To ask the most useless "convenience" food you've ever purchased

[EveryDayIsADuvetDay]

I recently added oven chips to an online shop, not realising they weren't pre-coated with oil.
Given that I prefer skin-on fries why do they always cost more? I'd effectively bought a bag of expensive sliced up potato.
On the plus side, it has made me realise that buying oven chips is a total waste of time, particularly as I have very limited freezer space.
What's the daftest "convenience" food have you purchased before realising it's a total waste of money?

Tinned potatoes. I know people buy them, but they are absurd. I can only think that whoever of their parents that cooked had no kitchen skills and the kids inherited the idea.
Frozen veg is great really, although I still like to use fresh produce. My late uncle, who was a professional horticulturist and advised growers, told me that things like frozen peas were superb as they were harvested at exactly the right point of ripening and podded and dry frozen within hours of picking so were very fresh as compared to buying loose.

How is it easier than cooking rice in a saucepan? I bung rice in a saucepan, add correct amount of water and simmer for 15 minutes. I can't see how anything could be easier/quicker. Genuinely intrigued.

I acquired a rice cooker when I was replacing a kettle and a toaster, they had a 3 for 2 offer so I got the rice cooker.

Now I know how to cook rice in various ways having had both Chinese and Indian housemates.

The rice cooker is easier, add rice and water up to the line, switch on and leave, It switches from on to warm when the rice is cooked and will keep warm for hours.

I often put a piece of salmon and/or a cocoanut milk in

Breaded mushrooms only didn't read the cooking instructions. Need to deep fry or shallow fry in lots of oil. My house stunk. Ended up finishing off in oven after drying on paper towels. Never again

@me109f

Tinned potatoes. I know people buy them, but they are absurd. I can only think that whoever of their parents that cooked had no kitchen skills and the kids inherited the idea. Frozen veg is great really, although I still like to use fresh produce. My late uncle, who was a professional horticulturist and advised growers, told me that things like frozen peas were superb as they were harvested at exactly the right point of ripening and podded and dry frozen within hours of picking so were very fresh as compared to buying loose.

I keep potatoes in for super skint weeks and adding to currys etc. Im really so shop isn't always an option unless doing a big shop

I bought some tinned potatoes during lockdown last year. They are great for a quick Spanish omelette or saute potatoes. I wouldn't eat them just as boiled potatoes, they have an odd taste. Growing up we had them, I remember.

Tinned potatoes are fabulous sliced into a bowl, drizzle of olive oil and some salt. Mix and then put in roasting tray and placed in a really hot oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Also, frozen veg is great to sneak into homemade smoothies for the kids.

Tinned potatoes were a godsend as a hungover student. Drain tin, slice and fry, top with a fried egg. Food of the gods.

I still use tinned potatoes if I'm wanting to make a quick tortilla omelette. Just slice and stir fry before adding the eggs. Much easier than cooking new potatoes from scratch.

The issue with cooking rice for me is having to scrape the little bits out that are stuck on the side of the pan. None of that with the boil in the bag stuff

@MatildaTheCat

Ready made jacket potatoes? I’ve never bought one but why??

I do buy them as I love a crispy potato skin.

If cooked in the microwave you do not get the crisp.

If cooked in the oven they burn.

The cooking times for both methods are the same if not longer than just starting with a raw potato

Tinned soup 🤢

I love Heinz tomato soup - it’s my comfort food when I can’t be bothered to make anything else.

A ready meal that needed three separate oven dishes to heat up and no microwave instructions. Might as well cook!

@Ddot true is just tastes like tin

@Ddot

Tinned soup 🤢

Tinned soup is great and not all of them have extra sugar and salt and preservatives etc.

prepped carrot and celery sticks. expensive and dry. takes ten minutes to do it myself and it's fresh and can be snacked on while I'm at it!

tinned soup. too much salt and sugar in it. I'd really rather make my own and use up all the left overs at the same time.

Pot sized spaghetti qualifies as the most useless thing I've ever seen on a grocery store shelf.

Just in case you're too lazy to break the spaghetti yourself, here we've done it for you and will charge extra for the trouble...

I absolutely love tinned soup.

It's the salt and sugar that makes tinned soup taste so good.

Yes tinned soup has frightening amounts of salt in it. It's used as preservative. I prefer to buy the fresh ones from the chill cabinet.

I did buy some single portion spaghetti a couple of weeks ago - it was pour on boiling water and wait for five minutes, then add a can of tuna sort of thing.
It was reduced to 50p - I wouldn't pay £2.50 for it, but it made an OK snack at work, not as bad as I anticipated.

Single portion spaghetti? Isn't that a pot noodle?

I started making soup from scratch, then realized how yucky tinned was.
It's so easy just chuck everything in a pan except meat boil, blitz with wand blender done.

@Ddot

I started making soup from scratch, then realized how yucky tinned was. It's so easy just chuck everything in a pan except meat boil, blitz with wand blender done.

I used to make soup like that until I had lunch at a friend's last summer and her soup was the best I've ever tasted. Turns out she uses a soup maker.

I went out and bought one - absolutely brilliant. Plus you can use cheap frozen veg.

How would a soup maker make soup that's massively nicer than the same ingredients and process with a pan and a blender? Genuine question.

I understand how it's easier because you don't have to prepare the veg, stir, watch it so it doesn't burn or do the blending yourself, but I don't understand how it can be different that the machine does the saute, simmer, blend process instead of a person?

Mam has soup maker, I'm not keen prefer a pan so I can tweak. Soup makers are good because none of the goodness escapes through steam