We tested 25 Christmas sandwiches: these are the ones worth trying now

Best Christmas sandwiches at a glance

• Best large Christmas sandwich: M&S Christmas club sandwich, £4.25
• Best classic Christmas sandwich: Pret a Manger Christmas lunch baguette, £4.75
• Best luxury Christmas sandwich: Ole & Steen Turkey Roastie toastie, £8.95
• Best for bread: PAUL Christmas sandwiches, £4.65-£5.15
• Best for a subtle nod to Christmas: GAIL's turkey and cheese sandwich, £7
• Best vegan Christmas sandwich: Ole & Steen Merry Squashmas toastie, £8.45
• Best sausage sandwich: Waitrose Pigs Under Blankets sandwich, £3.50
• Best Christmas wrap: LEON 'Bauble and Squeak' Christmas wrap, £5.99
• Best budget turkey sandwich: Boots Christmas triple, £3.35
• Best for coronation chicken fans: Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Christmas Dinner Feast, £4.50
• Best budget Christmas toastie: Costa turkey and trimmings toastie, £4.50

Best Christmas sandwiches to eat in 2022

M&S Christmas club sandwich, £4.25

• Available from Marks & Spencer, £4.25

Best large Christmas sandwich

The M&S Christmas club sandwich is classic excessive festive indulgence. A traditional Christmas sandwich has been supersized with 12 layers – if you’ve got a long train journey, this will keep you going. This has it all: turkey, ham hock (essentially bacon here), stuffing, cabbage and cranberry sauce, divided amongst 4 sandwiches. We liked the golden toasted bread (a true club sandwich) for that added flavour, although sadly didn’t pick out the promised gravy mayo. Pickled red cabbage adds welcome colour, crunch and tang, and 5% of proceeds go to Shelter.

Available from:
Marks & Spencer, £4.25

Pret a Manger Christmas lunch baguette

• Available from Pret a Manger, £4.75

Best classic Christmas sandwich

From a classic turkey granary to Boxing Day toastie, this year's Pret range has an impressive 8 Christmas sandwiches (plus two festive macaroni cheeses) to provide something for everyone. The old favourites you’ll recognise are all returning – our favourite is always the Christmas Lunch baguette in pleasingly soft bread, complete with Pret’s signature crispy onions. It has a generous filling of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce (with the decadent addition of Port) and peppery rocket, which gives freshness and more flavour than the spinach we've seen in other Christmas sandwiches. For veggies and vegans, there are also several new additions this year to look out for: a beet Wellington baguette pairs maple roasted beetroots with truffle mushrooms and Christmas pesto, whilst the Christmas brunch rye roll looks just like scrambled eggs and salmon at first glance, but is actually entirely vegan with innovative tofu eggless-mayo and smoked carrot ribbons. And if you’re not feeling a sandwich, we had to give a sneaky mention to the hog roast macaroni cheese with pulled ham and caramelised onion chutney. Pret is where to head pre-office Christmas party, or perhaps to revive you the day after...

Available from:
Pret a Manger, £4.75

Ole & Steen Turkey Roastie toastie, £8.95

• Available from Ole & Steen, £8.95

Best luxury Christmas sandwich

The homemade focaccia stood out here as some of the best bread we tried: crispy on top, great olive oil flavour and a unique twist. It’s expensive, but also huge so perfect for eating-in for lunch. It’s filled with turkey, a slab of herby stuffing and just the right amount of melted cheese for luxurious creaminess.

Available from:
Ole & Steen, £8.95

PAUL Christmas turkey and vegan trimmings sandwiches

• Available from PAUL, £4.65-£5.15

Best for bread

We tried the PAUL Christmas turkey sandwich (£5.15) and the vegan trimmings sandwich (£4.65) and both scored highly for great bread. The turkey sandwich (pictured) has a crunchy sage and onion baguette that tastes just like stuffing, a clever way to incorporate this into the sandwich. It was well-balanced with the cranberry sauce sweetness not overpowering and pleasant spinach freshness. The vegan sandwich had good crunch from walnut bread and a colourful filling (carrots, maple roasted sprouts, chestnuts, cranberry sauce) although we wondered if there could be more included for vegans than just pure vegetables.

Available from:
PAUL, £4.65-£5.15

GAIL's Christmas sandwich

• Available from GAIL's, £7

For a subtle nod to Christmas (no cranberry sauce overload here), this festive sandwich from GAIL’s is just what you need. Thinly sliced smoked turkey is paired with creamy Swiss cheese, chipotle aioli and - our highlight of the sandwich - generous amounts of sweet and smoky bacon jam. Chewy and crusty GAIL’s sourdough bread means this feels high quality from start to finish.

Available from:
GAIL's, £7

Ole & Steen Merry Squashmas toastie

• Available from Ole & Steen, £8.45

Best vegan Christmas sandwich

Another Ole & Steen sandwich made with their brilliant focaccia. This vegan offering was fresh and light with a generous quantity of colourful, well-cooked veg that hadn’t gone mushy. The addition of vegan cheese added richness and melted well and was a solid example of a vegan cheese.

Available from:
Ole & Steen, £8.45

Waitrose Pigs Under Blankets sandwich, £3.50

• Available from Waitrose, £3.50

Best sausage sandwich

Every supermarket appears to be doing a 'pigs under blankets' sandwich this year, but the Waitrose one stood out to us the most. The sausages had good peppery flavour and the bacon was well-smoked. The addition of redcurrants gave extra tang to the cranberry chutney.

Available from:
Waitrose, £3.50

LEON 'Bauble & Squeak' Christmas wrap, £5.99

• Available from LEON, £5.99

Best Christmas wrap

If you prefer a wrap over a sandwich or baguette, this is the option for you - and it's veggie, too. Whilst we're still mourning the loss of their fish finger wrap, we can get on board with this festive offering. It has a root veg fritter with chestnuts and plenty of pickled cabbage. We enjoyed the soft textures with just a hint of crunch. One warning: there's a seriously hefty dose of orange (both zest and oil) here that does make this on the sweet side (almost reminiscent of a mince pie...). Treat yourself to a side of the classic LEON waffle fries too and you'll be the envy of the office.

Available from:
LEON, £5.99

Boots Christmas Triple

• Available from Boots, £3.35

For when you just can't decide. For a triple sandwich, this is a bargain and handy if you're sharing or feeling indecisive. The turkey and stuffing is a simple nod to Christmas sandwiches, while we appreciated the generous amount of green veg in the cheddar & chutney – a classic done well.

Available from:
Boots, £3.35

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference The Ultimate Christmas Dinner Feast

• Available from Sainsbury's, £4.50

Fans of either a coronation chicken sandwich, or of making an epic Boxing Day sandwich with all your leftovers, will enjoy this choice from Sainsbury's. It is undoubtedly on the sweet side and that won't be to everyone's taste, but its creamy filling differs from lots of the standard turkey sandwiches out there. There's lots going on here with cubes of sweet roasted carrot and parsnip, ham hock, whole cranberries and spinach along with the turkey. We were surprised that we could actually taste a hint of champagne in the apple and apricot chutney with orange juice and champagne.

Available from:
Sainsbury's, £4.50

Costa turkey and trimmings toastie

• Available from Costa Coffee, £4.50

Best budget Christmas toastie

This soft toastie grew on us the more we ate. It's designed to be croque-monsieur style, and there is something undeniably comforting about the soft white bread and melting cheese. A basic cheese toastie with a gentle festive twist, this is what you need at a train or service station on a dark rainy evening.

Available from:
Costa Coffee, £4.50

Related reviews and news

Best advent calendars
50 best budget gifts for foodies
Best hampers to buy this Christmas
BBC Good Food Christmas Taste Awards 2022
Best chocolate hampers
Best sweets subscriptions