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We asked more than 70 consumers to taste and rate 10 traditional-style premium Christmas puddings from supermarkets including Aldi, Lidl, Tesco and Waitrose.
Tasters rated the puddings based on their appearance, aroma, taste and texture. They also gave their verdict on the level of alcohol, spices, fruit and nuts in each pud.
The best Christmas puddings were moist, contained a generous amount of nuts and fruit and were full of festive flavour - without being overpowering. Our tasters found a few that were a bit too boozy and a little dry.
All of the Christmas puddings in our test are suitable for vegetarians, except for Iceland and Sainsbury’s.
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Only logged-in Which? members can view our full taste test results and tasting notes for each supermarket Christmas pudding.
If you’re not yet a member, you’ll see an alphabetically ordered list of the Christmas puddings on test. To get instant access to these and thousands of other reviews join Which? today
£7.49 for 800g (£0.94 per 100g)
Can Aldi’s budget-friendly Christmas pudding compete in taste with the more expensive rivals?
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£8 for 800g (£1 per 100g)
Did the Infusion of French cognac and Spanish sherry make this Asda pudding ‘Extra Special’?
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£5 for 400g (£1.25 per 100g)
Can this Co-op Christmas pudding deliver an ‘Irresistible’ taste for just 1.25p per 100g?
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£4.50 for 400g (£1.13 per 100g)
What did our panel think about the taste of Iceland’s pudding? Was it a luxurious festive dessert?
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£4.49 for 400g (£1.12 per 100g)
Compared to puds that are matured for 18 months, what did our experts think of this 12-month offering from Lidl?
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£13 for 800g (£1.63 per 100g)
As the priciest pudding per 100g, we were expecting a lot from this M&S offering. Is it worth splashing out on?
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£5 for 400g (£1.25 per 100g)
Morrisons’ Christmas pudding is part of its ‘The Best’ range. So has it earned our Best Buy recommendation?
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£10.50 for 800g (£1.31 per 100g)
Sainsbury’s pudding was the best in our taste test in 2022. Has it maintained its number one spot?
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£9 for 800g (£1.12 per 100g)
In contrast to Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s Finest Christmas pudding ended up at the bottom of our rankings in 2022. How well did it do a year on?
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£12.50 for 800g (£1.56 per 100g)
Being the second most expensive of the puddings we tested, we hoped this would be ‘No.1’ in flavour. What did our tasters think?
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These products were tested as part of our Christmas 2023 taste tests and are no longer available.
In need of mince pies, too? Find out the supermarkets that came top in our mince pie taste test
Christmas puddings always look delectable on the packaging, but transferring a neat dome of dessert from the plastic casing onto your serving plate isn’t always easy.
If you’ve ever been left scraping half of your pudding from inside a tub, follow these simple steps:
We asked wine expert Charles Metcalfe for his recommendations on wines to serve with Christmas pudding. Here’s what he said: ‘The wine has to be sweet, so an asti or another moscato spumante are brilliant, refreshing and perfect in flavour. For a heavyweight, look out for an Australian liqueur muscat.’
You can find out which other drinks scored highly in our taste tests in our best champagne and best red wine guides.
Opting for a cocktail (or mocktail) instead can add some theatre to your Christmas lunch. Here are some options that pair perfectly with Christmas puddings:
Homemade Christmas pudding-infused vodka is a great way of using leftovers to give drinks a festive twist. If you’re not a vodka fan, you can also try liqueurs such as Southern Comfort. Liam Trotman and Ryan Simpson, chef proprietors of Orwells, told us how they make it:
The products on test were assessed by a large panel of consumers who like Christmas pudding in September 2023.
The make-up of the panel broadly represents the demographic profile of adults in the UK, and each Christmas pudding was assessed by 70 people.
Panellists rated the taste, texture, aroma and appearance of each product, and told us what they liked and disliked about each one.
They also gave their verdict on how well-balanced the alcohol flavour, spices and amount of fruit and nuts were.
The taste test was conducted blind, so people didn’t know which brand they were trying. The order they sampled the Christmas puddings was fully rotated to avoid any bias.
Each panellist had a private booth, so they couldn’t discuss what they were tasting or be influenced by others.
The overall score is based on:
There is a wider choice than ever at the supermarket if you're after a 'free-from' pud. Here’s a round-up of key options:
Supermarket Christmas food 2023: we’ve rounded up the festive specials from all the big supermarkets to help you plan your shop