conventional white toast
- Drier than others
I was looking forward to trying this, as I’m a big fan of one of Sainsbury's Taste The Difference multi-seed bread (£1.35, Sainsburys.co.uk). Despite it saying on the packaging it's made with a slow-fermented starter, it tasted and looked more like a usual white bread than a sourdough, albeit a more high-end loaf of white bread. The entire loaf was quite soft and lacked any sort of crustiness, but I thought the crumb was fairly good and springy. Though at less than £2, it is more affordable and quite a decent everyday bread. But I’d recommend eating it toasted.
Buy now £1.95, Sainsburys.co.uk
Good Grain Bakery gluten free seeded sourdough
Best: Gluten-free supermarket sourdough
Weight: 550g
Why we love it
- Free from gluten and wheat
- Made with organic gluten-free flour
Take note
- Quite dense, as most gluten free breads are
- Expensive
Gluten-free bread is technically an oxymoron, as calling something ‘bread’ insinuates it has gluten in it. So technically, it shouldn't be a thing, but denying those who can't have gluten a slice of toast feels like a step too far.
For anyone who has had to cut gluten from their diet will know that bread is one of the hardest foods to find that doesn't feel like you're attempting to chew on cardboard. I also struggled to find many gluten-free white sourdough options in supermarkets, so I went for this little cob-shaped loaf that's super seeded. As expected, and like most gluten-free breads, it's very dense, not very springy. Though considering the obstacle of being gluten-free, I think it's a fairly decent replica. I have suggested it to those who can't eat gluten, and they have enjoyed it.
I also appreciate that it's made using Soil Association organic gluten-free flour, along with other organic alternative flours such as quinoa, rice and maize, plus it's topped with organic sunflower, pumpkin and linseeds.
Buy now £5.30, Ocado.com
Co-op irresistible slow crafted white sourdough bloomer
Best: Supermarket sourdough with an evenly distributed crumb
Why we love it
- Even crumb
- Affordable price
Take note
- Not the highest rise
Another dinky loaf, both in length and height. It has a fairly low rise, but a better crust than some of the others I’ve tested, and I think it makes a great piece of toast.
On the packaging, it explains it takes ‘around’ 39 hours to make this sourdough, which uses a slow fermentation method from a traditional recipe and has been made from a 15-year-old starter. Though that's hard to corroborate, the lack of rise doesn't look as if it's had such a successful slow ferment. However, I did like its crumb, which has quite evenly distributed little air pockets.
Buy now £2.50, Coop.co.uk
Your questions on sourdough answered
What is the best supermarket sourdough?
When it comes to sourdough, it's undeniably artisan bakers who do it best, but for many of us, it's not possible to access this. However, while it is hard to beat a more artisanal bake, Wildfarmed's white sourdough and Gail’s San Fransciso white sourdough really up the supermarket's offerings thanks to a commitment to regenerative agriculture, using heritage grains and consistently creating loaves with great crumbs and crusts.
Though I was surprised by the cheaper supermarkets' offering, especially Lidl's large white sourdough bloomer and Asda's exceptional white sourdough loaf, I thought the flavour of Waitrose's No.1 white sourdough was really standout.
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