Christmas sandwiches compared: Pret a Manger vs Starbucks

From traditional turkey sandwiches to innovative vegan wraps

(Starbucks)

Christmas might seem like an age away for customers, but for retailers the holiday season began months ago.

By early November brands have launched their festive advert, are playing Christmas music in store and filling the shelves with seasonal sweaters, socks and - something we can all get on board with - sandwiches.

Christmas sandwiches have acquired cult status in recent years, with fans waiting months for the festive food items from chains like Eat, Costa and M&S.

This year, we pitted two of the most popular companies – Pret a Manger and Starbucks – against one another, to see which fared best in terms of taste, texture and overall festive-ness.

Read on for our thoughts.

Starbucks

Tis’ the season turkey sandwich

(Starbucks (Starbucks)

It truly is the season to be jolly when it comes to this Starbucks sarnie, which contains the festive medley of pulled turkey, chestnut, sage and onion stuffing and cranberry sauce on malted brown bread.

The Independent‘s Ben Kelly noted the sandwich contained a more generous portion of turkey than the Pret a Manger version, in addition to a small amount of bacon.

“There’s definitely more meat in this, but the Pret one was tastier,” Ben concluded. “You had those little notes coming through of apricot and cranberry. I guess it depends on what you prefer.”

Rating: 8/10

Brie and cranberry focaccia

(Starbucks (Starbucks)

In addition to brie and cranberry sauce, the rosemary-topped focaccia also contains crunchy pickled red onions.

The Independent‘s Ben Kelly praised the heated focaccia as a “very tasty” vegetarian option, adding that its texture is “moist”.

Rating: 6/10

Very merry vegan wrap

(Starbucks (Starbucks)

The coffee chain’s festive beetroot wrap contains butternut squash fritters, roasted red cabbage and vegan maple mustard mayonnaise.

While it may look intriguing at first glance, its taste turned out to be quite underwhelming.

“I don’t like that very much,” admits The Independent’s Olivia Petter, describing its flavour as “tangy and sharp”. “Something about it is just isn’t right.”

Rating: 2/10

Turkey festive feast panini

(Starbucks (Starbucks)

This is described by Starbucks as being a “rustic” panini, made up of pulled turkey, hickory smoked bacon and Emmental cheese with a dash of cranberry chutney.

The Independent‘s Ben Kelly found the panini more appetising than the “tis’ the season turkey sandwich”, explaining that it is “much more flavoursome”.

Rating: 4/10

Final score: 20/40

Pret a Manger

Pret’s Christmas Sandwich

(Pret a Manger) (Pret A Manger)

The iconic festive sandwich contains free-range turkey with port and orange cranberry sauce, herby pork stuffing and baby spinach leaves.

“This has got all the classic bits you’d want from a Christmas sandwich,” says The Independent‘s Ben Kelly. “It almost tastes like apricot, and a bit like a roast dinner.”

Rating: 9/10

Pret’s Christmas Baguette

(Pret a Manger)

This is the classic Christmas sandwich but in baguette form, containing free range turkey, orange and cranberry sauce, herby pork stuffing and rocket.

“This is very good, but I think I prefer the sandwich,” says Kelly. “The fillings are pretty much the same but this bread is a bit soft. I think if I had to choose over this or the sandwich, I’d choose the sandwich.”

Rating: 9/10

Pret’s Veggie Christmas Lunch

(Pret a Manger) (Pret A Manger)

This vegetarian festive offering contains roasted butternut squash, rocket and pesto made with pine nuts, yoghurt mayo, chestnuts and pumpkins seeds.

“It’s very flavourful,” says The Independent‘s Olivia Petter. “It has all the festive tastes packed in between two slices of brown bread, although the butternut squash makes it very filling and quite rich.”

Rating: 7/10

Very Merry Christmas Lunch

(Pret a Manger) (Pret A Manger)

This vegan offering contains grilled carrots, crispy onions and baby leaf spinach, topped off with some vegan stuffing and a port and orange cranberry sauce.

The Independent‘s Olivia Petter named this sandwich her favourite among the selection, praising it for its balance of sweet and spicy flavours.

“It’s really tasty, which is surprising, because it’s completely vegan,” she said. “But it tastes amazing.”

Rating: 9/10

Total score: 34/40

​Final verdict

Pret a Manger has beaten Starbucks by quite some way in our taste test, taking the lead by 14 points. Overall, we concluded that Pret's Christmas sandwich offerings were more creative, flavourful and satiating.