Asda has announced the launch of its first ever meal deal, joining the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s in offering shoppers a fixed price for ‘food to go’ at lunchtime. From today, all customers can now get a main, snack and drink for £3.74, with no loyalty card needed.
The meal deal replaces the supermarket’s former three-for-two offer, and is now the cheapest supermarket meal deal available without joining a loyalty scheme. This follows last month’s price rise of Tesco’s meal deal, with a 25p increase for the standard offer and a 50p increase for the premium offer. If you’re curious about whether your local supermarket’s deal is as good as it seems, we’ve rounded up prices from all the major supermarkets to help you find the best value meal deal.
It’s not just the price of lunch that’s on the up. The latest inflation figures show that, in the year to July 2025, prices were rising at their highest rate in a year and a half. This was, in large part, because of stubbornly high food prices. Data from the Office of National Statistics showed that the cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks rose by 4.9 per cent.
So if you’re still feeling a pinch at the supermarket checkout, you’re not alone. You can save a bit of cash by opting for the cheapest meal deal at lunchtime, which is offered at Co-op (with a membership) for £3.50. However, real meal deal connoisseurs know that the best way to get your money’s worth is to buy the most expensive items as part of the deal.
Fortunately, we’ve crunched the numbers for you. Though prices change depending on your location (you probably won’t find these deals in airports, for example), we’ve rounded up the cost of all the best high street meal deals, and worked out the most valuable combo for each lunch.
Best value meal deal
We can’t attest to the actual quality of the items in each meal deal, as we haven’t tried all of them (with the significant exception of Tesco’s birthday cake sandwich, which proved controversial among our testers). There are some slightly odd combinations in here, but for maximising value, this is as good as it gets. We worked out the best value meal deal by looking at the price of the individual items compared with what you could save under the terms of the deal.
Where two items are the same price, we went for the one that gives you more food – for example, Waitrose’s taiko duck poke bowl and its high protein Mexican style chicken and grain salad both cost £4.75 before a meal deal, but the duck bowl gives you more food for your money.
With that in mind, here are the best value meal deals right now...
Asda: Save up to £3.64
Excluding loyalty scheme prices, Asda currently has the cheapest supermarket lunchtime meal deal. However, if you don’t mind signing up to a loyalty scheme, Co-op is still the cheapest, with its meal deal costing just £3.50 for members.
Meanwhile, Asda’s new meal deal has 132 mains, 336 snacks and 222 drinks to choose from. You won’t find this number of items in one store, but there’ll certainly be a wide selection available.
If you want the best value from your ‘food to go’, however, you’ll find that at Waitrose. Much like Waitrose, the benefit of Asda’s offer is that you don’t need to be a member to access meal deal prices.
Tesco: Save up to £4.80
Even with the price rise, Tesco’s standard meal deal is cheaper than Sainsbury's with a Clubcard, but more expensive without. Here’s the breakdown:
How Tesco’s meal deal prices have changed
Tesco has two tiers of meal deal, standard and ‘premium’, and both of these have different prices depending on whether or not you have a Clubcard. All of these prices have now increased by 6-10 per cent, even higher than food inflation more broadly.
For standard meal deals, these have increased by 25p:
Meanwhile, premium meal deals have increased by 50p:
Arguably, it’s more worthwhile than ever to sign up for a Clubcard if you continue to buy Tesco meal deals. According to Tesco, more than 80 per cent of its customers do this already.
If you’re prone to forgetting yours, I suggest getting the Tesco app and then adding your Clubcard to your Apple or Google wallet. This way, not only will you always have your Clubcard with you, but you’ll avoid missing out if you can’t get a signal in your local shop.
Sainsbury’s: Save up to £4.35
Sainsbury’s meal deal has seen several price rises this year alone. Tesco’s meal deal is 10p cheaper when using your Clubcard, however, Sainsbury's offers slightly better value overall if you’re trying to get the most out of your money.
Co-op: Save up to £5.15
If you go for maximum value, Co-op isn’t the biggest saving. However, it has the lowest price for a standard meal deal, as long as you’re a Co-op member, which costs £1 to join.
Morrisons: Save up to £5.30
Morrisons has a good value meal deal. Though it’s not necessarily better than Boots’s, there’s a slightly better saving with a Morrisons More Card than a Boots Advantage Card. However, you’ll save less at Morrisons if you don’t have either.
Boots: Save up to £5.25
While it’s not a supermarket, Boots is well known for its meal deal, and it’s not shabby in terms of value for money. It’s only slightly more expensive than Morissons, and the total price of its most valuable meal deal is 10p more valuable:
Waitrose: Save £5.35
While it’s the most expensive meal deal on this list, Waitrose’s standard meal deal provides the best value, as you can get the most expensive items included in the deal for less than half their usual price.
You don’t need to sign up for the Waitrose loyalty scheme to benefit from the lowest priced meal deal, either. If you do sign up, however, you can get a free coffee or tea every day, with no other purchase necessary, Simply sign up for MyWaitrose and bring in a reusable cup.
In the end, this can only be a rough guide. With volatile food price inflation, you could, of course, make the argument that some of the individual items are overpriced in the first place.
For example, the Emmi skinny caffe latte Mr Big single coffee is sold at Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Ocado for £2.95, compared with £3.10 at Waitrose. However, if you’re trying to beat the supermarkets at their own game, these are the combos that deliver maximal value.
Want more value from your daily caffeine fix? I’ve worked out if a coffee shop subscription is still worth it
