Is it still good home cooked food if you use a jar?

[Hsundbfhdi]

We've had a pretty rubbish day here, I'm heavily pregnant and feeling rough and my husband is working crazy hours. Our childcare fell through so we've been trying to juggle a toddler too.

It's time to get dinner ready and I've popped open a jar of honey and mustard chicken tonight. Poured it over some chicken thighs. Will make pasta and peas to go with it.

Curious to know where people stand on how unhealthy it is to use jars? I've never really cared before, but now we've got a little one, I'm more conscious of the food I'm making. Growing up, my mum would use jars quite regularly e.g dolmio, curry, chicken tonight etc she'd also make amazing Mediterranean food from scratch too. It was a real mix.

Anyway, would you still consider this a healthy, home cooked meal? Do you think it's still better than a takeaway (I do)? I've started trying to make my own sauces when I've got time, but my husband and I both work full time, long hours, and trying to get something together after work and before baby bedtime is a real mission! So I'm still partial to a jar here and there.

Just curious for thoughts.

@IamaRevenant frozen onion is different. It’s a raw ingredient. A jar has additives usually.

I think if you read the back of the jar and have every single ingredient in your cupboard then it counts as home made but time saving. If you don’t have every single ingredient then it’s a quick meal but not home made.

Some jars are ok and some jars are not ok. If you are interested in healthy eating, read the book Ultra processed people. And yes I wouldn’t class this as cooking from scratch, but there are worst meals in the world. Time will become even more precious when you have the baby so planning is key. I find the air fryer and Instant pot to be life savers - fresh meat and fish along with veggies only take minutes to prepare.

Not cooked from scratch, but probably better than a ready meal and fine on occasion.
The only jarred sauce I use is pesto really. I don't use jarred pasta sauces, stir fry sauces or cook-in sauces for meat etc, mainly because they don't taste as nice, but also because homemade is healthier.

I have never used jars, it wouldn’t occur to me and I hate cooking! But it’s much healthier than an average takeaway I guess.

I only ever cook sauces from scratch and I’ve found this website a godsend for quick meals for the family. I don’t know how I came across it as it’s an Aussie lady and I’m UK based but her recipes are just so good. Hope it helps…

recipetineats.com

Im classing my leftover warmed up domino’s pizza from last night as “homecooked” as i just blasted it in the microwave……🍕

Cooking From scratch is not a big laborious task. I have just made chicken tarragon with herby potatoes and broccoli.
cooked onions in olive oil, added garlic, chicken pieces, chicken stock and a few tablespoons of low fat crème fraiche and a tablespoon of tarragon, Seasoned with salt and pepper. Chopped up potatoes, added oil and air fried. Steamed broccoli in microwave. Took 30 mins.

I agree. Chopping an onion, frying it and adding tinned tomatoes and seasoning is just dolmio but cheaper and healthier too!

Jars of sauce are loaded with salt and other stuff to make them taste good. Homemade is always healthier, as long as you don't go overboard with fat and salt.

OP just seen your pic - I don't think those ingredients are too bad for the odd meal at all. Modified maize starch I think (think! - haven't looked for a while) reduces nutrient uptake and increases a glucose spike so will lead to eating more over time. Rapeseed oil is a bit of a disputed ingredient - Zoe says it's ok overall but they're quite conservative, others say that the chemically extracted type (ie almost all of it) is inflammatory. So I avoid overall but wouldn't worry if it was once or twice a week.

Can I tell you what our 'can't be fucked' dinner is? Posh pasta (we us Rummo rigatoni) on the boil. Cook the following in quite a lot of extra virgin olive oil on a low heat; 8-10 cloves of finely chopped garlic (or 2 or 3 frozen cubes from the Asian aisle of most supermarkets) and one or two sliced red chillis with a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast (we're mainly vegan) or parmesan.

Not nearly enough protein for regular consumption but it's unbelievably delicious.

If you're not veggie you can put some prawns into the oil to heat through at the end and your mind will be blown.

The frozen garlic cubes make a real difference if you don't enjoy chopping - real fast food. You can also get frozen red and green chilli - again, revelatory.

The same basic set up (garlic, chilli, olive oil) is the beginning of tomato sauce - just start it a bit before you put the past on, and once you can smell the garlic really well add a posh tin of toms. add fresh basil or oregano, or dried italian herbs, cook for five mins, then get the pasta on. Lots of parmesan/nutritional yeast to serve. Add chopped olives and capers for a chang. Both me and DH can do these both in our sleep and it really gets us through the week.

I've found that once you work out and learn a sauce, life is so much easier. For eg, I can make a quick authentic stir fry sauce with chilli oil without thinking and that makes a noodle stir fry (cooked very very hot) a fifteen minute meal if you buy a pack of pre-chopped.

I know - was just agreeing with a PP that it's a handy short cut that makes cooking 'from scratch' a little easier 🙂

That sounds great, I am definitely going to google them, never heard of it before.

Not a home cooked meal. I wouldn't ever use a jar sauce, they are UPFs although check the labels for additives. That said, time is short and being dogmatic about it isn't helpful, so if it works for you on the odd day, do what you like. It's hardly poison. Just don't fool yourself that it's healthy.

Her recipes are excellent. They're not quick, though. The OP is heavily pregnant and working full-time. Her partner is also working full-time. They have a toddler who needs to get to bed early. They need food that can be prepared and eaten quickly after work, and which is also guaranteed to be acceptable to the little one. Some people here are not thinking of her specific circumstances at all.

I don’t use jar sauces (except pesto and curry paste) at all simply because they aren’t very nice, are more expensive and don’t really save time anyway. For example if you’re wanting to cooking the chicken in the oven, I’d just chuck in whatever veg and mix up some honey, whole grain mustard and oil and pour over (add onion chutney to make it extra nice). If wanting more of a sauce based meal it’s the same but do it on the hob and add some creme fraiche.

id never use dolmio in place of chopped toms, purée and stock cubes in a bolognese, I dont understand why you would!

Home cooked and healthy aren’t the same thing though. I am brilliant at making really unhealthy home cooked meals 😂

It’s not a take away, it still involves cooking, it’s not the healthiest, nor is it the least healthy. A midweek meal for a busy family- it’s fine.

I really wouldn’t feel guilty about using one jar. Look at your meals across a week and see how they balance, try to eat plenty of veg, don’t have too much really processed stuff.

Out of interest do you work ft?

home cooked!
yes you’ve cooked it at home!

I make chilli & curries from scratch, sweet and sour sauce is once a month from a jar poured over chicken dippers 🤣😜🫣🤪

It's totally fine, @Hsundbfhdi - you're pregnant, you're tired and everyone had dinner. I call that a win.

It's not home cooked in the same way fish fingers and oven chips with veg aren't home cooked; they are convenience food. Everyone needs convenience at some point. Personally, I love a fish finger butty.

I don't use jarred sauces because I don't like the taste of the thickeners, but that's personal preference not a purity thing. Over the years I've got very, very quick at knocking up a sauce to compensate.

In order of laziness/unhealthy food, I'd say Takeaway, Ready Meal, Convenience Food, Home Cooked from slackest to most industrious, most unhealthy to healthiest (ingredients depending).

Some days you can manage a home cooked dinner, sometimes they're lucky to get beans on toast and an apple because life is exhausting.

🤣🤣🤣 Love this!

Nara Smith would fit in well here 🤣

Honey and mustard chicken yummy
I usually make my own sauces as I have the time. But when the kids were at home and I was working full time I used jars.
Just get it down your neck and enjoy it. It won't kill you 😆

I make an (amazing) lasagna using Lloyd Grossmsn sauces. I call it assembling rather than cooking.
No it's not 'from scratch', but it's not a ready meal either.

Don't know if this classes as homemade (as the sauce Inc condiments), but I def class it as home made and its quick and tasty.
I serve it with home made (!)egg fried riceSesame chicken