13 things I buy in Waitrose – and what to avoid, by a food editor

There’s plenty to love in Waitrose, food and drink heaven for those with deep pockets. But one of my favourite things about this middle class favourite is what it leaves out. As supermarkets have grown in size, especially when sited in out of town retail parks, they have evolved into the French hypermarché model: selling everything from games and toys to books and fashion. There’s a time and a place for all this, but I appreciate the stripped back focus of Waitrose, even if its bigger stores do now carry more non-food lines from John Lewis. Overall, this judicious edit produces a supermarket experience of mostly killer and very little filler, even if I can’t afford to go every week. Better still, according to my 10-year-old, this makes it the most boring supermarket to visit, leaving her with nothing to do but help with the actual shop. If you haven’t been in for a while because of cost, you’re not alone. As fanciness goes, this is a supermarket with its own farm! But Waitrose has done some careful work in extending its Essentials lines, showing customers what they’re paying for and running frequent 20 per cent off discounts. I enjoy going there knowing it’s rarely for a big shop – it’s too expensive to get everything. This means I can focus on buying my fun and delicious favourites rather than boring everyday must-haves, which I tend to leave behind. This is what I’d always add to my basket. Shorts Local products There’s always a stand of local products near the front of my nearest store, encouraging customers to explore their home turf. For me, living in Kent, this week that means bottles of Dogbolter Dark Porter from Ramsgate brewery Gadds’, wine from Chapel Down, a great value English producer, and Kentish Oils cold-pressed rapeseed oil, a tasty and reasonably priced (£9 per litre) alternative to olive oil that works on salads and in cooking. Fresh herbs I’ve written before about the low price of fresh herbs in some of the discount supermarkets, but they never have much variety. We miss out on the wonderful and distinctive taste of many herbs when we don’t grow them and they’re tricky to find in shops. If I want dill, chives, sage, dill or tarragon, I’ll head straight to Waitrose and it’s unlikely I’ll be let down. The wet fish counter I’m lucky enough to live closer to a fishmonger than a supermarket but it closes at lunchtime and Waitrose is the next best thing. There’s 20 per cent off some products on Fridays for my Waitrose card holders. Wildfarmed bread Mass-produced bread has been at the centre of fears over ultra-processed foods (UPFs), owing to the large number of additives it often contains. Wildfarmed is one of very few widely available bakers to offer UPF-free products, including sourdough, sliced bread, rolls, crumpets and baguettes, using regenerative farming methods that protect and enrich the land. This will cost you. The sliced seeded loaf is £4.09/kg compared with £2.06/kg for a Hovis sliced seeded loaf. Pizza I recently chose the Waitrose No. 1 wood-fired smoky five cheese pizza as my favourite supermarket pizza to pick up for a World cup TV dinner. I couldn’t look at another pizza for weeks after eating around 20 for that piece, but when I spotted this cheesy beast in Waitrose last weekend I was very nearly tempted – especially given the current offer of two pizzas, usually £6.75 each, plus a bottle of Prosecco for £16. Cooks Ingredients This inspiring range encompasses everything the home cook might need from many kinds of fresh chillies to vanilla pods. I can find most of these at other supermarkets but when I need more obscure items such as panko breadcrumbs and tempura batter, I try Waitrose first. Olive oil I spend half my shopping time searching out the cheapest extra virgin olive oil and the rest looking for interesting new bottles, which can be expensive. Waitrose has an outstanding range at both ends of the spectrum, with its own brand EVOO from £8/l and some of my favourites such as Belazu, Odysea and Karyatis, right up to Alziari at a whopping £45/l (not today, thanks). My current squeeze is all-purpose Good Phats, simply because it comes in one of the restaurant-style plastic condiment bottles popularised by chefs on social media. I’m that basic. But it’s so easy to use and you use less as it doesn’t slosh everywhere. The Good Phats Spanish oil is £16/l, but Waitrose also has a much cheaper option, La Espanola, which isn’t extra virgin but is £8.60/l and ideal for cooking and dressings. Michelin-starred ready meals Kind of. Chef Angela Hartnett, who has a Michelin star for her Mayfair restaurant Murano, has developed a new Italian line for Waitrose which launched in June. These fresh pastas and sauces and an outstanding lasagne are the dishes you should treat yourself to when you don’t want to cook but accept that popping out for dinner or ordering in has become wildly expensive. Most of the pastas are £6 and the sauces £4. I loved the meaty choices, slow-braised beef & veal quadratini and slow-braised pork & beef girasoli, for their depth of flavour, while the focaccia is salty, springy and exceptional. Canadian Maple Syrup Protest the tariffs: buy Canadian. Waitrose is one of few shops that sell different kinds of maple syrup. If you’re a fan of cooking with it as well as using it on pancakes and in dressings, this matters. The darker syrup comes from the same trees as the amber syrup, but is tapped later in the season, which gives it a deeper, more treacly flavour, while the lighter syrup is more like caramel. Remeo Blackcurrant ice lollies You can buy these lollies online but I haven’t seen them in any bricks and mortar store apart from Waitrose. Blackcurrant has a brilliant flavour and is a woefully underused ingredient. These are mouthpuckeringly good. Frozen raspberries & cherries You can make almost instant frozen desserts with frozen fruit and Waitrose has a really good range. This summer I am going for cherries, which I blitz in the food processor with a little maple or agave syrup and lime juice. I usually add a bit of whatever dairy I have available for texture, such as Greek yoghurt or coconut milk. You could slurp this right up as a frozen smoothie, or hang on for half a day while it firms up in the freezer. If you’d like a recipe, search for Ixta Belfrage’s cherry and coconut sorbet on Instagram. Cheaper than splurging on the Ninja Creami gadget I lust after. English wine Waitrose has a wide selection of homegrown wine, and even more online at Waitrose Cellar, from its own Leckford Estate English Sparkling to Ridgeview and Nyetimber, along with still wines I love from Simpsons, a pink Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay. All of the cheese Waitrose carries an extraordinarily strong range of cheese, from fridge staples like Cheddar and Parmesan to award-winning farmhouse products like Cropwell Bishop Stilton, Appleby’s Cheshire and Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire, the holy trinity of brilliant British cheese.