When’s the right time to put up your Christmas tree? When’s the right time to start tucking into Christmas sandwiches, more like?! And to that, we’d say: right about now, actually.
The John Lewis ad’s already out, Strictly’s been to Blackpool, and the festive sarnies have well and truly landed in cafes and supermarkets. And now, HuffPost UK’s annual Christmas sandwich taste test is here – bigger and better than before.
This year, we asked each retailer to send us two different sarnies to sample – a festive favourite and a new launch. We also asked for a nice range of meat, fish, veggie and vegan options.
And to help us test them, we have teamed up with Tasty UK. Our Buzzfeed colleagues know a thing or two when it comes to good food, so were totally up for it – read on for our joint verdicts.
* NB. Sandwich prices may vary depending on location.
Testers: Habiba Katsha, Rachel Moss, Tasha Hinde, Nehmat Kaur, Nancy Groves, Homam Ayaso, Lirim Gula, Sepi Zolfaghari, and Sophie Bale.
M&S
Natasha Hinde / HuffPost UK
New Launch: Christmas Club Sandwich, £4.50
Description: “Oatmeal bread, sandwiching roast chicken, maple bacon, cranberry chutney, stuffing, spinach, spiced pickled red cabbage and gravy mayo.”
Homam: “It’s a bit dry. I’m not sure about this one. It’s fine but the roll is definitely the winner from M&S.”
Habiba: “I agree, there’s a lot going on here and I don’t know if I’m in love with it.”
Festive favourite: Naughty & Spice Turkey Feast Roll, £4.25
Description: “A brioche roll packed with turkey breast, hot cranberry sauce, spicy chorizo style pork stuffing and a creamy red cabbage slaw.”
Homam: “It smells nice. There’s a spice to it that I really love. Good texture. Well done!”
Habiba: “It’s giving! It’s so nice, but what would you expect from M&S? It’s seasoned, it has a little kick. I’d buy this again tomorrow. A resounding YES.”
PRET
Natasha Hinde / HuffPost UK
New launch: Vegan Beet Wellington Baguette, £4.60
Description: “Slices of maple roasted beetroot on a bed of truffle flavoured mushrooms, Christmas pesto and vegan sage mayo. Finished with rocket and crispy onions.”
Nehmat: “I don’t love the beet and cranberry together, I think that’s wrong.”
Nancy: “That’s more of an ordeal, way too healthy for me. ”
Festive Favourite: Christmas Lunch Baguette, £4.75
Description: “Thick slices of British turkey with port & orange cranberry sauce, herby pork stuffing and baby spinach. Finished with a dab of mayo and crispy onions.”
Nehmat: “I’m just getting rocket.”
Nancy: “It’s a bit soggy, but that’s all good. I’m getting lots of gorgeous moist goodness.”
SAINSBURY’S
Natasha Hinde / HuffPost UK
New Launch: Boxing Day Veggie Curry Wrap, £2.95
Description: “Seasoned and sweetened roasted carrot and parsnip, vegan spiced mayo, root vegetable patty and spinach in a tortilla wrap.”
Nancy: “Oh it’s veggie! Curry coming through strong, that’s delicious”.
Habiba: “I like the idea of this. There’s a lot of veg. It’s lacking seasoning for me. It’s giving me chicken, even though it’s veggie. It’s alright.”
Festive Favourite: Taste the Difference Hot Smoked Salmon Sandwich, £4.25
Description: “Hot smoked salmon, mayonnaise, spinach, crème fraîche, onion, lemon vinaigrette, lemon juice, capers and dill on rye bread.”
Nancy: “The salmon is not looking as pink as I’d like it to look. It’s a bit creme fraiche OD. But the salmon tastes nice!”
Habiba: “I’m not mad at it, the salmon is okay, but it’s a bit too fishy for me.”
TESCO
Natasha Hinde / HuffPost UK
New Launch: Vegan No Beef Wellington Wrap, £2.75
Description: “Wheat and pea protein, mushrooms and red wine dressing.”
Rachel: “It tastes nice, but what about that is Christmassy? It’s also crunchy, very very crunchy.”
Tasha: “It’s a good colour, the chutney is sweet. I think it’s nice, but would I buy it? I don’t know. It’s fine.”
Festive favourite: Finest smoked turkey and truffle club, £3.25
Description: “Smoked turkey breast, pickled slaw, cranberry chutney, mature Cheddar cheese, truffle mayonnaise and lettuce in cranberry and oatmeal bread.”
Rachel: “I like that the bread has been charred. There’s a good amount of seasoning, the turkey is not too dry. I quite like this one. You can’t taste truffle, though.”
Tasha: “The bread is very good, it’s something a bit different. There’s a good bit of sauce, a nice bit of fresh lettuce. It’s definitely the best out of the two Tesco sandwiches.”
STARBUCKS
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New launch: Brie & Cran-merry Focaccia, £6
Description: “Rosemary topped olive oil based focaccia is filled with slices of creamy brie, cranberry chutney and fresh spinach leaf.”
Rachel: “This is banging. It’s warm, it smells good, it’s stuffed with brie. Delicious.”
Tasha: “That’s like a cloud! It’s so light and fluffy. The bread is delicious. And the rosemary! My favourite one so far.”
Festive Favourite: Festive Feast Panini, £6
Description: “Sliced turkey breast, beechwood smoked bacon, turkey gravy, sage & onion stuffing and cranberry sauce on a ciabatta panini.”
Rachel: “This one looks better than it tastes. It’s got a lot of filling, but it’s a little bit dry.”
Tasha: *Coughs to clear throat* “It’s definitely dry. Average flavour.”
ALDI
Natasha Hinde / HuffPost UK
New Launch: Brie And Spiced Cranberry Chutney, £1.99
Description: “Brie cheese with cranberry, orange and ginger chutney, mayonnaise and spinach on malted bread.”
Sepi: “It’s 90% brie, 10% cranberry. They need to level up on the cranberry sauce, you can’t really taste it. ”
Sophie: “I agree, it’s a bit bland I would say, it needs a bit more of a kick. It’s a bit sad as a vegetarian option. ”
Festive Favourite: Butter Basted Turkey With Pigs Under Blankets, £1.99
Description: “Butter-basted turkey breast, beechwood smoked bacon, Lincolnshire sausages topped with festive pork, sage & onion stuffing and a cranberry & port sauce, with crispy fried onions and a sage and onion mayonnaise between two slices of sage and onion bread..”
Sepi: “That is thicccc. You get a lot of filling in there and if you want something hearty, this will do it for you. But it is dry, it needs sauce.”
Sophie: I was expecting more. It’s a bit lacklustre. I won’t run for a second one.”
COSTA
Natasha Hinde / HuffPost UK
New launch: Vegan P’gs & Blankets Panini, £5.10
Description: “Plant-based sausage and Plant-based bacon style rasher with cranberry sauce, vegan mayonnaise, coconut, and sage and onion stuffing in s stonebaked sourdough panini bread.”
Lirim: “That’s a sad-looking bit of ‘bacon’, but it’s not bad. Taste-wise, they’ve got it close. If I was a vegan, I’d be happy.”
Homam: “It’s actually very realistic, as far as flavour goes. I’m impressed.”
Festive Favourite: Turkey and The Trimmings Toastie, £5.10
Description: “Turkey breast, maple cured smoked bacon and sage and Onion stuffing with béchamel sauce, mature Cheddar cheese, and cranberry sauce on cheese topped white bread.”
Homam: “Hmmm this is good, I love the cheese on the top. I’m taking this home.”
Lirim: “That’s a bit of me. That was actually really good.”
GREGGS
New Launch: Vegan Turkey-Free and Stuffing Baguette, £3.50
Description: “Sage and onion plant-based goujons, cranberry and port sauce with onion gravy in a baguette.”
Habiba: “I’m not mad. I’ve heard the Greggs vegan one is alright, but the cranberry sauce is a bit too much for me.”
Lirim: “It’s not for me. I need meat. Give me my sausages.”
Festive Favourite: Pigs Under Blankets Baguette, £3.50
Description: “Pork sausages with smoked sweetcure bacon topped with pork, onion & sage stuffing, with cranberry and port sauce in a freshly baked crusty white baguette.
Habiba: “The cranberry sauce is actually quite nice, I’m not usually a cranberry fan, but it goes with the meat and it’s not overpowering. The bread is a bit dry though. I need a drink.”
Lirim: “Very festive, very meaty, I approve. Christmas in a baguette!”
CO-OP
Festive Favourite: Boxing Day Feast Sandwich, £3.25
Description: “A twist on Christmas day leftovers, with smoked ham, turkey, coleslaw and spiced chutney on classic white bread.”
Lirim: “Urgh, not for me. This is a very wet sandwich. Co-op, I don’t know what you’ve done.”
Tasha: “There’s a lot going on here. You can hear it squelch!”
New launch: Vegan GRO Turk’y Feast Sandwich, £3.25
Description: “Flame-grilled cooked flavoured soya protein with vegan mayonnaise, steam roasted carrot and parsnip, cranberry chutney and sage and onion stuffing on oatmeal bread.”
Lirim: “I don’t understand the crunchiness of this, I’m sorry, I don’t like it.”
Tasha: “I don’t mind it. It’s better than the other one, but the bar was low. There are some rogue bits of carrot in there, which I’m not sure about.”
WAITROSE
Festive favourite: Christmas Pigs Under Blankets, £3.50
Description: ”Pork sausage, cranberry and redcurrant chutney, smoked bacon and mayonnaise in sliced malted bread.”
Nehmat: “I love the texture, love the little bit of cranberry sauce…bacon, sausage – it’s got the goods.”
Homam: “Okay, this is good. I’m enjoying this. What’s not to love here, seriously?”
New Launch: Christmas Brie, Cranberry with Spinach, £3
Description: ”Brie cheese, cranberry and redcurrant chutney, mayonnaise and spinach in sliced malted bread.”
Nehmat: “It might just be that I like brie, but I like this.”
Homam: “Me too. It looks good. It’s not super christmassy, but it’s still delicious.”
So, those festive tops and turkeys are:
Top: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
M&S Naughty & Spice Turkey Feast Roll,
Starbucks Brie & Cran-merry Focaccia
Costa Turkey and The Trimmings Toastie
Bottom: ⭐
Pret Vegan Beet Wellington Baguette
Co-Op Boxing Day Feast Sandwich
