Taste test: the best Christmas sandwiches, 2019

Readers, we’ve well and truly done the Christmas sandwich rounds. Before we get into the ins and outs of this year’s offerings, we noticed several trends across the board. Last year, we found pigs nestled under their blankets (not in them), and cranberry sauce had been replaced with trendier-sounding (at least in terms of labelling) cranberry chutney. This year, the most noticeable trend comes in the form of more options for vegans – hurrah! – with several suppliers offering two or more plant-based sarnies. Meanwhile, it’s good news for those who are gluten free: Pret has joined the big-name supermarkets in offering an open Christmas Lunch sandwich on gluten-free bread.

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 on 2019’s Christmas sandwiches.

Paul's Christmas sandwich range

PAUL
Price range: £4.25 – £4.65 | Calories 622 – 627

Ah, Paul. The bakery has slowly crept up on the bigger, more established brands, winning awards for its Dinde de Noël baguette (turkey, smoky bacon, spinach, cream cheese, horseradish sauce) in a former 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. Last year, 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. This year, it’s been replaced by a new Festive Pig sandwich, which our team of tasters pronounced as the perfect Boxing Day staple. Who knew sausages and sprouts made such compatible bedfellows in a sandwich? Vegans, meanwhile, will be pleased to hear the superlative ‘Tis The Vegan baguette has returned under a new name – All About The Sprout – and remains a star turn with its sprouts and tangy cabbage smothered in deliciously spiced chutney, and nestled in a rustic hunk of bread.

Average mark: 4.5/5

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GAIL’S BAKERY
Price: £5.20 | Calories: 255 per 100g

Gail’s launched its first Christmas sandwich last 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 £5.20, 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

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SONS & DAUGHTERS
Price: £9.50 | Calories: approx 975

Sure, you’ve had a Christmas sandwich before. Perhaps you consider yourself something of a connoisseur of the various chains’ festive offerings. But you haven’t had one like that served at boojie sandwich bar Sons & Daughters, no sir. Two doorstep slabs of white bloomer bread encase turkey thigh and breast, a tangy tangle of pickled red cabbage, spicy cranberry sauce, smoked turkey and watercress. Oh, and a ‘moistmaker’ (granary bread soaked in marsala gravy) fit to make Ross Geller proud. This is not a sandwich you grab and shovel down on a rushed lunch break. Oh no. This is a sandwich you savour and ideally 'eat in' at the upmarket sandwich shop which, in case you're wondering, can be found at Coal Drops Yard.

Mark for sandwich: 4.5/5

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WAITROSE
Price range: £2.80 - £3.50 | Calorie range: 283 - 474

Waitrose certainly wins marks for originality. This year, the supermarket’s Christmas sandwich range features a Coronation Turkey wrap (a fun take on a festive classic) and not one but two vegan offerings. Of these, the Vegan Turkey Feast with its protein supplement and all the trimmings wasn’t the best we sampled. The Vegan Smoked Salmon & Dill sandwich won over our vegan taster, while others found it a little too light (the main ingredient was carrot, after all); one for dieting vegans, perhaps? The new Pigs Under Blankets sandwich, meanwhile, united sausage and cranberry to questionable effect and could have benefitted from a hint of greenery.

Average mark for range: 3/5

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OLE & STEEN
Price range: £4.95 – £5.95 | Calorie range: undisclosed

When news broke (via an appealing-looking poster in the window) that Danish bakery chain Ole & Steen was launching a Christmas sandwich range, our appetites were piqued (okay, we were salivating). The festive offering comes in two forms: the Christmas in a Roll (featuring roast turkey, stuffing, spinach, cranberry sauce and tarragon mayo) and the Happy Vegan Christmas (roasted pumpkin, homepage parsley pesto, toasted walnuts, various other sauces and heaps of crispy kale). Both are served on pillow-soft brown rolls studded with ever-so-slightly overpowering caraway seeds. Nevertheless, these hearty feasts will see you through from lunch until dinner no problemo, and while the inclusion of pesto renders the vegan option not especially festive, it wins points for being the most wholesome of the bunch.

Average mark for range: 4/5

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Pret's Christmas sandwich range includes turkey, veggie and vegan options

PRET
Price range: £3.75 – £3.99 | Calorie range: 540 – 721

Pret is known for delivering a reliable festive sandwich range that’s full of variety. Last year, we queried the absence of a gluten-free option, and this year the chain has delivered, offering an all-new Christmas Lunch open sandwich on gluten-free bread. The open nature of the sandwich makes it tricky to eat on the go (who wants to find their fingers sliding across sauce-smothered meat?). Meanwhile, the inclusion of just one slice of bread suggests the chain is catering primarily for those who are gluten-free to stay slim, rather than coeliacs. Beyond it, the Christmas Lunch sandwich was everything you’d hope for, and a solid four out of five in our book. 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 and orange cranberry sauce. The overall winner, however, was the Brie, Pistachio and Cranberry baguette, in which the less common addition of pistachios was declared an ‘inspired addition’ by one taster.

Average mark for range: 4/5

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TESCO
Price range: £2.20 – £3 | Calorie range 440 – 576

Tesco wins points for variety this year, with no less than six Christmas sandwiches to choose from, including vegan and gluten-free options. Unfortunately, neither the Turkey Feast sandwich or Festive Feast wrap hit the mark for our tasters: the former was run-of-the-mill, while the latter was soggy due to a cranberry sauce overload. A pleasant surprise came in the form of the Turkey Tikka & Onion Bhaji wrap, which our team pronounced the perfect ‘Christmas’ sandwich for those who aren’t feeling remotely festive.

Average mark for range: 3/5

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EAT
Price range: £3.85 - £4.50 | Calorie range 393 – 622

As with its everyday range, EAT’s Christmas sandwiches are, well, reliable. Our tasters favoured the Ham, French Brie & Cranberry baguette, praising it for being moist, rich and well balanced, with a decent brie-to-cranberry ratio. The Festive Full Works Bloomer was equally well balanced and ‘well stuffed’, living up to its ‘full works’ name thanks to its somewhat unholy combo of turkey, pork and ham (and several other ingredients besides). The Smoked Salmon, Beetroot and Horseradish sandwich came on soft, pillowy rye bread and, while not necessarily festive, proved a great alternative to the typical offering. The Festive Full Works on malted bread was a tad on the dry side, but the Brie, Cranberry and Nut Stuffing sandwich won marks all round for its texture and the unusual addition of deliciously chunky nuts.

Average mark for range: 3.5/5

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CO-OP
Price range: £3 for all festive sandwiches | Calorie range 333 – 477

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 Turkey Feast didn’t look especially appealing but delivered on taste: generous slices of meat bedded in with fragrant stuffing and appropriately moistened by the cranberry. The Vegan festive Feast, meanwhile, was praised for its punchy, full-bodied flavours.

Average mark for range: 4

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M&S's Christmas sandwich range features this classic turkey feast option

MARKS & SPENCER
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 2019 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 all-new Steak & Peppercorn Sauce sandwich – with its sweet, caramelised onions and peppery rocket – is a gourmet alternative to the usual festive fare. The only slight let-down was the bread of the gluten-free range, which was a little dry and grainy.

Saving the best until last, the stars of the range truly are the two vegan sarnies. The returning No Turkey Feast, a vegan equivalent of the festive favourite, was just as sumptuous as we remembered it with succulent bits of soya protein standing in for the meat and impressively holding their own. Meanwhile the new Nutcracker sandwich wowed all our tasters, who practically fought over the last bite. This colourful sandwich balances sweet and savoury expertly and between its layers of sweet potato, chestnut and cranberry roast and caramelised pecans, we declare it a first-rate vegan sandwich – and a real win for veggies who feel squeamish at the thought of fake meat.

Average mark for range: 4.5/5

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COSTA
Price range: £3.20 – £3.95 | Calorie range 414 – 523

Admittedly, we sampled only the cold selection of Costa sandwiches. The Turkey Feast sandwich is a standard take on the festive classic, albeit heavy on the meat and a tad too sweet. Vegans, meanwhile, can tuck into a sandwich that breaks the mould in two ways: for starters, its 'veggies' sit under 'vests' not blankets, but more likely to raise eyebrows is the fact its main component is – gasp– felafel instead of a more typical nut roast variant. Said Middle Eastern balls are accompanied by parsnip stuffing, carrot, cranberry sauce and more. The result is surprisingly bland, but texturally terrific.

Average mark for range: 3/5

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Overall winners: This year, we're crowning M&S's No Turkey Feast and Paul's Festive Pig sandwich the best on the market. Taking everything into account – from price and availability to look and, most importantly, taste – both win full marks from us.

And that's a wrap! Or was it a sandwich? (Sorry.)

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A FINAL FEW FROM CULTURE WHISPER'S 2019 CHRISTMAS SANDWICH TASTE TEST...

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Aldi's ham hock Christmas sandwich

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

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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

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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, and 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


This new Brie and Cranberry Focaccia 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 pitted 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

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