The budget Christmas pudding so good it converted haters

Love it or hate it, Christmas pudding is going to be on your dinner table when you sit down for your festive celebration.

And that's all well and good for those who love traditional fruit mince desserts, but for those who cannot stand them – and those who cannot stand them – that can present a problem.

Aldi, however, has a solution.

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Returning to Australian stores for the festive season is the budget supermarket giant's 2022 Canstar Blue award-winning pudding range.

Yes, that does include the chain's fruit pudding, but that fruit-based sweet treat isn't the only item on the menu – its Kringle & Co-branded pudding offerings also extend to non-fruit-based treats.

The proof is very much in the pudding, and after a very official 9Honey Kitchen taste test, we found a Christmas pudding so tasty that it changed the mind of staunch Christmas pudding haters.

The catch? The most beloved Aldi Christmas pudding isn't the chain's Plum Pudding.

Rather, it was a battle between the Plum Pudding's hipster cousins – Chocolate Pudding and Salted Caramel Pudding.

"I have never once in my life enjoyed Christmas pudding on Christmas Day, but you'd buy a two pack to share with your partner as an at-home Christmas treat," one taste tester said of Aldi's Chocolate Pudding, which has a texture that many taste testers highlighted was a call back to lava cake.

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"The sauce soaks into the cake, which is really nice," another taste tester said of the "decadent" dessert, which was also described as a "chocolate-lover's dream".

Ultimately, however, it was Aldi's Salted Caramel Pudding that emerged victorious.

"A refreshing alternative to traditional Christmas cake," is what one taste tester said of the sweet and savoury dessert.

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"Went back for seconds, I'd eat a whole one for dessert," another commented.

Even those who not only don't like Christmas pudding, but caramel as well, were converted.

As one taste tester put it: "As someone who doesn't like caramel (but does have a massive sweet tooth), I quite like it."

Best Aldi Christmas puddings, ranked by taste

1. Salted Caramel Pudding – $7.49 (500g)
2. Chocolate Pudding – $7.49 (500g)
3. Plum Pudding – $5.29 (700g)

Does this Very Important Research change your mind about eating Christmas pudding? What would you like us to investigate next?

Contact Bronte Gossling at bgossling@nine.com.au.