We get quite a few people asking which products are most paleo-friendly at the supermarkets. It can take a little while to get to know which ingredients are available at which stores, what products don’t contain hidden nasties and what foods actually taste good. Here’s a round up of all our favourite paleo-friendly products that you can pick up at either Tesco, Sainsbury’s or Waitrose.
While we prefer to give our money to small independent stores it’s perfectly possible to eat a clean, healthy diet with food from your local supermarket. As a general guide we look for as little interference with the food as possible. Minimising or eliminating additives / preservatives and choosing outdoor reared animals, organic labels and all that good stuff. Stick to the outside edges of the supermarket, have a look at the labels and buy the best you can within your budget.
Almond flour - Usually called ground almonds, you can find it in all the big supermarkets with the rest of the nuts.
Bacon: Look for pigs that were reared outdoors and allowed to forage. We recommend Denhay which is available at Sainsbury’s & Waitrose, Denhay spoiltpig from Tesco and Duchy bacon from Waitrose.
Coconut Milk – If I’m going for a supermarket option I’ll go for Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients organic coconut milk. It’s in a can and contains organic guar gum so not perfect but tastes pretty good. You can also buy Thai Taste coconut milk which comes in a 200ml plastic pack from Waitrose. No bpa or added stabilisers so might be worth a try. I tried their all natural Thai curry paste and hated it though.
Coconut oil - We generally buy the big tub of Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil but you can buy Groovy Food Organic virgin coconut oil (£6.99 for 283ml) from all supermarkets.
Eggs - We’ll be keeping an eye out for eggs from hens that spend a lot of their time outdoors. We’ll usually opt for Hoad’s Farm from Tesco, Duchy from Waitrose or Clover Farm from Sainsbury’s. Waitrose also do omega 3 enriched free range eggs but I believe that’s from feeding the hen’s fish oils. I’d rather the birds were outside, eating a natural diet which will give their eggs a much more favourable omega 3 content.
Frozen organic vegetables: Waitrose are the only ones who stock frozen organic veg. You can pick up frozen broccoli and spinach. Good for quick meals and saving money.
Grass-fed butter: Kerrygold – love this stuff. Yeo Valley (all supermarkets) and Rachel’s organic (Waitrose) are also nice. They no longer sell the silver unsalted pack of Kerrygold so check out Yeo Valley organic unsalted butter or Rachel’s organic unsalted butter (both from Waitrose) if you’re looking for something salt-free to add to your bullet proof coffee.
Grass-fed meat - As most meat and fish is own branded in the supermarkets it’s tough to be 100% how the animals were raised. Lamb is grass-fed, cows are grass-fed but supplemented/ finished on grains, organic chicken often means raised on organic grains and pigs are generally fed cereals. I like to look out for smaller brands such as Laverstoke Park Farm or Duchy where it’s easier to find their animal welfare policy.
Nut butters - Meridian Natural Almond Butter – pick this up from Sainsbury’s.
Olive oil - I’m no expert here and there are so many options for OO & EVOO in the supermarkets. We usually change each time for variety’s sake but I’ll look for something Italian, Spanish or Greek. I quite like Waitrose Umbria Colli Martani extra virgin olive oil. Dark bottles or tins are meant to be best.
Salt - If you want salt, ditch the table stuff. Maldon Sea Salt is our preference, Geo Organics Atlantic Sea Salt is good and you can also buy Cornish sea salt. All stores stock these.
Sausages - We stick to gluten-free sausages which don’t container fillers. Debbie And Andrew Harrogate 97% from Tesco are our fav.
Sauerkraut - Kuhne Sauerkraut – available from Tesco and Waitrose.
Tomatoes – You can get organic chopped tomatoes in a tetra pack from Tesco. Another option is organic passata which you can get from all supermarkets. We use this most weeks for tomato based sources. It comes in glass jars which is a bonus if you’re trying to avoid bpa in cans.
Vinegar - Aspall organic white or red wine vinegar. Great for dressings and sauces. All supermarkets.
Wild salmon – Smoked, fresh or frozen. The frozen stuff can be a little bland compared to the fresh stuff but it’s a cheaper way of getting in some wild fish.
What other paleo-friendly ingredients do you pick up from your local supermarket?
I’m surprised you’re recommending that bacon, which has nitrates in it. Ocado does Laverstoke Park Organic Free Range which is nitrate free. Also bacon has added sugar in it.
I go for Cooks’ Ingredients Smoked Prosciutto Crudo Diced Pancetta Waitrose which is not organic, but it’s air dried and cured without nitrates or sugar.
I also go for Golfera Organic Italian Prosciutto Cotto cooked ham from Ocado, which is nitrate and sugar free.
I’m also surprised that you recommend omega 3 enriched eggs. The chickens are fed mostly flaxseeds and not their typical diverse diet, which reduces the quality of the eggs otherwise. Normally free range chickens eat bugs and worms in addition to grains.
Hi Joe. Cheers for comments. I’ve read a few articles which suggest nitrates perhaps aren’t as big an issue as previously thought.
http://chriskresser.com/the-nitrate-and-nitrite-myth-another-reason-not-to-fear-bacon
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-quick-guide-to-bacon/#axzz2LvdYFXYe
Both say that nitrates are of little consequence and Robb Wolf has said the same in his podcasts. Also not everybody shops online or at farm shops so I wanted to give some better choices from easily accessible stores.
I wasn’t really recommending the omega 3 enriched eggs, sorry if I didn’t make that clear – just giving people a heads up because some may go for these but I agree that a proper outdoor foraged diet will make a much healthier bird with good o3 levels which is what I say I prefer.
Thanks for the product recommendations. Ocado do some good stuff.
Some useful info; thanks.
I don’t buy much from supermarkets as I’m fairly lucky with respect to local farm shops, except fruits in the winter where Sainsbury’s is indispensable.
I too get my coconut oil from Amazon but quite like this one: http://goo.gl/5ILZw – a similar price/kg but a more manageable size if cooking for one.
Thanks again.
Yeah the biona stuff is really good as well. I think you can get it in smaller health food stores and I’m sure I’ve seen it in some Holland & Barrett shops.
The biona stuff is also available in smaller jars at Dolphin Fitness, who have have always given really good service. Cheaper if you buy more!
Regarding butter, I recently read somewhere that Yeo Valley wasn’t all grass fed. I can’t find the article now, but acting on that I sent Waitrose and email asking if they could advise if any of their butters are 100% grass fed. This is their reply:
“Thank you for your email.
We have now investigated your enquiry with our buying department.
They have advised the only butter that has any claim to grass feeding is Kerrygold, this is produced in Ireland where the farming system is different to the UK. The butter is only produced for approx 9 months during the summer flush. They are not aware of any farm system of this kind in the UK.
I hope this information has been of assistance to you.
Regards,
Jen Page
Waitrose Customer Sales and Support.”
Cheers James – that’s interesting to know. Think I might contact Yeo Vally & Rachel’s Organic direct to double check. Maybe they are going off organic standard which I believe is minimum 60% grass-fed/ foraged diet?
I have been known to buy Jimmy’s Farm gluten free Essex sausages in a pinch!
Fish4Ever is a fairly widely stocked, sustainable brand of tinned fish – some tinned in olive oil, some in sunflower oil, but clearly labelled.
Cheers for the tips! I’ve never seen Fish4Ever before so I’ll check them out. It’s a shame there are no bpa free cans it the UK but it’s good to know which brands are best still.
Biona organic coconut milk is good if you can find it. The listed ingredients are organic coconut and water. I get mine from my local farm store, not sure about supermarkets though. It is available online too.
Cool I’ll look out for that one.
Hi
Great list thanks. Re coconut milk. I just purchased the paleo slow cooker, cook book. In it is a recipe for coconut milk and its so easy.
Take 8oz dessicated coconut, 3 cups boiling water and place in a blender.
Line a sieve with a cheesecloth folded over and pour the blended coconut into this over a bowl. I left it there with the occasional squeeze, it only took a few moments and the milk was really rich and creamy. Much better than canned
M
That’s so cool! Didn’t realise it was that easy to make. I’m definitely going to try that out soon. Thanks for the recipe
Another possibly even easier way to make pure coconut milk is to buy a block of creamed coconut (100% coconut) – http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/sainsburys-price-comparison/marinades_and_sauces/blue_dragon_creamed_coconut_200g.html and then you just mix it with boiling water and that’s it. The only drawback is that only Sainsburys seem to stock it.
Nice idea. I’d only seen the coconut cream (?) they do which has stabilisers, good to see a 100% coconut version. Will see if they have that in my local Sainsbury’s. Cheers!
Ocado sells a wide range of Biona coconut oil and milk. That’s where I get mine. They also sell organic coconut yogurt sweetened with Xylitol. http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/CO-YO-Coconut-Milk-Yoghurt-Natural/79529011?from=search&tags=%7C20000¶m=coconut+yogurt&parentContainer=SEARCHcoconut+yogurt_SHELFVIEW
It’s great in smoothies, but can’t be used like Greek yogurt, because it lacks the tartness. It has slightly sweet coconutty taste, and could almost be a coconut pudding on it’s own.
I’ve wanted to try co-yo – heard good things about it. I think they do a coconut milk ice cream as well but not sure if it’s sold in the UK
I also heard on some other paleo UK website that Sainsbury’s Finest port and herb sausages are gluten free and 90% outdoors reared pork. Tried them, they were delicious! Do have nitrites in, I believe. 2 packs of 6 for £5, good for those on a budget as well.
Sounds tasty – will try those out!