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M&S Oakham turkey crown stuffed with caramelised Italian chestnuts, pancetta, Calabrian orange & thyme

We tested over 140 supermarket Christmas foods – these are the 19 must-buy winners

Published: October 16, 2026 at 12:29 PM

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Find out the winners of the Good Food Supermarket Awards 2026

With festive treats filling the supermarket shelves, choosing what’s worth bringing home for Christmas can feel like a job in itself. We’ve scoured the aisles and blind-tasted 140 products from 11 supermarkets, so you don’t have to work your way through every turkey crown, mince pie and pudding. From crisp pigs in blankets to showstopping puddings and perfect canapés that are sure to impress, these are the Good Food Christmas Supermarket Awards winners our judges think deserve a place on your Christmas table this year.

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Starters and canapés

Pigs in blankets

Winner: Tesco Finest 8 signature pigs in blankets

PIBS

These chunky pigs in blankets feature rich, stocky cocktail sausages generously wrapped in bacon, which crisps up beautifully after cooking. The bacon still retains a little chew though, which we enjoyed – it brings subtle smoky flavour to the soft, juicy sausage.

Runner up: Asda Exceptional Outdoor Bred pigs in blankets

This chunky pig in blanket is the thickness of a normal sausage but short. It is coated with a good layer of crisp and chewy bacon. There are some herbs in the sausage which are a nice addition and it's very juicy. The bacon has a good, smoked flavour.

Smoked salmon

Winner: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Discovery Signature Cure applewood smoked Hebridean salmon

Sainsbury's salmon

Thick, firm slices of salmon with an attractive matte sheen and deep orange colour. It’s rich and buttery, with a smoky oak finish that lingers on the palate.

Runner up: Waitrose Great Western Cornish Cure smoked salmon

This salmon has a pale pink colour with gentle orange edges. The slices are generously thick cut. It has a gentle oak, smoked flavour but is otherwise quite clean and buttery.

Hot canapé

Winner: Aldi Specially Selected king prawn toast

King prawn toast

Sure to be a hit with party guests – these are crisp, with plenty of nutty sesame seeds, and include fragrant lemongrass that flavours the sweet prawns nicely.

Runner up: Morrisons Fish & Chip Mushy Pea Cones

A popular choice with our judges. The rosti cone stays impressively crisp, the mushy peas are a fun addition and everything is well seasoned. It's such a fun unusual addition to a canapé selection.

The main event

Turkey crown

Winner: M&S Oakham turkey crown stuffed with caramelised Italian chestnuts, pancetta, Calabrian orange & thyme

Turkey

A centrepiece-worthy bird. The meat is tender and juicy, and the pancetta topping is burnished with a sweet orange glaze. Plus, the stuffing is generous and feels luxurious – it’s coarsely textured, with gentle herb notes and spot-on seasoning.

Runner up: Waitrose No.1 Slow Cooked Double Butter Basted free-range turkey crown

The double butter basting has undoubtedly paid off on this juicy joint. The skin is golden and the bacon has a good flavour. The meat is moist and there was a rich butteriness to the whole thing, with a simple stuffing.

Gammon

Joint winner: Aldi Specially Selected the ultimate crackling gammon

Gammon Aldi

A true star of the show. Crunchy crackling and juicy, well-brined meat that has a crowdpleasing smoked bacon flavour. Testers thought this would make delicious Boxing Day sandwiches.

Joint winner: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference sticky fig & wildflower honey glazed gammon joint

Impressive-looking with big chunks of fig on top, which combine well with the honey. The meat is soft and yielding, with a delicate but good flavour.

Alternative Christmas main

Winner: Lidl Deluxe whole duck

If you’re not into turkey, this is a delicious option – and it’s seriously impressive to serve. The skin crisped up well and the tender meat has a rich, gentle gamey flavour.

Runner up: M&S Hampshire Down Lambchetta

This rolled lamb joint is a great alternative roast that you may be unlikely to make from scratch yourself. There’s a lot of well-seasoned, garlicky and herby filling, and the meat stays juicy throughout.

Vegan main course

Winner: Waitrose No.1 mushroom, Malbec & port wellington

Wellington

The flavours shine in this deeply savoury wellington – the mushrooms have great flavour, and additional pearl onions provide texture. Plus, you can clearly taste both the wine and port in the rich sauce.

Runner up: Co-op mince pies

A pretty mince pie with delicate star and crimping decoration. The pastry is super buttery and crisp, and the filling has a good texture.

Vegetarian main course

Winner: Morrisons The Best roasted vegetable tart

Morrisons tart

This colourful roasted vegetable tart has a crisp, golden, flaky pastry base that’s topped with tender, beautifully caramelised vegetables. We liked that it looks very festive, while still delivering on taste, texture and a good amount of veg.

Runner up: M&S Collection Vegetarian nut roast with caramelised nuts & cranberries

This nut roast has a jewel-like appearance with golden caramelised nuts and cranberries. The nut roast itself is moist and quite stuffing like, with a herby taste. The soft, moist base is helped by the whole nuts on top which add crunch and variation. It has a honeyed sweetness that's a bit overpowering but could work well with all the other veg at a Christmas table.

Mince pies

Winner: M&S Collection 6 mince pies

Mince pies

Testers loved the holly leaf design and found the pastry to be crisp and buttery. Top marks for the jammy filling, too, which isn’t too sweet.

Runner up: Tesco Finest all-butter 6 mince pies

The crisp pastry stands out in these attractive mince pies. The delicately spiced filling is super jammy and not overfilled, so not too sweet.

Flavoured mince pie

Joint winner: Tesco Finest 4 amaretto mince pies

Amaretto mince pies

Attractive swirled mince pies with golden pastry and a generous filling – we could clearly taste that festive amaretto flavour coming through.

Joint winner: Waitrose pistachio & cherry mince pies

Pistachio mince pies

These unique pies have attractive layers of pistachio frangipane, which is balanced by the juicy sourness of the cherries.

Vegan mince pies

Winner: Tesco Plant Chef 6 mince pies

Plant Chef mince pies

A pretty pie with delicate decoration, crisp pastry and a sweet filling. Testers noted that a hint of salt in the pastry is a welcome counter to the filling.

Runner up: Co-op mince pies

A pretty mince pie with delicate star and crimping decoration. The pastry is super buttery and crisp, and the filling has a good texture.

Gluten-free mince pies

Winner: Tesco Free From 4 deep filled mince pies

Free From mince pies

Party-ready with a pretty snowflake topping and deeply golden pastry. We appreciated the quantity of the headily spiced, citrussy mincemeat.

Runner up: M&S gluten-free mince pies with all-butter pastry

Available from M&S (£3.50)

These have a nice homemade look with crumbly pastry. The filing has some welcome tartness and a good mixture of dried fruits.

Sweet treats

Classic panettone

Winner: Angela Hartnett with Waitrose panettone classico

Angela Hartnett Panettone

For a simple, deep golden panettone that has a lovely, airy texture inside, this ticks the boxes. The flavour is delicate, with gentle spices and good distribution of juicy fruit.

Runner up: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference classic panettone

A whopper of a panettone, it's so tall! It has a lovely crisp sugar coating on the outside and a really fluffy texture inside despite being packed with mixed peel and fruit without a sticky sweet aftertaste.

Showstopper dessert

Winner: M&S Collection Snow Much Fun

Snow much fun

A wildly impressive pud with plenty of fun and intricate details. Testers found it to be rich, with smooth chocolate mousse, salty caramel sauce and some welcome crunch in the base.

Runner up: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Driving Home This Christmas

This looks adorable and would be a great family-friendly centrepiece. Inside the chocolate mousse is fluffy with a rich flavour and a hidden caramel centre.

Alternative Christmas cake

Winner: Booths blood orange stollen cake, £25/1.1kg

Stollen cake

This cake is packed with mixed spice, almonds, marzipan and juicy dried fruit, with a gentle citrus note running through it. It’s dense and crumbly in true stollen style, but still moist and richly flavoured, with creamy, not-too-sweet icing and pretty decorations.

Runner up: Tesco Christmas pudding celebration cake

It’s a Christmas pudding for the Christmas pudding haters: looks like one but is full of chocolate cake inside instead. The sponge has a nostalgic chocolate fudge cake taste and texture. It's is dense and moist. The chocolate icing is smooth and creamy, and quite sweet but not sickly.

Christmas pudding

Winner: Aldi Specially Selected 24 month matured Christmas pudding

aldi christmas pudding

A perfectly balanced pud, studded with juicy fruit and almonds. It has subtle boozy flavour and satisfying, sticky texture that slices neatly.

Runner up: Tesco Finest jewelled topped fruit cake

A traditional-looking darker pudding, with flaked almonds stirred through to give it crunch and a pleasant soft crumb.

Christmas cake

Winner: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference rich iced Christmas cake

Christmas cake

Generously topped with marzipan and icing, this simply decorated cake is filled with juicy fruit and nuts, and pleasing brown sugar flavour.

Runner up: Aldi Specially Selected iced rich fruit cake

This cake was incredibly dense with a generous hit of booze – it is almost Christmas pudding-like in texture. It has a generous amount of fruit, including whole glacé cherries.

Christmas biscuit tin

Winner: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference shortbread gifting tin

Pretty enough to gift or share, this tin is filled with crunchy, buttery shortbread that we found to be moreish and snackable.

Runner up: Tesco Finest chocolate & hazelnut cookies

These come in a pretty tin for a gift. The biscuits have thick chocolate and a pleasant crunchy texture.

Flavoured panettone

Winner: M&S chocolate & stem ginger panettone

Flavoured panettone

Lightly fragrant with good, soft texture. We liked the mixture of dark chocolate and stem ginger chunks, which are generously dispersed throughout.

Runner up: Aldi Perfect Christmas chocolate panettone

A fairly compact panettone with a very dark crumb around the edge. The dough has a buttery vanilla flavour and generous amount of chocolate.

Best Supermarket for Christmas

Winner: M&S

M&S is our overall best supermarket for the season, thanks to its sheer breadth of winners in key essential categories, from turkey to mince pies.

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How we did it

This year, 11 supermarkets entered their best Christmas products across 19 categories. Food was prepared and cooked following pack instructions by an independent home economist. Packaging was removed and judges tasted all items blind, then submitted their comments and a score out of 10 for each product via anonymous judging forms. The process was overseen by an independent adjudicator. We tested a total of 140 products to find the best in each category, and also awarded ‘highly commended’ status to high-scoring entries.

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