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.

We don't. But I don't look down on people who do. A lot of people are time poor and cooking takes up a fair bit of time each evening.

Is a spatchcock chicken on a fil tray a ready meal! If so probably a couple of times a month. What about fresh pasta or soup?

Yes that does make me smile. My DH only makes bolognese with a jar of sauce. That’s something we always have in so on the rare occasion he does cook he actually has something he can make.

We don’t really have jars either. I’m really conscious of the salt content, my two are still nursery aged.

Yes do we count pre-made pizza? In that case yes, all the time.

How about pasta sauces? - because I make my own tomato sauce but I buy pre-made pesto for instance.

Like a poster up thread, I do like a Charlie Bingham fish pie. That sort of thing. I’ve been known to buy things from Cook.

Also things like mayonnaise is ready made, right? Because I use shop bought mayonnaise to make tuna mayo or egg mayo sandwiches. I guess the bread is also pre-made / processed.

Funnily enough I never tried anything pre-made like a pouch with DC when they were young. Not being a martyr, I just gave them things like a banana as a snack.

Very rarely in our house, perhaps once every other month, only ever a lasagne or Indian dish. But, we do eat out/have take away 2 or 3 times a week so that's our substitute I guess and almost certainly not a better option than a ready meal.

@GeraltsBathtub thanks. This thread was making me feel bad!

Yes. We like M&S’s Indian ready meals & often have them on a Friday night, as a hopefully healthier alternative to a takeaway.

Maybe a few times a year if I've bought some reduced? We often batch cook and pull pre-cooked meals out of the freezer on days when we are short of time.

I am (unusually) working at the weekend and have a stock pile of single portion meals that I have previously cooked and frozen ready for that to avoid the need to rely on ready meals.

occasionally grab a few M&S micro meals, not keen on them from any other supermarket.

Also there’s a local company who make low calorie high protein meals, for delivery or they are stocked in the local spars. I do sometimes get them if a very quick meal is needed, the kids like them too. Not sure if they count as ultra processed?

How about pasta sauces? - because I make my own tomato sauce but I buy pre-made pesto for instance.

I wouldn't count pre made pesto as a ready meal.
I also make my own sauces but I don't think jars of sauces are ready meals. There's a large range between a fully prepared meal that you just heat up (this is a ready meal in my mind) and a meal that you cook entirely from scratch.

I can't eat gluten as I react badly to it, but I regularly eat ready meals. I have disabilities that mean I can't manage cooking though.
There are plenty out there if you look- doesn't need to be specialist. Chilli for example, Indian and Chinese food have numerous gluten free dishes,

@Wishawisha I meant specifically, a meal which is contained all in a plastic tray but I appreciate there’s probably not much distinction between those and a pizza if that is for form the main meal.

Very occasionally my DC will have fish fingers with mash. But again, I can’t eat those so usually am cooking for me so cook for them.

I also appreciate not everyone enjoys cooking and honestly don’t care to much for how everyone else feeds their family. But as I’m not in your kitchen with you I was interested in how people eat.

Not sure why class is important - is this still a thing!?

I would honestly say that the most wealthy people i know eat ready/convenience meals so i don't think that it has anything to do with money - quite the opposite!

My husband and I have money/family/work full-time so quite often i buy ready meals/pizzas/ salads/ pasta sauces and other meals that are already prepared. I do try to use the slow cooker and do meals for my family but, i don't have the time unfortunately as my husband and I work in demanding jobs so by the time we're home/finish work (as both can work from home) we cant make dough for pizzas/ make a pasta sauce from scratch etc etc.

We ALWAYS have dinner together as a family EVERY evening and chat/catch up which i feel is more valuable. We also every evening watch something like a film/ Youtube/ series altogether for an hour or two and if i was in the kitchen making food from scratch wouldn't work.

Every Sunday we have a full on roast dinner altogether and i also cook and then freeze loads of dishes as i love cooking but, this i would class as a 'ready meal'

Is "bung in the oven for 20 mins" stuff a ready meal ? I sometimes eat stuff like oven pizza, oven chips etc

I do - usually have a veg Biryani from Sainsbury’s in the freezer. But then I’m chronically ill and they’re pretty much a lifesaver for me at times.

Never. My partner cooks better than most restaurants. No need for yucky ready meals🤢

@guiling this thread wasn’t intended to be specifically about UPF. I am not here to tell you my kids don’t eat UPF. They do, although I try to make the best choices without totally restricting them. We just don’t eat ready meals. There’s another active thread about that. It was ready meals I was interested in.

All the time tbh. Works out cheaper, less waste and more variety doing a weekly shop at M&S.

My lunch ready meal/salad today from the local deli has cost me £8.50.

Maybe about once a week - there are 2 Weight Watchers meals I like which I keep in the freezer. I usually do some veg with them, but it saves switching on the oven just for me. Other times I cook a few batches to freeze or have over a few days.

I am retired and live alone - ok I don't work now but sometimes I can't be arsed cooking, I worked for years and brought up a family, been there, done that and sometimes I want something quick and easy, so shoot me.

The lines are very thin and blurry here. My mother used to tell me off for being lazy by buying "ready" (raw, I am bying raw!!!!) chicken fillets or drumsticks instead of a whole chicken and tearing it apart. Well, her mother (my gran) had to catch the chicken, kill it and pluck it. So it's all about comparison.

@Bellaboo01 class is only relevant because if there’s only a certain class answering this thread it’s not representative of the nation, is it? Food poverty is very much a thing and so I’m likely to get different answers from a different subsection of society.

If sushi, pizza, soup in a carton, frozen goyzas and bao buns, pasta, bread, cheese and hummus count as ready meals because they are ready made in a factory somewhere and only need to be cooked or eaten then yes, all of us eat ready meals on a weekly basis. Always with fresh veg or salad.

Our milk / fruit juice arrives in plastic or carton form too.

We also eat lots of food prepped and cooked at home which has not been purchased in packaging beyond a paper bag or wrapper.

When there are five people coming home at different times and going out to evening activities at different times (often a short turn-around time) with different dietary requirements and different tastes this is how I manage to make sure they are all fed, all week.

Or you’re choosing to read it that way. Nothing they have posted makes them seem smug.

Yes, probably once or twice a week. I enjoy cooking, but sometimes I just don’t have time. Also, if you’re wfh and want hot food for lunch, a ready meal is the easiest way to get it.