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Best Christmas puddings: tastiest supermarket puds revealed
Rebecca has been leading our food and drink testing for over five years. She oversees rigorous blind taste tests of more than 250 products a year, covering everything from olive oil and chocolate to wine and champagne. And yes, she does sometimes get the leftovers.
In this article
- Best traditional-style Christmas puddings
- How we tested Christmas puddings
- Should you steam or microwave Christmas pudding?
- How to light a Christmas pudding
- Free-from, vegan and vegetarian Christmas puddings
- Does Christmas pudding contain alcohol?
- Best wine to have with Christmas pudding
- Cocktails that go with Christmas pudding
Fruity and full of festive flavour, a traditional Christmas pudding is the ultimate way to round off celebrations on the big day. But which supermarket puds are worth snapping up this year?
To find out, our panel of Christmas pudding fans blind-tasted 10 premium puddings, rating each one for appearance, aroma, texture and flavour.
They uncovered one top-scoring (and budget-friendly) festive pud that impressed across the board. But some proved disappointing, losing marks for their bland spicing and lack of fruit and nuts.
How our tests find you the best
Large tasting panel
Our panel of 64 tasters got through a whopping 45kg of Christmas puddings in our search to find the best.
Measures that matter
From sweetness and spice to moistness and boozy flavour, our ratings covered all the key elements of a perfect pud.
Independent
We paid for all the Christmas puddings we tested. We're not influenced by third parties, and we don't accept freebies.
Results you can trust
All our results are checked and analysed by our in-house statistical team for accuracy.
If you'd rather DIY your Christmas pudding this year, head to our guide on how to make Christmas pudding
Best traditional-style Christmas puddings
Only logged in Which? members can view our full test results and tasting notes below, and discover which supermarket Christmas puddings topped our taste test.
If you’re not yet a member, you'll see an alphabetically ordered list of the Christmas puddings on test. To get instant access to these and all our reviews, join Which? today.
Aldi Specially Selected 24 Month Matured Christmas Pudding
£4.69 for 400g (£1.17 per 100g)
Description: Perfectly matured with vine fruits, cider, brandy, cognac and almonds.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Aldi (in-store only).
Asda Exceptional 12 Month Matured Luxury Christmas Pudding
£8.16 for 800g (£1.02 per 100g)
Description: Infused with French cognac and Spanish sherry for a warming festive flavour.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Asda.
Co-op Irresistible 12 Month Matured Christmas Pudding
£2 for 100g (£2 per 100g)
Description: Richly fruited with walnuts, almonds and a splash of brandy, cider and rum.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Co-op.
Iceland Luxury 24 Month Matured Christmas Pudding
£4 for 400g (£1 per 100g)
Description: A rich fruit pudding with cider, brandy, almonds, sherry, rum, cognac, walnuts and pecans.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Iceland.
Lidl Deluxe 12 Month Matured Christmas pudding
£7.99 for 800g (£1 per 100g)
Description: Juicy vine fruits and crunchy nuts infused with cognac and brandy, then matured for 12 months.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Lidl (in-store only).
M&S Collection 12 Month Matured Christmas Pudding
£14 for 907g (£1.54 per 100g)
Description: Made with vine fruits, whole glacé cherries, Braeburn apple and almonds, and enriched with brandy and rum.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from M&S (in-store only) and Ocado.
Morrisons The Best 18 Month Matured Christmas Pudding
£5.50 for 400g (£1.38 per 100g)
Description: Generously laced with warming cider, rum and sherry, then matured in cognac for a wonderfully festive flavour.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Morrisons.
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference 18 Month Matured Christmas Pudding
£9 for 800g (£1.13 per 100g)
Description: Laced with brandy and cognac and packed with crunchy almonds, pecans and walnuts
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Sainsbury's.
Tesco Finest Vintage 18 Month Matured Christmas Pudding
£15 for 800g (£1.88 per 100g)
Description: Made with vine fruits, cider, glacé cherries, brandy, ruby port and Amontillado sherry.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Tesco.
Waitrose No.1 Christmas Pudding 12 Month Matured
£14 for 800g (£1.75 per 100g)
Description: Made with plump vine fruit, cream, pecan nuts and a generous splash of cognac.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Waitrose.
Looking for the best mince pies? Find out the supermarkets that came top in our taste test of the best mince pies
How we tested Christmas puddings
To find the tastiest puddings, we gathered 66 Christmas pudding fans in our specialist tasting lab back in September 2025. Every single pudding was blind-tasted, meaning no one knew which one they were tucking into.
To keep things fair, they all tasted the puddings in a different, rotated order, and each taster had their own private tasting booth.
Our tasters scored each pudding on everything from the first sniff to the final bite, telling us what they loved and loathed about the taste, texture, aroma, and appearance. The overall score was based on:
- 50% flavour
- 20% aroma
- 20% appearance
- 10% texture
Should you steam or microwave Christmas pudding?
Steaming your pudding is preferable to microwaving it. If you heat it in the microwave, the fat can separate too quickly, leaving you with a dry pudding – and vine fruits that are nuclear levels of hot!
Most pack instructions recommend steaming the pudding for 1-2 hours. Once it’s on the hob, you'll need to keep an eye on the water level to ensure it doesn’t dry out. You can speed things up considerably by using a pressure cooker.
How to light a Christmas pudding
Lighting up the Christmas pudding is a popular festive tradition if you're after a showstopping finish to your Christmas dinner. But it's a bit of an art, so here are some tips to avoid a soggy disappointment:
- You'll need alcohol with a high spirit content (around 40%), such as rum, brandy or armagnac, to guarantee a good flame.
- Gently heat around 2-4 tbsp of alcohol in a saucepan.
- Remove from the heat and carefully light the alcohol while still in the pan, tilting it to one side.
- Immediately pour onto your pudding for an impressive flame.
- Carefully carry it to the table.
Free-from, vegan and vegetarian Christmas puddings
A traditional recipe Christmas pudding typically contains dairy and gluten. Some puddings also contain suet, which is made from animal fat, making them unsuitable for vegetarians.
All the Christmas puddings we tested this year are suitable for vegetarians.
If you're looking for dairy-free, gluten-free or vegan puddings, most supermarkets now stock a wide range of options to suit everyone.
Does Christmas pudding contain alcohol?
Traditional Christmas puddings use alcohol to give a richer flavour and keep the pudding moist.
The alcohol also acts as a preservative, extending the pudding's shelf life if you're making it in advance.
Cognac and brandy are the most common types of alcohol used, but they may also contain sherry, rum, cider and port.
Most supermarkets sell alcohol-free Christmas puddings, which often swap out the alcohol with orange or apple juice.
Best alcohol-free sparkling wine – we asked a panel of experts to blind-taste and rate low and no-alcohol fizz including Freixenet, Nozeco and more
Best wine to have with Christmas pudding
Our wine experts recommend serving tawny port alongside your Christmas pudding.
They said it's a good all-rounder that works well with a variety of festive foods, including mince pies and cheddar cheese.
Find out which wines scored highly in our independent expert taste tests for best champagne, and best red wine guides.
Cocktails that go with Christmas pudding
Opting for a cocktail (or mocktail) instead can add some theatre to your Christmas lunch. Here are some options that pair perfectly with Christmas puddings:
- Espresso martini Our experts recommend coffee as a pairing for Christmas pudding. For a boozy twist, a traditional Irish coffee works well, or try an espresso martini.
- Spicy cocktails Anything with ginger is ideal, as the fiery taste will blend well with the spices in your pudding – perhaps go for some ginger wine or ginger beer. You can make this into more of a mocktail by rubbing fresh ginger around the inside of your glass (filled with ice), before pouring in the ginger beer. Then garnish with fresh ginger slices or grated ginger.
- Negroni The orangey tang works well with Christmas pudding. Make your own by stirring together one part gin, one part vermouth rosso and one part Campari over ice. Garnish with a slice of orange or some orange peel.
- Mulled cider A mulled cider will go better with a Christmas pudding than mulled wine. Our experts suggested heating cider with spices and a little brandy.
Looking for more drink recommendations? Read our reviews of the best prosecco and best port wine.
Price and availability checked November 2025. See DrinkAware for information and advice about drinking responsibly.