Best mince pies for Christmas 2024 revealed by Which?

We asked a panel of leading baking experts to blind-taste supermarket mince pies to uncover the tastiest options for your table this Christmas. 

Our experts thought Waitrose's premium pies outshone the rest, but they also liked some cheaper mince pies from a budget rival. 

Some supermarket mince pies disappointed our panel with their crumbly pastry, lacklustre mincemeat and soggy bottoms.

Find out which mince pies we recommend here. Plus, how cheaper own-label mince pies compare to the luxury versions.

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Which supermarket mince pies to buy this year

Only one set of mince pies won out this year - Waitrose's Brown Butter mince pies were a real hit with our experts, who thought they were a convincing substitute for a homemade version.

Aldi's cheap and cheerful Specially Selected All Butter mince pies scored our Great Value award thanks to their delicious buttery taste and cheaper-than-average price. Here's what the winning pies got right:

Best Buy: Waitrose No1 Brown Butter Mince Pies With Cognac – 77%

£4 for 6 (67p per pie)

These top-scoring pies impressed our expert panel with their lovely crisp, buttery pastry, enticing aroma and generous nut, spice and citrus filling. They also appreciated the subtle boozy warmth. 

The pies have a simple, homemade traditional look – a plain pastry case and a dusting of caster sugar that charmed our experts. One said they never usually bought supermarket mince pies, but that they would buy these. 

They may be relatively pricey, but with a lead of six percentage points over the next best mince pies, they're a standout choice this Christmas.

Currently these - and the nine-pack of mini brown butter mince pies (though please note we haven't taste-tested these) - are on offer for two packs for £6. This brings the price down to 50p per pie for the standard size version, so it's a good time to stock up.

Available from Waitrose.

Great Value: Aldi Specially Selected All Butter Mince Pies – 71%

£2.29 for 6 (38p per pie)

These stylish snowflake mince pies are a festive delight, packed with juicy fruit and spices. 

Our judges liked that they weren't too sweet – a common complaint elsewhere –  and appreciated the intricate lid design, finished with fine powdered sugar 'snow'.

According to our panel, they're very moreish, and it's tempting to eat more than one, so it's lucky they were also the cheapest mince pies we tested!

Currently, these are on offer for £1.99, bringing them down to 33p per pie. As with our Waitrose Best Buys, there are nine-packs of mini versions available (again, we haven't tested these). These are on offer too for the same price.

Available from Aldi.

How do mince pies from Lidl, M&S, Tesco and more compare, and which ones should you steer clear of? See our full guide to the best mince pies for Christmas (member exclusive information)

Are budget mince pies worth buying?

Mince pie prices, much like many other food prices, keep sneaking up. When we tested mince pies in 2023, we noted that prices had gone up a fair amount from previous years, with most prices starting from 42p per pie. The average price per pie now comes in at 50p. 

That said, Aldi still has the cheapest luxury-style mince pies – and they're only 1p more per pie than last year.

If you've got plenty of people to feed, this can really add up. So this year we asked our experts to try budget mince pies from three big supermarkets to see how they compared to premium ranges.

We found cheaper mince pies tended to be smaller, so you're not necessarily saving as much as you think, and only one brand's budget pies got the thumbs up, while the other two proved disappointing. 

Find out which budget supermarket pies are worth buying in our full guide to the best mince pies.

*Note - story originally published 15 November 2024, but updated 2 December to highlight deals on top-scoring products.

Discover the best champagne that will add a sparkle to Christmas celebrations and take a look at our Christmas pudding taste test results