The best hot cross buns of 2024 – tried and tasted

It’s peak season for hot cross buns… But which supermarket’s version won out in our taste test?

Hot cross buns are a Good Friday tradition, but with every supermarket offering its own version, which one is the best?

We’ve put the main supermarket buns to the taste test to find out which brand really is one a penny, two a penny…

Nine different hot cross buns lined up on a wood tabletopCredit: Exceptional

Tesco Finest 4 Extra Fruity Hot Cross Buns

Our favourite classic hot cross bun

Tesco Finest hot cross buns packetCredit: Exceptional

Price: £1.70 

Average weight: 77g 

Calories per bun (average): 206 kcal 

Fruity and sweet with a good texture. The cinnamon spice really comes through. Our testers’ favourite. This brand also won our taste test in 2023.

Rating: 5/5 

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Waitrose 4 Richly Fruited Hot Cross Buns

The runner-up

Waitrose richly fruited hot cross buns packetCredit: Exceptional

Price: £1.85 

Average weight: 68.2g 

Calories per bun (average): 174 kcal

These sounded nice: made with soaked dried fruit, including Chilean flame raisins, and real butter. We couldn’t spot the Chilean flame raisins, but still a good bun. Less fruity than some, but good bread texture.

Solid rather than light, but overall a well-balanced bun with a good range of flavours. 

Rating: 4/5 

Morrisons The Best 4 Extra Fruity Hot Cross Buns

A middle-of-the-road bun

Morrisons The Best hot cross buns packetCredit: Exceptional

Price: £1.25 

Average weight: 85.3g 

Calories per bun (average): 223 kcal 

These divided our testers. There was a good balance between fruit and bread texture, sweet with nice spice notes. But some testers found them dry.  

Rating: 3/5 

M&S 4 Luxury Fruited Hot Cross Buns

We expected more

M&S Luxury Fruited Hot Cross Buns packetCredit: Exceptional

Price: £1.90 

Average Weight: 73.3g 

Calories per bun (average): 220 kcal 

On first inspection these looked delicious and full of fruit. However, when we tasted them, we were disappointed with the overall flavour.

The buns were fruity but not tangy and lacked spice. For the price we would expect more.

Rating: 3/5 

Asda The Bakery 4 Large Hot Cross Buns

Best value for money

Asda The Bakery hot cross buns packetCredit: Exceptional

Price: £1 

Average weight: 104.5g 

Calories per bun (average): 274 kcal 

These were a surprise as we weren’t expecting much, seeing as they were the cheapest on offer and the largest in size. They weren’t the best we tested, but not bad at all, with noticeable cranberries along with other dried fruit. 

Rating: 3/5 

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Co-op Irresistible 4 Richly Fruited Hot Cross Buns

Pleasant enough

Co-op Irresistible richly fruited hot cross buns packetCredit: Exceptional

Price: £1.60 

Average weight – 75.2g 

Calories per bun (average) – 184 kcal 

Not as fruity as some of the others (such as the Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons buns we tested) but still tasty. The spicing was quite subtle. 

Rating: 3/5 

Aldi 4 Luxury Fruited Hot Cross Buns

Could do better

Price: £ 1.19 

Average weight – 72.3g 

Calories per bun (average) – 206 kcal 

Despite being good looking buns, they did not deliver on taste. The dough was rather dry and there was little evidence of either fruitiness or spiciness.

Rating: 3/5 

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference 4 Fruity Hot Cross Buns

Lacking the wow factor

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference hot cross buns packetCredit: Exceptional

Price: £1.25 

Average weight: 75.8g 

Calories per bun (average): 189 kcal 

Soft, thick buns with nice fruit flavours and a pleasant hint of spice. Good value and perfectly palatable but did not have the wow factor.

Rating: 3/5 

Lidl 4 Luxury Hot Cross Buns

Doughy and dense

Lidl Luxury hot cross buns packetCredit: Exceptional

Price: £1.39 

Average weight: 76.3g 

Calories per bun (average): 214 kcal 

These didn’t have a lot of fruit or spice, and the buns seemed doughy and dense. The word “luxury” seems like a bit of a stretch in this case. 

Rating: 2/5 

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Sarah Brealey

Written by Sarah Brealey

Updated:

Sarah Brealey has more than 20 years of journalism experience, including being Editor at the British Heart Foundation, where she ran its award-winning patient magazine and other editorial content. She finds it incredibly rewarding to inform and inspire people with great content that gives them the information they need, and she does this by focusing on what readers want, combined with commitment to quality and attention to detail.

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