We’ve been working our way through each UK supermarket to see what they’re bringing to the Christmas dinner table, and this time, we’re taking a dive into Sainsbury’s Christmas food range.
We’ll run through what Sainsbury’s has got for your Christmas dinner, dessert, evening snacks, and for your Free From guests.
Sainsbury’s Christmas dinner
We know that Christmas means turkey and beef, so we won’t go into those – you know what to expect: whole, crown, joint, stuffed, glazed, wrapped in bacon. It’s all pretty predictable, what isn’t, however, are the lamb and vegetarian options.
Lamb isn’t the most popular meat in the supermarket ranges, with Aldi’s Christmas range having a couple of lamb options and Tesco only having one. Sainsbury’s has topped the lot with their four lamb centrepieces: a guard of honour, noisettes, a wellington, and a shank.
Vegans will also be able to eat a wellington, theirs, however, will be made of mushrooms. You won’t have to wait until the Food To Order collection dates, either; you can order this after the 4th of December.
There’s a No Turkey Crown, made of mushrooms (shock!) and soya protein with a sage and onion stuffing. It’s 540g, costs £6.50, and serves four.
Being vegetarian or vegan doesn’t limit you to mushrooms. Luckily, you can choose the usual nut roast, or you can get a little spicy with a Maple Chilli Butternut Squash Galette, which also serves four. It’s 50p dearer than the No Turkey Crown, but at least it’s a bit different.
Free From sweet treats
Sainsbury’s has a wide range of Free From Christmas treats, from puddings to mince pies and Stollen slices, to Advent calendars and panettone. Sainsbury’s has also released three Taste the Difference options:
- Chocolate Baubles – These mini chocolate truffles are filled with a rich, salted caramel filling and are garnished with gold, bronze, and red luster. The baubles are free from gluten and milk – although they’re available in store from the 7th September, we can’t find them to tell you the exact ingredients. A box of baubles will serve three and cost you £4.50.
- Chocolate Orange Brownies – Iconic christmas flavours, these are gluten free and also cost £4.50. We can’t find these for sale either. There’s a lot of chocolate orange this year, with Waitrose also doing chocolate orange brownies (not Free From) and Baileys teaming up with Terry’s.
- Chocolate Tiffin Bauble – At the time of writing, this was the only Taste the Difference Free From treat we could find in stock, even though all were available. It’s dark chocolate filled with shortbread pieces and salted caramel. It’s free from milk, gluten, and egg, swapping wheat flour for rice and soya flour and dairy for vegetable oils. It costs £10 and should serve six.
Christmas Pudding… or perhaps not?
Not a Christmas pudding fan? Even if you are, but fancy something different, you can opt for one of these chocolate desserts instead. All of the below are available to collect on the 22nd, 23rd, or 24th of December.
- Polar Peak – Chocolate mousse on top of a crunchy milk chocolate and caramelised biscuit base, styled under white chocolate peaks. It’s £17 for 600g, which Sainsbury’s states will serve eight.
- Sleigh de Nӧel – As we said above, it’s the year of the orange, and Sainsbury’s has one upped Waitrose’s Christmas brownies with a centrepiece dessert. The Sleigh de Nӧel is a chocolate and orange mousse with a dark chocolate and wafer base finished with a chocolate mirror glaze and gold flecks; it’ll cost £17 for 530g.
- Roasty Toasty S’mores Pie – This is the biggest of the three at 750g and the cheapest at £14. It’s a rich chocolate ganache with a cookie and fudge brownie base and toasted gooey marshmallow topping.
Sainsbury’s does have other Food To Order Christmas desserts available, these are just the ones that took our fancy.
Sainsbury’s Food To Order dates
Christmas home delivery slots become available on the 23rd of October. The full Christmas range launched on the 16th of October, so you can begin filling your festive basket, ready for when the slots open for the 18th-24th December.
Being a loyal customer is handy at Christmas as those paying for the Delivery Saver got access to the Christmas slots on the 16th instead.
Other important dates:
- Fresh turkeys are available for delivery from the 20th-24th December
- Fish can be delivered from the 8th of December
- Desserts are available for delivery from the 11th of December
For Food To Order, you can book a collection slot and go and pick it up from your chosen store.
Sainsbury’s not for you? We’ve also had a look at the ranges for other UK supermarkets (we’re still working on some!), so pick your go-to supermarket and have a look to see what they’re offering:
