Yahoo News 'I tried Christmas sandwiches from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, and M&S and one was surprisingly terrible'
Pre-Christmas season is upon us, and for some of us that means Christmas sandwich season. All the big hitters have launched their sandos of the year.
I am a sucker for a Christmas sandwich, but I'm never quite sure where to get the best one. They all look so tempting in their yuletide red packaging, cranberry sauce peeking through bacon curtains.
As a lover of science (lie) and sandwiches (true), I put them to the test. Read on to find out how Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, and Marks & Spencer fared in what I like to call the Ultimate Christmas Sandwich Showdown.
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Marks and Spencer - 8.6 out of 10
Pigs In Blankets - £4.50
The M&S Pigs In Blankets sandwich is a new concoction made with pigs in blankets, mayonnaise, and red onion and ruby port chutney. I expected an unpleasantly sour punch from the port and onion chutney, but the amount was perfect.
It let the sausages shine through, making it a literal pigs in blankets sandwich with no faff. Just pigs in blankets flavour all the way through.
Rating: 5/5
Christmas Club - £5.25
The Christmas Club is a chicken sando with mayonnaise, cranberry chutney, pickled red cabbage, pork, onion and sage stuffing, bacon, and spinach. And it's ideal for people who enjoy pickles and mayonnaise.
I hate both of those things, so in my book this gets a 0. But realistically, it's a decent sandwich; however the meat is overpowered by the pickle, and the spinach brings a crunchy dryness that no sandwich needs.
Rating: 3/5
Christmas Sando - £5.25
I thought Asian-inspired sandwich this wouldn't be festive - oh how wrong I was. It somehow manages to combine flavours Brits don't necessarily associate with Christmas - curry, ginger, gochujang - and adds just enough cranberry sauce to make it the merriest combination. This is not just a Christmas sando...
Rating: 5/5
Waitrose - 4 out of 10
Pigs Under Blankets - £4
I didn't think you could go wrong with a pigs in blankets sandwich. After all, it's just sausages, bacon, and bread, sometimes moistened up with some mayonnaise and cranberry sauce. But Waitrose's was drier than acceptable, filled with flavourless sausages, and way too much salt.
Rating: 1/5
Turkey, Stuffing and Bacon - £4.50
Still dry. Are posh people allergic to sauce? At least there's flavour, but the stuffing does have a cardboardy aftertaste. At least the bacon was plentiful, if a little chewy.
Rating: 3/5
Merry Club'Mas - £4.50
This sandwich was unbearably sweet. It's meant to consist of chicken, seasoned mayonnaise, Cheddar cheese, beechwood smoked bacon, spinach, umami onions and chilli relish, but all I got was sugar.
I'm tempted to blame the onions, but I couldn't really make my mind up before being hit with a painful twang of spice. With a side of ew.
Rating: 1/5
Sainsbury's - 3 out of 10
Pigs Under Blankets - £3.25
A little dry, a little bland, the Sainsbury's Pigs Under Blankets sandwich was what kids these days are calling mid. I'd buy it if I was in a pinch, but I've already forgotten the sandwich as I type this.
Rating: 2/5
Turkey Feast - £3.25
Way too much mayo and way too little turkey on this 'Turkey Feast'. A strangely sour aftertaste too that's less Christmas and more New Year's hangover.
Rating: 1/5
Tesco - 9 out of 10
Turkey and Trimmings - £3.25
Perfect. Tastes like a turkey dinner; generous amount of turkey, just enough cranberry sauce to keep it moist, and a lovely sage aftertaste.
RatingL 5/5
Yuletide Half and Half - £3.40
Genius. Tailor-made for the indecisive; one half is a meaty, classically festive and extraordinarily moist sando, while the other half is a smoky sausage concoction that will satisfy even the most picky. Could have done with more sauce though.
Rating: 4/5
The verdict
I had seriously high hopes for a shop as posh as Waitrose, but their only redemption was that the turkey sandwich was edible. Sainsbury's fared even worse with a dry pigs in blankets rendition and a turkey feast without turkey.
Marks and Spencer cemented themselves as a reliably excellent choice, with the Christmas Sando in particular making such an impression on me that I've had another on my own dime since performing my experiment. But the people's favourite, Tesco, won the battle by a very fine margin, if only because their sandwiches were cheaper.
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