Good Housekeeping's annual blind taste test reveals the best food this Easter - including Cadbury's £12 Crunchie Inclusions chocolate egg and Waitrose's hot cross buns

• The Good Housekeeping Institute has revealed their top picks for Easter 2024
• READ MORE: Chocolate lovers go wild after Easter egg that is ‘hands down the best’ returns to Tesco shelves

Waitrose’s hot cross buns have beaten its rivals in this year’s Good Housekeeping Easter Taste Test Awards.

The Good Housekeeping Institute blind-tested 162 products from a selection of UK brands and grocers to find the best products for costumers ahead of the Spring occasion, including Easter eggs and meat centrepieces.

When it comes to buns, Waitrose reigned supreme, winning both the classic category with its £2.50 Golden Hot Cross Buns and the flavoured category with its £2.50 Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.

Cadbury’s £12 Crunchie Inclusions Ultimate Easter Egg took the top spot as the best milk chocolate Easter egg, and Asda’s £15 Extra Special Cocoa Noir Easter Egg was this year’s egg of choice for dark chocolate.

Meanwhile, Co-op’s £15 Irresistible Hereford Beef Joint got the title of best roast centrepiece, while Asda’s £8.50 Chicken Crown with Leek & Pancetta Stuffing was the best budget option.

The Good Housekeeping Institute blind-tested 162 products from a selection of UK brands and grocers to find the best products for costumers ahead of the Spring occasion, including Easter eggs and meat centrepieces

Waitrose was crowned the winning supermarket this year, performing particularly well in the hot cross bun category.

Asda came second and was highly commended for its selection of Easter eggs, coming in the top five across eight categories, including dark eggs, milk eggs, vegan eggs and children’s eggs.

In picking the winners, each product was blind tested by a consumer panel to avoid brand bias. Testers based their rating on the items’ appearance, aroma, texture, and flavour.

The panel sampled 34 hot cross buns in total, including traditional, flavoured, and gluten-free options.

Waitrose impressed with their Golden Hot Cross buns, but their Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns took the top spot for their ‘moist’ and ‘fudgy’ texture, according to the Institute.

Discount supermarket Aldi was runner-up with their Specially Selected Hot Cross Buns, priced at £1.35 for four.

Co-op also impressed the panel with its gluten-free offering. ‘The Co-op Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns are expertly spiced with a good hit of cinnamon and ginger, alongside more unusual additions such as ground coriander,’ the results read.

Amazon Fresh worked their way into the spotlight as the best budget option, with its six Hot Cross Buns priced at £1.15 and commended for their fruity punch.

Who’s selling the tastiest hot cross buns this Easter? 

Hot cross buns

Number tested: 34

Overall winner and best flavoured

Waitrose Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

£2.50 for 4

85/100

Best classic hot cross bun

Waitrose Golden Hot Cross Buns

£2.50 for 4

84/100

Runner-up classic hot cross bun

Aldi Specially Selected Hot Cross Buns

£1.35 for 4

83/100

Best gluten free hot cross bun

Co-op’s £2.25 gluten free hot cross buns, pictured, triumphed in the free from gluten category

Co-op Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns

£2.25 for 4

83/100

Best budget hot cross bun

Amazon 6 Hot Cross Buns

£1.15 for 6

75/100

Amazon’s £1.15 ‘richly fruited’ Hot Cross Buns, pictured, won the best budget section with a score of 75/100

The £12 Cadbury Crunchie Inclusions Ultimate Egg scooped up the top prize in the milk Easter egg category, with the chocolate and honeycomb combination proving to be a hit with the taste testers.

For fans of dark chocolate, Asda’s £15 Extra Special Cocoa Noir Easter Egg should be a solid choice, having won this year’s dark egg of choice for its balanced flavours.

In the white chocolate category, Betty’s took the top spot with its playful White Chocolate Flat Easter Egg with Milk Chocolate Lamb, priced at £13.75.

Those who follow a plant-based diet need not miss out on an Easter egg this year because the panel commended an impressive range of vegan eggs, with Cutter & Squidge’s £23.99 ‘Cookie Easter Egg’ winning the category overall.

Consumers who maintain a sustainable outlook when selecting their eggs might opt for Sainsbury’s £8 Taste the Difference Belgian Chocolate Orange Egg because it scored top among panellists.

Sainsbury’s was recognised for implementing more sustainable practices when creating the egg.

Waitrose’s £5 ‘Sam on Toast’, crafted to look like a fried egg on a slice of toast, impressed critics in the children’s eggs category and came top place.

What are the best chocolate eggs to try this Easter? 

Easter eggs

Number tested: 68

Milk Chocolate Easter eggs

Best milk chocolate

Cadbury Ultimate Crunchie Inclusion Egg

£12 for 396g

85/100

Joint runner up and best value

ASDA Extra Special Extra Thick Fruit & Hazelnut Milk Chocolate Egg

£8 for 400g

84/100

Joint runner up

Quality Street Golden Collection Incredible Egg

£12 for 495g

84/100

Quality Street’s Golden Collection Incredible Egg, pictured, was the joint runner up in the best milk chocolate egg category

White Easter eggs

Best white chocolate

Betty’s White Chocolate Flat Easter Egg with Milk Chocolate Lamb

£13.75 for 130g

85/100

Runner up

Harvey Nichols Honeycomb & Biscuit Blonde Chocolate Easter Egg with Blonde Ganache Truffles

£34 for 300g

82/100

Harvey Nichols’ Honeycomb & Biscuit Blonde Chocolate Easter Egg with Blonde Ganache Truffles came second place in the white chocolate category

Best value

ASDA Extra Special Extra Thick Raspberry & Marshmallow White Chocolate Egg

£8 for 400g

81/100

Dark chocolate Easter eggs

Best dark chocolate Easter egg

ASDA Extra Special Cocoa Noir Easter Egg

£15 for 350g

85/100

Runner up

Waitrose Hidden Truffles Dark Chocolate Easter Egg

£12 for 215g

84/100

Best budget

Aldi Specially Selected Dark Ripple Egg with Rich Coffee & Cocoa nibs

£4.99 for 200g

73/100

Best vegan Easter egg

Cutter & Squidge Cookies & Cream Vegan Easter Egg

£22.99 for 500g

84/100

Cutter & Squidge’s Cookies & Cream Vegan Easter Egg, pictured, was voted the best plant-based Easter egg

Best Easter egg for children

Waitrose Sam on Toast

£5 for 78g

79/100

Waitrose’s £5 Sam on Toast, pictured, was voted the best choice of Easter chocolate for children this year

Sustainable Easter eggs

Winner and best budget

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Belgian Chocolate Orange Egg

£8 for 230g

81/100

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Belgian Chocolate Orange Egg, pictured, was voted the best egg in the sustainable category

Most sustainable

Tony’s Chocolonely Chunky Egg – Caramel Sea Salt

78/100

£10.10

Competition was tight when it came to Easter Sunday dinner components, but Co-op managed to secure the top spot for meat centrepieces with the £15 Irresistible Hereford Beef Joint’.

Asda’s Chicken Crown with Leek Pancetta Stuffing was awarded the best budget meat centrepiece, priced at £6.50.

Competition was tight for fish centrepieces, causing a tie between Aldi’s The Fishmonger Boneless Side of Salmon and Duke’s Hill Dressed Side of Oak Smoked Salmon.

For vegetarians and vegans, COOK’s Roasted Pepper and Goat’s Cheese Quiche was 2024’s best vegetarian main, while Asda’s OMV! Deliciously Vegan Mushroom Wellington came out top in the plant-based category.

Finally, the panellists tested roast potatoes, and this year, the Tesco Finest Maris Piper Goose Fat potatoes, priced at £3, were the overall winner.

Callum Black, Food & Drink Testing Manager at the Good Housekeeping Institute said: ‘We’ve been hard at work since December tasting the most innovative and high-quality products on the market to ensure there’s something for everyone this Easter.

‘In our 100th year of testing, it’s great to see our results capturing consumers’ love of the classics.

‘Our winning products showcase the flavours of Easter: hot cross buns jammed packed with chocolate, affordable roasts, and to top it all off, Cadburys securing the winning spot in milk Easter eggs. It’s clear that tradition and nostalgia are top of mind this Easter.’

Where can you get the best ingredients for your Easter roast? 

Meat centrepieces

Number tested: 27

Best overall

Co-op Irresistible Hereford Beef Joint

£15 for approx. 1kg

87/100

Runner up

Waitrose WR British Whole Leg of Lamb

£27.99 for approx. 1.8 kg

86/100

Best budget

ASDA Chicken Crown with Leek & Pancetta Stuffing

£8.50 for approx. 1kg

82/100

Asda’s Chicken Crown with Leek & Pancetta Stuffing, pictured, won the prize for best budget meat centrepiece

Seafood centrepieces

Number tested: 12

Joint winner and best value

Aldi The Fishmonger Boneless Side of Salmon

£11.10 for 1kg

83/100

Joint winner

Duke’s Hill Dressed Side of Oak Smoked Salmon

£47 for 1kg

83/100

Runner up

Morrisons Counter Salmon Side

79/100

£12 for 800g

Meat-free centrepieces

Number tested- 9

Best vegetarian main

COOK Roasted Pepper and Goat’s Cheese Quiche

83/100

£21 for 1.25kg

Best vegan main

ASDA OMV! Deliciously Vegan Mushroom Wellington

74/100

£5.55 for 500g

Asda’s OMV! Deliciously Vegan Mushroom Wellington, pictured, was voted the best plant based option

Best budget

Quorn Ham Roast

72/100

£3.75 for 400g

Roast potatoes

Number tested: 12

Overall winner

Tesco Finest Maris Piper Goose Fat Roast Potatoes

£3 for 800g

88/100

Runner up

ASDA Extra Special Beef Dripping Roast Potatoes

£2.75 for 800g

87/100

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