Quality of Supermarket Xmas food, M&S any better?

MysteryMe

Yes, I've picked up some really nice bits reduced in my local co op, they stock ranges from small local producers particularly meat and fish.


I do like M&S for special items, but it is pricey.

C_Mababejive

M&S Xmas food is totally fab and worth paying for. Also see your local high street indepedent butchers.

lucyw88

M&S have some great party food but it is quite costly. I usually mix in a few really nice, unusual pieces (such as their beautiful mini smoked salmon bagels, mini pies etc) with Aldi/Iceland cheaper things. M&S I find to be expensive but I do love the quality of their food.

Murphybear

Pigs in blankets are yummy. Home made are much cheaper and much nicer. You can use different sausages as well.

I've just made some mini cheesy choux buns from an old Clarissa Dickson Wright TV show, divine!

Edwardia

The Finest, Extra Special, Truly Irresistible, Best etc ranges aren't always IMO. In fact often they are more expensive than organic and yet aren't additive-free or free range for example.

Marks & Spencer standard food is often more expensive than organic, let alone anything they deem premium eg Oakham chicken or Lochmuir trout.

We had some fantastic Canadian cooked frozen wild lobsters from Lidl one year. Bought them again a couple of years later and they went bad before they had even defrosted in fridge Lidl has them again for 5.99 each but I'm not sure I'll risk it.

The Gressingham whole pheasants 600g at 4.99 each from Lidl are farmed not wild. Abel & Cole has 600g (minimum) wild pheasants for 3.55 and I've already stashed a couple in the freezer.

If you're making your own prawn cocktail, Iceland has 300g bags of cooked and peeled North Atlantic prawns for 3.50 which usually taste better than the rubbery chlorine-tasting stuff from Thailand or Vietnam.

Lidl premium potato salad is really good, so is the Parma ham and the Norwegian smoked salmon. Pandoro and/or panettone are great, my mother loves their Stollen too.

Best Coleslaw Ever is the Co-op Truly Irresistible. Second best IMO is actually KFC coleslaw lol.

Pickles.. other than Branston pickle and Hayward's piccalili, try Lidl/Aldi or the Polish stuff in supermarkets/Polish shops. Just tastier n crunchier IMO.

I'd suggest getting frozen pastry and buying nice sausages and doin your own pigs in blankets