Best supermarket hot cross buns 2025

Best classic hot cross bun

Winner: Aldi Specially Selected hot cross buns

• Available from Aldi (£1.35, in-store)

You can’t go wrong with these traditional hot cross buns. The best looking of the buns we tested, the bread has a lovely texture, and good amount of fruit for a well-balanced result.

Available from:
Aldi (£1.25)

Runner up: Asda Exceptional Extra Fruity hot cross buns

• Available from Asda (£1.80)

These buttery buns are light and moist, packed with fruit and slightly less spiced than others we tried.

Best alternative hot cross bun

Winner: Waitrose No1 Belgian chocolate hot cross buns

• Available from Waitrose (£3)

Perfect for chocolate lovers, these large buns are generously studded with chocolate chips. These would be delicious toasted to melt the chocolate.

Available from:
Waitrose (£3)

Best alternative hot cross bun

Winner: Aldi Specially Selected Raspberry White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

• Available from Aldi (£1.49, in-store)

These have a pale pink hue from the raspberries which also provide a punchy fruity flavour. This is balanced by creamy white chocolate in a super soft, squishy bun – an indulgent sweet treat.

Available from:
Aldi (£1.49, in-store)

Best free-from hot cross bun

Winner: Sainsbury's Free From Extra Fruity Hot Cross Buns, Taste the Difference

• Available from Ocado (£2)

These are extremely light and we can imagine they would be good toasted. The fruit is juicy and they have an attractive appearance.

Available from:
Ocado (£2)

How we chose the winners

The olive team chose 13 categories, having researched which products you, our readers, would be most likely to buy this Easter. We invited all the big supermarkets to select the products they wanted to nominate (just one entry per category, so they had to choose carefully). Our expert panel of judges blind-tasted them, rating each on taste, texture and appearance. We then awarded 'winner' and 'highly commended' accolades to our favourites.