NOTHING says Christmas more than a few slices of turkey between two slices of bread with some cranberry sauce.
You read that right, the festive sandwiches are back on the shelves and the range for 2025 is bigger and tastier than ever.
Nowadays, both coffee shops and supermarkets try to cram an entire Christmas dinner between two slices of bread, a dip – or in a baguette.
This year Aldi even tried to squeeze it into a rolled Yorkshire pudding.
And consumers are gobbling up the supermarket offerings, while sales are skyrocketing.
But what sarnie is worth your hard-earned money?
Lynsey Hope has done the hard work for you. She scoured shops and cafes in search of the tastiest Christmas bread, tasted dozens of them and here she announces her verdict:
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M&S Turkey Party
- £4
- Nutrition: 512 calories, 20.5 g fat, 11.9 g sugar, 2.87 g salt
Every year the M&S Turkey Feast is a popular choice and it returns in 2025.
It’s a classic flavor, but done well and stood out against its rivals.
It has crisp layers of turkey, stuffing and bacon and there was a generous portion of meat.
The turkey was juicy and had a wonderful flavor and there was just enough cranberry sauce to pull the sandwich together and the sauce itself wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet.
The bread was fresh and soft and the bits of filling were a real highlight.
For the quality of the ingredients I felt £4 was a reasonable price to pay.
- Taste: 5/5
- Value: 5/5
- Total score: 10/10
Waitrose Christmas Merry Club’Mas Sandwich
- £4.50
- Nutrition: 631 calories, 26.8 g fat, 11.4 g sugar, 2.48 g salt
A beast of a sandwich with three layers of bread in each half.
It’s filled to the brim with shredded chicken, cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, spinach and umami onion, all on buttered malted bread.
The key ingredient is the delicious chilli sauce which really brought it all together. The onions were also a nice touch and added some extra bite.
The fat content and calorie content raise some eyebrows! But all in all, this is a real festive crowd pleaser – just don’t enjoy it too often.
- Taste: 5/5
- Value: 4/5
- Total score: 9/10
Aldi Perfect Christmas Turkey Fest Sandwich
- £2.49
- Nutrition: 510 calories, 20.3 g fat, 9 g sugar, 2.28 g salt
The best thing about Aldi’s sandwich is the price.
For £2.49 this is an incredibly good lunch. They are quite classic flavors with turkey, bacon and cranberry on whole wheat bread.
The layers look good and it was well balanced, with a generous helping of cranberry sauce.
The bacon was crispy and had a nice spicy flavor.
If I had one complaint I’d say the turkey was on the dry side, but at this price I’m not complaining.
- Taste: 4/5
- Value: 5/5
- Total score: 9/10
Costa Turkey and Trimmings Toastie
- £5.45
- Nutrition: 454 calories, 14 g fat, 8.8 g sugar, 2 g salt
Top marks for this grilled cheese sandwich, which really made you feel like you were having Christmas dinner.
It’s a lovely warm option, with a good amount of filling and not at all dry.
The crispy top was a nice touch. It’s a bit pricey, over £5, and not the most filling, so for that reason I probably won’t eat there too often.
You could buy two Aldi sarnies for less, but it was a nice variation on the traditional turkey sandwich.
- Taste: 4/5
- Value: 3/5
- Total score: 7/10
Fun Festive Party
- £4.99
- Nutrition: 573 calories, 22 g fat, 14.2 g sugar, 2.81 g salt
Often a winner when it comes to Christmas rolls, Pret’s offering does not disappoint this year.
The highlight of this sarnie was the pork filling, which had a lovely spicy flavour.
It’s chicken instead of turkey, but the meat was plentiful and juicy – obviously breast meat too.
The cranberry sauce was just sweet enough, the spinach gave it a fresh feeling and the crispy onions were delicious.
I wish they would sell these all year round.
- Taste: 5/5
- Value: 4/5
- Total score: 9/10
Tesco Finest Turkey BLT
- £4.50
- Nutrition: 483 calories, 17.7 g fat, 5.6 g sugar, 2.09 g salt
The turkey and ham in this Tesco BLT are sliced extremely finely, making it look elegant.
There was still a decent amount and some lettuce leaves and tomato gave it a fresh feeling.
It was made with rye bread, which was quite firm and a bit dry.
I would have preferred something softer.
It was a generous size and certainly not the most caloric of the bunch. I would go back for another one.
- Taste: 3/5
- Value: 3/5
- Total score: 6/10
Morrisons Turkey Lunch
- £3.25
- Nutrition: 425 calories, 12 g fat, 9.8 g sugar, 1.56 g salt
I’ve been a big fan of Morrisons’ festive menu in the past, but this was all a bit disappointing.
There was hardly any meat and everything in the sandwich was stuck together and it all tasted a bit overly processed and cheap.
The bacon had a nice, salty flavor.
For 20p more you can go to Sainsbury’s and enjoy the fact that your sandwich has fewer calories, fat and sugar than this one.
- Taste: 2/5
- Value: 2/5
- Total score: 4/10
Asda Classic Festive Party
- £3.02
- Nutrition: 494 calories, 17 g fat, 8.3 g sugar, 1.9 g salt
A bit on the dry side, I would have preferred a bit more cranberry sauce and the malted bread wasn’t as soft as it should have been and a bit of a disappointment.
There wasn’t much meat either. The sausage was cut into small circles and each half probably contained less than a quarter of a sausage.
The bacon, while also a little tight on portion size, had a lovely smoky flavor and it’s pretty good value for a quick lunch in the run up to Christmas.
- Taste: 2/5
- Value: 3/5
- Total score: 5/10
Starbucks Festive Turkey Sandwich
- £6.65
- Nutrition: 438 calories, 11 g fat, 12 g sugar, 1.7 g salt
I loved the unusual bread, which was studded with cranberries and made it stand out from the crowd.
The bread was soft and delicious and a nice alternative to the malted bread that so many others preferred.
I would have liked a bit more filling, but there was a good amount of turkey in it and the spinach was a nice touch.
It was the most expensive sandwich in this test, but it was tasty and if you can’t enjoy it at Christmas, when can you?
- Taste: 5/5
- Value: 3/5
- Total score: 8/10
Sainsbury’s Turkey Feast
- £3.45
- Nutrition: 379 calories, 8.8 g fat, 7.3 g sugar, 1.78 g salt
Sainsbury’s sarnie was a cut above your average supermarket sarnie and was bursting with turkey fillet, mayonnaise, cranberry chutney, beechwood smoked bacon and sage, onion and oat filling – all on malted bread.
There was a generous portion of turkey, which was juicy and had a nice flavour, and the mayonnaise was a good idea, keeping it from being too dry.
Reasonable value too.
- Taste: 4/5
- Value: 4/5
- Total score: 8/10
Lidl Turkey party
- £2.19
- Nutrition: 472 calories, 15.7 g fat, 11.2 g sugar, 2.01 g salt
A hearty sarnie, the flavor of the filling comes through well and there is a generous dash of cranberry in it.
There was a good amount of turkey – same as M&S – but it was cheaper.
Taste-wise it wasn’t that tasty, but for a quick lunch this is a very good offering from Lidl.
- Taste: 4/5
- Value: 5/5
- Total score: 9/10
And our choice from the rest…
Aldi specially selected honey roast gammon and Christmas lettuce bloomer
- £2.75
- Nutrition: 467 calories, 9.3 g fat, 13.6 g sugar, 2.91 g salt
Really impressive sarnie. There was quite a lot of ham in it and it was a nice tiger bloomer, which looked very tasty.
The ham tasted good and was very meaty in taste.
- Taste: 3/5
- Value: 5/5
- Total score: 8/10
Waitrose Festive Turkey Curry
- £4.50
- Nutrition: 438 calories, 10.1 g fat, 11 g sugar, 1.40 g salt
This new-for-2025 sarnie is packed with tender turkey and warming curry spices – it’s the perfect twist on a Christmas classic.
It has a wonderful aroma and is incredibly lake-like. It would be a great addition to the year-round sandwich offering.
- Taste: 5/5
- Value: 4/5
- Total score: 9/10
M&S Sausage roll with turkey, bacon and cranberry
- £3.10
- Nutrition: 455 calories, 26.3 g fat, 6.4 g sugar, 2 g salt
Some days you might not fancy a sandwich, so M&S have wrapped Christmas in a sausage roll.
It looks quite small for just over £3, but don’t be fooled: it contains a whopping 455 calories and over 26 grams of fat.
However, it is delicious and the best alternative for Christmas dinner.
A sausage roll packed with turkey, smoked bacon, British pork and cranberry sauce.
It’s all wrapped in a buttery puff pastry, topped with smoked bacon, pork crackling and a parsley crumb. Yes please.
- Taste: 5/5
- Value: 3/5
- Total score: 8/10
Morrisons The Best Festive Chicken Party Sub Roll
- £4.25
- Nutrition: 493 calories, 14.4 g fat, 18.2 g sugar, 1.31 g
The super soft sub bun is a nice change from the endless malted bread.
There’s a lot of chicken and even Brussels sprouts in this sandwich.
It’s a little pricey at Morrisons and not the biggest, but top marks for the wonderful festive taste.
- Taste: 4/5
- Value: 4/5
- Total score: 8/10
Aldi Yorkshire pudding pack
- £3.49
- Nutrition: 642 calories, 8.8 g fat, 4.2 g sugar, 3.02 g salt
Sounds indulgent and it is. You can buy this cold and heat it up at home.
I put it in the air fryer for 20 minutes and it came out so crispy and delicious.
It’s filled with all your favorite Christmas dinner ingredients, including turkey and sausage. Caloric, but filling.
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A real guilty pleasure.
- Taste: 5/5
- Value: 5/5
- Total score: 10/10
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