Cheap but tasty ready meals for family.

[StopInhalingRevels]

I'm ill. Not serious, but COVID, throat infection, ulcer, really run down and essentially can't function to any useful degree. Weak.

Last week, spent an awful lot of money on terrible takeaways (me, DH, 3DC, one teen). I can't bring myself to spend that much on utter crap food again. Budget is less of the issue, quality is. We live very rurally, so slim pickings on the takeaway front.

DH is doing all the school runs, housework, laundry etc. He's no good in the kitchen and frankly hasn't got the energy either after a full days work, and 100% of child/household stuff at the mo, before the inevitable "where's DH in all this" starts.

Usually we're a cook from scratch family. We've had a couple of supposedly nicer ready meals before and found them poor. (I'm looking at you Charlie Bigham and "Cook".) So was wondering if anyone could point out a particular supermarket range/shop where DH could go and get up to a week's worth of large sized family ready meals that are genuinely nice? Cheap would be fabulous. Although appreciate that might be a bit of a stretch to be family sized, tasty and cheap.

All types of food welcome, except overtly spicy due to small DC. Thank you x

If you're used to cooking from scratch, then I'd think that any cheap ready meals aren't likely to taste as nice as what you're used to. So I'd ask him to pick up thjngs like pizza, pasta and sauces etc that are quick to heat, require no prep, and are likely to taste OK.

Never found any good ones

Simple ro cool might be the way to go

Fish fingers butties and frozen peas

Microwave jackets grated cheese or tuna and a bag of salad

I tend to go for things like tuna pasta bake or spinach and ricotta cannelloni if I ever pick up a ready meal. Lidl or M&S.

Chilled soup with baguette and cheese, frozen vegetables, fresh fruit.

Would DH stretch to porridge for breakfast?

Things on toast - beans, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms.

Jacket potatoes with toppings - beans, cheese, tuna mayo, egg mayo, coleslaw.

Sandwiches with cucumber, pepper, carrot sticks.

Good quality soups, such as Covent Garden, with bread, toast or a sandwich.

Better, nicer and cheaper than ready meals.

@greencartbluecart yeah frozen jackets are very good

Aldi fish pie is pretty good ( the five pound something one). I never know where the meat comes from in ready meals,I wonder how good quality the mince is, but can't really go wrong with fish.

I would get some of the filled tortelloni with tomato and mascapone sauce from the fridge aisle at the supermarket.

Pizzas.

Things like quiche with a selection of salads.

Part baked baguettes, cheese, chutney and pate.

Frittatas that just need heating up.

All of these I find a lot nicer than the standard microwave style ready meals.

Although I won't hear a bad word said against COOK's vegetarian lasagne or thai green curry. Both delicious.

Breakfasts are ok. Mainly cereal and croissant type stuff. DH can do scramble so they've had that a couple of times on breakfast muffins.

Lunches have been fine. DC want "picnic lunch" which means plonking them on the lawn with sandwiches and fruits.

Pasta bakes would be fine. I think it's the expectation Vs reality that's the issue, and you're not expecting great things of a pasta bake so it can be pleasantly surprising. It's when we spend £50 or so in Cook as a treat, and it turns out to be pants.

M&S is a bit of a drive for us, but not impossible for him to go once as a stock up. I'll have a look at the online selection, thank you. We're not a postcode that delivers too, so he will have to go in person.

If you picked up a large stew/casserole meal, packet mash is one of my favourites to go with it!

It's only a few days, hopefully you'll get some energy back.

Might be better off getting specific things from a few shops.

Iceland does lots of flavours of chicken skewers and they seem decent quality

I like some items from Picard but they are only sold by Ocado - the Turkey escalopes are nice and the Gnocchi mix.

Got a spicy Spatchcock chicken from Sains the other week and it was about £5.50 and had a lot of meat off it.

big family pies could work if you can find good quality ones. I like Thorner's pies but again they're from ocado. Tried some cheap ones from Morrisons recently and they were diabolical.

I can only dream that ocado will one day delivery to us...

You can cook salmon in the microwave really quickly, you just have to check it every 30, seconds, I just put butter and lemon and herbs and cover. Cook for about 3 mins. Then you can have microwave rice and salad, with tzatziki or salsa? Bighams are the best ready meals, and the only decent ones are the moussaka and fish pie, which are just Ok.

Frozen jackets ? Never heard of them!

I like the curry(butter chicken, tikka masala, korma) fresh ready meals. I work in a large coop and sometimes have them for lunch at work or occasionally get them if hubby isnt well(hes got health issues). Live in rural wales where we dont have take away deliveries or Ocado.

Frozen mash, steam bag veg, instant gravy and sausages done in the oven or air fryer.
Cheese, beans and egg on toast.
Baked spuds nuked first, then air fried or oven baked to crisp up.
Jar of pasta bake sauce. I bung in frozen peppers and onions too.
Cheese, crackers, ham, sliced peppers, carrot batons and stuff to dip them in
One beige tea won't kill them, so oven chips, nuggets with peas or beans
Chicken korma using frozen or refrigerated diced chicken and a jar of sauce. Microwavable rice pouches.
Toasties

I wouldn’t bother with the more substantial ready meals (casseroles curries etc) since it’s warm and they are more hit and miss too

I’d go for

Stuffed pasta
Quiche
Pizza
Pre made soups and garlic bread
Frozen or pre prepped veg for speed
Falafel, hummus
Deli stuff- ham, salami, cheese, salad, smoked salmon, bread
Jar curry sauce - the Meridian Korma is not bad and child friendly

If you were unimpressed with Charlie Bigham I don’t think you’ll like the average supermarket ready meal

I think Charlie Bingham is the best except for independent delis/caterers. If you've disliked the vegetarian shepherds pie or pancetta macaroni cheese just know all the others are much better! I really dislike though two.

Otherwise, I would get fresh ravioli (like Rana), jarred sauce with no added sugar (like Mr. Organic), and frozen mixed green veg. The Waitrose sourdough pizzas that are rectangular and some green salad is a good option too.

We do like the Waitrose king prawn pizza.

I can't remember which Bighams we've had...one was a curry thing and was overly artificial and grim.

Aldi curries are quite nice, so will have a look for the fish pie too. There's an Aldi and a Waitrose within 5 mins of us.

If you have a Waitrose they do these frozen rice meals - one is a paella, one is has peas and they just go in a frying pan for 5 mins.

We do ravioli and ready made sauce too - takes 10 mins.

Jacket potatoes are a good shout.

Pre marinated chicken (or one of those rotisserie chickens you can just grab) and prepared salads - like coleslaw, beetroot, rice/noodle salads etc.

Fish and chips - fresh dusted fish if you can get it from M&S then just frozen chips and peas.

Stir fry deal - think it's about £8 for a protein, noodles and sauce although you may need two sets.

Frittata with any veg etc you've got in the fridge works too.

Those microwave new potatoes in garlic butter, microwave/steamed veg packs and a salmon fillet chucked in the oven takes 15 mins.

Frozen/fresh pizza with a prepared salad.

Hot dogs (M&S posh dogs are nice) just bung in the oven and get their posh dog brioche rolls. Serve with frozen chips and sweetcorn.

M&S and Waitrose both have their BBQ ranges in too which you can just bung in the oven instead.

All nicer than ready meals and take almost no effort.

We don’t do a lot of ready meals, but the following are ok:
filled pasta / tortellini
fresh pasta with fresh sauce pot
quiche and salad
those stir fry deals with sauce, pre chopped veg bags, noodles and protein.

In your position I’d get a Hello Fresh box or similar, toggle your choices to ‘quick cook’ options. If you’re a new joiner you will get a discount which makes them a fair bit cheaper than takeaways.

The instructions are really simple and they are better than ready meals for nutrition.

I know you said you were disappointed with COOK but, as someone who normally cooks from scratch, I have enjoyed the COOK meals I have ordered for holiday cottages. I think their lasagne and fish pie are good, for example.

Pasta bake type family sized ready meals are usually Ok, it's not fine dining but tasty, filling and easy.

I'd pick up Mac n. Cheese or a lasagna and a bagged salad for one night

If stopping at a shop on the way home is an option, then a rotisserie chicken, a French baguette and ready made salad makes a quick and tasty meal.

Waitrose do a range of ready marinated meats/fish on three for £12 which come in foil trays that you just throw in the oven. That with a French stick and bag of salad.
Waitrose fish cakes are also great with a pouch of microwave veg
Fresh pasta with bousin stirred through

I have nothing useful to contribute but I've had Charlie Bigham Thai meals and they were lovely! Not too spicy but tasty. And we all adored the Cook stuff we had sent to us when I was ill, but maybe I was just so grateful to my lovely friends for it.?! The carbonara bake thing with bacon was fab.

When I had covid (very badly, my sister came round in the end and found me face down on the floor in my bedroom 😳) my 3 were 5/9/11 and had made themselves a lot of toast and eaten every piece of fruit and crisp available for 2 days... they'll survive!