Taste test: the best Christmas sandwiches, 2018
The Culture Whisper team took part in a blind Christmas sandwich taste test. 2018 offers all the classics and some welcome surprises – here's what we thought
Wrappers removed: which Christmas sandwiches actually taste the best?
Readers, we’ve well and truly done the Christmas sandwich rounds. Before we get into the ins and outs of this year’s offering, we noticed several trends across the board. Firstly, pigs now sit under their blankets (not in them); secondly, cranberry sauce has been replaced with (trendier?) cranberry chutney (at least in terms of labeling); and thirdly, almost all breads we sampled came either studded with cranberries, infused with sage and onion or smothered in cheese. Meanwhile, it’s good news for veggies and vegans – most big name suppliers now cater for both dietary preferences, while several offer gluten-free alternatives, too.
To make ours a fair test, wrappers were removed before we began our tasting, so no prejudices could influence our decisions. Here’s the Culture Whisper team’s verdict of 2018’s Christmas sandwiches.
PAUL's new 'Tis The Vegan Christmas sandwich (£4.25)
PAUL
Price range: £4.25 - £4.65 | Calorie range: undisclosed
Ah, PAUL. The bakery has slowly crept up on the bigger, more established brands over the last few years, winning awards for its Dinde de Noël baguette (turkey, smoky bacon, spinach, cream cheese, horseradish sauce) last festive season. This particular treat has returned, earning our vote for the breadth of different flavours in the filling and for being, quite literally, a feast in a roll. The team were less impressed with the new Festive Hock Feast (hand-pulled ham hock and chunky coleslaw) which was just a bit dry and plain, but PAUL’s new ‘Tis The Vegan won serious points from our in-house vegetarians.
Average mark for range: 4/5
GAIL’S BAKERY
Price: £5 | Calories: 255 per 100g
GAIL’s launched its first ever Christmas sandwich this year and as fans of the bakery, we were pretty excited to try it. Smoked turkey and mayfield swiss cheese came served on malted wholemeal, moistened by a generous layer of chipotle aioli and bacon jam. At £5, it’s a little more expensive than the average offering, but for a quality festive sarnie, it gets our vote.
Mark for sandwich: 4/5
Pret's 2018 Christmas sandwich range includes a turkey, veggie and vegan option
PRET
Price range: £3.50 - £3.75 | Calorie range: 483 - 655
Pret is known for delivering a reliable festive sandwich range, with enough variety to cater for most dietary requirements (although, still no gluten-free bread). The Christmas Lunch sandwich was everything you’d hope it to be and a solid four out of five in our books. Office vegetarians, meanwhile, found the soft chestnuts a welcome addition to the Veggie Christmas Lunch, while the vegan Very Merry Christmas Lunch was tasty, crunchy and made interesting by the port & orange cranberry sauce.
Average mark for range: 4/5
WAITROSE
Price range: £1.72 - £2.88 | Calorie range: 209 - 240
Waitrose certainly wins marks for originality of offering. This year, the supermarket’s Christmas sandwich range features a Prawn, Smoked Salmon & Beetroot Relish sandwich, and a Duck wrap with Bitter Orange and Juniper Relish. The former came served on dissolve-in-the-mouth rye bread, but the double dose of fish was a bit overpowering. The latter, meanwhile, somehow managed to be overly fragrant and plain at the same time. The Turkey, Stuffing and Bacon sandwich was everything it should be though, and the gluten-free equivalent of it was just as tasty; ‘you couldn’t tell the bread was gluten-free’ said one impressed team member.
Average mark for range 3.5/5
M&S's 2018 Christmas sandwich range features a classic turkey feast option (pictured)
M&S
Price range: £3 - £3.80 | Calorie range: 340 - 593
M&S has long reigned as king of the packaged sandwich, so readers might be happy to learn that in our view, the store's 2018 range of Christmas sandwiches delivers on all counts. We loved the variety of the three bird roast – half a sandwich each of Roast Turkey & Stuffing, Roast Chicken Dinner, and Duck & Plum Chutney – while the Turkey and Pigs in Blankets won full marks all round. The Brie and Grape was commendable for its thick, creamy slabs of brie, which were full of flavour, while the grape and Ruby Port Chutney elements were a welcome change to cranberry. The only slight let down was the bread of the gluten-free range, which was a little dry and grainy. Saving the best to last, the star of the show was the No Turkey Feast, a vegan equivalent to the festive favourite. The soya protein was as juicy and as succulent as any good slice of meat, and the overall taste of the sandwich bore the closest resemblance to a real (and decent) Turkey Feast.
Average mark for range: 4.5/5
TESCO
Price range: £2.20 - £3.50 | Calorie range: 411 - 555
Tesco wins points for variety of offering this year, with no less than seven Christmas sandwiches available to choose from. We preferred the meat to the veggie ones and in particular, the Turkey and Trimmings wrap to its sandwich equivalent; the filling-to-wrap ratio was spot-on in our books, as was the contrast between creaminess and tang. The sandwich, on the other hand, was run of the mill. The real surprise, though, was the Tesco Finest Festive Trio – a posh prawn cocktail roll, Turkey and Stuffing role, and sweet (!) Black Forest roll – they divided opinion in-house but made a thrilling change to the usual sarnies.
Average mark for range: 3/5
CO-OP
Price range: £2.65 - £3.50 | Calorie range: 342 - 447
Having witnessed the Co-op being crowned the surprise winner of taste tests in the past, we were excited to try the store’s Christmas sandwich selection. The brand has gone against the grain this year with a Beetroot Smoked Salmon & Dill Cream Cheese – served on rye bread – which was a welcome change from the multiple Turkey Feasts on the table. It delivered, too, winning points for full-bodied flavour and the soft-yet-firm texture of the rye. Veggies in the room were pleased with the Bubble & Squeak Fritter – a wrap which came with a dash of vegan mayo – describing it as 'a refreshing take on other half-arsed, sauceless vegan offerings'. The Pigs Under Blankets, though, was a little underwhelming, losing votes for its lack of seasoning.
Average mark for range: 3.5/5
Aldi's 2018 Christmas sandwich range are all priced at £1.69 (ham hock pictured)
ALDI
Price range: £1.69 | Calorie range: 450 - 488
AldiI’s sarnies certainly looked the part and blended in with the likes of, say, Pret’s offering when all were stripped of their branding and displayed on plates. The Farmhouse Cheddar with Plum & Apple Chutney and Spinach scored more highly in our books than the other veggie offering of Brie and Cranberry, but the Turkey Feast (with stuffing and bacon) was our pick of the bunch. And, with sandwiches priced at just £1.69, we consider the range a bargain.
Average mark for range: 3.5/5
LIDL
Price range: £1.69 - £1.79 | Calorie range: 479 - 613
Unlike its budget competitor Aldi, Lidl’s range was notably heavy on the meat, with both sandwich and wrap stuffed with turkey, bacon and sausage. Still, when unwrapped and presented in a blind taste test, neither fared badly under the scrutiny of our tasters, who preferred the sandwich to the wrap, describing it as ‘full of flavour, but heavy on the stuffing’.
Average mark for range: 3/5
CAFFÈ NERO
Price range: £3.55 - £4.50 | Calorie range: Undisclosed
The office verdict on Caffè Nero’s offering was that the toasties trumped the cold (and small) Ham and Winter Spiced Chutney sandwich, and somewhat soggy Veggie Festive Feast flatbread. Among the hot options, the Brie, Bacon and Cranberry won points for its ratio of salty cheese to sweet berry, meanwhile we thought the cranberry welded into the bread was a nice touch. The Turkey Feast was distinctly average, and the Pigs On Blankets (a notable departure from the more fashionable Pigs Under Blankets) divided opinion, with some giving it full marks and others finding it a tad too greasy.
Average mark for range: 3.5/5
The new Brie and Cranberry Focaccia (pictured) was our pick of the range from Starbucks
STARBUCKS
Price range: £4.25 | Calorie range: 209 - 464
Fans of Starbucks' Turkey Feast Panini will be pleased to hear of its return this year. It tasted drier than usual, but perhaps this was the result of it being pipped against several more sophisticated offerings. The chain’s new offering – a Brie and Cranberry Focaccia – was delicious, though; oozing with cheese and flavoured by a dusting of herbs.
Average mark for range: 3.5/5
COSTA
Price range: £3.50 - £3.60 | Calorie range: 316 - 433
Admittedly, we only sampled the cold selection of Costa sandwiches. Those we tried, though, were small, compact and a little too sweet. The Christmas Lunch wrap had a decent filling-to-wrap ratio but was a little on the soggy side. The Turkey Feast sandwich was heavy on the meat and again, a tad too sweet. The Ham Hock with Piccalilli was our pick of the range: its bread soft, its filling tangy, and the overall sandwich deserving of another mark for breaking the standard Christmas sandwich filling mold.
Average mark for range: 3/5
Overall winner: M&S's No Turkey Feast – an all round 5/5 from us.
And that's a wrap! Or was it a sandwich? (Sorry.)
To make ours a fair test, wrappers were removed before we began our tasting, so no prejudices could influence our decisions. Here’s the Culture Whisper team’s verdict of 2018’s Christmas sandwiches.
PAUL's new 'Tis The Vegan Christmas sandwich (£4.25)
PAUL
Price range: £4.25 - £4.65 | Calorie range: undisclosed
Ah, PAUL. The bakery has slowly crept up on the bigger, more established brands over the last few years, winning awards for its Dinde de Noël baguette (turkey, smoky bacon, spinach, cream cheese, horseradish sauce) last festive season. This particular treat has returned, earning our vote for the breadth of different flavours in the filling and for being, quite literally, a feast in a roll. The team were less impressed with the new Festive Hock Feast (hand-pulled ham hock and chunky coleslaw) which was just a bit dry and plain, but PAUL’s new ‘Tis The Vegan won serious points from our in-house vegetarians.
Average mark for range: 4/5
GAIL’S BAKERY
Price: £5 | Calories: 255 per 100g
GAIL’s launched its first ever Christmas sandwich this year and as fans of the bakery, we were pretty excited to try it. Smoked turkey and mayfield swiss cheese came served on malted wholemeal, moistened by a generous layer of chipotle aioli and bacon jam. At £5, it’s a little more expensive than the average offering, but for a quality festive sarnie, it gets our vote.
Mark for sandwich: 4/5
Pret's 2018 Christmas sandwich range includes a turkey, veggie and vegan option
PRET
Price range: £3.50 - £3.75 | Calorie range: 483 - 655
Pret is known for delivering a reliable festive sandwich range, with enough variety to cater for most dietary requirements (although, still no gluten-free bread). The Christmas Lunch sandwich was everything you’d hope it to be and a solid four out of five in our books. Office vegetarians, meanwhile, found the soft chestnuts a welcome addition to the Veggie Christmas Lunch, while the vegan Very Merry Christmas Lunch was tasty, crunchy and made interesting by the port & orange cranberry sauce.
Average mark for range: 4/5
WAITROSE
Price range: £1.72 - £2.88 | Calorie range: 209 - 240
Waitrose certainly wins marks for originality of offering. This year, the supermarket’s Christmas sandwich range features a Prawn, Smoked Salmon & Beetroot Relish sandwich, and a Duck wrap with Bitter Orange and Juniper Relish. The former came served on dissolve-in-the-mouth rye bread, but the double dose of fish was a bit overpowering. The latter, meanwhile, somehow managed to be overly fragrant and plain at the same time. The Turkey, Stuffing and Bacon sandwich was everything it should be though, and the gluten-free equivalent of it was just as tasty; ‘you couldn’t tell the bread was gluten-free’ said one impressed team member.
Average mark for range 3.5/5
M&S's 2018 Christmas sandwich range features a classic turkey feast option (pictured)
M&S
Price range: £3 - £3.80 | Calorie range: 340 - 593
M&S has long reigned as king of the packaged sandwich, so readers might be happy to learn that in our view, the store's 2018 range of Christmas sandwiches delivers on all counts. We loved the variety of the three bird roast – half a sandwich each of Roast Turkey & Stuffing, Roast Chicken Dinner, and Duck & Plum Chutney – while the Turkey and Pigs in Blankets won full marks all round. The Brie and Grape was commendable for its thick, creamy slabs of brie, which were full of flavour, while the grape and Ruby Port Chutney elements were a welcome change to cranberry. The only slight let down was the bread of the gluten-free range, which was a little dry and grainy. Saving the best to last, the star of the show was the No Turkey Feast, a vegan equivalent to the festive favourite. The soya protein was as juicy and as succulent as any good slice of meat, and the overall taste of the sandwich bore the closest resemblance to a real (and decent) Turkey Feast.
Average mark for range: 4.5/5
TESCO
Price range: £2.20 - £3.50 | Calorie range: 411 - 555
Tesco wins points for variety of offering this year, with no less than seven Christmas sandwiches available to choose from. We preferred the meat to the veggie ones and in particular, the Turkey and Trimmings wrap to its sandwich equivalent; the filling-to-wrap ratio was spot-on in our books, as was the contrast between creaminess and tang. The sandwich, on the other hand, was run of the mill. The real surprise, though, was the Tesco Finest Festive Trio – a posh prawn cocktail roll, Turkey and Stuffing role, and sweet (!) Black Forest roll – they divided opinion in-house but made a thrilling change to the usual sarnies.
Average mark for range: 3/5
CO-OP
Price range: £2.65 - £3.50 | Calorie range: 342 - 447
Having witnessed the Co-op being crowned the surprise winner of taste tests in the past, we were excited to try the store’s Christmas sandwich selection. The brand has gone against the grain this year with a Beetroot Smoked Salmon & Dill Cream Cheese – served on rye bread – which was a welcome change from the multiple Turkey Feasts on the table. It delivered, too, winning points for full-bodied flavour and the soft-yet-firm texture of the rye. Veggies in the room were pleased with the Bubble & Squeak Fritter – a wrap which came with a dash of vegan mayo – describing it as 'a refreshing take on other half-arsed, sauceless vegan offerings'. The Pigs Under Blankets, though, was a little underwhelming, losing votes for its lack of seasoning.
Average mark for range: 3.5/5
Aldi's 2018 Christmas sandwich range are all priced at £1.69 (ham hock pictured)
ALDI
Price range: £1.69 | Calorie range: 450 - 488
AldiI’s sarnies certainly looked the part and blended in with the likes of, say, Pret’s offering when all were stripped of their branding and displayed on plates. The Farmhouse Cheddar with Plum & Apple Chutney and Spinach scored more highly in our books than the other veggie offering of Brie and Cranberry, but the Turkey Feast (with stuffing and bacon) was our pick of the bunch. And, with sandwiches priced at just £1.69, we consider the range a bargain.
Average mark for range: 3.5/5
LIDL
Price range: £1.69 - £1.79 | Calorie range: 479 - 613
Unlike its budget competitor Aldi, Lidl’s range was notably heavy on the meat, with both sandwich and wrap stuffed with turkey, bacon and sausage. Still, when unwrapped and presented in a blind taste test, neither fared badly under the scrutiny of our tasters, who preferred the sandwich to the wrap, describing it as ‘full of flavour, but heavy on the stuffing’.
Average mark for range: 3/5
CAFFÈ NERO
Price range: £3.55 - £4.50 | Calorie range: Undisclosed
The office verdict on Caffè Nero’s offering was that the toasties trumped the cold (and small) Ham and Winter Spiced Chutney sandwich, and somewhat soggy Veggie Festive Feast flatbread. Among the hot options, the Brie, Bacon and Cranberry won points for its ratio of salty cheese to sweet berry, meanwhile we thought the cranberry welded into the bread was a nice touch. The Turkey Feast was distinctly average, and the Pigs On Blankets (a notable departure from the more fashionable Pigs Under Blankets) divided opinion, with some giving it full marks and others finding it a tad too greasy.
Average mark for range: 3.5/5
The new Brie and Cranberry Focaccia (pictured) was our pick of the range from Starbucks
STARBUCKS
Price range: £4.25 | Calorie range: 209 - 464
Fans of Starbucks' Turkey Feast Panini will be pleased to hear of its return this year. It tasted drier than usual, but perhaps this was the result of it being pipped against several more sophisticated offerings. The chain’s new offering – a Brie and Cranberry Focaccia – was delicious, though; oozing with cheese and flavoured by a dusting of herbs.
Average mark for range: 3.5/5
COSTA
Price range: £3.50 - £3.60 | Calorie range: 316 - 433
Admittedly, we only sampled the cold selection of Costa sandwiches. Those we tried, though, were small, compact and a little too sweet. The Christmas Lunch wrap had a decent filling-to-wrap ratio but was a little on the soggy side. The Turkey Feast sandwich was heavy on the meat and again, a tad too sweet. The Ham Hock with Piccalilli was our pick of the range: its bread soft, its filling tangy, and the overall sandwich deserving of another mark for breaking the standard Christmas sandwich filling mold.
Average mark for range: 3/5
Overall winner: M&S's No Turkey Feast – an all round 5/5 from us.
And that's a wrap! Or was it a sandwich? (Sorry.)
