How big are ready meal portions these days?!

[IntoValhalla]

So firstly, I’m being lazy and having a ready meal lasagne because today has been a mad rush and I simply can’t be arsed to cook.
Anyone else really surprised at just how massive the portions are in supermarket ready meals?! I’ve got a lasagne for one and it’s huge
I know it’s not a healthy option by any means - pretty much everything was red on the little “traffic light system” nutritional info label, but I’m surprised that at this size it’s labelled “serves one” and I’m someone with a...let’s say “healthy” appetite!

Completely depends on the ready meal. Some are really small. A standard lasagne for 1 that I can recall recently hasn’t been big, no. Where was it from? How much did it weigh?

That is one of the reasons for the obesity crisis

Passthecherrycoke it’s from Asda - I’ve put the packaging in the bin now, so I’m not sure of the weight, but I did take a picture of it before I got stuck in so I could show DH just how much of a beast it was!

Just checked the website and it says 400g - which does seem a lot for one person, considering I use a 500g pack of beef mince to make a lasagne for 4 people

That's tiny.... My portion sizes are big but I cook from scratch so it's not unhealthy.

Yes 375g-400g seems normal just checked my own shopping app. I don’t think it’s big particularly tbh- your appetite obviously isn’t as big as you think!

Hard to tell from the picture op. Maybe an object of reference to compare size

Moomin I’ve eaten half of it now

Mrshormonal neither is a ready meal, you just check the ingredients before you buy. Most will be made from the same things you make yours with

Is that the Extra Special beef and pancetta one? Seems to be 400g

dementedpixie yes it is! It’s delicious - one of the nicest ready meals I’ve ever had!

I've always thought ready meal portions are really small.

There's normally about 600 kcal in a ready meal lasagne, seems a smallish portion to me of lasagne! There's 475 in an asda one, you can't really have less.

My teenagers would eat a 450g lasagne easily, and they'd expect something with it - usually chips, or garlic bread, and salad.

And they'd still be looking hungry an hour later.

There's only a tiny amount of meat in them, it's all pasta and sauce.

I've never found a ready meal that I'd consider filling all on it's own.

That looks like a normal size portion for me. If I have been at work all day I would need that for dinner or would still be hungry.

I guess the question, rather than how ‘big’ it is, is how many calories are in it. That would give us a better clue about whether it was unyreasonable or likely to lead to obesity.

Off I got to fish the cardboard bit out of the recycle box to investigate calorie content....

And the answer is 654 - a third of recommended intake. Since most people’s main meal is more calorific than the other two, I’d say that was about right and not huge. Add a salad for health and don’t do it too often and it isn’t going to cause any problems.

654kcal - probably down to the meat, pancetta , pasta and cheese

I definitely attached a pic there.

Damn, it’s showing now!

I see both pictures

Fuck a duck
There’s 654cal, 26g of fat, 12g of that is saturated fat (60% of an adult’s daily recommendation!), 9.4g of sugar and 2.4g of salt
It’s really yummy though...

Is that you Mum?

She'd have that split over 3 nights worth of dinners and claimed she's stuffed

Maybe I'm in the minority but I like large portions because I like to cut them in half and eat them the next day for lunch so I save money as well as time.

I find most ready meal portions too small! And I’m size 8 at 5’8” so don’t (think I) eat too much.