what sort of ready meals do you/would you buy?

[WhatHo]

I'm on the verge of starting a teeny cooking business and I was thinking cottage pie, beef stew, lamb tagine, curries, lasagne etc.

But then I thought... that's what all the supermarkets and websites do. If I went a bit off-piste - Ottolenghi lamb, chicken, chorizo and chicory stew, spicy sausage hotpot, beef and caramelised onion ... would that be exciting or am I risking people going, "urgh, that's weird"?

What would you buy?

Well, I don't buy ready meals - can't see the point, they are generally very expensive, and not very nice.

However, the recipes you mention sound interesting, though I have no idea what ottolenghi lamb is.

There are so many different brands of ready meal on the market already, you need to find a USP - either different recipes, or something else to distinguish your meals from all the others on the shelves.

YDdraiggoch I'm a farmer's daughter and the USP is that our meat is a) lovely and b) from field to table, including slaughtering, it doesn't travel more than 30 miles before it gets to you. It'll only ever be a small business as we have a limited amount of space.

Was thinking it would be for the kind of person who normally cooked but liked to have a home-cooked back-up if they came home late one night or were ill or something.

This is Ottolenghi marinated lamb. It is AWESOME but I would have to simplify the recipe or I'd end up paying more than I sell it for!

PS like the name.

I don't buy ready meals either, as the freezer's always well-stocked with home-made dishes (and there's always pasta & pesto). In any case, I live in Belgium, where ready meals aren't nearly so common as in the UK. What you do find here - at least in naice areas like where we are - are delis selling freshly-made 'ready meals'; they'll parcel up as many portions as you need and you pay by weight (eg lasagne, stew, etc) or number of portions (stuffed tomatoes, etc) and they give you re-heating instructions verbally. Quality is usually very good and prices correspondingly high (it's fairly normal here although I'd never do it to serve things bought like this to dinner party guests) - halfway to a restaurant meal, almost. I don't buy these meals myself either...but DH sometimes does, if he wants me not to have to cook but we need to stay in (he doesn't really cook), and it makes a lovely treat. Last time he got hake rolls in a delicious seafood sauce with duchesse potatoes and I forget what veg on the side.

That's the sort of thing I'm hoping for Morien.

For a premium product like you seem to be aiming for, I would either buy a child-sized portion (as my young DCs are hopelessly fussy and I get hugely resentful spending time cooking food they reject) or a huuuuuuge size for a dinner party.

Personally I wouldn't be so bothered buying a "nice" meal just for DH and I, unless it was a special occasion.

The type of stuff I buy is by Little Dish (for the DCs) and Cook. But I find Cook too expensive for everyday, TBH (and my DH earns very good money).

Blander stuff for children, slightly more adventurous for DH and I. But don't forget that popular food is popular for a reason!

Is there a market where you are for providing ready-cooked meals to holiday cottages, I wonder? As a child we spent a few holidays in a cottage where the owner would (to order) deliver a steaming hotpot or lasagne to save my DMum the hassle of cooking on holiday and it was wonderful!

poppy that's so helpful, thanks! I was thinking about doing 2 sizes - 500g (which is two adults) and 1kg (family) but so interesting about children's stuff. And holiday cottages!

I also love Little Dish for when I can't face cooking