Christmas is looking a bit weird isn’t it? But while your annual family-ruining Monopoly game might have to happen over Zoom this year, there’s one thing that not even Covid can stop – the release of the Christmas sandwiches.
So, the Raven team has come together to give you the definitive festive sandwich ranking, because life’s too short to eat bad sandwiches.
Find out which ones came out on top and which ones are completely lacking in the cranberry department.
A turkey trimmings sandwich doing its best to look more exciting than the chicken version you can buy whenever you want.
Turkey & Trimmings Sandwich – Tesco
5/10
This was a classic Christmas sandwich – turkey, sausage, stuffing, cranberry sauce. It was mostly what you’d expect from a Christmas sandwich, but lacked that Christmassy feeling I look for in my festive foods. The cranberry sauce (arguably the best part of any Christmas sandwich) was overshadowed by the bizarre addition of mayonnaise, which I will be taking up with Santa himself. Mayonnaise has no place in Christmas food. Overall, it was an okay sandwich, but if you gave me their normal chicken sandwich, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference – Matilda
The Gregg’s Festive Bake in a setting about as exciting as it’s taste.
Greggs Festive Bake – Greggs
6/10
Forget chestnuts roasting on an open fire, I hope Greggs get coal for Christmas so they can heat up their festive bakes. Despite being tepid, the festive bake delivers a hearty portion of chicken, stuffing and bacon in pastry that’s so flakey you’ll stop inviting it to parties. The taste is creamy and filling, though in the ‘sage and cranberry sauce’, sage is doing all the heavy lifting. The festive bake is kind of like having your kid play a shepherd in the Nativity. Sure, you’ll still turn up, but you’ll wish it was a bit more exciting. – Harry
When was the last time you were this tucked in and cosy? Probably never.
Pigs in Blankets Panini – Costa
10/10
Based on the bite I had, it combines the savoury and sweet tastes of a roasted pig topped with a drizzle of cranberry sauce. There’s gooey cheese in there too. And the way the links of sausage are placed makes it look really adorable, like the sausages are actually tucked into the bread like it’s a blanket. I love pork too and always struggle to decide whether I want bacon or sausage for breakfast because the answer is always “both”, so I’m happy both are in here. To top off the cuteness, Costa tells you “Merry Christmas” by baking the words onto the panini bread. – Victoria
Finding the cranberry chutney in this Starbucks sandwich is like a free game of where’s Wally.
Festive Feast Panini – Starbucks
6/10
It was a bit dry, but the cranberry sauce was nice – could have just used more of it! The bread was lovely as well. Would I buy it again? No, I would probably go for a cheese toastie next time, but it got me in the festive spirit so that’s the main thing! – Kat
‘Tis the Season’ Turkey Sandwich – Starbucks
8/10
A pretty satisfying munch, and a highly recommended hangover cure. The bread was soft and satisfying and the sandwich was filled all the way, something which can be tragically rare. Good juicy pulled turkey, with some crunchy bacon to add some texture and flavour contrast. You know what was missing though? A decent amount of cranberry sauce. What are you afraid of Starbucks? That your sandwich will be too delicious? – Lauren
The sandwich that assured us that everything was going to brie alright.
ASDA Brie and Cranberry Sandwich – Asda
9/10
When you buy the last sandwich on the shelf and find out it has a yellow discount sticker that says ‘whoops’ in all caps on the front, you know the bar is set high. ASDA’s Brie and Cranberry was easily the most Christmassy meal I’ve eaten this mid-November. Not only was the French brie smooth and actually covering all of the bread, but unlike Greggs, ASDA clearly knew what a cranberry was and that it didn’t just mean ‘add more chicken.’ Mark deducted because the ‘fat’ and ‘saturates’ warnings were the same colours as fire. – Harry
Only from this jaunty angle could we make you believe this sandwich wasn’t 90 per cent mayo.
Pret’s Christmas Lunch – Pret
9/10
Pret, listen. No seriously, listen. I just want to talk. You were so close to Christmassy perfection. The sandwich was generously filled, and that filling was juicy and delicious. It had a good crunch from the crispy onions. It had a little bit of spinach to make you feel better about eating a big delicious pile of beige.
But ultimately it all comes down to the cranberry. Your port and orange cranberry sauce was so good. But alongside it was so much mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is not cranberry sauce. I would go so far to say that mayonnaise is unnecessary in a Christmas sandwich. Why do you need that much mayonnaise? Replace the mayo with more of that good sweet red stuff and you’ll be onto a winner. – Lauren