The best mince pies for Christmas 2016

We've taste tested this year's crop of mince pies, but who has come out on top?

With Christmas rapidly approaching it's time for our mince pie taste test.

This year, 13 willing volunteers blind tasted the big names to find the mince pie champion of Christmas 2016.

11th place: Morrisons (average score: 4/10)

One of our tasters rated Morrisons' mince pies a 7.5 out of 10 and wrote they were "zingy with a salty aftertaste" (we're not sure that's a good thing really). But the majority gave them a far lower score, meaning Morrisons came bottom this year.

Image: Waitrose

10th place: Waitrose (average score: 4.8/10)

One taster scored their Waitrose mince pie as an 8/10 stating the pastry was buttery and nicely spiced, but another taster gave a 2 as they weren't a fan of the orange flavour. The bolder flavour was noted by many of the tasters, who weren’t necessarily expecting such a strong taste in a mince pie. But if you like a bit of citrus these could be the pies for you.

9th place: Aldi (average score: 5.1/10)

'A little chewy' wrote one of our testers, rating Aldi's mince pies as a 6/10, while another taster scored them 5/10 stating they were too sweet. Not a a great result for Aldi this year.

Joint 7th place: Tesco (average score: 5.6/10)

'Very sweet' one taster thought, which can be seen as a positive or a negative depending on your thoughts on mince pies, but they still scored them as 6/10. While another gave 7/10, and said the pies were 'rich'. Overall, Tesco's mince pies came out as firmly middle of the road this year.

Image: M&S mince pies

Joint 7th place: M&S (average score: 5.6/10)

One taster thought the pastry was a little dry on M&S's mince pies, and that there was a slightly bitter aftertaste, marking them as 4/10. Similarly, another taster thought there was too much pastry, giving a score of just 2/10. But they did also pick up some 6s and 8s so they very much divided opinion. 

6th place: Mr Kipling (average score: 5.7/10)

'Can just taste pastry' wrote one taster, marking their mince pie 4/10, whereas another taster wrote 'a little heavy on the pastry' but marked their mince pie a 6/10. But there were also 7/10 marks for Mr Kipling. If you prefer more pastry to filling then they might be for you but a pretty average score overall.

5th place: Co-op (average score: 6/10)

There was a 7/10 score for the Co-op's mince pies with the taster commenting on their 'nice flavour'. By contrast, another taster scored them 4/10 and said they were 'odd'. So another mixed bag but a respectable fifth place overall.

Image: Sainsbury's mince pies

Joint 3rd place: Sainsbury’s (average score: 6.1/10)

One taster thought Sainsbury's mince pies were 'oversweet', marking them a 5/10, and another taster thought they were 'too rich', but marked them slightly higher at 6/10.

Joint 3rd place: Lidl (average score: 6.1/10)

These pies scored a few higher scores but were generally hovering around the 5-6 mark, with a few comments about the pastry being too dry.

2nd place: Asda (average score: 6.5/10)

As with the other mince pies on the list, Asda scored some 8s and 7s, but some lower scores too. One tester marked the pies as a 5/10 and commented on the 'orange flavour', whereas another gave them/ an 8/10 after being impressed by the taste.

Image: Iceland mince pies

1st place: Iceland (average score: 7.8/10)

And the festive champion of 2016 is Iceland! The pies proved to be popular within the loveFOOD office but, of course, this is only an average. As with the others, not everyone was totally convinced. One taster wrote 'filling is nice, but pastry is too crumbly and not buttery enough', marking them 6/10; similarly, another taster marked it 6/10 and said they were 'a bit oversweet'. But many tasters sung their praises, wtih one giving them 8/10 and saying 'the filling is very tasty; pastry extra smooth'.

So there you have it folks! Iceland is victorious. Merry Christmas.

Prefer to make your own? Try Mat Follas' recipe

Which mince pies do you buy at Christmas? Let us know your favourites in the Comments below.

Liked that? Try these:

Martha Collison's nut-crusted mince pies recipe