Invented by McVities nearly 100 years ago, the humble milk chocolate digestive is a staple tea-time treat. In fact, it was voted Britain’s favourite biscuit in a YouGov survey of 6,489 British adults last year, pipping other popular biscuits including Cadbury Fingers and original digestives to the post.
But does the leading brand really taste any better than own-brand alternatives?
In February 2020 we tested 10 different milk chocolate digestives including McVities, to see if paying more for the leading brand is the way to a better biscuit. Our consumer tasting panel also sampled alternatives from Tesco, Asda, Lidl and more.
And while we found lots of bargain biscuits that were worth buying, we also discovered chocolate digestives that were far too soft or flavourless to bag a spot in your biscuit tin.
Best chocolate digestives
Only logged-in Which? members can view the chocolate digestive test results below. If you're not yet a member, you'll see an alphabetically ordered list of the chocolate digestives we tested. Join Which? now to get instant access to our test scores and Best Buy recommendation below.
All chocolate digestives prices correct as of March 2020.
Aldi chocolate digestives
14p per 100g
Budget-friendly supermarket Aldi lives up to its reputation by offering one of the two cheapest packets of chocolate digestives we tested. But are you sacrificing taste for a lower price?
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Asda chocolate digestives
15p per 100g
Asda's chocolate digestives are one of the cheaper options on test and they have one of the lowest calorie counts per biscuit and per 100g, alongside Morrisons and just behind Aldi. Do they deserve a place next to your kettle?
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Co-op chocolate digestives
28p per 100g
Costing more than all of the own-brand digestives we tested, can Co-op really deliver on this ‘true classic’?
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Lidl chocolate digestives
14p per 100g
Find out whether Lidl’s budget-friendly teatime snack is a treat for your purse and your taste buds.
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M&S chocolate digestives
27p per 100g
It’s one of the priciest own-brand biscuits we tasted. Does this premium supermarket deliver premium digestives?
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McVities chocolate digestives
35p per 100g
The most expensive on test – McVities is an established brand, but does paying more than double compared with own-brand alternatives really get a better biscuit?
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Morrisons chocolate digestives
20p per 100g
Morrison’s chocolate digestive has one of the lowest calories, sugar, salt and saturated fat content per 100g that we tested. Does this impact its flavour?
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Sainsbury's chocolate digestives
21p per 100g
It’s middle-of-the-table for price, but does this mean its middle-of-the-table for taste, too? Find out whether our panel thought this well-known supermarket’s treat should be in the middle of your table.
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Tesco's chocolate digestives
20p per 100g
A solid biscuit base or a soggy bottom? No one wants the latter when it comes to a chocolate digestive. Which side of the coin does Tesco’s biscuit fall?
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Waitrose chocolate digestives
23p per 100g
Waitrose is known for being a premium supermarket, but does that actually shine through when it comes to its everyday essentials? Find out how its biscuits fared.
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How many calories are in chocolate digestives?
The average calorie count for the chocolate digestives we tested is 83 calories per biscuit and 497 calories per 100g.
It’s important to note that each brand has very similar calorie, saturated fat, sugar and salt content, so if you’re worried about the nutritional aspect there’s really not that much to pick between them.
Tesco has the highest calorie count per 100g, while Aldi has the lowest. Our table below shows the nutritional information per 100g for each biscuit we tested.
Which popular biscuits have the least calories?
We've rounded up the most popular branded biscuits in the UK based on search data and ranked their calorie counts per 100g.
Perhaps unsurprisingly chocolate digestives didn't have the lowest calorie count, coming in sixth behind hobnobs, ginger nuts and even Maryland’s chocolate chip cookies.
The biscuit with the lowest calorie count is the traditional rich tea, while Walkers pure butter shortbread has the highest with 533 calories per 100g.
There's nothing quite like dunking your biscuit in a hot drink. Find out who won the title of best instant coffee.
How we test chocolate digestives
Each milk chocolate digestive was assessed by 72 people. The make-up of the panel broadly represents the demographic profile of adults in the UK.
The panellists rated the taste, texture, aroma and appearance of each product and told us what they liked and disliked about each one.
The taste test was blind, so the panellists didn’t know which brand they were trying. The order they sampled the milk chocolate digestive was fully rotated to avoid any bias.
Each panellist had a private booth so they couldn’t discuss what they were tasting or be influenced by others.
The overall score is based on:
- 50% taste
- 35% texture
- 10% appearance
- 5% aroma
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