Every year, seemingly earlier than the last, supermarkets and high-street coffee shops compete to see who can stuff the most turkey, sausage, bacon, cranberry and, er, stuffing into their rolls, wraps and baps.
In 2020 it was a bit of a damp squib, what with millions of people working at home and far fewer sandwiches flying off the shelves. But fear not, or perhaps fear, because the festive cheer is back with a bang this year.
And the snack purveyors have gone hard - having had plenty of time to “take inspiration” from the trendy breads and chef-created condiments you’d usually see in independent hipster joints in east London. Fully loaded toasties are popular this year, with practically all chain cafes offering them in some form or other – with varying degrees of success. Question: does cheese have a place in a Christmas sandwich?
Flavoured mayos abound, too: sage, gravy, chipotle, anything to jazz up, and add much needed lubrication to, a sarnie. There’s brioche buns aplenty, a carb wrapping more often deployed in trendy burger restaurants; it does mean that the often-damp wrap might be in retreat.
As always, some simply swap chicken for turkey and whack on a Christmas label, which a cynic might say is a touch lazy. But if it tastes good, who cares?
Here, in the name of Christmas food, we separate the wheat from the chaff (as well as one gluten-free option), read the small-print and find out the nutritional values (or damage) of their fat content...and try out some advent coffees for good measure.
Best and worst Christmas sandwiches
Gail’s ultimate Christmas sandwich, £6
Great chewy brown sourdough no-waste bread, thick slices of cheese and generous amounts of quality turkey, sweet bacon jam sweet and very on-trend smoky chipotle mayo. Purists might say this needs another element, such as stuffing or ham, but it’s undeniably delicious.
[No nutritional information at point of sale]
Verdict: 5/5
M&S naughty & spice turkey feast, £4
Following the restaurant trend for brioche buns filled with unusual ingredients, this M&S number packs peri-peri chicken into a buttery roll. And it works. Lots of spicy mayo, a zingy (and necessary) red cabbage slaw, a cranberry kick and strong chilli heat; this is the hipster’s choice this Christmas.
Calories: 481; Fat: 23.5g (4.7g saturated); Carbs: 40.7g (12.7g sugars); Fibre: 3.6g; Protein: 25g; Salt: 2.61g
Verdict: 4.5/5
Waitrose the club sandwich, £3.50
With three layers of bread and lots of filling, this sandwich is a fully-loaded winner. The turkey is tender, the ham thick-cut and flavoursome, the Emmental nutty and the sherry and onion chutney generous and zingy.
Calories: 514; Fat: 13g (5.2g sat) [ Carb: 66.8g (Sugar: 10.2g; Fibre: 5.2g; Protein: 29.6g; Salt: 1.97g
Verdict: 4.5/5
M&S turkey and bacon sourdough toastie, £5.50
The oily bread is almost focaccia-like, in a good way, and this toastie is packed to the brim with good stuffing, cheese and turkey. There’s not much relief from anything crunchy or fresh, but it’s a rich and filling sandwich, and, most importantly, tasty.
Calories: 675; Fat: 36.5g (14.3g saturated); Carbs: 47.7g (8.7g sugar) ; Fibre: 5.6g; Protein: 36.1g; Salt: 3.22g
Verdict: 4/5
Pret turkey and trimmings toastie, £4.65
Generously filled with all the trimmings. Good turkey and ham (as always with Pret), and decent cranberry sauce, although its distribution could be more even. The wholemeal seeded bread works well when toasted – it’s very crunchy – and the mixture of melted cheese with Christmas dinner, although a bit weird, works. A solid, very 2021, effort.
Calories: 629; Fat: 23.4g (10.8g saturated); Carb: 61.5g (9.1g sugar); Fibre: 6.1g; Protein: 39.9g; Salt: 3.55g
Verdict: 4/5
Waitrose smoked salmon, egg and truffle, £3.80
Very “breakfast on Christmas morning” in feel, this sandwich is packed with greenery, and well-balanced between the smoked salmon, egg and truffle, which doesn’t overwhelm. An excellent soft rye bread binds it all together.
Calories: 417; Fat: 16.3g (2.9g sat); Carb: 44.7g (2.9g sugar); Fibre: 2.9g; Protein: 21.6g; Salt: 1.65g
Verdict: 4/5
Paul Christmas turkey sandwich, £4.95
The wholemeal baguette is crisp on the outside and chewy within, with a nice festive touch from sour, juicy dried cranberries spread throughout the bread. The bacon is crispy and salty, but the turkey is slightly lost behind it as well as the horseradish. Overall a good, filling sandwich.
Calories: 655; Fat: 18.97g (5.13g sat); Carb: 87.29g (18.87g sugar); Fibre: 6.72g; Protein: 30.45g; Salt: 1.11g
Verdict: 4/5
Pret vegan Christmas flatbread, £4.45
The vegetarian testers found this pleasingly Christmassy, whereas the meat-eaters didn’t. Nevertheless, it performed highly as a sandwich in its own right. There was a thick wad of pumpkin and squash, which verged on mushy but was saved by a red cabbage crunch. Nut roast vibes, and pleasingly sagey, the real let-down was the disintegrating wrap.
Calories: 527; Fat: 19.9g (1.9g saturated); Carb: 70.2g (23.5g sugar); Fibre: 11.7g; Protein: 13.2g; Salt: 1.97g
Verdict: 3.5/5
Morrisons boxing day turkey curry, £2.50
Essentially a coronation sandwich that replaces chicken with turkey. The wrap is a little too soft, but the filling is decent. The curry flavours are powerful, the pink pickled onions a welcome addition, adding a crunchy, vinegary tang.
Calories: 414; Fat: 14.7g (3.3g saturated); Sugar: 3.7g; Salt: 1.06g
Verdict: 3.5/5
Caffe Nero brie, bacon and cranberry panini, £4.60
Very generous on the cheese, which oozes out seductively. The cranberry flavour was strong, and the bread decent, but the main let down here was the flaccid bacon which needed a bit of flavour and texture. A decent effort and a solid combination overall.
Calories: 520; Fat: 20.4g (9.8g sat); Carbs: 57.2g (8.6g sugars); Fibre: 3.5g; Protein: 25.3g; Salt: 2.4g
Verdict: 3.5/5
Costa turkey trimmings toastie, £4.25
Essentially a Christmas croque monsieur, which is absolutely a welcome addition to the Christmas sandwich canon. It’s undeniably an overwhelmingly rich toastie, with a thick splodge of melted cheese all over the top. It’s crunchy, gooey, and pleasingly sweet from the chutney. The bacon, soft and pallid, is a let down, and the cheese could be mature for more punch.
Calories: 440; Fat: 14g (8.3g sat); Carb: 55g (9.9g sugar); Protein: 21g; Salt: 1.7g
Verdict: 3.5/5
Sainsbury's beef wellington special, £3.50
Decent thinly sliced layers of roast beef and a strong but not overpowering mushroom pate. The soft spongy bread isn’t bad, and the crunchy red cabbage is a nice touch. A well-balanced roll let down by its size (very small) and under-seasoning. Do they know it’s Christmas?
Calories: 434 calories; Fat: 23.1g (6.5g saturated); Carb: 40.3g (6.5g sugar); Protein: 18.7g; Salt: 1.22g
Verdict: 3.5/5
Aldi Specially Selected butter basted turkey with pigs under blankets, £2.29
A very meat-centric sandwich, with large chunks or turkey, sausage, stuffing and bacon. The stuffing is powerful, and slightly shunts out the other fillings (the bacon doesn’t come through) but the turkey is pleasingly buttery. A carnivorous doorstep of a sandwich with thick granary bread.
Calories: 642; Fat: 22.4g (6.4 saturated); Carb: 77.2g (14.7g sugar); Fibre: 7.2g; Protein: 29.5g; Salt: 2.63g
Verdict: 3.5/5
Aldi vegan festive feast, £1.69
Made with good poppyseed bread, the crunchy parsnip fritter filling is divisive, and the vegan sage and onion mayo could be stronger, as it’s a little dry overall. The cranberry sauce, however, is decent, though there could be a lot more.
Calories: 418; Fat: 10.3g (1.7 sat); Carb: 67.5g (18g sugar); Fibre: 6.7g; Protein: 10.7g; Salt: 1.22g
Verdict: 3/5
Greggs pigs under blanket, £3.85
Greggs’s sausage, bacon and cranberry sauce baguette scores bonus points for the crispy streaky bacon, which retains its crunch. The bread is nicely crispy, but the cranberry sauce is overwhelmingly acidic, and the stuffing a little overpowering. Nevertheless, a solid pick-me-up.
Calories: 571; Fat: 17g (5.8g saturated); Carb: 78g (9.5g sugar); Protein: 23g; Salt: 2.6g
Verdict: 3/5
M&S gluten free turkey feast, £3.50
The jammy cranberry sauce is a bit sickly, but the thick-cut turkey packs plenty of flavour, and the bacon retains a crisp crunch. The gluten-free bread is passable, though it does have that unpleasant cakey crumbliness that’s perhaps unavoidable.
Calories: 476; Fat: 18.7g (Saturated 5.3g) ; Carb: 57g (9.8g); Fibre: 2.9g ; Protein: 18.5g; Salt: 1.2g
Verdict: 3/5
Sainsbury's Rudolph's Christmas feast, £3
The cakey, crumbly, soft bread is a huge let-down considering the nut-roast-like root vegetable patty and carrot ribbons are well executed. The spicy coriander kick makes this reminiscent of a coronation chicken, but overall the bread is hard to overlook.
Calories: 547; Fat: 23.6g (3.7g saturated); Carb: 67.9g (19.5g sugar); Protein: 12.4g; Salt: 1.76g
Verdict: 2.5/5
Waitrose Christmas vegan no lobster marie rose roll, £3
Oyster mushrooms replace lobster in this unique festive creation, and it’s a mixed bag. The marie rose sauce is sharp and punchy, and there’s a welcome cucumber crunch, but the bread is too sweet and cloying.
Calories: 264; Fat: 6.6g (1.4g saturated) ; Sugar: 5.9g; Salt: .76g
Verdict: 2.5/5
Tesco yule hog wrap, £2.75
There’s no discernible texture to this wrap, which is too soft, and it’s far too sweet. There’s a tiny hint of smoke from the pulled pork, but the greasy mayonnaise doesn’t add much. The cider apple sauce, though nice, is all one can taste.
Calories: 476; Fat: 18.7g (5.3g saturated); Carbohydrate: 57g (9.8g sugar); Fibre: 2.9g; Protein: 18.5g; Salt: 1.2g
Verdict: 2/5
Starbucks turkee and trimmings, £5.10
Very bland, with no detectable turkey flavour from the meat substitute (hence turkee). The only detectable flavours are onion and vinegar, yet they’re still weak. The cranberry sauce went missing, and the bread had all the taste and texture of Melba toast. More untrimmed than trimmings.
Calories: 426l Fat: 10g (3.4g sat); Carbs: 65g (13g sugar); Fibre: 5.8g; Protein: 16g; Salt: 2g
Verdict: 0.5/5
Best and worst Christmas drinks
Greggs mint mocha, £2.40
Basically liquid After Eights or a melted down mint Magnum, this is a much better drink, with detectable coffee and a pleasing, if slightly artificial, mint hit. If you think of it as a warm milkshake rather than coffee it’s a success.
Calories: 303; Fat: 10g (7.7g saturated); Carbs: 45g (31g sugar); Protein: 7.5g; Salt: 0.63g
Verdict: 4/5
Costa toffee penny latte, £3.65
Like drinking warm liquid caramel, it’s sweet, but not too sweet as to drown out the coffee. Unlike most lattes, it’s not too milky either, making for a warm Christmassy treat.
Per 100g: Calories: 79; Fat: 1.5 (sat 1); Carb: 13.9 (12.1 sugar); Protein: 2.9g; Salt: 0.16g
Verdict: 4/5
Starbucks eggnog latte, £4.05
A strong coffee flavour although the cream and egg are slightly too dominant. Could have done with more cinnamon or nutmeg, as it ends up being just too sweet.
Per grande serving: Calories: 364; Fat: 16.2g (9.7g sat); Carbs: 42.9g (41.4g sugar); Fibre: 0.7g; Salt: 0.6g; Protein: 11.2g
Verdict: 3/5
Caffe Nero hazelnut hot chocolate, £2.70
Overpoweringly sweet, the hazelnut here is too timid, so it doesn’t even taste like a Ferrero Rocher or hot Nutella. One the kids will like.
For 250ml (regular): Calories: 397 Fat: 21.5g (13.5g sat); Carbs: 41.5 (38g sugar); Fibre: 2.5g; Protein: 8.3g
Verdict: 2.5/5
Pret’s gingerbread latte, £3.35
Weak and bland, it’s hard to detect much ginger – or coffee, for that matter – in this latte. None of the flavours really shine through – not even sugar. A hard no.
Info for 100g; Calories: 84; Protein: 2.5; Fat: 5 (3.1g saturated) ; Carb: 7.199 (6.9g sugar); Fibre: 0.141g
Verdict: 1/5