Chicken kievs from Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrison’s and M&S were compared – one was a clear winner

The trusty chicken kyiv has become an example of a comfort food staple over the years.

With its crumbly breadcrumb coating and melt-in-your-mouth garlic butter centre, this is one dish you absolutely can’t go wrong with.

Not only is this simple dish a staple for everyone across the country, but it has recently seen some resurgence with supermarkets favoring the name change to kyiv, following the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.

This is exactly why a journalist from MEN decided to do a taste test and try six different supermarket versions of what they call a “must have comfort food”.

Visiting Sainsbury’s, Tesco, M&S, Aldi, Asda and Morrisons, Bethan Shufflebotham of the Manchester Evening News discovered that a cut-price version at 83p for one was the winner.

Here’s how she pulled it off…

Sainsbury’s



Sainsbury’s Chicken kyiv

Sainsbury’s, leading the way with the renaming of chicken kyiv, is offering two British garlic and herb kyivs in a ‘crispy, golden crumb’ with a garlic and parsley butter filling. The kyivs cost £2.30 and weigh around 130g each, taking 21 minutes to cold cook.

The chicken is minced culled chicken, which isn’t particularly uncommon with kyivs, I found, but the meat was moist, with a crispy crumb and well-packed butter. The sauce tasted rich and was not greasy, as can be a problem with some kyivs. All in all, my week of garlicky lunches has started well.

Tesco



Tesco Chicken kyiv
Tesco Chicken kyiv

Tesco recommends chicken kyivs for a hassle-free mid-week meal, ideal with ‘mashed potatoes to mop up the gravy’ or a salad and jacket potatoes. I opted for even less faff than that and had my kyiv sandwiched between a slice of bloomer bread for a buttery garlic chicken butty.

Tesco’s chopped and shaped chicken kyivs weigh around 135g each and cost £2.30 for two. Clubcard members can get a pack for £2.

They take 22 minutes to cook, and while they had a good flavor, the texture of the meat was a little crispy for me and made the experience a little less enjoyable. However, there was a large amount of garlic butter, so much that it spilled – but I was able to mop it up with my bread.

MRS



M&S Chicken kyiv
M&S Chicken kyiv

It’s no surprise that M&S ​​has the most expensive chicken kyivs, selling two 143g pieces of chicken for £3. That said, it seemed to be the only one of the lot that didn’t use minced reformed chicken, made with M&S insured chicken from UK farms.

British chicken kyivs are flavored with garlic butter and coated in golden farmhouse breadcrumbs, taking 30 minutes to bake. The filling was very well contained without spilling or splitting, and it was really buttery, still maintaining a creamy consistency, rather than being super runny, which was unlike the others.

Aldi



Aldi's Chicken kyiv
Aldi’s Chicken kyiv

Aldi’s bid came to £1.65 for two Ashfields breaded garlic chicken kyivs – 83p for one – weighing around 130g each. Chopped and shaped, the chicken takes 20 minutes to cook from cold, and features a crispy breadcrumb coating and a garlic butter filling.

Aldi’s chicken kyivs seemed to be on the small end of the scale, but they were very tasty and provided a quick, easy and economical meal. Small but mighty, it ticked all the boxes.

Asda



asda chicken kyiv
Asda Chicken kyiv

At Asda, shoppers can find two garlic and herb chicken kyivs for £2.15. The ground, shaped and formed chicken was one of the biggest of the bunch, but similar in weight to other supermarkets at 130g each.

Exceptionally, it is noted on the packaging that the garlic does not come from the UK, but the chicken is. I also noticed that Asda had one of the best best before dates.

The chicken took 25 minutes to cook and didn’t split in the oven – although I recommend using aluminum foil to line your baking sheets to avoid a mess. The kyiv was very garlicky and had a very pleasant taste. Served with rice, it was very filling, and seemed good value for money.

Morrison



Morrisons Chicken kyiv
Morrisons Chicken kyiv

Another chopped and shaped option from Morrisons, with crisp breadcrumbs from which the center of garlic and parsley oozes. These are usually £2.20, but are currently reduced to £1.99 – however, those from Aldi are still cheaper.

Morrison’s kyivs cook in 35 minutes, but like Tesco, I found the quality of the meat not amazing and the texture a bit grainy. The garlic butter flavor was nice, though.

Overall, Aldi had the most expensive chicken in kyiv, and it was very good too. On the other hand, the £3 kyivs from M&S were the only ones not made from minced reformed chicken, so you are really paying for the quality. That said, for a quick, easy, hassle-free and delicious dinner – Aldi has my vote.

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