Best supermarket Christmas food 2025: From sumptuous puds to show-stopping turkey – these are the tried and tested buys you’ll want on your table this festive season

This is one of the most delicious fish dishes I’ve had in some time.

Forget a plate of smoked salmon – Tesco’s Scottish smoked salmon terrine included a lemon mousse and was packed with flavour.

The addition of the salmon mousse and lemon and herb marinated cooked king prawns in the centre made it more than just a show-stopper ad there were audible gasps when I put it down on the tale.

It’s made for sharing and meant I wasn’t having to individually portion anything out – it just went in to the centre of the spread and people helped themselves.

While it might look a little retro, I thought it was the better for it and tasted incredible although I would say with the mouse it had a slightly cloying texture but otherwise it was delightful.

Three birds for the price of one – how could you refuse?

Tesco’s Finest pate is a mixture of duck liver, chicken liver and turkey breast, topped with pork fat and smoked chestnuts and layers of cranberry and redcurrant gel between each layer.

Not only was it tasty served with tasty triangles of toast but it was filling and moreish.

While I wasn’t a personal fan of the cranberry jelly and the sweetened dried cranberries on top, I could appreciate their pleasant contrast with the richness of the meats.

£8 for 375g Tesco claims it can serve 10 – but I found I had loads left over so perhaps this is a dish worth presenting to a large family gathering.

Sometimes it’s the smallest elements that prove the star of the show and never was that truer than with Waitrose’s cranberry sauce.

Made with cranberries, orange zest, clove and cinnamon, the depth of flavour was perfect with the savoury dinner.

I liked the introduction of the almost mulled-wine elements to it and it felt more Christmassy than most versions.

While I didn’t choose to, it would also lend itself nicely to cheese and crackers.

For only £3 a jar, it’s the perfect Christmas investment but my only qualm might be the texture which was a little gloopy for my liking.

Waitrose’s honey roasted carrots were a godsend during the tumult of the Christmas dinner cooking.

Rather than having to blanche and roast the carrots myself, I could stick these in the oven and they popped out steaming and tasty.

While the carrots did shrink a little in the oven, they were still sweet and looked even cuter in a little side dish being passed around the dinner table.

The honey-roasted element wasn’t something I’d tried before but worked well although, the carrots were perhaps a little too sweet.

However, for £2.25 for 500g, it’s a no-brainer and a nice way to spice up boring boiled veg.

Asda’s Exceptional pigs in blankets are certainly that – tasty and exciting. The hot maple syrup with a touch of chilli re-invents the Christmas dinner staple while the quality of the sausage meat and bacon finish the little morsel off nicely. My only qualm? Asda may have leaned a tad on the sweet side honey might have made for a milder substitute.

At £3.97 for 10 – it’s quite the bargain but only for those with a very sweet tooth.

Waitrose took the classic sage and onion stuffing ball and elevated it.

Rather than tucking in to the usual version you can enjoy the pork-based stuffing balls topped with caramelised red onion, smoked chestnuts, and bacon lardons.

The re-imagined addition to the Christmas roast was delicious and different and was nicer than the other options on offer.

The only downside is that many of the most delicious flavours were splrinkled on top rather than incorporated meaning that the flavours didn’t always run all the way through.

At £8 for 12 stuffing balls, it’s not a cheap option but certainly worth the price if you’re bored of the classic variation.

You might think vegetables from anywhere would be much of a muchness, but in fact Marks and Spencer’s white potatoes are a cut above the rest.

I par-boiled and then roasted them and they made the most delicious, fluffy and crunchy roasties I’ve had in a long time.

Easy to cut up and cook, they crisped up in the air fryer in an hour (such were the massive portion sizes I was dealing with) and were a perfect accompaniment to Tesco’s plump turkey.

Tesco’s beef Wellington is a delightful dish made of 21-day matured beef fillet, inside a beautifully crispy and golden pastry case.

The addition of the porcini mushrooms added a depth of flavour often lacking in beef Wellingtons.

The latticing of the pastry was pretty but the real boon was the ability the freeze the dish and cook from frozen (or at least I did) so I knew I could buy well in advance, safe in the knowledge that I could put on a showstopper – a delicious alternative to turkey.

At £35 for one, it’s not too bad, and tasty to boot but be advised it only serves four.

For a small Christmas with just myself and a partner it’s perfect but it wouldn’t feed the extended family however I wouldn’t let that stop me from tucking in to it over the festive period.

For quality and price you can’t go far wrong than this turkey from Tesco.

The supermarket’s Finest range has once again pulled a blinder with their free range bronze turkey.

For £11 per kg it might seem steep but for a succulent turkey slice or two to feed the whole family, it’s certainly worth it – and I’ve got turkey to last a lifetime in the form of leftover, lunches and turkey sandwiches.

It was easy to cook although it took a little longer than the expected time of an hour and a half but with some careful basting the skin crisped up nicely.

The flavour was delicious and I was able to make home-made stuffing using the turkey giblets which came in a bag inside.

Knowing it was free range too made it taste better I’m sure.

I had no idea 12 months maturing a Christmas pudding could make such a difference, but Marks and Spencer has proved it is in fact worth it.

The steamed pudding, which was easy to heat up, was Indulgent and rich.

The dessert itself was was packed full of fruits, brandy-soaked cherries, Braeburn apple chunks, nuts, and then a splash of brandy and cognac for extra oomph.

I served mine with some brandy cream and a glass of wine making it an altogether boozy affair.

it would be equally as delicious with a cup of tea and was so rich I found the pudding went further than expected.

Unsure which cheese to go for to serve up to your guests after they claim they can eat now more?

Then pop Marks and Spencer’s Cheesemonger Selection in your basket.

I was very taken with the selection which took my mind of having to go round and choose cheese myself, peering at labels and trying to figure out what might go with what.

The selection box includes generous blocks of Red Leicester, Cornish Extra Mature Cheddar as well as Blue Stilton and Pave d’Affinois and then finally a Gouda.

There was something for everyone and made me look and feel like I’d put more effort (and money) in to the cheese course than I had.