Much like the opening of advent calendar doors, unwrapping the plastic film of a Christmas supermarket sandwich has become a festive tradition, and one that I meet with much anticipation. Each year, supermarkets try to one up each other with ingenious flavours and festive takes on fillings – think pigs in blanket rolls, prawn cocktail subs and even the best bits of a roast wrapped in a Yorkshire pudding (head to Tesco for that one). Some have also released seasonal sides to complete the festive meal deal but this time, we’re all about the main event: the best Christmas sandwiches, wraps and rolls.
I got my hands on eight sarnies plucked from supermarket shelves to find the best of the lot. But I didn’t just leave this to my personal taste – I also enlisted the IndyBest team, who turned on their tastebuds to help me find the best festive sarnie.
We looked for tasty bread that played a part in the experience, rather than acting as casing. Of course, the filling had to impress too with well balanced flavours, quality ingredients and a decent amount (those bulked out with spinach leaves or carrot shavings scored lower). And while imaginative takes were pleasing, the classic turkey or boxing day style leftovers done right were also given marks.
The best Christmas sandwiches for 2025 are:
- Best overall – M&S turkey feast sandwich: £4.25, Marksandspencer.com
- Best seafood – Aldi specially selected seafood cocktail sandwich: £2.75, Aldi.co.uk
- Best vegan – Waitrose Christmas vegetable festive feast sandwich: £3.75, Waitrose.com
- Best wrap – Asda magical three little piggies half and half wrap: £2.88, Asda.com
How we tested
When judging each sandwich, taste and texture came first: we looked for a satisfying meal, which had interesting flavour, was enjoyable on the palate, and not soggy from excess mayo – or, conversely, dry. I paid close attention to the bread, noting how well it complemented the filling. Packaging also mattered, with convenient containers and reduced-plastic options, such as cardboard sleeves or boxes, earning extra points. Finally, with meal-deal prices climbing (the £3 Tesco clubcard deal now a distant memory), I assessed the cost of each sandwich on its own, focusing, as with every IndyBest review, on true value for money.
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M&S turkey feast sandwich
Best: Christmas sandwich overall
Filling: British roast turkey breast, pork, sage and onion stuffing, onion mayonnaise, cranberry chutney and smoked British bacon
Bread: Malted
Why we love it
- High quality ingredients
- Delicious filling
Take note
- Expensive
This is the quintessential Christmas sandwich: all the familiar flavours of the 25th neatly layered between two slices of robust, tasty bread. It’s generously stuffed, and while it may sit at the pricier end of the festive sandwich spectrum, the sheer abundance of filling makes it feel like good value rather than a splurge.
The turkey is notably high quality — tender, well-seasoned and far from the dry and chewy meat that often plagues seasonal offerings. There’s just the right amount of cranberry sauce too, providing a welcome sweetness that cuts through the savoury elements, without soaking into the bread or turning the sandwich soggy.
The onion mayonnaise is a particularly worthy addition, bringing a gentle sharpness that elevates the stuffing and ties the whole sandwich together, lifting it from bog-standard Christmas fare to something genuinely indulgent. As an added bonus, five per cent of all sales go to Shelter, making it a festive treat that feels a little more worthwhile in every sense.
Buy now £4.25, Marksandspencer.com
Aldi specially selected seafood cocktail sandwich
Best: Seafood Christmas sandwich
Filling: King prawns, surimi and cold-water prawns, Marie Rose cocktail sauce, Apollo leaf lettuce
Bread: Malted bloomer
Why we love it
- Comes with whole prawns
- Tasty Marie Rose sauce
Take note
- Divisive flavour
This take on the 80s starter is a satisfyingly chunky and tasty sandwich. Between two hunky slices of malted bloomer, we’re treated to delicious whole King prawns and a moreish surimi paste, coated in a delightful Marie Rose sauce. The lettuce adds a crunch and offsets the rich filling, while the flavour is enhanced by garlic and a squeeze of lemon.
While traditionalists may find it misses the tang of Worcestershire sauce and the heat of cayenne, this take on the prawn cocktail makes a fun and absolutely delicious sandwich. Plus, it’s the cheapest of the bunch. One downside, it’s fully packaged in plastic and you do have to be a fan of the original dish to enjoy it.
Buy now £2.75, Aldi.co.uk
Asda magical three little piggies half and half wrap
Best: Christmas wrap
Filling: One half pulled pork, apple sauce and sage & onion stuffing, other half pork sausages, bacon and onion chutney
Bread: Tortilla wrap
Why we love it
- Delicious filling
- Wrap is light
Take note
- Filling doesn't feel as high quality as others
This sandwich neatly skips the indecision of the meal deal aisle by offering two flavours in one. One half of the wrap is filled with pulled pork, apple sauce and sage-and-onion stuffing; the other packs pork sausages, bacon and onion chutney. The pulled pork side may not look the most enticing at first glance, but it more than delivers on flavour. The stuffing is particularly strong, with the sage coming through clearly, and, crucially, the wrap itself isn’t soggy.
The second half channels the flavours of pigs in blankets, wrapped up in a tortilla envelope. While the ingredients don’t taste quite as high quality as some others in this list (for peak quality, M&S still leads the way), on the taste buds this went down an absolute treat. One of our testers even summed it up as “absolutely delicious.” It’s the ideal festive hangover wrap — indulgent, greasy in the best way, and deeply satisfying.
Buy now £2.88, Asda.com
Waitrose Christmas vegetable festive feast sandwich
Best: Vegan Christmas sandwich
Filling: Vegan mayonnaise, spiced butternut squash and potato, braised red cabbage and spinach
Bread: Malted
Why we love it
- Very flavoursome
- Good, varied textures
Take note
- Bread is a bit claggy
With a description that evokes Boxing Day bubble and squeak, this vegan offering from Waitrose is built around a spiced butternut squash and chestnut filling, studded with cranberries and paired with braised red cabbage and bright green spinach. Opening it up, it was reassuring to see that the spinach wasn’t doing all the heavy lifting and there’s a respectable amount of the festive filling on display.
The overall flavour skews sweet, likely thanks to the chestnuts, but this is tempered by the warming depth of allspice and cinnamon. The braised red cabbage is an especially strong addition, cutting through the sweetness with a gentle sharpness while also providing a welcome crunch.
The bread is where it falls short slightly as it’s a touch claggy and, while the filling is generous at first, it thins out towards the crusts. Still, these are minor gripes in what is ultimately a thoughtfully put-together, genuinely tasty vegan sandwich that avoids relying on fake meat alternatives.
Buy now £3.75, Waitrose.com
Co-op turkey feast Christmas sandwich
Best: Turkey and bacon Christmas sandwich
Filling: Turkey, pork, sage and onion stuffing, cranberry sauce, smoked bacon and mayo
Bread: Malted
Why we love it
- Tasty filling
- Well-priced
Take note
- Not loaded
- Turkey doesn't feel as high quality as others
In a turkey sandwich head-to-head with M&S (they also share a name), Co-op’s rival offering proves itself to be a genuinely tasty contender. It isn’t without its flaws: the filling isn’t particularly well-contained, making it a little messy to eat, and there’s noticeably less turkey than you’d find in the M&S equivalent. That said, at a quid cheaper, this feels like a fair compromise rather than a shortcoming.
The addition of smoked bacon is a tasty addition, adding welcome texture and a depth of flavour that helps round out the sandwich as a whole. Ultimately, this is a classic, no-nonsense turkey sandwich that does exactly what it sets out to do, hitting the festive spot without overcomplicating things. Co-op is also donating £50,000 from the sale of its Christmas sandwiches to Barnardo’s.
Buy now £3.5, Coop.co.uk
Sainsbury's Christmas cracker club sandwich
Best: Chicken Christmas sandwich
Filling: Chicken breast, mayonnaise, sage, onion and oat stuffing, beechwood smoked bacon, cranberry chutney and spinach
Bread: Oatmeal and white blend
Why we love it
- Peppery taste
Take note
- Skimps on filling
- Flavours are subtle
The satisfyingly named Christmas cracker club sandwich from Sainsbury’s sadly goes off with more of a fizzle than a bang. Despite the promise of the club format, the extra layer translates into more bread rather than more filling, which feels like a missed opportunity.
The flavours are a little lacklustre, and an extra hit of stuffing would have gone a long way in boosting the festive appeal. The spinach, meanwhile, feels largely redundant — included more for a token nod to health than for any real contribution to taste or texture.
That said, it’s not without its merits. There’s a deep, spicy peppery kick running through the sandwich that works well with the chicken breast, giving it some much-needed character. And for anyone who doesn’t consider turkey their Christmas bird of choice, this makes a perfectly fine, if slightly underwhelming, alternative.
Buy now £3.5, Sainsburys.co.uk
Tesco pork and Kentish apple cider sauce wrap
Best: Pork Christmas sandwich
Filling: Pulled pork, maple roasted carrots and parsnips, rosemary and turkey gravy mayonnaise, apple and cider sauce and lettuce
Bread: Tortilla wrap
Why we love it
- Carrots adds a nice sweetness
Take note
- Mushy texture
With flavour combinations that tantalise the taste buds on paper, this wrap ultimately fell short of expectations. On tasting, the individual ingredients were hard to pick out, with flavours blurring together and textures tipping into the mushy. The turkey gravy mayonnaise proved divisive, but it does succeed in adding moisture and, for those who like to drown their roast in the sauce, it may well be a selling point.
That said, the wrap format doesn’t do it any favours. Swapping it for slices of bread would have added much-needed structure and contrast. While the maple-roasted carrots bring a pleasant, caramelised sweetness, the overall effect isn’t especially memorable or distinctly Christmassy. A promising idea, then, but one that doesn’t quite deliver the festive hit we hoped for.
Buy now £3.25, Tesco.com
Morrisons brie and cranberry Christmas sandwich
Best: Cheese Christmas sandwich
Filling: Brie cheese with cranberry chutney, mayonnaise and spinach
Bread: Malted
Why we love it
- If you like brie, this has thick helpings
Take note
- Unbalanced flavours
- Soggy texture
In all fairness I’m not a huge brie fan to begin with, so for me the large slices of the cheese was overpowering. However some of our other testers were pleasantly surprised by the veggie Christmas sandwich.
There are some let downs though: the bread is a little dry around the edges and the chutney makes it slightly soggy in the middle.
The spinach does provide a welcome flash of green and a pleasant crunch, but the cranberry chutney veers into cloyingly sweet territory, where a sharper, tarter cranberry note would have worked far better. Plus, I would have liked more texture to balance the cheese’s somewhat rubbery quality.
All in all, it’s a decent cheese sandwich that I can imagine would come alive after being toasted.
Buy now £3.25, Morrisons.com
What are the best supermarket Christmas sandwiches?
Pretty unanimously, M&S’s turkey feast sandwich stood out. It has all you look for in a Christmas sandwich – a comforting taste of the best bits of the day. It’s jam-packed with filling and is structurally strong, holding its shape rather than falling apart. Waitrose’s Christmas vegetable festive feast sandwich also deserves a shout out as a tasty vegan sandwich that was full of flavour.
How the best Christmas supermarket sandwiches were selected
When testing each sarnie, we took the following criteria into every bite:
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Alice Reynolds is a writer and production journalist at The Independent who covers a variety of topics, from money-saving home appliances to new television launches. She previously reviewed the best supermarket pizzas, so knows what it takes for a shop-bought sandwich to impress.
The wider IndyBest team have taste-tested a variety of supermarket foods in real-life settings, from everyday picks like olive oil and sourdough, to festive buys such as mulled wine and mince pies, and will only recommend products that are truly worth your money.
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