I shopped at the supermarket that's been cheaper than Lidl and Aldi for essentials

There's one supermarket that's been cheapest for shopping basics for more than a year now and that's Lidl.

Week after week, it's consistently been the least expensive place for a shopping basket of eight essentials that we've been tracking at the six main supermarkets for more than two years, usually just pennies apart from Aldi.

So it was somewhat of a surprise when earlier this month, it was Morrisons that took the lead - after previously being the most expensive.

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With that in mind I decided to do a big shop there to see how its prices are faring overall.

In February, the supermarket announced it was launching its own Aldi and Lidl Price Match - matching the price of whichever retailer is cheaper on more than 200 products. While it's brought some prices down, the price match only applies to a small percentage of Morrisons' overall stock.

Indeed of the 38 items I bought this week, only five of them had been matched to the budget stores. These were milk, mince, chicken breasts, carrots and pasta.

It's also got its budget Savers range, offering more than 200 low cost products, from freezer fillers to cupboard essentials like bread and rice.

But what impressed me most was the number of offers on many of the other items, especially branded ones, which made it cheaper than the likes of Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's for numerous items.

A pack of nine Warburtons crumpets was just £1 for example, while at Tesco and Asda it's £1.25 and at Sainsbury's £1.35. A pack of four Holland's pies was on offer for £3.75, while at Tesco you'd pay £4.40.

Birds Eye Chunky Fish Fingers are down to £3 from £3.50, a twin pack of Jaffa Cakes down from £2 to £1.35 and Mr Kipling apple pies on offer for £1.50, when they're as much as twice that elsewhere.

Many shoppers will know how much the price of extra virgin olive oil has soared over recent months and even that was cheaper here too - with a 250ml bottle of Filippo Berio on offer for £3.50, while the price at Tesco and Asda is £4.30 and £5 respectively.

Even without offers, some of the products had come down in price compared to previous Morrisons shops I'd done both last year and a couple of months back.

A 450g tub of Flora Lighter, for instance, was £1.50, down from £2.49 in March. Asda and Sainsbury's are both selling the same tub for £2.50, while at Tesco it's slightly more than Morrisons, at £1.60.

I didn't buy any Heinz products this time, but noticed some of those have started to come down in price too.

Last year a pack of four Heinz Beanz 400g tins was £4, whereas now you can get four bigger 415g tins for £3.75. A 480g bottle of Heinz BBQ sauce was around £3.40, but is now down to £2.49.

It was particularly striking how many of the deals no longer only apply to multibuys, which is a benefit to those on a strict budget.

There are still some you'd want to take advantage of - like two for £3 on fruit, Ambrosia Custard at £1.99 a tin or two for £2.50, and two Hovis loaves for £2.50 - but it was good to see that other items, such as Lloyd Grossman pasta sauce and Sharwood's Tikka Masala Sauce, are now down to £1.49 a jar, whereas last year they were around £2.15 each, or cheaper if you bought two.

And the 500g bags of fusilli pasta are down from 95p to 75p, largely due to the Aldi and Lidl price match, whereas before you had to multibuy to get them any cheaper, with a two for £1.60 deal.

Not everything is cheaper of course. Potatoes are another product that has increased and, since March, Morrisons' 2kg bag of Maris Piper potatoes has risen from £1.65 to the current £1.89. Aldi's and Tesco's are only 10p cheaper though, which suggests they've gone up across the board.

With better offers, more Savers products and a select number of items being matched to Aldi and Lidl, maybe there are more reasons to shop at Morrisons after all.

My full Morrisons shop

On offer

• Holland's pies £3.75 down from £4.40

• 2 for £3 on fruit - grapes 400g / blueberries 150g

• 9 Warburtons Crumpets £1, down from £1.25

• Wafer thin honey cured ham 170g £1.75 down from £2

• Corned beef 100g £1.50, down from £2

• Birds Eye 38 chicken dippers £3.50, down from £5.69

• Ambrosia custard 2 for £2.50, or £1.99 each

• Mr Kipling apple pies £1.50, down from £2.99

• Walkers Baked Sea Salt crisps 6-pack £1.50, down from £2.20

• Warburtons Bagels 5 pack £1.35, down from £1.85

• Jaffa cakes twin pack 220g £1.35, down from £2

• Onken yogurt 450g £1.50, down from £1.95

• Sharwood's Tikka Masala Sauce £1.49, down from £2.50

• Lloyd Grossman pasta sauce £1.49, down from £2.99

• King size Pot Noodle 99p, down from £1.39

• Birds Eye Chunky Fish Fingers 360g £3, down from £3.50

• Goodfella's pepperoni pizza 332g £1.50, down from £3

• Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil 250ml £3.50, down from £4.30

• Richmond Skinless Sausages 2 packs of 12 for £4

Aldi Price Match

• Skimmed milk 4 pints £1.45

• Mince 500g £3.49

• Chicken breasts 1kg £6.49

• Carrots 1kg 65p

• Fusilli pasta 500g 75p

Others

• Cathedral City lighter cheese 350g £2.75

• Flora Lighter 450g £1.50

• Savers apple juice 1L 99p

• Orange juice 1L £1.29

• Maris piper potatoes £1.89 for 2kg

• Eggs 12 x large free range £2.95

• Hovis thick white soft £1.45 and Hovis thick wholemeal 800g £1.45 (2 for £2.50)

• Broccoli 79p

• Morrisons fat free Greek style yogurt 500g £1.10

• Morrisons Mighty Malties 625g 95p

• Soft white rolls 89p

• 4 beef burgers 5% fat £4

Total £75.35