Best Christmas food to order 2024, as Tesco, Waitrose and Asda unveil their festive menus

These supermarkets are already getting us into the festive spirit

Asda’s signature festive flavour this year will be fig, whiskey and spiced honey (Tesco/Waitrose/The Independent)

Christmas may be a long way off yet, but for supermarkets, it’s never too early to start getting their festive fare ready for the holiday period (yes, even in September).

As the big day edges closer, many of the big supermarkets will start to unveil their mouth-watering Christmas food and drink selections, from impressive party food platters to festive main dishes and show-stopping desserts that make it easier to can cook up a storm (with minimal fuss).

And the countdown to Christmas dinner complete with all the trimmings has now officially begun, with Asda, Waitrose and Tesco being the first to unveil some of their offerings. In a sneak peek at its upcoming range, Asda announced its new signature flavour for 2024, Tesco has unveiled the likes of a morello cherry chocolate delice and vegan veg fest wrap, and Waitrose will be getting our Christmas morning off to a strong start with festive brunch essentials.

We’re expecting all of the big-name supermarkets to follow suit as the year goes on, so just watch this space. But in the meantime, here’s some of the Christmas food to look forward to from Asda, Waitrose and Tesco in 2024.

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Tesco Christmas food 2024

(Tesco)

Getting into the festive spirit very, very early this year, Tesco is one of the first supermarkets to start unveiling its Christmas food for 2024. Beyond traditional dishes – think turkey and pigs in blankets – there’s chicken and pork pate en croute, crackling porchetta pork joint, and duck with a dark fruit and balsamic glaze among the mains this year.

In terms of fish, you could be serving the Scottish salmon plait or a plate of the Atlantic lobster (which we’re sure will prove to be a party food showstopper). Or, vegan or vegetarian dishes could steal centre stage – think roasted vegetable cranberry star, a three cheese and caramelised leek quiche, seeded roasts or the vegan butternut Wellington.

As for party food, your guests could be digging into crispy basa fish tacos, fighting over chorizo mac and cheese bites and even tucking into some mini beef and gravy Yorkshire puddings. Vegan small bites will include laksa cones, and crispy mushroom parcels with garlic, chilli and lime dip and, for leftovers for lunch, a Plant Chef Christmas veg fest wrap.

If you still have room, desserts sound just as mouthwatering; think, a morello cherry chocolate delice, a raspberry and prosecco panna cotta wreath, and a Belgian chocolate and sea salted caramel snowy semifreddo.

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Waitrose Christmas food 2024

(Waitrose)

Waitrose has announced it will be launching 554 Christmas products this year, and so far, there’s plenty to get excited about. Starting your Christmas morning as you mean to go on, you could tuck into spicy streaky bacon rashers and whiskey and orange smoked salmon. Plus, it’s unveiled Limoncello and Cointreau as boozy flavours to anticipate this year (think Limoncello fizz panettone, white stilton with Limoncello, and Cointreau and cranberry Christmas pudding).

If you’re already thinking about hosting a festive soiree, guests could be fighting over buffet dishes, such as crispy bacon carbonara cups, and crab and brown butter crumpets.

For the main Christmas meal, starters will include pistachio and apricot pork terrine, and lobster, crab and prawn cocktails. This will be followed by centrepieces such as treacle glazed turkey crown with a pork, chestnut and bacon stuffing, British wagyu beef sirloin joint with a beer malt glaze and shallot, herb and garlic crumb.

To finish, red velvet bauble dessert, mini brownies and tiramisu are among the desserts that have been unveiled for far (we’re eyeing up the Belgian chocolate and hazelnut torte).

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Asda Christmas food 2024

(Asda)

Asda has pulled out all the stops with its 540-product large Christmas range for 2024 which includes both returning top picks and new additions to get our mouths watering. Its signature flavour this year will be fig, whiskey and spiced honey and we can expect 16 new goodies to incorporate this decadent-sounding combination of flavours, including a dish of lamb shoulder with fig, whiskey and spiced honey stuffing.

Other main dishes to get excited about include the slow-cooked beef shin and an OMV! vegan whole no turkey. And then there’s the party food, think festive bites like butter chicken samosas, prawn and veg dim sum and tempura prawns, and a Charcuter-wreath which is as it sounds a DIY wreath of Salami, prosciutto, Manchego cheese triangles and more.

So far, desserts include a panettone as a traditional dish and the raspberry, pistachio and passionfruit pavlova wreath (we’ve got our name written all over this one).

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The supermarket Christmas food from 2023

M&S’s eagerly anticipated 2023 festive range featured Christmas Colin the caterpillar (£12, Ocado.com) and festive tipples, including a bottle of Marks & sparkle rosé (£9, Ocado.com) with edible gold leaf. Plus, a British free-range stuffed turkey crown, and butternut, almond and pecan nut roast, followed by a triple chocolate panettone and other sweet treats.

Morrisons’ party foods last year included vegetable tempura and gruyère fondu and tempting main dishes spanned beef fillet Wellington and gammon with spiced orange marmalade glaze. To round off the meal, you could have tucked into its passionfruit panna cotta, or a vegan trifle (£7, Morrisons.com).

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At Waitrose, buffet foods and canapés like salmon mousse (£14, Waitrose.com) and red onion bhajis with date and tamarind dip were on the menu, while slow-cooked bone-in venison shoulder and beef roasting joint with truffle and porcini featured as main dishes. For something sweet, crumble-top mince pies with cranberry and orange and florentine-inspired panettone were among the puds.

Sainsbury’s was serving up a no-beef wellington among other mains, and party foods (think prawn toasties) and puddings, including orange and prosecco DOC panettone, sticky toffee pudding and gluten-, milk- and egg-free ginger and chocolate tiffins for dessert.

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And last but not least, Aldi’s offerings looked just as indulgent, from its double chocolate igloo to a milk chocolate millionaire’s bauble and Ballycastle chocolate, hazelnut and caramel-flavour country cream.

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