olive Christmas Taste Awards 2025 - the best supermarket buys you need this year

Looking for easy Christmas party food for the festive season? From Christmas cakes and mince pies to cranberry sauce, we’ve got it covered. We've included links to buy where products are available online already, so you can get planning.

olive Christmas Taste Awards 2025

Best smoked salmon

Winner: Lidl Deluxe mild smoked salmon

There's a lot of quirky innovation around smoked salmon at Christmas, but sometimes we like a classic option best. This is soft and creamy, and not overly chewy.

Available from Lidl, launching soon

Best turkey crown

Joint winner: Sainsbury's Taste the Difference British free-range bronze turkey crown with pork, apricot, pear, cranberry and candied ginger stuffing

This attractive turkey crown is a great centrepiece to serve – it has a glossy glaze and deep golden, crispy bacon on the top. The turkey stays juicy and we love the generous amount of fruity stuffing inside, which has good texture and a kick of sweetness to balance the smoky bacon.

Available from:
Sainsbury's (from £47.75)

Joint winner: M&S Oakham™ Hot Maple Glazed Turkey Crown

This sticky, spiced hot maple glaze adds something new to your Christmas table. It has a dark golden appearance, peppery bacon on top, good texture to the turkey and one of the best stuffings that we tried, packed with cranberries and cherries.

Available from:
Ocado (£50)

Best gammon

Winner: M&S Outdoor Bred Slow Cooked Hot Honey Gammon On The Bone

This bone-in joint cooks to a deep golden brown. There's no glaze (although this means you could add your own), but the meat still cooked well, stayed juicy and shredded apart easily. It has a good, balanced flavour – smoky without being overpowering.

Available from M&S, launching soon

Best alternative Christmas main

Winner: Booths British porchetta

A good centrepiece if you're looking to serve something different this year. The crackling is nice and salty, with a good crunch. The porchetta has a neat rolled appearance, with tender meat and an aromatic herby stuffing.

Available from Booths, launching soon

Best vegetarian main

Joint winner: M&S Collection mushroom, Barber's cheddar and leek en croute

This has a pleasing golden appearance and super-crisp pastry. Inside is an indulgent filling with large chunks of mushroom, a rich, creamy sauce and good balance of textures.

Available from:
Ocado (£12.50)

Best pigs in blankets

Winner: Aldi Specially Selected the ultimate pigs in blankets

These are chunky, generous pigs in blankets! The sausagemeat has good herby flavour and the bacon is smoky.

Available from Aldi, launching soon

Best roast potatoes

Winner: Exceptional By Asda beef dripping roast potatoes with herb seasoning

The herby seasoning gives these potatoes an attractive appearance and extra dimension of flavour. They could be crispier overall, but the potatoes are buttery and tender inside.

Available from Asda, launching soon

Desserts and sweet treats

Best classic mince pie

Winner: Morrisons The Best Signature Collection mince pies

We love a generously filled mince pie, and these deep ones tick that box. They have a pretty star decoration on the lid, plus soft, buttery pastry and a bright, citrussy filling with plenty of fruit.

Available from:
Morrisons (£2)

Best flavoured mince pie

Winner: Morrisons The Best cherry bakewell mince pies

If you want an upgrade to a classic mince pie, try these cherry bakewell-inspired pies. The pretty flaked almond frangipane topping creates a neat finish and has good almond flavour without being artificially sweet. There's still a good layer of mincemeat underneath, with added cherries.

Available from:
Morrisons (£3.50)

Best showstopper dessert

Winner: Morrisons Signature Collection Belgian chocolate and praline star

This striking Christmas showstopper would wow any table. It's filled with a rich chocolate ganache, and the praline adds crunch and deep hazelnut flavour.

Available from:
Morrisons (£15)

Best trifle

Winner: Booths red berry and vanilla trifle 

This is an extremely deep trifle – you have to scoop through to get all the layers! The custard has an old-school nostalgic flavour and the cream is softly whipped, with classic fruit at the bottom. It's not boozy, so would be great for families.

Available from Booths, launching soon

Best Christmas cake

Winner: M&S perfectly matured iced fruit cake

A very pretty Christmas cake with a delicate floral design on the icing. Underneath, the cake is rich, with balanced spicing and lots of sultanas – although we'd love to see a cherry in there! The marzipan also has good almond flavour.

Available from:
Ocado (£15)

Best Christmas pudding

Winner: Sainsbury's Taste the Difference 18-month matured Christmas pudding

This has a classic rounded appearance and glossy finish. It has a moist, slightly crumbly interior, wonderfully rich aroma and some lovely fruit and spice notes. These really follow through on the palate, with a really balanced flavour, delivering all the anticipated fruity and boozy notes. The texture is moist and a bit sticky – in a good way – with a slightly dry finish.

Available from:
Sainsbury's (£9)

Best alternative Christmas cake

Winner: Tesco chocolate and salted caramel wreath cake

This nicely designed cake adds some colour to your Christmas table, and kids will love it. The chocolate cake is well baked and stays soft.

Available from:
Tesco (£15)

Best biscuit tin

Winner: Sainsbury's Taste the Difference chocolate chip shortbread present tin

This sweet present tin would make a great hostess gift for a Christmas get-together. The biscuits have a good buttery finish and satisfying crunch, and are studded with creamy milk chocolate chips.

Available from Sainsbury's, launching soon

Best vegan mince pies

Winner: Waitrose six mince pies

These mince pies have a thin layer of pastry and deep golden edges – you might not even be able to tell these are vegan. The mincemeat is very juicy, with chunky sultanas.

Available from:
Waitrose & Partners (£2.25)

Best gluten-free mince pies

Winner: Waitrose freefrom mince pies

Pastry can be where gluten-free alternatives falter, but the golden pastry on these mince pies has a good biscuity flavour and crumbles nicely. The filling has plump fruit and a touch of citrus to balance the sweetness.

Available from:
Waitrose & Partners (£3)

How we chose the winners

The olive team chose categories to test. The supermarkets then selected the products they wanted to nominate (we allowed them one entry per category). Every product was prepared according to pack instructions and our expert panel of judges blind-tasted them, rating each on taste, texture and appearance. We then chose our winning products in each category, plus runners-up where worthy.