We’re big fans of mince pies at TopCashback. After all, who doesn’t love a good mince pie?
But if you know anything about us, you’ll also know that we’re passionate about saving people money. This is why we’re such strong believers that doing your festive food shop on a budget doesn’t have to mean missing out on all the tasty stuff.
This festive season, we set ourselves the mission of crowning the best supermarket mince pie, weighing up taste and value for money. We enlisted a team of 15 TopCashback elves to test the standard, traditional mince pie option from 10 major supermarkets. How would the results compare to our 2024 rankings?
Here’s a quick rundown if you can’t wait to find out who came out on top. For the full details, including appearance, flavour and consistency scores, you’ll want to keep reading.
Position | Supermarket |
|---|---|
#1 | |
#2 | |
#3 | |
#4 | |
#5 | |
#6 | |
#7 | |
#8 | |
#9 | |
#10 |
1st place: Sainsbury's
2nd place: Iceland
3rd place: Lidl
4th: Aldi
5th: Tesco
6th: Morrisons
7th: Asda
8th: M&S
9th: Co-op
10th: Waitrose
How we ranked the supermarket mince pies
Our mince pie taste-testing super group was made up of 15 TopCashback colleagues from a range of departments.
To keep things fair, we taste-tested 10 standard supermarket Christmas mince pies.
We skipped luxury mince pies from the likes of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference, Waitrose No.1, Lidl Deluxe and Aldi Specially Selected (with one exception, but more on that later). We also avoided mini mince pies, iced mince pies, and other curveballs like brandy butter and frangipane mince pies.
To ensure our results couldn’t be biased in any way, our eager team of testers tasted each mince pie without knowing which supermarket it came from.
We gave each tester a quarter-sized bite of each Christmas pie (after all, 10 mince pies might be a bit much to manage on a Wednesday morning in October).
They tested them one at a time, before giving each an independent rating. Each mince pie was judged against four different criteria:
Appearance (/10):
Our testers were able to have a good look at a full mince pie from each supermarket. The pies were kept in their silver foil and on a clear plate so they could be seen from every angle. We didn’t show our tasters any mince pie packaging.
Flavour (/10):
The flavour of the mince pie is undoubtedly important. We asked our testers to consider things like sweetness and spice levels, as well as generally whether they liked the taste of each mince pie or not.
Consistency (/10):
We asked our testers to rate the texture of each mince pie. Some mince pies are more crumbly than others, whereas others might have thicker pastry or a smaller amount of filling.
Overall (/10):
Finally, our tasters gave each mince pie an overall score out of 10, considering all of the different aspects that made up their tasting experience.
After our mince pie taste test was complete, we took the Overall scores for each mince pie and worked out an average, giving us a Taste Test score out of 10.
We used the average Appearance, Flavour and Consistency scores to help us build a picture of which aspects our tasters did and didn’t enjoy.
But what about value for money?
We assigned each mince pie a value for money score (/5). This allows some weighting to the cost of each mince pie, without unfairly disadvantaging pricier pies that might have tasted particularly delicious.
Our final mince pie taste test scores are out of 15. This is made up of the 1–10 Overall ranking from our taste testers and a 1–5 ranking for the price.
£1.25 and under: 5 points
£1.26–£1.30: 4 points
£1.31–£2.00: 3 points
£2.01–£2.99: 2 points
Above £2.99: 1 point
2025's best mince pies
But enough of the boring stuff – which mince pie was best? Well, our results might surprise you… We’ve started from worst to best to build up the festive suspense, but we won’t blame you if you want to skip ahead to the end and be a Scrooge about it.
#10: Waitrose Mince Pies
Final score: 5.7/15
Price per pack: £2.25 £2
Vegan
Average taste test score: 3.7/10
Average score for appearance: 3.9/10
Average score for flavour: 3.5/10
Average score for consistency: 4.3/10
Price per mince pie: ~38p
Value score: 2/5
Not only did our testers rank these ninth out of 10 last year, but Waitrose have since increased the price per box by a whopping 30p. As one of the most expensive supermarket mince pies on the market in 2025, Waitrose needed to pull out all the stops to score well in this test.
Unfortunately, these vegan mince pies from Waitrose came last place for appearance and taste, and second-to-last for consistency.
With no pattern on the top, what might have been designed to be elegant only came across as ‘boring’, ‘basic’ and ‘non-descript’ to our tasters. Matt labelled this pie as a ‘Plain Jane,’ (and we can’t tell you what Shelly called it…). Chris hit the nail on the head when he said it simply ‘would not impress guests.’
We’d hoped the flavour might redeem it, but our tasters found it ‘way too chewy’, with ‘no depth of flavour’ and a ‘strange aftertaste’. One taster went as far as to say it tasted like cardboard. Fiona recommended our readers avoid ‘wasting the calories’ on this disappointing mince pie.
Still, the only way is up, right?
#9: Co-op Merry Mince Pies
Final score: 7.3/15
Price per pack: £1.60
Vegan
Average taste test score: 4.3/10
Average score for appearance: 5.7/10
Average score for flavour: 4.3/10
Average score for consistency: 4.3/10
Price per mince pie: 25p
Value score: 3/5
We were surprised that Co-op placed so low in the rankings this year. Coming fourth in 2024, these vegan mince pies were a favourite for a couple of last year’s testers. This year, however, they scored way down in seventh for appearance, taste and consistency. To add insult to injury, they now cost 15p more per box.
Appearance-wise, Co-op’s Merry Mince Pies are simple, yet effective. Shelly noted the ‘good colour,’ and thought the pie looked like it was ‘full of filling’. Elizabeth thought the simple star design was cute, although three tasters noted its uneven sugar coating.
For Chloe, it felt like ‘the pie was made with cheaper ingredients,’ and one of our two Hannahs said the ‘sticky mince’ was ‘not very tasty at all.’
The pastry hindered these Co-op mince pies quite drastically. Sunita summed it up like this: ‘The pastry turns into cement, so I guess my partner might like these to keep me quiet when I’m asking what my presents are.’
It wasn’t all bad, though. Steve told us this mince pie had a ‘nice, rich flavour,’ and ‘great consistency.’ However, even he had to concede that it was ‘let down by the lack of buttery flavour in the pastry.’
#8: M&S Classic Mince Pies
Final score: 7.5/15
Price per pack: £3 £2.70
Average taste test score: 6.5/10
Average score for appearance: 6.6/10
Average score for flavour: 6.7/10
Average score for consistency: 6.5/10
Price per mince pie: 50p
Value score: 1/5
A firm favourite last year, the Classic All Butter Mince Pies from M&S are another pie to suffer a fall from grace.
The mince pies themselves weren’t rated poorly in any area – they came second for flavour and third for appearance and consistency. But at £3 per pack (25p up from last year), you’re paying a whopping 50p per mince pie.
The cut-out star design on the top is quite distinctive, and a couple of tasters described it as ‘neat’. However, some felt cheated by the lack of sugar on top.
When it came to the tasting, opinions were mixed. Three tasters described the shortcrust pastry as ‘buttery’, although another three thought it was ‘dry’. Peter thought the M&S mince pie was ‘very nice’ and Chloe praised the ‘good flavour from the mincemeat’. Steve thought it had a ‘fabulous flavour’ that ‘wasn’t too overpowering, with just enough spice.’
While M&S have produced a ‘sturdy mince pie,’ according to Elizabeth, Gemma thought the consistency was ‘a bit gritty’ and Sunita described it as ‘claggy’.
All in, not a bad mince pie. But for that price? You can certainly do better.
#7: Asda Joyous Mince Pies
Final score: 8.4/15
Price per pack: £1.25
Average taste test score: 3.4/10
Average score for appearance: 6.7/10
Average score for flavour: 3.7/10
Average score for consistency: 3.3/10
Price per mince pie: ~21p
Value score: 5/5
Asda mince pies are at number seven, although it’s their affordable price and pretty appearance that got them here (certainly not their taste…).
The twinkling star design ignited a childlike glee in many of our taste testers. But sadly, as Steve puts it, ‘even its looks couldn’t save it!’.
Our taste testers did not like this mince pie. Nobody complimented the pastry, which was described as ‘claggy’, ‘chewy’, ‘bland’, ‘really dry’ and ‘not good.’ Surely the filling can make up for it? Alas…
Not only was there not enough filling, but the mincemeat itself had ‘very little flavour’. Clare described the filling as ‘a paste, with no fruit or taste,’ and Chloe labelled the whole affair a ‘clag fest’.
You might find it unsurprising, then, that these mince pies were voted last in our taste test. They also came last for consistency. Perhaps Peter put it best of all… ‘Oh dear.’
#6: Morrisons Rich &
Fruity Mince Pies
Final score: 8.6/15
Price per pack: £1.50 £1.25
Average taste test score: 5.6/10
Average score for appearance: 7/10
Average score for flavour: 5.7/10
Average score for consistency: 5.9/10
Price per mince pie: 25p
Value score: 3/5
Our top scorer for looks this year, these Morrisons mince pies were ‘very pretty’ according to Gemma and had a ‘fabulous colour’ in Shell’s opinion. Steve praised the ‘lovely festive appearance’ of the snowflake top, although a few tasters did wonder if the mince pie pastry was a little overdone.
While Morrisons delivered on aesthetics, they didn’t hit the mark when it came to taste. Peter described the flavour as a ‘bit of a let down’, with others finding it too bland. Nobody had anything positive to say about the pastry, being ‘a little stale’, ‘dry’ and ‘disappointing, like uncooked shortbread’.
However, Chris liked the ‘good spice flavour’ of the filling, and Chloe thought the mincemeat was ‘zesty, with noticeable raisins.’ Other tasters liked the filling as well, but wanted the flavour to be a bit stronger.
Consistency scored relatively well, with a few testers noting a good ratio of pastry to filling. However, Fiona thought the patchy sugar dusting on the top interfered with her enjoyment of the mince pie.
#5: Tesco Merry Mince Pies
Final score: 9.9/15
Price per pack: £1.50 £1.25
Average taste test score: 6.9/10
Average score for appearance: 6.3/10
Average score for flavour: 6.9/10
Average score for consistency: 6.7/10
Price per mince pie: 25p
Value score: 3/5
Tesco’s mince pies told a very sorry tale last Christmas, coming in last place out of all the supermarket mince pies we tried. We’re very pleased to announce that history hasn’t repeated itself for 2025.
Matt described this pie as ‘close to perfect’, which is a far cry from the ‘weird aftertaste’ and ‘hard consistency’ reported last year.
So, why only fifth place? It’s not the flavour, appearance or consistency of this mince pie that’s the culprit here… it’s the price. At £1.50 per pack, that’s 25p per mince pie, meaning these aren’t the cheapest supermarket option for Christmas 2025 by quite a margin.
In fact, if Tesco’s mince pies were £1.25 per pack instead of £1.50, they’d have come in joint first place. On taste test scores alone, they share the top spot with Sainsbury’s. They’re also joint first with Sainsbury’s on flavour.
Elizabeth enjoyed the generous fruit filling, praising it for having the ‘best mince filling flavour,’ and Shell liked that it had a punchier taste than the other mince pies.
The pastry and design were more divisive. Chloe loved the ‘buttery, golden pastry,’ but Hazel thought it didn’t have much flavour. Many tasters liked the unusual double star design, although it was also described as ‘bog standard’ and ‘wonky’ by others.
Honourable mention: Tesco Finest Rich and Decadent All Butter Pastry Mince Pie
An honourable mention goes to Tesco Finest mince pies, the luxury offering from last year’s worst-scoring supermarket (although perhaps not Finer than Tesco's standard mince pies this year...).
We haven’t included them in our official line-up, but if we did, they’d come eighth out of 11 mince pies overall.
Despite our taste testers ranking them second, their premium price (£3 a box at full price) holds them back.
Our tasters liked the ‘elaborate double snowflake design,’ and flavour, which was described as ‘rich,’ ‘zesty,’ and ‘interesting’. The texture let it down slightly, though, with three tasters saying it was too chewy.
Despite the price, our testers didn’t single out the Tesco Finest All Butter Pastry Mince Pies as being premium. In fact, they didn’t rate them as highly as Tesco’s standard mince pie offering.
If you’re shopping at Tesco, we recommend you go for the standard mince pies instead, as they’re half the price and were rated higher by our group.
#4: Aldi Deep Filled Mince Pies
Final score: 10.2/15
Price per pack: £1.29
Average taste test score: 6.2/10
Average score for appearance: 6.7/10
Average score for flavour: 6.3/10
Average score for consistency: 6.3/10
Price per mince pie: ~22p
Value score: 4/5
Despite being last year’s winner, Aldi mince pies came fourth in our taste test this year. However, that’s certainly not to say they’re a bad choice for your Christmas get-togethers.
At £1.29 per pack (4p up from last year), this unfortunately put Aldi’s Deep Filled Mince Pies into a new price bracket. Ultimately, this is what prevented them from placing second in this year’s test.
There were absolutely no complaints about the shortcrust pastry on this pie. While thin, it held the filling well and was described as ‘nice and buttery’. When it came to consistency, though, it was described by some as ‘too gooey’ and ‘a little bit sticky’.
Some tasters said the filling tasted quite mild, and others, too strong. Sunita said that the fruit pieces were on the bigger side, but ‘the rest of it is so good, I don’t care!’. Matt appreciated the ‘good balance of sauce and mixture,’ although Gemma thought it ‘tasted too strongly of brandy,’ and Steve and Elizabeth noted an overpowering cinnamon flavour.
Coming in at joint second for appearance, this is a nice-looking mince pie. One of our Hannahs thought the pie looked very ‘pleasant’, and Sunita loved the ‘very pretty snowflake with sugar dusting’.
#3: Lidl Favorina Mince Pies
Final score: 10.5/15
Price per pack: £1.25
Vegan
Average taste test score: 5.5/10
Average score for appearance: 6.5/10
Average score for flavour: 5.5/10
Average score for consistency: 5.9/10
Price per mince pie: ~21p
Value score: 5/5
Coming in at third place, we have our top-scoring vegan mince pie: Lidl Favorina mince pies.
With its cute holly motif, these Lidl mince pies stood out as being a bit different. One of the Hannahs liked that the top was ‘nice and uniform’, Steve loved the ‘great detailing’, and Fiona noted the ‘nice colour’ of the pastry.
In fact, the pastry was a winner for some of our tasters, being described as ‘lovely’, ‘crunchy’, and ‘crumbly’. Elizabeth and Matt both independently said it was the best mince pie for pastry. On the other side of the scale, some tasters found the pastry ‘really dry,’ and ‘a bit bland, with no buttery flavour’.
When it came to the filling, Hazel described it as ‘nice and moist, with good flavour,’ but others complained there wasn’t enough of it, and that some of the mincemeat was a bit gritty.
Coming in at £1.25 for a pack of six, Lidl mince pies are a tasty and affordable option. They’re also vegan, which makes their third-place ranking even more impressive. But while some tasters loved this Christmas pie, the flavour wasn’t for everyone.
#2: Iceland Mince Pies
Final score: 11.1/15
Price per pack: £1.25
Average taste test score: 6.1/10
Average score for appearance: 6.7/10
Average score for flavour: 6/10
Average score for consistency: 5.8/10
Price per mince pie: ~21p
Value score: 5/5
2025’s second-best supermarket mince pie is Iceland. Here we have another redemption story, as Iceland came way down in eighth place last year. These affordable mince pies will also cost you 20p less than they did in 2024.
While Steve described its simple star design as ‘nothing special’ and Elizabeth thought it looked ‘cheap’, this pie came joint second for appearance. Shell liked the sugar topping, which gave the pie a ‘nice crunch’, and Chloe reasoned that ‘simplicity is sometimes key’, giving this pie a 10/10 for looks.
The pastry divided the room, with some tastes complaining it was too dry and others thinking the texture was just right. The flavour of the filling was a hit for most tasters, though, with a sweet spice and fruitiness that wasn’t overbearing.
Iceland’s mince pie wasn’t the sturdiest as it had a pretty wet filling, but Chris thought the ‘biscuity pastry’ helped everything hold together nicely.
These Christmas pies are a well-priced all-rounder, scoring relatively highly for flavour and consistency, and very highly for appearance. A great choice if you’re on a budget, although our number one mince pie also comes in at £1.25 a box…
#1: Sainsbury’s Mince Pies
Final score: 11.9/15
Price per pack: £1.25
Average taste test score: 6.9/10
Average score for appearance: 5.9/10
Average score for flavour: 6.9/10
Average score for consistency: 7/10
Price per mince pie: ~21p
Value score: 5/5
And we’ve finally made it to our winner! Sainsbury’s came out on top for our tasters, also coming first for consistency and sharing first place with Tesco for taste.
Chloe declared the mincemeat to be the ‘zestiest yet,’ with a great flavour that ‘punches through the pastry,’ and raisins that hold up nicely. Sunita agreed, saying the whole pie ‘held together well, even when cut into chunks’.
If we had to pick faults, not everyone loved the Christmas tree design. Matt thought it was a bit plain, with ‘some areas looking overbaked’, and Chris described it as ‘uninspiring’.
But with its buttery pastry, rich mincemeat and ‘amazing’ balance of flavours, we weren’t all that surprised that this ‘marvellous mince pie’ came in first place.
What did surprise us, however, was the price. At just £1.25 per pack (an impressive 45p less than this supermarket’s 2024 price), Sainsbury’s mince pies fit into the best value price bracket. This is likely what pushed them up from last year’s third place to be crowned this year’s winner.
Historical supermarket mince pie rankings
We’ve talked a bit about how some of this year’s classic mince pies have risen in the ranks (Tesco and Iceland), while others have sunk to surprising depths (Marks and Spencer and Co-op). Here’s a closer look at how this year’s rankings compare to Christmas 2024.
Aldi 
3 places
2024 ranking: 1st
2025 ranking: 4th
M&S 6 places
2024 ranking: 2nd
2025 ranking: 8th
Sainsbury's 
2 places
2024 ranking: 3rd
2025 ranking: 1st
Co-op 5 places
2024 ranking: 4th
2025 ranking: 9th
Asda 2 places
2024 ranking: 5th
2025 ranking: 7th
Lidl 3 places
2024 ranking: 6th
2025 ranking: 3rd
Morrisons 1 place
2024 ranking: 7th
2025 ranking: 6th
Iceland 6 places
2024 ranking: 8th
2025 ranking: 2nd
Waitrose 1 place
2024 ranking: 9th
2025 ranking: 10th
Tesco 5 places
2024 ranking: 10th
2025 ranking: 5th
Supermarket | 2024 Ranking | 2025 Ranking | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
Aldi | 1 | 4 | 3 |
M&S | 2 | 8 | 6 |
Sainsbury's | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Co-op | 4 | 9 | 5 |
Asda | 5 | 7 | 2 |
Lidl | 6 | 3 | 3 |
Morrisons | 7 | 6 | 1 |
Iceland | 8 | 2 | 6 |
Waitrose | 9 | 10 | 1 |
Tesco | 10 | 5 | 5 |
Our final verdict on the best mince pies of 2025
Whether you have yours with a cup of tea or a mug of mulled wine, stocking up on mince pies for Christmas is an essential part of the festive season.
While you might be thinking all mince pies surely taste pretty much the same, our team of testers would have to disagree. And with less disparity between prices this time around, it feels as though the differences in appearance, flavour and consistency have become a lot clearer.
Our obvious winner is Sainsbury’s. While these mince pies are usually on the pricier side (they cost £1.70 per box in 2024), this year they’ve reduced their price to £1.25. Sainsbury’s came out on top for taste and consistency, as well as being voted as best overall, and they won’t cost you any more than a box of mince pies from Lidl.
Before we leave you to your festive baked goods, we have to give a special mention to Tesco, rising from the ashes to end up in a respectable fifth place. Our Tesco Finest taste test has also shown that it doesn’t always pay to go premium.
A last-minute trick to save on your mince pies this Christmas
Did you know you can get an even cheaper price on your mince pies (and the rest of your Christmas shop) when you shop with TopCashback?
Here at TopCashback, our passion is saving our members money. This is more important than ever during the festive season.
We’ll give you a portion of your spend back when you go through our site to shop with most of the supermarkets mentioned in this guide. You can even earn cashback when you buy supermarket gift cards through TopGiftCards.
Get £15 cashback
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Do you agree with our ranking of the supermarket mince pies? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Personally I like Morrisons mince pies, but I eat way too many
Never realised how different the various brands are and I will never look at a mince pie in the same way. Thank you Money Guides for opening my eyes 🙂
I love mince pies!!!
Please can you review iced mince pies – they're the best!
It’s very much a matter of taste but I personally found Lidl the best this year. I agree with you about M&S pies, and they’re double the price!