Welcome to Rawlingson Lane’s festive taste test! This year we decided to do something a little different to our normal sweet treats testing, so tried a supermarket medley of Pigs in Blankets (result!) We managed to acquire eight different types, from six different brands, all to give you a definitive ranking of which of these Christmas classics ended up on our nice list.

With so many options as to what the pigs could be judged on, we broke it down into three areas; taste, texture, and bacon to sausage ratio, meaning each piggy could get a top score of 30. The score has then been averaged put to give you as fair a result as possible.

To get the bells jingling on this taste test, we decided to start off with the only plant-based option we could find. Whilst some of us in the office follow a vegan diet, these were unfortunately not a great example of a meat free option. ‘This isn’t Pork’ pigs in blankets, had very little ‘fac-on’ (fake bacon) to vegan sausage ratio, and a strange after taste. These plant-based piggies were a let-down in all areas, receiving an average score of just 9.25 out of 30.

Moving on to Co-Op: as we tucked into these piggies the same consensus was being made… nothing fancy or special, just a standard pig in a blanket. It was hard to rank this one as they tasted exactly as they looked really, and whilst we didn’t rate the size of the PIB, it is important to mention that these were by far the runts of the drift, coming out with an average score of 16.25. Receiving the same score was Tesco! Whilst these pigs in blankets didn’t taste bad, again there wasn’t anything special about them.

Next up in our ranks, we had a surprising entry. Blindsided by the Waitrose brand and posh honey, rosemary flavouring, we had already mentally marked these Christmas chipolatas as number one. However, as we started to tuck in, we realised our hopes had been set too high. Whilst better than those that came before, these PIB seemed to lack the wow factor that we were all expecting, meaning they scored an average of 20.75. The very fancy flavour seemed slightly muted and didn’t actually come through until the afterwards.

Scoring 0.5 higher than Waitrose were Tesco Finest Pork and Chorizo pigs in blankets. Everyone in the office was pleasantly surprised by these, and whilst we agreed they weren’t the traditional treat for Christmas, we thought their spicy flavour would be the perfect addition as a New Year’s Eve canape.

Up next was Sainsburys Taste the Difference PIB which scored an average of 23.75 out of 30 and were an office favourite! Whilst still relatively small in size, these PIB had an exquisite Smokey flavour to the bacon, and the sausages were super juicy (despite us overcooking them slightly!). These certainly made it into our top 3!

In 2nd place were Waitrose plain Christmas pigs in blankets. Redeeming themselves from the downfall of the chipolatas, these hit high points in all areas and scored a total of 24.25 out of 30. These scrumptious piggies were as close to a traditional pig in blanket you could get!

Topping our list at number one wereLidl Deluxe Pigs in Blankets. Achieving a whopping score of 27 out of 30, there were no words to describe these pigs other than YUM! Despite being slightlycrispier than the packet originally suggested, these were by far the best pigs in blankets we managed to find, and you can be sure that a few of us will be returning to Lidl to stock up ready for our own Christmas feasts!