MSE Mince Pie Taste Test 2022

Updated 7 December 2023 | Created 12 December 2022

With the festive season in full swing, the Deals Team put their heads together to uncover answers to the true questions of Christmas. No, not Why is my turkey always so dry? or Who writes those terrible Christmas cracker jokes? But Who sells the best mince pies? Is it mince 'pie in the sky' to think that a 99p box could be tastier than one retailing at £12.95? Wait and see. Brandy butter and forks at the ready all, as this is: The MSE Mince Pie Taste Test 2022.

I found 20 very willing office volunteers, who tried 10 of the cheapest supermarket brands in blind taste test. All mince pies were taken out of their packaging and numbered, to ensure total anonymity.

Our contenders were...

Anonymous Number	Brand and Product Name	Price
1	Sainsbury's: Six Mince Pies	£1.45 (with Nectar card)
2	Marks and Spencer: Six All Butter Mince Pies	£2.50
3	Asda: Yummy Mince Pies	£1.09
4	Tesco: Six Mince Pies	£1.09
5	Lidl: Favorina Six Mince Pies	£1.09
6	Fortnum and Mason: Traditional Mince Pies (six)	£12.95
7	Aldi: Holly Lane Six Deep Filled Mince Pies	£1.09 (currently reduced to 55p)
8	Co-op: Six Mince Pies	£1.25
9	Waitrose: Six All Butter Mince Pies	£2.50
10	Morrisons: Mince Pies (six)	£1.45

Prices correct when we checked on Thursday 7 December 2023

The cheapest mince pies in 2022 came from Tesco and Aldi at 99p for six, closely followed by Co-op at £1. Most expensive was Fortum and Mason at £12.95. Not so closely followed by Waitrose at £2.25 a box and Marks and Spencer at £2. We asked our taste-testers to consider two main questions:

Which one is your favourite?
Which one do you think is the most expensive?

We also asked them to give us any general thoughts they had about the mince pies. This turned out to be even more fruitful than the mince pies themselves, with some budding food critics making their opinion very well known.

The Results

Top three 'tastiest' mince pies	Price	Votes
WINNER Aldi: Holly Lane Six Deep Filled Mince Pies	£1.09 (currently reduced to 55p)	7
Marks and Spencer: Six All Butter Mince Pies	£2.50	5
Waitrose: Six All Butter Mince Pies	£2.50	2
Top three 'most expensive' mince pies	Price	Votes
Fortnum and Mason: Traditional Mince Pies (six)	£12.95	8
Waitrose: Six All Butter Mince Pies	£2.50	7
Marks and Spencer: Six All Butter Mince Pies	£2.50	3

Prices correct when we checked on Thursday 7 December 2023

And the winner is...

Aldi! Clearly these MSE'rs are savvy at sniffing out a tasty deal with Aldi's 99p mince pics coming out top, beating the likes of M&S and Fortnum & Mason for taste. This isn't the first time MSE staff have preferred a cheaper alternative – see our Brownie Downshifting blog and Baileys Taste Test.

All three of the premium-priced mince pies were spotted too, and in the correct price order. Fortnum and Mason pies were a fairly easy spot, with their size giving the luxury game away. Waitrose, the second most expensive, was noticed for its "pretty" design. Turns out you can judge a pie by its cover. Here's what else our tasters thought...

The Feedback

Product

Brand

Price