Supermarket Puff Pastry Showdown: Which Brands Rise to the Occasion?
Puff pastry is a culinary marvel, crafted by layering fat between dough through meticulous rolling and folding. While homemade versions require skill and effort, ready-rolled supermarket options offer convenience for baking pastries, vol-au-vents, and tarts. In this review, we tested multiple brands by baking small rectangles at 180-200°C for 10-15 minutes, evaluating rise height, lamination, texture, flavour, ingredients, and value.
Most pastries had a neutral flavour, indicative of ultra-processing, but a few stood out with natural sweetness and nutty notes. Texture varied widely, with ingredients ranging from simple flour, butter, milk, and salt to palm oil, additives, preservatives, emulsifiers, flavourings, and colourings.
The Top Picks: Best in Class
Best Overall: M&S Handcrafted All Butter Puff Pastry
Priced at £3 for 320g (94p/100g), this pastry earned four stars. It formed a uniform, golden-brown pillow with a 16mm depth and excellent lamination. The texture was softer and more croissant-like than others, boasting a rich buttery flavour. Its clean recipe includes flour, butter, water, white-wine vinegar, and salt, making it a confident, well-made choice.
Best Bargain: Ready, Set … Cook! Ready Rolled Puff Pastry
Available at Aldi for £1.09 for 320g (34p/100g), this three-star option rose impressively to 28mm high. It featured nicely open lamination and an even, golden-brown bake, with a crisp, flaky texture and neutral flavour. Despite containing palm oil, ethanol, and emulsifier, it offers remarkable height for the price.
Honourable Mentions and Disappointments
Dorset Pastry Puff Pastry
Costing £5.10 for 325g (£1.57/100g), this four-star pastry had an uneven but impressive 25mm rise with good layer separation and a buttery flavour. It was flaky with solid structure and a simple ingredients list (flour, butter, yeast, egg, salt). Though it closely resembles homemade, its premium price places it just behind the best overall.
Co-op Puff Pastry
Priced at £1.65 for 320g (52p/100g), this three-star pastry was a 14mm golden-brown pillow with well-laminated, delicate layers and a sweet, nutty flavour. Made with margarine (palm oil), emulsifier, and ethanol, it delivers good flavour despite its ingredients.
Tesco Finest Ready Rolled All Butter Puff Pastry
At £2.50 for 320g (78p/100g), this three-star option was a crunchy, blistered, golden-brown 18mm pillow with clearly separated layers. It had a sweet, neutral flavour but a slightly greasy aftertaste, and includes a preservative in its relatively simple formula.
Asda Ready Rolled Puff Pastry
Costing £1.20 for 320g (38p/100g), this three-star pastry had an even 25mm rise with open layering and a blistered, golden-brown top. It was crunchy with some bite and a neutral flavour, containing palm oil, emulsifier, and preservative, making it solid and reliable.
Lidl Chef Select Puff Pastry
Priced at £1.25 for 375g (34p/100g), this two-star pastry had a decent 25mm rise and good layering that browned nicely. It was crisp, crunchy, and flaky but left a greasy mouthfeel with a mildly sweet flavour. Made with palm fat, alcohol, and starch, it offers good structure but disappointing flavour.
Morrisons Ready Roll Puff Pastry
At £1.35 for 320g (42p/100g), this two-star pastry was golden brown and crinkly, with less obvious layer separation along the edges but good internal lamination. It was very flaky with a sweet, neutral flavour, made with palm oil, emulsifier, preservative, and flavouring, rendering it satisfactory but unappetising.
Sainsbury’s Sheet Puff Pastry
Costing £1.35 for 320g (42p/100g), this two-star pastry formed an even 20mm pillow with a smooth, golden-brown surface. It was extra-flaky outside but firm in the middle—a sign of overworked pastry—with a neutral flavour. Ingredients include palm oil, emulsifier, preservative, and flavouring, leading to satisfactory lamination but disappointing texture.
Jus-Rol Ready Rolled Puffy Pastry Sheet
Priced at £1.75 for 320g (55p/100g) at Morrisons or £1.90 (59p/100g) at Tesco, this one-star pastry was an unimpressive, crinkly 13mm puff with an uneven appearance and greasy flavour. It had thick, tough layers from overworked pastry and contains palm oil, alcohol, emulsifier, and flavouring, making it a disappointing choice.
