The meal deal has very much ingrained itself into the British cultural zeitgeist, and with that comes a huge range of options for sandwiches that people can pick from.
Certain choices are more popular than others, and one you are almost guaranteed to see in every meal deal section is the BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato).
Many shops have their own options, and whilst the concept of comparing a particular type of sandwich is obviously not original, I wanted to give it a try to see which BLT was the best.
Alongside a Chicken & Bacon sandwich, the BLT is one of my standard choices when I get a meal deal so I thought it would be useful to have a reference for what shop I should head to in the future.
In this comparison, I picked out a BLT sandwich from some of Britain's most popular supermarkets in Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and M&A.
The cost of the sandwich which is included in the write-up just pertains to the item itself, rather than the associated savings you would make when buying it as part of a meal deal.
I compared BLT supermarket sandwiches
M&S
Cost: £3.90
On its own the M&S BLT was the most expensive by far out of the five I tried at a staggering figure of £3.90.
However, the packaging made a big deal out of the quality ingredients contained within, using descriptors such as "oak smoked", "vine ripened" and "vitamin D-enriched".
Obviously, this does set a certain expectation of what you're getting and thankfully it delivered.
It was certainly a chunky sandwich, and the combination of the ingredients did provide a very pleasant flavour.
The cost of the sandwich is eye-watering but you do arguably get your money's worth.
Rating: 4/5
Morrisons
Cost: £2.85
The BLT from Morrisons can be summed up as just being a perfectly adequate sandwich.
Whilst the bacon did look a little anaemic it worked well in tandem with the salad to deliver a solid taste.
Overall, it just wasn't anything particularly special but is still a safe bet to buy if you find yourself in a Morrisons supermarket
Rating: 3/5
Sainsbury's
Cost: £2.85
Another BLT that fits into the 'acceptable' category is the Sainsbury's option.
However, it did earn some extra points due to a decent amount of bacon that was spread out quite evenly across the sandwich.
Overall the quality of the bread was quite sturdy and it provided a pleasant taste to boot.
Rating: 3.5/5
Tesco
Cost: £2.75
In the past when I have written supermarket comparison pieces the option from Tesco usually disappoints.
This is why it was such a pleasant surprise for their BLT sandwich to impress me highly.
Like the M&S BLT, it was a hefty sandwich with plenty packed in and it absolutely delivered with a sumptuous taste.
Rating: 4.5/5
Asda
Cost: £2.50
Asda was the final BLT sandwich to try in this comparison, and it's safe to say it didn't go out with a bang.
Unlike the others, the salad here was actually quite sparse and it could be argued they may have been overcompensating on the mayonnaise to make up for it.
However, once again the taste was pretty solid, and with it being the cheapest by far you could do worse.
Rating: 3/5
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The verdict
The emerging theme I found from this comparison is that you're likely to have a solid BLT whatever shop you choose to buy it from.
Even the somewhat mediocre ones like from Morrisons and Asda still provided a decent flavour above all else.
However, the one that stood out the most to me was from Tesco, thanks to its great taste and the fact it doesn't skimp out on any of the ingredients.
M&S comes a close second with its combination of ingredients creating a quality product.
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