Do you eat ready meals regularly?

[RedRosette2023]

Following from another thread - I heard a statistic the other day that said up to 90% of people regularly consume ready meals. As in, in a plastic container and from the microwave or oven.

I sense that MN is quite middle class so likely not representative of the whole of the country. But I was surprised by that statistic.

I genuinely can’t remember the last time I ate a ready meal. I occasionally gave eldest DC an Ella tray when they were weaning, a meal I could keep in my changing bag and have handy in case we were out over tea time. My youngest refused any pouches etc so he has never had one. He’s always just eaten what we’ve eaten and taught me baby food is totally unnecessary, albeit convenient at times.

I am coeliac so it’s possible my habits have been formed due to necessity - I would struggle to pick up a ready meal I can eat with ease. M&S do some and I think GF ones slightly more available now but I just don’t buy them.

I’m also not a SAHM Mum, I work a pressured job four days, my DH works away mostly during the week, I use hello fresh etc 3-4 days. But I always find time for a meal. My ready meal is something batch cooked out the freezer.

No judgment - just genuinely interested.

Maybe once or twice a month when DH is away and I cannot be arsed to cook if it's just for me. We might have an oven pizza once a week or so as well.

I do most meals from scratch but sometimes time is limited to do a shop or to cook.

No but you will find fish fingers and frozen pizza in my freezer for the occasional quick tea and I guess that's the same?

I'd have said I was having a "ready meal" if I was having a ready-made pizza.
Don't they count as UP food?

I probably use something ready made - a microwave meal/fresh pasta & sauce/pizza - about once a fortnight. Generally, if we're out all day and I know I won't want to buckle down and cook when we get in. Or we'll go out or get a takeaway. Sometimes I'll have prepared something the day before to reheat when we get in, but I don't always find the time.

I enjoy cooking, flatter myself I'm a good and knowledgable cook and cook from fresh most days. I'm not worried about the occasional ready meal.

We don’t eat them on a regular basis but occasionally I will buy them for DP when I’m going to be out as he has a tendency to not eat properly and is underweight so I’ll buy the most calorific one I can find, usually a tikka masala or similar. I also sometimes buy premade soup. I ate them a lot more as a child, my mum wasn’t much of a cook.

"If we have a fish pie I'll have made it"
Well, good for you but OP you're coming across as really smug here. Everyone's situation, budget and tastes are different.

Yeah I eat one about once a week or one every couple of weeks or so. I cook from scratch 7 days a week for 2 different households. On the occasions that I don't have to cook for anyone else I will sometimes have a ready meal

Hardly ever, most are minging and tiny.

Vanishing rarely. It’s a lot of money for something that’s not usually as nice as home made food.

I don't have a microwave so they aren't a convenient go to for me. Beans on toast is my go to lazy meal!

We’re having a pie tonight from the freezer. Other than that, I can’t remember the last time I had a ready meal. I usually make my own cottage/shepherds pie, chilli, currys etc.

Yes, frequently. We are late back, everyone hates cooking, no one eats the same food, I was heartily sick of the mental load of it all, it was expensive and we threw so much away, DH woukd also overeat. I utterly detest cooking, used to love it, but I became so run down about it. I do always add veggies on the side though and we eat fruit and raw veg as snacks and healthy breakfasts/lunches.

I'd also say that people I know who turn their nose up at ready meals are "home cooking" by throwing a jar onto some meat, which is no different to a ready meal.

Never.

They usually have added oil actually (and sometimes salt)

Pre DH/DD when I lived alone I had them several times a week!

Now, very rarely. Maybe 3/4 times a year, just me and DH, usually a convenience thing if DD isn't having tea with us for some reason. We get the Chinese or Indian boxes.

We buy ready meals from the local butcher that are made on site, nothing in it that you wouldn't find on the shelf in a supermarket. Amazing stuff. Not every day food, but once a week in our busiest day.
And similar but a fresh meal delivery service (deliver twice a week) after some operations.
I've tried ready meals from Tesco, m&s etc but they all have an odd taste. Not worth it.

It’s Charlie Bigham. Their ready meals are lovely but very expensive so I only usually buy them with a yellow sticker.

Incorrect, microwave rice is processed. It has been through the processes of cooking and dehydration. You rehydrate it by microwaving it. It's not bad for you but it doesn't quite have the same nutritional value as dry rice. It also has less flavour and some have added salt to make up for this.

Pretty much never. Like you I can't eat gluten, and DH has some anaphylactic allergies as well so most things are ruled out anyway.

I was just pointing out that a ready made fish pie, is still a ready meal. I wasn’t quite sure why there was a distinction between a ready meal and a fish pie. Fish pies are just as capable of being ready meals as any other ready meal….!

Im not especially smug. Bearing in mind I am coeliac and have dealt with 3 decades of limited eating ready meals are an extension of that limitation. I literally can’t walk into a co-op and pick up a ready meal, if I can I wouldn’t chose it on the basis of something that’s appealing but something that hasn’t got gluten. I can bet there isn’t a ready made fish pie I can eat!

Very rarely. They’re so nutritionally deficient, if have no time it’s probably healthier to just have some toast!

I find it hard to believe that no one eats UPF sometimes. I don't buy ready meals but my children eat a lot of sausages, ham, pizza (together with cucumber, carrots, avocado, fish). Is that bad too??

I will say though, if we are on holiday, somewhere like Holland, we eat a lot better. The supermarkets there are full of a different type of convenience food, things that are ready prepped, but not processed. Wish it was more like that here.

I always get the M&S one & serve it with broccoli, kale and frozen edamame beans. Super quick, nutritious and great for mid week meals after work.
Even the frozen M&S one doesn't look to be full of weird ingredients.
There's only 3 of us so to be fair my view of 'family sized' might be different.

Couple of times a week.

@guiling I don’t think you can realistically avoid UPF especially with kids but I would try to moderate their consumption of processed meat (ham, sausage, pepperoni) as it’s known to increase the risk of bowel cancer