Lucy Roxburgh
From snacking on chocolate Easter eggs to hot cross buns for breakfast, the Easter period is packed with delicious treats. Which is why we launched the BBC Good Food Easter Taste Awards 2024, designed to find the very best supermarket buns, chocolate eggs, Easter desserts and simnel cakes for you to enjoy. We also tested Easter lunch main courses, bringing you our top picks for centrepieces for a special Easter lunch.
We invited nine supermarkets to submit their best Easter treats across 15 categories. Packaging was removed and judges tasted all items blind. Comments and a score out of 10 were submitted for each product in the category via anonymous online judging forms. The entire judging process was overseen by an independent adjudicator.
This year, the team tested more than 100 different products to find favourites in each category. As well as the winners you see here, the Good Food judging panel also awarded ‘highly commended’ status to high-scoring products that deserved recognition. You can find them on the individual Easter eggs results and hot cross buns results pages.
Please note that some of these products are only available to buy in-store and not online.
The best supermarket chocolate Easter eggs 2024
For the full list of winning eggs, including highly commended products, visit our best Easter eggs results page.
Best milk chocolate egg
Winner: Sainsbury’s Belgian Honeycomb Corn Crunch Giant Easter egg
Judges loved the unique flavour of this luxurious egg. Aiming to recreate a nostalgic cornflake cake, this has a moreish balance of sweet and salty. The chocolate is studded with nuggets of honeycomb and crunchy roasted corn.
Available from:
Sainsbury’s (£8)
Best dark chocolate egg
Winner: Morrisons The Best dark chocolate Himalayan sea salt Easter egg
A good dark chocolate for an Easter egg, this has a really smooth texture, subtle balanced bitterness and hint of salt.
Available from:
Morrisons (£5)
Best white chocolate egg
Winner: Waitrose The Cracking Pistachio egg
Judges loved the unique design of this egg, shaped to look like a giant pistachio nut. The winning element is the ultra creamy blonde chocolate ‘shell’ which was incredibly moreish – but it is worth noting that the green pistachio inner has quite a weak pistachio flavour despite the vibrant colour.
Available from:
Waitrose (£14)
Best vegan egg
Winner: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Free From Extra Thick Rocky Road Easter Egg
This chocolate has a good thickness, studded with crunchy biscuit pieces and fluffy marshmallows to add interest. The chocolate is sweet and has a simple ridged design on the outside.
Available from:
Sainsbury’s (£8)
Best children’s egg
Joint winner: by Sainsbury’s Choc-a-lot Bunny Box
This box of goodies contains everything you need to throw an Easter egg hunt – large and small eggs, plus chocolate lollipops, too. The box is a fun concept with games on the packaging and a guide to making an Easter bunny costume from the box.
Available from:
Sainsbury’s (£6.50)
Joint winner: ASDA Belgian white chocolate Charli the Chick
Kids will love this sweet white chocolate egg with a cute chick design. The white chocolate is impressive quality – rich, creamy and sweet. A great gift.
Available from:
Asda (£4.50)
Best miniature eggs
Winner: M&S Collection Swiss mini eggs
These smart foil-wrapped milk chocolate eggs have a soft hazelnut centre, for a distinctly grown-up treat.
Available from:
M&S, £3.50
Best chocolate bunny
Joint winner: M&S Nibbles the Bunny
This adorable design is sure to be popular with children – almost too cute to eat! The chocolate tastes a little bit darker than some others we tested, for a touch more depth of flavour.
Available from:
Ocado (£3)
Joint winner: Aldi Specially Selected milk hazelnut bunny
Easter bunnies aren’t just for kids. This hazelnut bunny has a more grown-up flavour, with lots of crunchy nuts throughout and smooth chocolate on a simplistic design.
Available from:
Aldi (£1.69)
The best supermarket hot cross buns 2024
For the full list of winning buns and cakes, including highly commended products, visit our best hot cross buns page.
Best classic hot cross buns
Winner: Aldi Specially Selected hot cross buns
These attractive hot cross buns have a shiny glaze and generous amount of fruit dispersed throughout. The raisins are plump and the dough has good squishy texture.
Available from:
Aldi (£1.35, in-store)
Best alternative hot cross buns
Winner: Waitrose Belgian chocolate hot cross buns
These have a rich chocolate flavour with big chocolate chips – a good twist on a classic hot cross bun that sweet tooths will enjoy.
Available from:
Waitrose (£2)
Best savoury hot cross buns
Winner: M&S Extremely Cheesy hot cross buns
The cheese flavour of these buns appealed to all judges, with good texture to the bread and slight chew. One of these buns would make an extremely decadent grilled cheese sandwich…
Available from:
Ocado (£2, 4-pack)
The best supermarket Easter desserts 2024
Best Easter dessert
Joint winner: Aldi Specially Selected banoffee hot cross bun pudding
Judges loved this comforting pud: crispy top, squidgy custardy centre and lots of fruit and spice from the hot cross buns. It is very indulgent and sweet.
Available from:
Aldi (£3.99, 600g. In store 26 March)
Joint winner: M&S Easter Lamb Meets Colin the Caterpillar
Who doesn’t love a Colin the Caterpillar cake? For this Easter makeover, you get two signature chocolatey cakes as Colin meets a lamb. It’s a fun Easter centrepiece that would make a great dessert if you’ve got lots of kids to feed over the Easter weekend.
Available from:
M&S (£12)
Best simnel cake
Winner: Waitrose Easter simnel cake
This classic simnel cake has a pretty design and lovely texture. The cake is generously spiced and the marzipan gives good depth of almond flavour.
Available from:
Ocado (£13, 930g)
The best Easter lunch mains 2024
Best Easter lunch centrepiece (meat/fish)
Winner: Asda Succulent cook in the bag lamb shoulder
If you want lamb at Easter, this is a super-easy pick. The ‘cook in the bag’ method keeps the meat really juicy, it is seasoned well and judges enjoyed the level of herbiness.
Available from:
Asda (in-store)
This review was last updated in February 2024. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at [email protected].
