Pret’s Christmas Menu Is Here (And There’s A Vegan Option)

It's the most wonderful time of the year – Pret released its 2016 Christmas menu today, and it's guaranteed to help you shake off those winter blues and get you in the mood for the festive season. The chain has brought back its classic yuletide sandwiches: the Christmas Lunch (turkey breast, cranberry and port sauce, stuffing, crispy onions and spinach), and the Veggie Christmas Lunch (roasted butternut squash, nutty pesto, rocket, yoghurt and mayo dressing and crispy onions). But the real game changer is the brand's first ever vegan Christmas option – a baguette packed with carrots, parsnip puree, crispy onions, festive chutney and toasted pistachios.

For days when you're craving warm comfort food, there's a new Christmassy macaroni cheese, too, with ham hock and brussels sprouts. There are also two festive toasties on offer – one French brie and cranberry and one ham hock and chutney. Crucially, there are three new sweet treats available to perk up your elevenses or save you from an afternoon slump – a chocolate praline cookie, Melvin the melting gingerbread snowman (an iced biscuit topped with a marshmallow snowman head), and a "muffettone" (a muffin and panettone hybrid). If you stopped by a Pret earlier this morning, you may have been among the lucky customers to nab one of 5,000 FREE specially wrapped Christmas Lunch and Veggie Christmas Lunch sandwiches.

According to reports, timings of when the free sandwiches are available will vary between stores so you may as well head to your nearest Pret this lunchtime (admittedly, it's a long shot). And if they're all gone, why not give yourself a festive treat (while helping homeless people in the process)?