Australian supermarket sausage rolls taste test: from ‘perfect, flaky casing’ to ‘bland’ and ‘mushy’

‘A good sausage roll is all about a flaky and crispy exterior; a soft, meaty interior; and a decent meat-to-pastry ratio,’ writes Sarah Ayoub. Photograph: Rémi Chauvin/The Guardian

With spring picnics and footy finals on the horizon, sausage rolls – one of the pinnacles of frozen celebration foods – are in order. But with up to a dozen varieties in your local supermarket freezer, it’s hard to make an informed choice.

I rounded up six friends (plus a couple of kids) with discerning frozen-food palates: people who love a sausage roll and see it as a culinary staple, whether it comes from the servo or a bakery, and parents used to baking them in a pinch for dinner or for a crowd at birthday parties.