The best haggis to buy: tried and tasted
Whether its for a Burns Night celebration or year-round eating, we tell you which is the best haggis to buy.
Image credit: Saga Magazine
Whether its for a Burns Night celebration or year-round eating, we tell you which is the best haggis to buy.
Haggis is meaty, spicy and crumbly and Scotland's most famous national food. It has become synonymous with Burns Night, for a supper accompanied by 'neeps and tatties' and a whisky sauce.
Traditionally made of sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onions, oatmeal, suet, salt and spices, a haggis is traditionally boiled in a sheep's stomach for around an hour.
This description may make your own stomach churn, but it's actually delicious and there are many variations available, including different meats and vegetarian versions.
So if you are celebrating Burns Night this year, or you are just curious to find out what the fuss is about, we've tasted a variety of haggis brands which are available across the UK, to find out which deserves your own 'Address to the Haggis'.
In our test we included brands of meat haggis which are available across the UK, vegetarian haggis and a gluten-free version.
Our testing panel was comprised of people who enjoy haggis and regularly attend or host Burns Night suppers.
This annual event on January 25 commemorates the death of Robert Burns, who is regarded as Scotland's national poet. After his death in 1796, his friends organised a Burns Supper in his honour and the tradition continues to this day.
Burns wrote an eight-verse poem Address to a Haggis and this is traditionally recited at a Burn's Night Supper, before a meal of haggis with neeps and tatties (mashed swede and mashed potato), which is all washed down with Scotch whisky.
Our winner is also the current holder of the Argyll Golden Haggis Award for 2024/25. Dales Traditional Butchers of Kirkby Lonsdale is the first winner from outside Scotland to lift the award two years in a row.
The Dales haggis was closely followed by our two joint runners-up, made by Macsween and Cooper Butchers.
For a vegetarian haggis you can't go wrong with the Marks and Spencer offering, and for anyone who is gluten-intolerant, Coopers Butchers also has an excellent haggis that can't be told apart from standard versions.
£5.50 nationwide delivery available
The Dales haggis needed simmering for 45 minutes. The natural casing meant it presented well for the ritual stabbing and killing of the haggis - a bonus for anyone wanting the true theatrics of Burns Night.
Testers said the texture was good, the right balance between grainy and smooth. The seasoning was good, peppery but not overly so.
It was the unanimous winner among our panel - in fact one of the team has already ordered one for their Burns Night celebration.
RRP £4 (available at most large supermarkets across the UK)
Macsween makes a great benchmark haggis which deserves its good reputation. Our testers said it had a good consistency, a peppery taste and was enjoyable to eat.
Some felt it was a little greasy and needed a little more salt. But our testers cleared their plates and all would be happy to not only eat this, but also serve it to guests.
This is the easiest to find in the shops and an excellent introduction to haggis.
RRP: £7.20 (nationwide mail order available)
The Cooper haggis is another winner - having been named the World Haggis Champion in 2023.
The haggis smelled of liver after cooking, and had a denser texture than the other two. It did lose some points for not having the wow factor of the Dales offering.
Our testers all enjoyed this haggis. It was very different to the Macsween haggis, which was lighter and spicier, this had a meatier taste with enough spice, but allowed other flavours to come through.
Our panel felt this one and the Macsween's were equal second as they were both excellent for different reasons.
"It's a real lowland haggis," one of our testers said.
RRP: £7.25 (available from Amazon and other online stores)
The Stahly Haggis is presented in a box, but inside you will discover that this haggis is tinned.
It had to be spooned out and was microwaved, with all our testers looking at the cooked dish suspiciously.
"It's actually not bad," was the first comment.
And it wasn't. The texture was about right, it wasn't as well seasoned as our higher ranking haggis and was a fraction dry. But everyone agreed it was tasty and enjoyed it.
Maybe not one for a big Burns Night celebration, but easy to order across the UK and still tasty.
RRP: £1.75 (available in supermarkets and online)
The Grant haggis is another tinned variety, but this had a darker denser consistency to the Stahly offering.
It was microwaved and smelt like liver (although it is actually made from lambs' lobes, which are parts of the lungs).
"Ooh it's offal," said our Scottish panellist. She wasn't joking. This wasn't popular. Our testers found this too reminiscent of liver for them, and a bit sloppy. It also needed more seasoning.
For those in search of a haggis with more of an 'offal' taste then this is worth a try, but may not make the best introduction to haggis for others.
Haggis exports are worth £8.8million going to 20 different countries including the Republic of Ireland, France, Spain, Hong Kong, Cyprus and Germany.
The import of Haggis into the USA has been banned since 1971 after authorities ruled food containing offal (sheep lung) was unfit for human consumption. Macsween is currently developing a new haggis for the US market which will hopefully be ready for Burns Night 2025.
RRP £3.75 (available M&S, Ocado)
"It does look a bit like a smashed up nut roast," one of panel observed. "But it's a very nice vegetarian dish."
You can see the lentils and other grains in this vegetarian haggis. Testers agreed that it had a nice texture of oats and other pulses. The spicing was good and it had a nice taste.
It was the vegetarian winner and although comments were that it really wasn't a haggis, our team members would all be happy to serve this to vegetarian guests for a Burns Night celebration.
RRP: £7.25 (Available online)
The Stahly vegetarian haggis was another tinned version. This had a lighter colour than other offerings and didn't have a lot of smell.
"Oh no," one of our testers said. "It coats the roof of your mouth."
In fact no one in our panel liked this haggis. They felt it had nothing to it, not enough seasoning or spice and wasn't a patch on the M&S offering.
One to avoid.
RRP: £4.20 (mail order available)
Gluten-free offerings can often be poor substitutes for standard products. But these haggis slices weren't at all bad.
Our panel felt after cooking the haggis had a softer texture than normal. It was peppery but perhaps a bit dry.
However it was better than any of the tinned standard haggis, and wasn't far behind our front-runners.
Fancy trying haggis but don't want to go for the full Burns Night meal? How about trying haggis with a twist?
Our tasters sampled Cooper's Haggis Pakoras which were a huge hit with younger testers and even won over the purists.
"These with chips and curry sauce would be a great meal," one commented. They may not be traditional but were declared authentic.
"This is so typical of us Scots," said one of our panelists.
For those looking for other unusual offerings you can also find haggis bonbons, burritos and twists to eat at home.
If you fancy eating out but want something different, then chain Yo! Sushi is offering haggis and prosciutto sushi rolls, Teriyaki haggis nigiri and haggis Katsu curry at six of its restaurants around Burns Night.
A big thanks to Goytre Hall for hosting our tasting session.
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