Not all mince pies are created equal—and our recent taste test proved it once and for all. While Mr Kipling has long been considered the king of cakes, this festive battle of supermarket mince pies crowned a different champion.
I bought standard mince pie boxes from seven major supermarkets: Asda, Tesco, M&S, Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, and Morrisons. With the help of my kids, we tested each one for price, filling, pastry quality, and overall flavour.
Mr Kipling mince pies, at £2.14 for six (36p each) from Asda, featured a snowflake design on top and a filling made with 45% mincemeat, including Bramley apple puree, sultanas, raisins, apricot, candied peel, treacle, and spices. The pastry was crumbly and delicious, with a juicy, spiced filling, but the pies weren’t filled to the brim and skewed a little too sweet for my liking. Rated 4/5 stars.
Tesco Merry Mince Pies, costing only £1.25 for six (21p each), featured a festive pastry star. With 49% mincemeat, apple puree, sultanas, currants, raisins, orange and lemon peel, and mixed spices, these pies had a homemade feel and were filled right to the top. However, the strong orange peel flavour was a bit overpowering for me. Rated 3/5 stars.
Morrisons mince pies also cost £1.25 per box (21p each). Topped with a snowflake, they had generous filling with a pleasantly sharp fruitiness balancing the sugar dusting. The very crumbly pastry earned them 4/5 stars.
Sainsbury’s mince pies, with a Christmas tree design, were priced similarly at £1.25 per box. The pastry was very crumbly but slightly cloying, and the filling was a bit scant with noticeable gaps between pastry and fruit. Rated 2/5 stars.
Lidl mince pies cost just £1.25 per six (21p each) and topped with two holly leaves, looked homemade. With 49% mincemeat packed with Bramley apple puree, raisins, sultanas, apricot filling, currants, and spices, they were filled all the way to the top. The filling was perfectly balanced with lovely spices and juicy fruit, while the pastry was delightful without being too sweet or heavy. Rated a perfect 5/5 stars.
Aldi’s mince pies, also £1.25 for six, featured snowflakes and a sugar dusting like Mr Kipling’s. Made with 50% mincemeat, they had a good quantity of filling though more puree than fruit, and the flavour was solid but not exceptional. Rated 3/5 stars.
M&S mince pies were the most expensive at £3 per box (50p each). Adorned with holly leaves and a star window, they looked festive and smelled wonderful. However, the rich, buttery pastry quickly became sickly and dominated the fruit filling, which contained too much candied peel. They were the least favourite of the group. Rated 1/5 stars.
Asda’s regular mince pies were sold out, so I tried their iced version at £1.73 per box (33p each). These pies were packed with fruit up to the icing, but the overly sweet icing and plain pastry felt cloying and unbalanced. Rated 2/5 stars.
The clear standout winner was Lidl. Offering superb flavour, excellent pastry, and deep filling, these pies beat both Mr Kipling and the pricier M&S, and at just 21p per pie, they’re a fantastic bargain. Lidl’s mince pies come in nearly a pound cheaper per box than Mr Kipling and £1.75 cheaper than M&S. A winning combination of quality and value this Christmas.