Tried and tested, here are the best Christmas foods to buy for 2022 including the top Christmas pudding, Christmas cake, turkey, mince pies, and more.
With Christmas just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about that all-important shopping list and what you'd like to buy this year. To make sure you choose the highest-quality products - be it the tastiest mince pie or the most eye-catching Christmas dessert - we've tried and tested a range of different supermarkets and brands to find the top buys for this year.
Our panel of expert judges blind-tasted all of the Christmas foods in this year's annual taste test. Our experts include Group Food Director Jen Bedloe, Food Editor Jess Meyer, Deputy Food Editor Rose Fooks, Senior Food Writer Jessica Ransom, and Junior Food Writer Georgia Sparks. With years of experience trying and testing new food and drink products, the team is well-equipped when it comes to assessing the best Christmas food to buy in 2022.
Supermarkets including Waitrose & Partners, Sainsbury's, Tesco, and many others were put to the test in this year's taste test. In this roundup, we've highlighted the winners of each category. The categories include:
- Best Christmas cake
- Best turkey for Christmas
- Best Christmas pudding
- Best Christmas dessert
- Best mince pies
Where to buy Christmas food 2022
- Waitrose & Partners: From festive cupcakes to classic iced fruit cake - a great variety
- Ocado: M&S favourites including sticky toffee pudding and mince pies
- Morrisons: Budget mince pies for those looking to cut costs this year
- Tesco: A great range of turkeys to choose from this year including budget options
- M&S: Choose from a three-bird roast, turkey crown, joint, and more delicious M&S choices
- Sainsbury's: Book a slot and start shopping all things Christmas food
Christmas food taste test winners 2022
How did we test the best Christmas food?
All of the Christmas food in this year's taste test was blind tasted meaning the packaging and labeling were removed from the product.
The judges marked food on its look, taste, texture, and flavour. Marks were given for festive presentation but most importantly the quality of the produce.
Christmas puddings were assessed on how moist the puddings were, the texture of the sponge as well as how boozy or non-boozy they were without being lit. Mince pies were judged on how crumbly or buttery the pastry was alongside how rich and generous the mince pie filling was.
All of this year's Christmas foods you can buy were tested fairly and evenly among the team.
These products all scored highly during our blind taste tests for the woman&home Festive Food Awards.
Meet the experts: Tried and tasted by...
Rose Fooks is Deputy Food Editor at Future Publishing, creating recipes, reviewing products and writing food features for a range of lifestyle and home titles including GoodTo and Woman&Home. She has a Diplome de Patisserie and Culinary Management at London’s Le Cordon Bleu. Career highlights have included interviewing the wonderful Mary Berry and working on Truth, Love and Clean Cutlery; a guidebook of sustainable restaurants in the UK.
An enthusiastic, self-taught cook Jess adores eating out and sharing great food and drink with friends and family. She has completed the Level 1 Associate course at the Academy of Cheese and is continually building on her knowledge of beers, wines, and spirits. Career highlights for Jessica include chatting to one of her favourite food writers and chefs Sabrina Ghayour for an interview in Country Homes and Interiors and having the opportunity to meet the legendary Michel Roux Jr. and Raymond Blanc
An experienced recipe writer, editor, and food stylist, Jen is Group Food Director at Future plc where she oversees the food content across the women’s lifestyle group, including Woman and Home, Women’s Weekly, Woman, Woman’s Own, Chat, Goodto.com, and womanandhome.com. Jen studied Communications at Goldsmiths, then landed her first job in media working for Delia Smith’s publishing company on Sainsbury’s magazine. Jen honed her practical skills by combining courses at Leith’s cookery school with time spent in the test kitchen testing recipes and assisting food stylists on photoshoots.
Jess is the Group Food Editor at Future PLC, working across brands in the woman’s lifestyle group, including Woman and Home, Woman’s Weekly, Woman, Woman’s Own, Chat, womanandhome.com and Goodto.com. An experienced recipe writer, food stylist and home economist, Jess honed her skills in print and digital food media, working with well known brands such as Great British Bake Off, Tastemade US and UK, and Slimming World to name a few.
Georgia Sparks is Junior Food Writer, working across Woman & Home, Woman’s Weekly, Chat and goodto.com. She's passionate about food and is most content knife and fork in hand around the table with family and friends. Georgia works within the Food Team at Future Plc where she can usually be found in the kitchen developing and testing recipes as well as assisting on shoots and writing food features.
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