We've heard on the news that Harrods mince pies are the best in the country, but unfortunately we don't live in London and don't really think that spending nearly £9 for six pies is good value for money, whatever they taste like.
So, we thought we'd carry out our very own blind taste testing, where we bought an assortment of mince pies from all of the main supermarkets and shops, and then tasted them, scoring them for appearance, flavour, amount of filling, pastry, texture and overall yumminess. The results were surprising to say the least.
The Supermarket Brands We Tasted and Tested
The pies that we tested in this extremely 'scientific' manner were:
Aldi Specially Selected (crumbly all-butter with a luxurious brandy laced mincemeat and sprinkled with crunchy sugar)
Asda Extra Special (crisp all-butter pastry generously filled with spiced vine fruit, infused with sweet port and brandy)
Lidls Luxury 'Snowy Lodge' Mince Pies (crumbly, all butter shortcrust pastry cases, generously deep-filled with lightly spiced mincemeat, laced with Courvoisier Cognac and finished with a sprinkling of sugar)
Marks and Spencer All Butter (delicious all butter shortcrust pastry filled with fruity classic mincemeat, bursting with juicy sultanas, vostizza currants and raisins)
Morrisons Fruity and Festive (shortcrust pastry packed with sweet, plump festive fruit)
Mr. Kipling Exceedingly Merry Mince Pies (deep-filled, delicious rich fruity mincemeat in a butter enriched pastry case)
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference (with all butter pastry, and a mincemeat and brandy filling)
Tesco Mince Pies (crumbly shortcrust pastry filled with fruity mincemeat)
We were surprised at...
The different prices:
Asda extra special mince pies were £1.25, whereas Sainsbury's Taste the Difference were £2.50 - twice as much.
The best before dates:
Best before dates - some were before Christmas, others were towards the end of January
The labeling was not consistent:
Not all boxes had standard labeling on the front, including Marks and Spencers, which is covered in foreign writing on the back.
The different sizes:
Most were around 60 grams, although some of the boxes didn't even say the size / weight of the pies, anywhere.
Amount of sugar:
The Sainsbury's 'Taste the Difference' mince pies contained a staggering six teaspoons of sugar - per pie, whereas Morrisons had much less, almost half in fact - just 3 1/2 teaspoons of sugar.
Results - Which Pies Tasted Best, and Worst?!
Watch our YouTube video for the full results, but there was a very clear winner and a very clear loser.
Lidls mince pies were easily the best. They looked nice and they tasted fabulous. Our other favourites included Asda, Morrisons, and Marks and Spencer.
At the very bottom of the pile were Sainsbury's Taste the Difference. We didn't like these at all. Not only were they the most expensive by a long way, but they were so heavily spiced that they left a very unpleasant taste in our mouths afterwards. They certainly weren't for us, but let us know what you think. Happy eating.
We've heard on the news that Harrods mince pies are the best in the country, but unfortunately we don't live in London and don't really think that spending nearly £9 for six pies is good value for money, whatever they taste like.
The different prices:
