The best supermarket product hacks for Christmas - News + Articles

Dec 16, 2025

Go a little easier on yourself this year.

Spend more time with your loved ones and less time in the kitchen this Christmas. A few strategic supermarket staples will save you minutes, and even money. Here are our favourite festive shortcuts (that actually work).

The trifle trick

Along with puds and pavs, trifles are among the holy trinity of Christmas desserts. But if you’d rather not have to heat up the oven and add the stress of making a sponge cake, using store-bought cake, like the Woolworths Madeira Cake ($3.50), allows you to spend more time and energy on your trifle’s finishing touches. Even our Food Director, Lucy Nunes, used store-bought cake in her lemon meringue pie trifle, above.

“You can also make your trifle using panettone, Swiss rolls or savoiardi (ladyfinger) biscuits,” Nunes says.

mini meringues — Floral meringues with whipped yoghurt cream and roasted strawberries.

Meringue magic

If your dessert plans have been left to the last minute, store-bought meringues like Mr. Whisk Christmas Meringues ($6.50) can be used to make cute meringue ‘kisses’ “Sandwich them together with Nutella and roll in crushed hazelnuts,” Nunes suggests.

“Or crumble them with cream and macerated strawberries to make an easy Eton Mess.” Or, for a dessert that’s literally ready in minutes, top Woolworths Meringue Nests ($5.50) with whipped cream and fresh summer fruit.

Related story: 68 merry ways with meringue for Christmas

Mince pies — The CWA’s classic fruit mince pies.

Jar stars

Fruit mince is a classic Christmas ingredient, but if you’re making it from scratch, you need to plan ahead, as the fruit, spices and alcohol need time to sit, so the flavours can meld together. If you want to whip up some mince pies right now, pick up a jar of fruit mince at the supermarket, along with some frozen shortcrust pastry.

“Add a splash of brandy to the mince, and some fresh zest to liven it up,” Nunes suggests.

If you want to make the lemon meringue trifle above and don’t have time to make your own lemon curd, try jarred, like Yackandandah Lemon Curd ($5.25). “It will still deliver the lemony tang and smooth richness you’re after,” Nunes says.

Pandoro Christmas tree stack — This pandoro Christmas tree stack is so easy, but looks impressove.

Pandoro power

You might not be familiar with pandoro, the Veronese version of panettone. Unlike panettone, it contains no dried fruit or peel, and it’s shaped like an eight-pointed star, tapering upwards. For an easy dessert that looks truly spectacular, use a pandoro to build our stunning Christmas tree stack.

Rosemary, orange and passionfruit pavlova. — Yotam Ottolenghi’s rosemary, orange and passionfruit pavlova.

Pavlova, sorted

The pavlova is an Aussie Christmas classic, but the meringue can be messy and time-consuming to prepare. It can also soften or weep on hot and humid summer days. So if you’ve run out of time to make a pav base (or your first attempt fell flat – “Don’t worry,” says Nunes, “it happens to the best of us”), a store-bought base like the Woolworths Large Pavlova Base ($7.50) is a cheap and easy way to pull together a cheat’s pav that will still impress. Just top with whipped cream and your favourite fruits and she’s good to go!

Tropical passion carafe — A tropical passionfruit batch cocktail.

Frozen finesse

While summer offers us an abundance of beautiful fresh fruits, there’s no harm in opting for frozen. Frozen berries are snap-frozen at peak ripeness, and are ideal for adding pops of colour and juicy flavour.

“I always keep some in the freezer,” says Nunes. “I usually use frozen berries for baking, and fresh for decoration.” Frozen passionfruit pulp is a favourite hack of Nunes’, and works perfectly in desserts and cocktails.

Frozen pastries are another secret weapon. A six-pack of Woolworths’ All Butter Croissants ($7.50) is the perfect brunch in a pinch.

“They’re way cheaper than buying fresh, and they’re also delicious,” Nunes says. “Plus, they smell so good when they’re baking.”

Chicken, gruyere and paprika vol-au-vents — Chicken, Gruyere and paprika vol-au-vents.

Retro rerun

Is this the ’80s calling? No, the store-bought vol-au- vent pastry case remains the ultimate easy-but-elegant entertaining hack to this day. And everyone loves a retro throwback, right? But think beyond chicken and mushroom for the filling. Nunes suggest prawns or scallops with bechamel and tarragon or chives.

Turkey breast roulade with cranberry stuffing — Danielle Alvarez’s turkey breast roulade with cranberry stuffing.

Roll with it

If you’d like to serve the traditional turkey this Christmas, but don’t have the time (or oven space) for roasting a whole bird, a pre-rolled, de-boned turkey breast is the solution you’re looking for. You can find them at supermarkets and butchers, either plain, wrapped in prosciutto or bacon, or stuffed with traditional herbed stuffing or festive ingredients like cranberry and chestnut.

We’re loving this cute Christmas tree pavlova.

A cracking good idea

Save time on separating eggs (and worrying what to do with all those egg yolks) and make your pavlova with packaged egg whites like Sunny Queen 100% Egg Whites ($9.50).

“As they’ve been pasteurised, they will take longer to whip and will deliver slightly less volume,” Nunes says. “It’s best to use a stand mixer, and be sure to add a stabiliser, like cream of tartar or lemon juice – about a quarter teaspoon per 100g egg whites – to help them whip to firm peaks.”