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Ready meals - any favourites?

(155 Posts)
Witzend Tue 12-Oct-21 11:17:32

We rarely have them, but after a week of childcare help while dd is away for work, I picked up a couple on the (final) way home yesterday. M&S big Yorkshire puds with sliced beef, gravy and potatoes inside. I’d usually go for something SE Asian but we really enjoyed them, with cabbage and carrots which were in the fridge anyway.

In the past dh has really enjoyed a Waitrose Nasi Goreng - he got hooked on it during a year based in Jakarta.

Any absolute favourites? No sniffy comments, please, I do virtually always cook from scratch!

HunnyBunny Wed 13-Oct-21 11:38:01

I like lamb rogan josh from M&S. Good chunks of lamb and no fat or gristle, nice sauce. Can’t beat it!

kwest Wed 13-Oct-21 11:46:15

Charlie Bigham meals are delicious. Probably about £2.00 more than top end other supermarket meals for two. ( around £7-8) Much cheaper than eating out and good quality. Look his site up and there is a range of stockists. We used Waitrose but apparently other supermarkets have them too.

Omasweetie Wed 13-Oct-21 11:47:47

I really like M&S Haggis neeps and tatties absolutely delicious.

Or now and again Aldi macaroni cheese, the frozen one it is better than the chilled one. It’s very tasty.

Teacheranne Wed 13-Oct-21 11:53:20

henetha

Thank you teacheranne. I hadn't thought about a kitchen stool, but will now. It's a great idea. Sometimes I put the veg and a saucepan and knife etc on a tray and sit on the sofa to prepare veg.

I’m lucky in that I have room for a table in my kitchen but my stool is handy when my knees are too painful to carry food preparation items from fridge or cupboards to the table.

Make sure you buy one with a ledge or rung to pop your feet on, I find it uncomfortable to dangle my legs which won’t reach the floor from a high stool.

rowyn Wed 13-Oct-21 12:07:19

Not keen on many ready meals - M&S always disappoint me - always rather bland.
However Waitrose do a chicken, leek and potato ready meal for one, which I do like and usually have in the freezer on standby!

Lulubelle500 Wed 13-Oct-21 12:09:49

I've got some in the freezer too. DH likes some of M&S Chinese range, I think because I can cook most things - I used to ask for recipes from the restaurants we went to most often back in the day- but Chinese food defeats me, and Vietnamese does too. I don't eat ready meals because there is always too much garlic, which I think is a favouring not a main ingredient, so I have soup that day.

Yangste1007 Wed 13-Oct-21 12:18:20

Charlie Bigham especially the pastry top pies in the ceramic bowls. Not the ones with the pastry all round. I freeze them (usually forgetting what they are). We reuse the bowls for our dog's food in the fridge. Also I quite like some of the Cook range.

Bazza Wed 13-Oct-21 12:32:35

Another vote for Charlie Bingham, although I have to say Sainsbury’s taste the difference fish pie is superior.

Lesley60 Wed 13-Oct-21 12:32:41

Depends what sort of food you like but I really like Iceland Luxury chicken tikka massala and steak ragu

Annaram1 Wed 13-Oct-21 12:35:55

Here's another vote for Parsley Box.

FannyCornforth Wed 13-Oct-21 12:43:25

Annaram you’re the first to vote for Parsley Box!

POBCOB Wed 13-Oct-21 12:56:29

Trying to loose weight at the moment so low calorie ready meals are perfect with added vegetables to bulk up. Saves from having to work out calorie counts for every meal and is working well as already lost 11 lbs.

polly123 Wed 13-Oct-21 12:57:45

M&S do a lovely lemon chicken in their Chinese range, lovely sauce and delicious chicken in a light batter.

Gabrielle56 Wed 13-Oct-21 13:16:40

Aldi specially selected curries! Chilled not frozen fresh coriander leaves garnish, authentic and just delish! Very generous portions with prime meat where included. These are authentically produced by an Asian /Indian owned company from top quality Ingredients. We prefer to our very good local takeaway if only for the excellent price! I prepare my own rice and a meal for the 2 of us is about £7.

Gabrielle56 Wed 13-Oct-21 13:19:15

Charlie Bingham? Never heard of him....

ReadyMeals Wed 13-Oct-21 13:24:00

Was this question directed at me? ;)

Jaxie Wed 13-Oct-21 13:45:53

Cook, ( the firm) deliver some delicious frozen meals, never school dinnery from a large range. They are very pleasant people to deal with.

Petalpop Wed 13-Oct-21 13:48:55

I am a vegetarian and my options are limited and those that are on offer are usually smothered in cheese sauce. If we fancy a none cooking evening we use our local favourite Indian restaurant/takeaway who do lovely veggie takeaway meals.

1summer Wed 13-Oct-21 13:50:08

We rarely eat ready meals but if we do it is usually M&S or Charlie Bigham ( love the fish pie). They are more expensive but the quality shows and if it is occasionally thats ok.

twiglet77 Wed 13-Oct-21 14:01:37

I love a Pukka steak pie, perfect pastry and exactly the right amount of filling. Waitrose sell the far more expensive Pieminster pies (I hate their pastry), Charlie Bigham's (ditto), and their own brand pies (too little filling, pastry not seasoned enough), but I've never been disappointed with Pukka pies.

GrammaH Wed 13-Oct-21 14:05:57

Love Charlie Bigham's beef stroganoff! We had a very late arrangement when friends decided they'd like to come to us for supper last night. I had a really busy day & neither time nor inclination to cook something so I visited one of the local Co Ops which has 4 freezers of the COOK range. I'd been meaning to give them a whirl for some time & bought the fish pie for last night & a cottage pie for DH & I to enjoy on Saturday. I came clean to the guests about the fish pie & we all agreed it was very good indeed. If the cottage pie is as good, I can see myself buying online from Cook & filling the freezer!!

soldiersailor Wed 13-Oct-21 15:05:09

Living in France, where nobody who likes curries would EVER visit an Indian restaurant, I always visit M&S when I'm in Paris to stock up on their butter chicken. And Mme SS, despite being French, adores their chicken tikka masala.
Plus you can also buy excellent dry sherry, a drink virtually unknown in France.

Twig14 Wed 13-Oct-21 15:10:29

I collected two lovely family size plate pies still warm yesterday from a local restaurant/ cafe. They are delicious and can be popped into the freezer. Extremely handy in those days when you just don’t feel like standing and cooking.

Mamma66 Wed 13-Oct-21 16:02:27

Charlie Bighams Lasagna is delicious, whenever it is on offer in Sainsbury’s I buy one. They are the nicest ready meals I have ever tasted and perfect when we have had a busy day at work

Mamma66 Wed 13-Oct-21 16:03:48

And Morrison’s vegetable pizza from the fresh counter got a very enthusiastic thumbs up from the hubby the other day (we don’t always eat ready meals - honest)