Mince pies 2023! It’s that time of year when we review mince pies, but this year we are going back to basics with the supermarket’s basic option, with the top Supermarkets in the UK mince pies can be big business and often get talked about and reviewed. There is always a lot of hype with special ones and bakery ones etc..but ultimately these basic ones are the big sellers.
This year I decided to go back to basics, I hadn’t really done the absolute basic for a little while and focused on the big supermarket brands, I discounted anything over £1.50 and to be honest with the exception of Morrisons the rest were all just over £1, and a throwback to pre lock down prices which made a nice change. This meant that Greggs, M&S and others were not on the list this year, which is a shame as they are often some of my favourites but with the higher prices they should be lol.
Table of Contents
Aldi
Aldi has one of the cheapest Mince Pies out there, a lowered top with the sides standing much higher sides. A Snowflake design sitting on top with a sprinkling of normal sugar as the pastry is pretty simple in taste and texture. Inside the filing fills the space which is arguably lowered, but the filling is simple and in reality plain, nothing wrong with it but not a lot happening aswell.
6\10
Tesco
Tesco Mince pie itself has slightly more of a dome feel to it, a slight crisp to the pastry and a small amount of sugar sits on top. The flavour of the filling that mostly filled the inside was subtle, a not huge flavour but did leave an aftertaste. This wasn’t unpleasant but also wasn’t leaving you craving more.
6/10
Iceland
Iceland mince pies can be found in Iceland and Food warehouses, the finish felt sloppy at the sides were higher than the middle but the middle felt not quite flush and inhere, essentially a sloppy finish. A little star with a small dashing of sugar in amongst this but the pasty was dry, much dryer than others, this wouldn’t be an issue if you had it with a drink or more of dessert with cream/custard, and if you like the crumbly pastry then this would be yours.
The filling was in there but that’s partly to the collapse above while the filling itself was quite a sweet aftertaste but weirdly not during the eating, it was slightly dense with a lack of moisture that didn’t help with the already dry pastry.
5/10
ASDA
Asda’s Pie has a star Design but a slightly different take on it compared to the others, a slight dash of sugar, the pastry was soft and moist and easy to eat. The filling was full and offered much more flavour than others while still keeping moist. But as a combination very nice to eat and surprisingly a fair amount of flavours going on.
7/10
Morrisons
Morrison’s Mince Pie has a snowflake sat apon the top with a fair amount of sugar, the pasty itself was buttery and arguably had the best taste, not too crumbly but enough to still be nice. The filling was full and very moist so much so it was almost smooth in texture but the taste was good. A good aftertaste aswell as easily the easiest of them all to eat.
7/10
Overall
Out of the big Supermarkets it was great to see a renewed focus on price and competition, I did wonder if the pies are smaller overall, they felt a little bit this year, however, all of them were fine. They were never going to get top marks and it was great to see both ASDA and Morrisons score strong for the budget, I could easily had them and not worry about other more expensive brands and versions.
There were very similar designs across them but actually overall this year’s outings was fine, I don’t know why Iceland wasn’t great,a few years ago I rated them tightly but something wasn’t right with mine. But IF I had to choose one it would be Morrisons, just ….ASDA is cheaper and that deserves the recognition over Morrisons counterpart, but as a taste, Morrisons was the best.
