Merrily taste testing Tesco's Christmas new sandwich range

When any supermarket releases its annual range of Christmas sandwiches, it's a telling sign that the festivities are well and truly back.

For any passing traveller or worker on a break, a meal deal can make or break your day. It's honestly true.

Comfort food is hard to come by when you're out and about and on the move, so picking the right meal deal is very important if you want to keep yourself in the right mood and energised.

These are Tesco's latest offerings for Christmas this year (Image: Newsquest)

Festive meal deals, for that matter, are always held in the highest esteem.

Sarah Bryer, Food to Go Product Development Manager at Tesco, said: “In recent years, Christmas sandwiches have become as much of a tradition as turkey with all of the trimmings.

"We know that people anticipate them landing on the shelf and getting their first taste of festive flavours in one delicious bite.  

“This year shoppers will see some firm favourites, like the Tesco Brie & Cranberry Sandwich, back on the shelf, as well as innovations.

"We’ve increased the number of hand-wrapped tortillas across the Tesco, Finest and Plant Chef ranges, and they’re bursting with mouth-watering fillings from classic British Christmas fare to internationally inspired delights.

"We can’t wait to see what people think.”   

Ok then, let's tuck in.

Tesco's festive meal deal offerings:

Chicken bacon and stuffing £2.85 - Succulent chicken breast, bacon, sage and onion stuffing, topped with cranberry sauce and wrapped in a white tortilla.  

5/10 - I'll be honest, it was a disappointing start. I couldn’t taste any of the chicken, bacon or stuffing due to the overpowering cranberry sauce. And the cranberry texture itself was just plain gooey.

Turkey trimmings sage and onion stuffing £3 - Turkey breast, sausage, bacon, topped and sage and onion stuffing, finished with cranberry sauce.

7/10 - Here we go. A b***dy big sandwich I'll give it that. Not much else to say other than it was a cracking meal deal filler that’ll do the trick. A simple taste of Christmas.

Yule hog wrap £2.75 - Pulled pork in a hickory style marinade with rosemary gravy and stuffing mayonnaise, finished with Kentish cider apple sauce in a bar marked tortilla wrap. 

6/10 - Tasted somewhat peanutty on the first bite? Weird, but not unpleasant. I’m guessing this is essentially a festive pulled pork wrap with a twist, the Kentish cider sauce. Not majorly keen on that addition but again does the trick and fills you up.

Someone had sadly taken a dislike to the last Tesco Festive Sub and lamped seven bells out of it. So I did not try this one. (Image: Matthew Evans)

Rich and Smoky Pigs Under a Blanket £3.75 -Pork sausages wrapped in maple-cured bacon, accompanied with sage and onion stuffing, smoky onions and a vibrant cranberry relish on sage and cranberry farmhouse bread.

Where do I start, wow.

9/10 - Smelt amazing from the off I have to admit. The first bite, well, that was simply sublime. I was slightly full at this point but fighting the urge to not finish off the whole thing. Justifies the price.

Festive duo (pigs under blankets and chicken bacon stuffing) £3 -"The most exciting duo, two classic Christmas favourite sandwiches in one. A classic pigs in blankets and a chicken, bacon & stuffing sandwich."

"Exciting" might be pushing it.

The chicken bacon and stuffing offering was pretty dry. Tesco usually do a good chicken bacon and stuffing sandwich with a bit more flavour but felt this was lacking. Might have just grabbed a bad one. 6/10.

Nowhere near as good as the previous pig in a blanket. This was more of a scratching in a towel. Lacking somewhat and you could tell the quality was cheaper. Again though, a good filler. 7/10.

Spiced duck and pomegranate chutney £3.75 - Festive spiced British duck layered with spiced braised red cabbage, a tangy pomegranate chutney and lettuce, in a soft seeded tortilla wrap.

Meh.

6/10 - The one I’d been looking forward to most. Disappointing to be honest. I love a duck and hoisin sauce meal deal because of the duck and the hoisin sauce. This had a nice quality duck but that pomegranate addition missed the mark for me.