In a world of poke bowls, sushi and endless riffs on pasta salad, it's easy to forget about the humble sandwich.
However, there's one time of year when sandwiches get the turboboost they sorely need - Christmas. As soon as October tips over into November, Halloween pumpkins are cleared away to make way for yuletide vibes and the sandwich really comes into its own.
Supermarkets, coffee shops and even gourmet cafes and delis start releasing batches of festive-themed sandwiches featuring turkey, Christmas ham, nut roasts and plenty of cranberry sauce.
The likes of M&S, Waitrose, Aldi and Starbucks have all launched stellar sarnie lineups this year, with both traditional and more creative flavours, plant-based options and more.
So, we did the hard work for you and tasted over 30 Christmas sandwiches from the best brands in the biz. We rated the sandwiches based on filling flavour and creativity, bread choice and texture (with bonus points for value for money).
Best Christmas sandwiches 2023
28.Pret Salmon, Crayfish and Lemon Mayo Rye Roll
Rating: 10/10
Price: £4.99
Everyone's clicking on...
Inspired by festive seafood starters like prawn cocktail and smoked salmon blinis, this sandwich is a proper ten out of ten. The rye roll has more texture and bite than your usual bloomer loaf, and the fancy salmon and crayfish filling is super fresh. It's also got a lovely green salad with loads of dill and a zesty lemon mayo that we'd happily lick off our fingers.
27.Pret Christmas Lunch
Rating: 9/10
Price: £4.99
OK, here's a more traditional top-scoring option. The Pret Christmas Lunch sandwich has everything you could possibly want from a seasonal sarnie. There's plenty of flavourful turkey, the stuffing really packs a punch with herby goodness, and the spinach adds some much needed freshness into the equation. Topped with crispy onions for texture and tangy cranberry sauce to cut through all the richness, we were impressed.
27.Starbucks Brie & Cranberry Focaccia
Rating: 9/10
Price: £5.30
Our top-rated toasted sandwich of the bunch was Starbucks' Brie & Cranberry Focaccia. The bread had a lovely crisp texture and lots of rosemary for wintery vibes, and the brie tasted like your Christmas cheeseboard's finest. There was just the right amount of cranberry sauce for us, too.
27.Pret Christmas Nut Roast
Rating: 9/10
Price: £4.75
Plant-based Christmas sandwiches fall into two camps: the faux-meats and the veggie celebrations. This option from Pret lands firmly in the latter, and we're pretty much obsessed with the combo of herby butternut squash, nutty pesto and caramelised pecans. The squash was perfectly cooked with just the right amount of bite, and the sage mayo complemented the nutty pesto beautifully.
24.M&S Jingle Brie-L-T
Rating: 8.5/10
Price: £4.50
As sandwiches go, this one looks pretty impressive. It's a proper stack of cheese, bacon, chutney and salad. M&S really aren't messing about with this one, because not only does it look excellent, it also tastes top tier. The brie was creamy as can be, the bacon was loaded up and properly salty, and the tomato chutney tasted festive. Brioche is a great choice for the roll too, although we'd like a little more moisture in ours, please.
23.Morrisons The Best Turkey Feast Sandwich
Rating: 8/10
Price: £3.50
If you're back for seconds of turkey the minute it disappears from your Christmas dinner plate, this is the sandwich for you. It's a meaty one, packed full of turkey and sausage. The stuffing and cranberry are very much second players here, so if that's your bag, go for it. Us? We'd like a bit more tangy and herbiness.
23.Starbucks Holiday Ham Sub Roll
Rating: 8/10
Price: £4.60
The sub roll is an underrated category of sandwich in our humble opinion, and this boxing day-inspired roll from Starbucks is a bit of a hidden hero in this year's lineup. The bread is soft and flavourful and the ham is nothing like that wafer thin stuff of lunchboxes gone by. There's a nice, gently mustard flavour running throughout this sandwich that we loved, and the fresh salad-y slaw was a welcome addition to all the festive flavours.
23.Waitrose Ham & Festive Slaw Sandwich
Rating: 8/10
Price: £4.75
Ding ding! It's another ham sandwich, and this one's tasty too. The ham is sweet, savoury and juicy and the whole sandwich is smothered in a super festive orange chutney that we were seriously impressed by. The slaw isn't doing the most, but we'll forgive that for the ham and chutney combo.
20.M&S Ho-Ho Pesto & Veg
Rating: 7.5/10
Price: £3.65
Pesto might not be the obvious choice for Christmas, (we have docked a point for the non-festive vibes, sorry M&S) but this sandwich was pretty damn delicious. Roasted butternut squash, pickled red cabbage slaw, rocket pesto and tahini mayo join the pesto sauce for a super-fresh sandwich that makes a welcome change from faux turkey and cranberry sauce.
19.Aldi Turkey Feast Sandwich
Rating: 7/10
Price: £1.99
You can't really go wrong with a classic turkey sarnie at Christmas time, and this one from Aldi was pretty much right on the money. Flavourful turkey, tasty stuffing and bacon make for a substantial filling that's encased in malty bread. While the turkey was a little on the dry side, we were impressed with the overall festive vibes and quality of ingredients in this one.
19.Sainsbury's Plant Pioneers Pigs Under Blankets
Rating: 7/10
Price: £3.00
If you're living a plant-based lifestyle but sometimes miss the savoury smokiness of a bacon and sausage sarnie, you're probably going to love this faux meat feast from Sainsbury's. The bacon has all the smoke of the real thing and the sausages have great bite and savouriness. The whole thing could have probably done with a little bit of greenery or some tangier sauce, but we've no serious complaints about this one.
19.Waitrose Turkey & Stuffing Sandwich
Rating: 7/10
Price: £4.00
Another classic turkey number, this time from Waitrose. You'd think that the turkey would be star of the show with this one, but the stand-out ingredient was the bacon. There was a tonne of it. The stuffing flavour was also delicious, and we're a big fan of the malty bread, too.
19.M&S Turkey Feast
Rating: 7/10
Price: £3.90
M&S's traditional turkey sando was filled to the brim with a decent helping of succulent turkey, herby stuffing, cranberry chutney and smoky bacon. However, one other thing it was filled to the brim with was... mayonnaise. While a dollop of mayo is always welcome in a festive sandwich, the smothering in this one was just a bit too much and compromised the flavour of the stuffing. Otherwise, kudos to M&S for creating a solid classic.
19.Starbucks Festive Feast Panini
Rating: 7/10
Price: £5.30
Coming in hot with another toasted sandwich for you. Starbucks' Festive Feast Panini is a comforting wedge of ciabatta filled with all your favourite festive flavours. We were impressed with the oozy gravy that held the fillings together, as well as the thick slices of turkey and festive-feeling bacon and cranberry sauce. Pair this panini with one of Starbucks' famous eggnog lattes and you'll be feeling Christmassy all afternoon.
14.Costa Coffee Pigs In Blankets Toastie
Rating: 6.5/10
Price: From £4.95
Pigs in blankets in a toastie - have you heard of a more wonderful thing? This one's even topped with mega-tasty onion, sage, and cheese for an extra festive hit of flavour. The meat inside is pretty good too, but we'd love some cranberry dipping sauce for a bit of extra tang and sweetness.
14.Tesco Turkey & Trimmings Sandwich
Rating: 6.5/10
Price: £3.00
A solid choice here from Tesco. The turkey has good flavour, the filling is more than generous and there's a good savoury whack from the herbed stuffing. The bread could be a little thicker for us, but if you're looking for a festive option for your next meal deal then this sarnie could very well be a good option.
14.Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Christmas Cracker Club
Rating: 6.5/10
Price: £4.50
This chunky sando is a real treat. In place of turkey there's shredded smoked chicken, pork, sage and onion stuffing, beechwood smoked bacon, spinach and an ale and onion chutney. There's a lot going on, but it's a hearty option with lots of lovely flavour and texture. We didn't quite get the gravy mayo, but with everything else going on between the slices we're not sure it needs it.
14.Plant Chef Winter Spiced Butternut Squash & Chestnut Wrap
Rating: 6.5/10
Price: £2.85
The only festive wrap in this roundup comes courtesy of Tesco's Plant Chef range. It's 100% plant-based and is filled with butternut squash, chestnut, braised red cabbage, pea protein alternative to mayonnaise and spinach. The wrap itself is fun and bright on account of the turmeric seasoning. While we appreciate the originality and the braised red cabbage was super festive, we wished there was a little more chestnut and a tad less sweetness.
10.Aldi Vegan Festive Feast
Rating: 6/10
Price: £1.99
Another excellent plant-based option from budget supermarket Aldi. This sandwich features a parsnip fritter with vegan sage and onion mayonnaise, chutney and spinach. The parsnip fritter could have done with a little more seasoning, but props for originality and colour on this one, Aldi.
10.Taste the Difference The Ho Ho Hot One
Rating: 6/10
Price: £4.25
Spice lovers - this one's for you. While it's definitely not going to blow your head off, this sandwich from Sainsbury's is a fun spicy option. Made with firecracker shredded chicken and a crunchy cranberry slaw on nigella seeded bread, it's got some great flavours going on, but the chicken content could have been upped a little and we were missing the Christmas vibes.
10.Tesco Festive Sub
Rating: 6/10
Price: £2.85
Made with turkey breast and thigh, mayonnaise, sage and onion stuffing, cranberry sauce and beechwood smoked bacon, this whopper of a sub roll is a classic choice from Tesco. The turkey had some nice moisture and the roll was pleasingly soft, but there could have been more oomph in flavour from the rest of the fillings for us.
7.Waitrose Bubble & Squeak Sandwich
Rating: 5/10
Price: £3.50
Another plant-based option featuring just veggies from Waitrose this time, and although the concept and look of this sandwich were both promising, we were slightly disappointed with the execution. While the red cabbage had a lovely festive flavour, the squash in our sandwich was on the wrong side of crunchy.
7.Aldi Seafood Bloomer
Rating: 5/10
Price: £2.49
Aldi's prawn cocktail-inspired sarnie had a promising start with its thick bloomer-style bread and generous-looking filling. While the prawns were succulent and decently sized, they did lack in flavour. However, this was made up for by the zesty and rich Marie Rose cocktail sauce, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
7.Costa Vegan Turkey & Trimmings Toastie
Rating: 5/10
Price: From £4.05
Another part of Costa's Christmas range is this plant-based toastie We were big fans of the moist plant-based turkey and saucy gravy, cranberry sauce and vegan mayonnaise, but the bread could have been a tad more exciting.
4.Boots Turkey Feast
Rating: 4/10
Price: £3.15
While we do love a Boots meal deal, this classic Christmas sandwich choice wasn't our favourite. It has everything a traditional sandwich should have - turkey, bacon, stuffing and cranberry chutney. It's perfectly fine, but at £3.15 we would have loved more filling and stand-out flavours.
3.Morrisons Brie & Cranberry Sandwich
Rating: 3/10
Price: £2.85
Brie and cranberry is the ultimate cheesy Christmas combo, so we had high hopes for this colourful sarnie from Morrisons. While the cranberry sauce had a lovely fruity hit and the fresh spinach was a welcome addition, we felt the brie could have had more flavour, and the bread could've been thicker.
3.Boots No Turkey Feast
Rating: 3/10
Price: £3.00
The last plant-based option in our lineup, this no-turkey sandwich from Boots features soya-based turkey, carrot strips, braised red cabbage and cranberry chutney. It was lovely and moist and the braised red cabbage brought plenty of festive cheer to the equation, however the soya turkey wasn't our bag.
1.Morrisons Pigs Under Blankets with Gravy Mayo Sandwich
Rating: 3/10
Price: £3.15
And finally, the Morrisons Pigs Under Blankets with Gravy Mayo Sandwich is bringing up the rear. While we were impressed with the neat presentation (how DO they get those sausages so evenly spaced?) the sausages themselves lacked flavour and we could have done with a lot more gravy mayo to keep dryness at bay.
Louella is our food and drink writer, covering everything from how to host the perfect pasta party to the latest research on fermented foods and gut health. She's worked in almost every part of the food and hospitality industry, from serving plates and pouring wine to recipe developing and cooking behind the scenes to create beautifully photographed food for magazines. Outside of the office, you can usually find Louella performing very badly in pub quizzes or shaking up a margarita or two.
