Spring rolls, a staple of any decent Chinese feast, consist of crunchy wrappers filled with an array of ingredients, from duck to chicken and vegetables.
Anyone who enjoys a Chinese meal will know all too well the crunch of a perfectly cooked spring roll and its hot, savoury filling.
For those preparing one at home without the time to whip up their own spring rolls, supermarkets offer pre-made versions of this dim sum classic that simply need heating in the oven or microwave. With numerous home chefs opting for a Chinese meal around the Lunar New Year, the Liverpool Echo team decided to compare the spring roll offerings from several supermarkets to determine the best.
The team visited Tesco, M&S, Asda and Morrisons to purchase a pack of spring rolls. They also tried Aldi and Lidl but these budget stores didn’t have any refrigerated spring rolls in stock.
In an effort to maintain fairness, they opted for the supermarket’s own brand spring rolls from each store, avoiding the pricier ‘finest’ options that appeared more luxurious.
They also aimed to purchase similar products from each shop, choosing larger spring rolls over mini versions as the size and shape could affect the cooking consistency.
All spring rolls were cooked in an air fryer to ensure optimal crispiness before being subjected to a blind taste test. Here are their thoughts on each product, along with their respective prices.
Morrisons – Four vegetable spring rolls – £1.50
Sadly, the Morrisons spring rolls turned out slightly disappointing. They were brimming with filling and had a generous amount of crunchy vegetables, but the team found them to be largely tasteless.
Critiques from the taste testers included ‘too much onion’ and ‘no spice’. The overall consensus was that these spring rolls were bland and disappointing, but not unpleasant.
With four in a pack, the individual spring rolls were all larger than those bought from other supermarkets which sold their spring rolls in a six-pack. And at £1.50 per pack, they were the most affordable option of all the spring rolls.
Score: 2/5
Asda – Six vegetable spring rolls – £1.86
The most significant feedback on Asda’s spring rolls was about the casing, which the taste testers unanimously agreed was too thick. This imbalance between filling and wrapper was a letdown, despite the pastry itself being quite tasty.
Unlike the Morrisons spring roll, Asda’s version was deemed flavourful, nicely spiced and had the classic taste you’d anticipate from this dim sum staple. However, the excessive pastry slightly marred the experience, leading to a deduction in the overall score.
This one landed squarely in the middle of the pack – overall, average.
Score: 3/5
M&S – Six vegetable spring rolls – £3
Priced at £3 per pack, the M&S spring rolls were by far the priciest option, with a price tag double that of the Morrisons variant. However, it appears that quality comes at a cost, as these spring rolls received high praise from the taste testers.
They were crunchy, packed with flavour and boasted the ideal balance of filling to wrapper. These weren’t just any spring rolls; they were M&S spring rolls.
Score: 4/5
Tesco – Six vegetable spring rolls – £1.75 (Clubcard price)
The taste testers were decidedly underwhelmed by the Tesco spring rolls. The flavour, texture and overall experience was compared to consuming the cardboard tube from a toilet roll – a sentiment echoed by more than one person.
One critic felt the balance of casing to filling was off, while others described the contents as ‘flavourless and limp’. In conclusion, this is not a product they would be keen to add to the shopping list in the future.