Christmas Food 2015: Good Housekeeping Reveals 'Tried And Tested' Supermarket Guide

Best Christmas Supermarket Foods Revealed By Good Housekeeping

Good Housekeeping has released its annual 'tried and tested' guide of where to get the best ingredients for your Christmas dinner.

This year, the authority on supermarket foods can reveal that Aldi is the best British supermarket to go for champagne. Meanwhile your roast turkey should come from Tesco.

Pipping the likes of Fortnum & Masons and Waitrose to the post, Morrisons took the crown for the best smoked salmon.

The Good Housekeeping taste test team ate and drank their way through 185 different festive foods from more than 30 stockists.

They managed to pick out the best of the best across 13 categories, including: champagne, prosecco, smoked salmon, turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, Christmas pudding, brandy butter, Christmas cake, mince pies, stollen, mulled wine and stilton.

The retailer with the highest number of winners this year is Morrisons with four winning products out of 13 categories.

Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Waitrose also figured frequently in the top five, along with high street challenger Aldi.

Good Housekeeping's consumer director Caroline Bloor, said: "Our top scorers show that price is no indicator of tastiness. By blind testing a wide range of foods, Good Housekeeping can say with confidence which products taste best and pass that knowledge on to shoppers."

Here are the results of the 'Tried & Tested' Christmas food guide:

Best champagne

  • Winner: Aldi Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut by Philizot (£12.99 for 75cl)
  • Runner up: Faubert Brut Champagne, from Ocado (£19.99 for 75cl)
  • Best of the rest: Waitrose Blanc de Noirs Brut NV (£21.99 for 75cl)

Best smoked salmon

  • Winner(s): Morrisons M Signature Oak Smoked Salmon with Black Pepper (£5 for 120g) and Morrisons Christmas Tree Smoked Salmon (£3 for 100g)
  • Runner up: Aldi Specially Selected Rowse Honey & Mora Seaweed Smoked Salmon (£2.49 for 100g)
  • Best of the rest: Waitrose Peat & Heather Scottish Smoked Salmon (£6.49 for 140g)

Best prosecco

  • Winner: Waitrose San Leo Brut Prosecco (£10.49 for 75cl)
  • Runner up: Marks & Spencer Prosecco (£9.99 for 75cl)
  • Best of the rest: Aldi Valdobbiadene Prosecco Spumante DOCG (£7.49 for 75cl)

Best mince pies

  • Winner: Marks & Spencer Christmas Star Mince Pies (£2.50 for four)
  • Runner up:Greggs Mince Pies (45p each)
  • Best of the rest: Aldi Specially Selected Mince Pies (£2.99 for six)

Best Christmas pudding

  • Winner: Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference 18 Month Matured Laced with Cognac Christmas Pudding (£8 for 907g)
  • Runner up: Aldi Specially Selected Golden Topped Christmas Pudding (£9.99 for 907g)
  • Best of the rest: The Co-Operative Truly Irresistible Christmas Pudding (£3 for 454g)

Best Stilton cheese

  • Winner: Morrisons M Signature Mature Blue Stilton (£3 for 300g)
  • Runner up: Lidl Valley Spire Mature Blue Stilton (£1.45 for 220g)
  • Best of the rest: Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Tuxford and Tebbutt Extra Mature (£4 for 454g)

Best Christmas cake

  • Winner(s): Meg Rivers ‘All Over’ Iced Cake (£40 for 1.9kg) and Sainsbury’s Golden Bow Celebration Cake (£18 for 1.7kg)
  • Runner up: Aldi Specially Selected Exquisite Christmas Cake (£9.99 for 1.5kg)
  • Best of the rest: Marks & Spencer Hand Decorate Falling Star Christmas Cake (£20 for 1.46kg)

Best stollen

  • Winner: Bettys Christmas Stollen (£9.95 for 380g)
  • Runner up: Bettys Stollen Bites (£10.95 for 330g)
  • Best of the rest: Lidl Favorina Mini Butter Stollen (£1.99 for 250g)

Best brandy butter

  • Winner: Tesco Courvoisier Brandy Butter (£2.49 for 150g) and The Co-Operative Courvoisier Brandy Butter (£1.85 for 200g)
  • Runner up: Morrisons M Signature Indulgent Brandy Butter (£2.50 for 200g)
  • Best of the rest: Waitrose Christmas Brandy Butter (£1.99 for 200g)

Best turkey

  • Winner: Tesco Bronze Turkey (£20 for 3.6-5kg)
  • Runner up: Marks & Spencer Butter Basted Turkey (£11 per kg, 1.4-2kg)
  • Best of the rest: Morrisons Extra Large M Signature Bronze Turkey (£39 for 5.8kg)

Best stuffing

  • Winner: Tesco Finest Venison And Pork Mulled Wine Stuffing Portions Wrapped In Bacon (£3 for 300g)
  • Runner up: Aldi Specially Selected Cranberry And Apple Stuffing Portions (£2.29 for 300g)
  • Best of the rest: The Co-Operative Truly Irresistible Sage and Shallot Stuffing Slab with Jewelled Fruit and Chestnuts (£5 for 610g)

Best mulled wine

  • Winner: Aldi Gluhwein (£4.99 for 1 litre)
  • Runner up: Marks & Spencer Red Mulled Wine (£6 for 75cl)
  • Best of the rest: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Mulled Wine (£6 for 75cl)

Best cranberry sauce

  • Winner: Morrisons M Fresh Cranberry Sauce (£1.48 for 300g)
  • Runner up: Tesco Cranberry Sauce (75p for 200g)
  • Best of the rest: Rosebud Preserves Cranberry and Orange Relish with Port (£3.30 for 227g)

Read the full Good Housekeeping Christmas Foods Tried & Tested results in the December issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale 30 October.

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