Aldi has been named the cheapest supermarket in January, with an average household basket full of groceries and other essentials coming in at £185.83 in January.

Lidl came in second, with the same shopping list costing only 76p more at £186.59 with the supermarket’s loyalty scheme Lidl Plus and 79p more without, at £186.62, a study by consumer group Which? found.

Shoppers at the German discounter saved an average of £57.08 over the month compared with customers at Waitrose, which at £242.91, was the most expensive retailer.

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The basket of 100 items cost £204.90 at Asda, £207.66 at Tesco (TSCO.L) with a Clubcard, £213.49 at Morrisons with a More card, £214.04 at Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L) with a Nectar card, and £231.03 at Ocado (OCDO.L).

Reena Sewraz, Which? retail editor, said: “Our latest monthly analysis once again sees Aldi crowned as the UK’s cheapest supermarket, however, Lidl remains hot on its rival’s heels.

“Asda has also made up some ground after slipping back in our rankings in recent months.

“With people still feeling the effects of food inflation, they are likely looking to cut costs where they can. Our analysis shows that by switching supermarkets consumers could save up to 23%, highlighting the advantages of shopping around where possible."

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The list of items included both branded and own-brand items, such as Birds Eye Peas, Hovis bread, milk and butter. Special offers and loyalty prices were included, but any multi-buys were not.

The study also found Asda to be the cheapest supermarket for a larger trolley of 210 items, at £518.90.

Asda regained the crown from Tesco, which came in second at £529.01. Asda’s return to the top spot for the longer shopping list comes just days after it announced it was dropping its Aldi and Lidl price match scheme.

The supermarket has instead brought back Rollback pricing — claiming to have slashed the prices of more than 4,000 products in-store and online by an average of 25%.

Waitrose was the most expensive supermarket for a larger trolley of items. In January, a Waitrose shop cost a total of £592.34 on average.

Meanwhile, data from Kantar showed that grocery inflation slowed in January for the first time in six months, as retailers ramped up promotions to attract budget-conscious shoppers.

The price of groceries increased by 3.3%, easing from 3.7% in December, as the costs of toilet roll and cat food fell but prices of chocolate, butter and chilled juices rose.

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