Mince Pies 2025! its that time of year when we look at this year’s Mince pies, through the years we have looked at an assortment of different variations that can be bought at the most common shops in the UK, this year we focus on those instore bakery options within those shops.
The in-store bakery for shops are often a little bit more expensive and can be individually or in smaller portions, these can often be different flavours and baked slightly differently, essentially they should be fresher. This year I’ve looked at those ones that are either baked or part baked within the store and to my surprise shops like M&S, Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose as of the time of writing don’t have instore bakery special mince pie options in there shop, of course many of them had multiple versions of mince pies in the traditional 6 pack box that last most of Xmas, we’ve reviewed these in the past.
Table of Contents
The Pies
However we were limited in how many places still do it, I have added Greggs as they are essentially baked but looking at other shops only. a few had ones that had recently been baked, often these were at their bakery counter or on a stand very near it, I’ve discounted Cafe’s as there are many variations of locations and companies that do them that can be specific for them, I’ve also not put a price limit this year based on the the point of it.
Morrisons
Morrisons Mince pie comes in a pack of 4, and boasts their “The Best” range that have throughout the shop, these look like a much more traditional mince pie, deep-looking white with a heavy dousing of icing sugar. You are immediately hit with a strong taste of butter pastry and leaves a very strong taste afterwards as well, even though there is filling this comes and goes you are left with that aftertaste.
The filling though is a very fruity flavour, quite fresh and strong with almost a spirit flavour to it even though it’s not in here, it’s not overly sweet for the filling but added to it all it’s a relatively sweet thing to eat. The filling though did pack the quite deep pie and as traditional pies go arguably one of the best you can anywhere, however, you need to like that butter taste, if you don’t you could easily dismiss this and arguably take it down a point of two because not everyone might love the overriding taste of butter in your mouth.
Score 7/10
ASDA
Asda has an extra special shallow mince pie that comes in a little bag, they have gone for a shortcrust case quite wide, with a small shape on top, this resembles much more like a cafe/coffee shop type snack/ pie. Quite a sturdy pie with an open-style pie that has a dusting of icing sugar. The shortcrust pastry has a bite to it but is still soft, much like how it should be, and it feels like you should be treating it special with that coffee or tea as you could also use a knife to cut into it.
The slight butter taste of the case is quickly hit by the quite strong flavour of the filling, but this is pleasant because even though you get that strong hit it quickly becomes a subtle sweet filling, a little fruity but the sweetness does take hold the more you eat it. But with the design and even though its size the nice pastry is there to complement it the whole time. It felt special and actually tasted nice and almost raised the standard of what a normal mince pie should be.
Score 7/10
Tesco
Tesco have historically got lots of choices within the store across their brand and others, however, their in-store bakery option this year is a different one, a Puff Pastry version of a classic Mince pie. They come in a box of 4 with the Pie itself being a fairly sizeable circle, you can see the rise of the puff pastry with a slight glaze on top and lines across it.
As you take bites it crumbly due to the flakes of the puff pastry, it feels like a lot of pastry in contrast to the filling, and with that there’s not a lot of flavour to the pastry which could be a good and bad thing to not help or hinder the filling. The filling itself is quite a sharp fruity mince pie but quickly loses its flavour, and leaves a little aftertaste, likewise, it’s not that sweet. The overall pie may be a bit messy, not too flavours snack, it probably helped but the fresher you eat this, allows the puff pastry to softer and lighter, but this one felt like a slog to eat and I needed a drink handy to help, I get that this is nice to have a different option with puff pastry or crumbles etc.. but it didn’t do great here.
Score 3/10
Greggs
Greggs historically have done well in my reviews, I’ve pointed out they are often my favourite, their pies are essentially part baked, and that’s the only option, that’s why its in my reviews often, they are one of the more expensive pies out there but that’s miss leading as they come in 6’s. The pies themselves are angled and fairly flat, often the filling or liquid of the filling slightly dribbles out, but not by lots. A dashing of icing sugar over the top often hides the quality of the finish, these can often be a little lighter or darker and this isn’t a knock but often it’s a little inconsistent.
It actually works better when they are slightly browner as the bite is better and adds to the texture, sometimes it can feel a little underdone and soggy because of the very moist filling. But saying all of this it’s still a nice pie to eat, these ones had a crush and the filling was moist with a burst of flavour. they haven’t changed much over the year and to be honest, they don’t need to, the filling is arguably one of the best with the sweet tangy flavour, its not too strong but enough to please most people, for traditional people they might dismiss this pie and rate it 4,5 or 6 out of 10, I get it.
Score 8/10 or traditionalist its 6/10
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s Pies come in many variations within store, let alone other brands, however, their in-store options consist of a Puff Pastry or a traditional, their pies do look pretty similar to what comes in their not-boxed Pies. Straight away you notice that in the box of four they all pretty flat, and lots of normal sugar on top, this makes it a little messy however being fairly flat easier to actually eat. The shortcrust pastry has a bite to it while not being overly strong flavour, it’s just really there.
The filling is relatively packed inside though because of the depth you would expect this, the flavour was a little moist and not too sweet, and to be honest,the flavour comes and goes really quickly, its all a bit subtle and almost bland, people who do not like a strong flavour would probably be happy with this not being a wack of flavour, but that’s worth taking note and arguably could add or take away a point depending on preference, overall it was fine, middle of the road pie and not doing a lot.
Score 5/10
Overall
I was surprised by the lack of shops doing them these days and was expecting those more pricey shops to be doing it, but with those choices I did had was a little split, I really expected more and tried to be neutral in taste like normal. Greggs was for me my favourite although leaving it for a day made them really messy to eat, as I said an 8 out of 10 but I could easily let it be 6 based on the bake, I’ve since had another pack and it was crisp bite and not as leaky. Morrisons could also be the best if you love the buttery taste, my surprise was Asda as I really like the pie aspect of it, Costa among other places do that style but its expensive so to have that from ASDA was great and I debated with myself right now if I was to have one wth a coffee this Xmas, id probably have the ASDA one.
