Is there such a thing as a decent ready meal?

Like you, I was looking for healthy and easy-to-prepare ready meals. I love Indian food, so I searched for ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat options. Recently, I found the new All Purpose Korma Gravy and used it to make Meatball Korma. It was heavenly! I had it with rice, and it was so satisfying to have a full meal. It’s really easy to cook—just add 150 ml of water and your choice of boiled or sautéed chicken (or vegetables, if you prefer), and cook for 15-20 minutes. As a non-vegetarian, I used meatballs, but you can use any vegetables with the gravy. The aroma was mouth-watering, and the dish turned out amazing. I highly recommend trying their products; you can explore new flavors and experiment with different veggies.

I can recommend Donald Russell for ready meals. They are varied and delicious and generous sized portions. Delivered in ice-packed styrofoam boxes at a date of your choice. Not the cheapest but always good value.

I like to cook from scratch too but sometimes buy ready meals (particularly when I suffer from sciatica) recently I discovered steak hash from Morrison’s the Best range which is very good. Also their spinach and ricotta cannelloni is excellent(I have tried this dish from most of the major supermarkets and Morrison’s is far superior)

Potage meals are excellent, tasty meals, cooked in small batches. They are cooked from frozen, so you don't need to defrost first. Makes meal planning simple and spontaneous. Not cheap but very good quality. We always have a stock in the freezer.

I like Charlie Bigham meals. They are good sized portions and very tasty. We have ready meals a couple of times a week. I’m not much of a cook.

also Picard range through Ocado is limited but good too

Pipers Farm, Daylesford Farm , Eversfield Farm and Foremans to name but a few. All have home delivery. Formans and Cook probably have the largest range.

Dear me. Is that right GillT?
Like cheap chicken I suppose, and some are living on this stuff because they can’t afford better food.

Wiltshire Farm Foods deliver frozen meals weekly, my parents have them as they are no longer able to prep and cook for themselves. They have quite a variety to choose from. If you contact the they will send a brochure.

Tanjamaltija What you describe is how I combined my career with home cooking.

A larg cast iron casserole, a bag of frozen diced meat, enough for two meals, water, veg and seasoning. (In the days before slow cookers) shoved in the oven and the 'Delay cooking' buttons pressed. The oven came on at 3.00pm and by the time I got home from work supper was cooked, bar veg, with another day's meal to put in the freezer.

Making one-pot meals is fast. Just put (frozen) vegetables and your choice of protein in enough water to cover, and then some, bring to the boil, and then simmer until ready. I know that this does require "cooking", but if you stock up, there is no need to leave the house, and each day, lunch can be different.

Gwenisgreat1

Since my DH will not, can't cook, neither will he take me out for a meal (unless we are away from home) I do insist on at least one ready meal per week. Especially since he usually complains about my choice of what I cook - his hobby is complaining!

Blimey! Don’t you think he needs a talking to? OH and I share the cooking. When it’s my turn I cook something from scratch and make a pudding. When it’s his turn he’ll make bangers and mash, beef stew or a ready meal. We also eat out at least once a week. Give and take…

Since my DH will not, can't cook, neither will he take me out for a meal (unless we are away from home) I do insist on at least one ready meal per week. Especially since he usually complains about my choice of what I cook - his hobby is complaining!

Try asking at your local butchers or farm shop. Ours do a good range of things like cottage pie, meatballs in sauce, lasagne, etc., as well as the usual steak, chicken, minced beef pies and Cornish pasties.

@ Bignanny2 I disagree, my friends think I’m a fab cook but had a gastric bypass last year and just cannot face food anymore, yay!!

However the list is endless for lovely ready meals, Charlie Bingham is super

Try Charlie Bingham, really tasty and filling, but dearer but you pays your money and takes your choice.

Teacheranne, my friend bought some parsley box meals and found them to be 'totally inedible' - with a 'boiled to death' flavour. She added lots of chilli flakes and curry paste to disguise that awful taste, then managed to eat them with lots of fresh vegetables!

Not a ready meal but a jar of nice pesto pasta and you’re eating in about 12 mins . Add some salad leaves and some grated Parmesan . Quick , tasty and so easy . Only one saucepan too??

I know you ll all rubbish me because it’s cheap as chips but I love Asdas vegetarian tikka masala

I like these:

M&S Chicken Provencal
Charlie Bigham Fish Pie
M&S Gastro Steak and Ale Pie
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Cottage Pie
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Moussaka

I'm sure there are more I've enjoyed, can't think of them at the moment.

The simple answer to your original question is NO

Teabagwoman
The M&S ready meals are varied, tasty and good value BUT some contain too much salt; for me it's a no-no, as not good for blood pressure!

I have always cooked from scratch and I would never have imagined eating a ready meal, until my FIL refused to try the ones we had taken to him from Iceland. Rather than throw them away I decided to cook them. I was very pleasantly surprised at how tasty they were. My DH tried the steak in ale with cheese dumplings, and I tried the Prawn Alfredo pasta dish. I enjoy cooking from scratch, but I will admit to having a couple of ready meals in the freezer, just in case.....

My particular weakness is for breaded or battered fish fillets, or scampi - and now I have an air fryer it is really quick to cook these treats!

Waitrose do some ready to cook meats such as marinated or flavoured chicken breast and so on. They're really quick to cook in their foil dishes.
And all the supermarkets do those big sachets of rice, some of it flavoured. Waitrose also do sea bass fillets sandwiched either sun-dried tomato and chopped olive. Honestly would be just as quick to sandwich two fish fillets with some sort of tarpenade or spicy paste, just as quick as a ready meal.