Mince Pie Haul: Which Is The Best?!
Lifestyle

Mince Pie Haul: Which Is The Best?!

The Emma Edit

If you’re anything like me, then you have probably been eating mince pies since they first appeared on the shelves again. I love mince pies because they are the ultimate Christmas snack! I do like to make my own, but I have been eating a lot of shop bought ones as well for convenience. You can buy cheap mince pies and expensive ones- I want to find out which ones are best.

Please remember, what I like might be completely different to what you like.

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Lidl (2)

These mince pies from Lidl are such good value for money, especially as you receive 12 in a pack. Originally, I wanted to get Lidl’s top of the range pies, but they didn’t have any in stock. My disappointment was short lived though when I went in for the first bite. I don’t know if I got a bad pack, but the pastry is a bit on the brown side. Having said this, I do like the crisp pastry. The filling is plain and simple with no fancy ingredients or alcohol, making them ideal for children. They are a little bit on the small side, but they are ideal to have with a festive hot beverage. I like the design of them with the little holly leaves on the lid and a little sprinkle of sugar.

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Lidl (1)

Sainsbury’s is my local supermarket, so I have tried all of their different mince pies apart from these ones. These pies remind me of homemade ones because of the star and dusting of sugar on the top. The pastry is very yummy and buttery tasting, but it is too thin for the amount of mincemeat inside. The filling has a good flavour, it’s just a bit too citrusy for me. I don’t like mince pies that have too much alcohol in them; these mince pies have a little bit brandy in them, but that suits me fine. There’s nothing particularly wrong with these pies, they just don’t ‘wow’ me.

stars 2 (2)

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Lidl (3)

These mince pies are the biggest out of the four I have here, they weigh in at 36g each. Tesco has a wide range of pies; I went with their finest and most expensive ones. Apart from the cute snowflake design in the top, the pastry is the only good thing I can say about these pies. The pastry is the correct thickness to encase the dense filling, and it is buttery tasting and crisp. The mincemeat filling has an unusual addition of mixed chopped nuts, this would be nice if the filling did taste so boozy. These pies contain two different alcohols, brandy and port. You might love these pies, but they taste too strongly of alcohol for me, personally.

stars 2 (1)

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Lidl (4)

Top of the range pack of 6 mince pies from Marks & Spencer. I haven’t had mince pies from M&S before, so I was really excited to try these and find out if they are worth the price tag. The first thing I noticed was the short best before date, so this suggests they are fresh. The all-butter pastry is perfect, especially after being in the oven for 10 minutes to heat up. They are filled with a unique fruity combination of vine fruits, cranberries, clementine, cherries and brandy. They are perfectly sized and have a dusting of icing sugar to complete them. In my opinion, these pies are the closest you’ll find to homemade ones.

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stars 2 (3)

I really enjoyed taste testing all of these mince pies, it was fun to do. However, I don’t recommend you don’t try this at home because having all of these pies around isn’t exactly healthy! I’m just lucky my boyfriend likes mince pies as much as me so he can help me eat them all. I’m not surprised that the M&S ones were my favourite because of the quality. The ones from Lidl came a close second; they are a good everyday pie and fantastic value for money. I was disappointed with the ones from Tesco and Sainsbury’s; I just felt like they were trying too hard with different flavours, and they are too boozy.

Have you tried any of these pies before? Have you got a favourite supermarket mince pie?

Mince pie haul

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Published by The Emma Edit

45 thoughts on “Mince Pie Haul: Which Is The Best?!”

  5. I love this post idea! Sadly my boyfriend doesn’t like them, so I’d have to eat them all, or keep inviting people over! I really need to buy some mince pies! The only one I’ve had this year was at a John Lewis event – another good one to try if you feel like tasting any more 😉

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  12. I have never had a mince pie. They aren’t exactly a thing in the US. Part of me wants to try them very badly, but the other part is not sure how I’d like it. But I’ll try anything once and I do like anything with the name pie. The US eats sweet pies.
    Is a mince pie the same as mincemeat? I’m just not sure if I’d like sweetened meat. I hope I’m not getting anything wrong. Please explain if I have.

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