Supermarket meal deal options are a popular way for Britons to get their lunchtime food fix on the go.

But prices have been creeping up in recent years and shoppers need to be savvy to get the best deal available. 

Waitrose stirred shoppers by upping the price of its lunchtime meal deal this month to £5.50. Co-op quietly did the same on 17 June, moving the price to £4.25 for non-members.  

Selecting the highest price sandwich, snack and drink option is one good way of ensuring you get the best value, as is using any loyalty benefits on offer. 

This is Money examines what has happened to supermarket meal deal prices in recent years and what is on offer.

Waitrose irked shoppers earlier this month after revealing its lunchtime meal deal price was increasing to £5.50. 

The upmarket supermarket chain increased the price of its meal deal by 10 per cent, from £5 previously. 

Waitrose only launched its lunchtime meal deal in August 2023 and this month marked the first price increase.  

The £5.50 deal includes one main, one snack and one drink. The main can be sushi, a sandwich or a salad. 

Consider going for something like the Glo Smoky Chicken & Rice salad, which would cost £4.85 if purchased by itself. The smoothie or iced coffee options can be good drinks to get as they are reasonably pricey to buy individually. 

Had the cost of the meal deal gone up in line with inflation since 2023, the meal deal would cost £5.37 as of May 2026.  

A Waitrose spokesman said: 'Our meal deal remains exceptional value for money – offering a wide variety of lunch options prepared with the quality ingredients you’d expect from Waitrose and following the industry-leading standards we insist on.'

High-end rival Marks & Spencer does not have a conventional lunchtime meal deal across all its stores, but is available in some locations from around £6.  

Tesco has two tiers of lunchtime meal deals. 

In August 2025 Tesco increased the price of its standard meal deal from £3.60 to £3.85 for Tesco Clubcard holders. 

Shoppers who do not have a Tesco loyalty card will have seen the price go up from £4 to £4.25. A good main option would be Tesco's Smoked Salmon Sushi, which costs £3.30 to buy individually. 

Tesco's standard sandwich, snack and drink deal cost £3 for a decade before being increased in 2022, when food prices surged at their fastest rate for 42 years.

In 2022 Tesco's standard deal rose to £3.40 for Tesco Clubcard members and went up from £3.50 to £3.90 for those without a loyalty card.

Tesco also has a premium lunchtime meal deal, costing £5.50 for Clubcard members and £6 for non-members. 

Tesco intends to make its Clubcard available to under-18s this year. 

In June 2025, Sainsbury’s upped the price of its standard lunchtime meal deal offering from £3.75 to £3.95. 

It was the second time Sainsbury’s had increased the price in under a year, after increasing it by 25p in July 2024. The meal deal price had also increased to £3.50 in 2021. 

A quick look at the chain's website today suggests only about 15 sandwich options are included in the deal. A main like the Chicken Caesar Salad could be a good option, as it costs £3.25 to buy by itself. 

The meal deal at Sainsbury's is the same price for customers whether they have a Nectar loyalty card or not. 

The supermarket's premium meal deal has remained priced at £5 since it was launched in 2022. If this had risen along with inflation since 2022, it would cost about £5.84 now. 

In October 2025 Co-op upped the cost of its meal deal to £3.75 for members and £4.10 for non-members, up from £4. 

At the time a Co-op spokesman said the increase was due to inflationary pressures, but flagged that the premium meal deal remained unchanged at £5.50. 

Now, the chain's standard meal deal costs £3.85 for members and £4.25 for non-members. The price of its premium lunchtime meal deal has stayed the same, at £5.50.  The prices quietly went up on 17 June 2026. 

A spokesman for the Co-op told This is Money: 'Our lunchtime meal deal offers great value to our shoppers, saving them several pounds every time they choose their three products from the 900 plus available, and we only use British protein and free-range eggs in Co-op own brand, so they know it's great quality too.'

The chain said significant inflationary pressures had prompted it to review the price of its meal deal, which includes a main option, side and drink. 

Co-op permits over-16s to get their own Co-op loyalty card and under-16s to access its loyalty prices if they have a card purchased by a parent. 

This month Morrisons launched a new football-focused meal deal option that it said works out at £2.50 per person. 

The new deal includes two mains, two sides and a pack of four drinks. The cost of the offer is £10, with Morrisons stating this will save people £14.75 and works out at £2.50 per person. The limited-time deal is available in shops and online from 17 June to 28 July.

Morrisons has a standard lunchtime meal deal too. It costs £3.50 with a More loyalty card or £4 without a More membership card. 

In September 2025 Asda launched a £3.74 lunchtime meal deal, offering a snack, main and drink. The price is the same for loyalty and non-loyalty members. It is available in stores and online. 

Shoppers can choose from a range of over 690 'to go' food products, which include roughly 132 main courses, 336 snacks, and 222 drinks across own-brand and branded items. 

At the time of launching, Asda said the deal would save shoppers up to 50 per cent compared with buying the items individually.

The meal deal replaced its three-for-two deal at Asda's Food to Go counters, which previously cost between £3 and £5. 

In May 2026 Asda launched a premium lunchtime meal deal for £5. 

Boots may not be a supermarket, but its lunchtime meal deal is popular and well-known. 

The chain's lunchtime meal deal typically costs £3.99 for non-members and £3.60 for shoppers with a Boots Advantage loyalty card. Some shops, like those in the City of London, charge more for the lunchtime deal. 

Again, Greggs is not a supermarket, but its lunchtime meal deals are popular. 

In May 2026 Greggs increased the price of its core lunchtime meal deal, including a main and a drink, to £4.25, from £4. 

The bakery chain's 'Big Deal', which is also available at lunchtime and includes a main, side and a drink, now costs £5.25. It was £5 when it was introduced last year.

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