Ready meals instead of takeaways...

[craftinggeek]

Hia :)

We're always really busy on a Saturday and I never learn my lesson, get home cba to cook and order a takeaway.

With the view so save money (we generally eat very healthy through the week) can people recommend some decent ready meals?

Just thinking a decent ready meal must be cheaper than a takeaway which can often cost £30+.

TIA 🩷

I can't bear supermarket ready meals, except the occasional curry. Have you tried Cook? More expensive but better.

Waitrose Indian ready meals, get the ones without the rice and cook your own rice.

Yes we eat cook meals at the weekend or pizzas from calzone kitchen. Takeaways more on a treat basis.

@MinnieCauldwell the goan fish curry is very nice

This range from Aldi is lovely
I don't eat chicken but apparently the pakoras and tikka masala are great

The M&S boxes for about £12 with Chinese Indian or Thai. One of those can do us for 2 meals for us 2 over a weekend (with some extra rice or naan).

The fresh ravioli with sauce are often really good.. some garlic bread, salad, etc

It involves a little bit of cooking but M&S do a stir fry meal deal - you pick your protein, veg, noodles/rice and sauce for maybe £8/£10. You still need to cook but it's really quick because it's a stir fry. It's full of flavour and ticks the Saturday night type food for us.

Some M&S are nice, particularly Italian, Chinese, Indian. They often do family dine in deals, £15 or £20 to feed 4.

M&S steak pie from their freezer is outrageously good. Their protein lentils with veg and prawns and stir fry sauce is a ten minute dinner that’s so delicious. They also now have posh lamb biryiani !

You only find these in Aldi a couple of times a year - they have just finished selling them for this session.

I don't find ready meals (the microwave kind) particularly tasty, so we wouldn't get those, but there's plenty of other simple stuff that requires minimal effort that you could pick up in the supermarket.

Fresh pasta, fresh sauce, bag of salad
Rotisserie chicken, fresh bread, bag of salad
Vac packed mussels (the ones in sauce you microwave or boil in the bag) with fresh bread and a side salad.
Cheese board with crackers, vine tomatoes, veggie sticks and grapes
Battered cod and frozen chunky chips with mushy peas
Sausages, ready made mash, peas and instant gravy etc

The Aldi Thai meal kits for two are good value and easy to prep

We like Costco Haddock fillets in bread crumbs, best fish portions I have had, then add oven chips and mushy peas.

Tesco finest meal deal is sooooo nice!

I've tried the lasagne, fish pie, chicken parm and steak! Get a side of veg and dessert and a drink for £12.

https://www.chefakila.com
We like these more than takeaway

My supermarket fall backs:

Fresh pasta & sauce
"Posh" pizza
Charlie Bigham's ready meals

Charlie Bighams all the way for me.

M&S curries are far better than takeaways.

Surely you just need to browse your local supermarket and see what appeals and how much/how little effort you want - from quick and easy microwaveable meals (largely the least good) to supermarket every day ones you put int he oven to brands like Charlie Bigham? I think it really entirely depends on your preference. MIL loves a chinese but SIL has huge issues with chinese takeout so we'll often do a Chinese feast from M&S. If I need something easy for DS I buy him some kidn of microwaveable pasta from any supermarket. If I want something a bit more substantial, we'll get somethig you put in the oven.

Could you not batch cook in the week (ie prepare a second portion of the same meal and freeze it) so that you can shop your freezer for ready meals? Or batch lady's dump and grab meals so you just get the bag out of the freezer in the morning, leave to defrost and dump it in an oven dish in the evening? Something like this takes 5 minutes to prepare an extra portion to go in the freezer https://thebatchlady.com/recipe/pepper-popper-chicken/ then just dump some small potatoes in a second dish to bake at the same time as the chicken and serve with a bag of salad leaves?

Agree with batch cooking, also Charlie Bingham on offer, Waitrose rectangular sourdough pizzas (not frozen), Rana tortellini- I cook them in passata instead of boiling water, then top with Parmesan and rocket.

For me, it's about how you cook them. I never put them in the microwave.

I like the curry ones. Sprinkle some oil and salt over the rice and a good dash of water. Put some extra butter and spices on top of the sauce and it'll melt in when cooking. Always cook in the oven.

If you're in a rush, you can do similar but heat it all mixed up in a frying pan. It's takes as long as the microwave and it's a million times tastier.

We like Lidl’s lasagne, it’s very saucy so I usually cook some extra plain pasta to stir in and serve with a salad or frozen peas.

It has a long life so it’s easier than hunting for ready meals that last more than a few days.

M&S Indian take away is better than actual take away! Not as oily.
Go at 5pm and lots are yellow sticker. Butter chicken and samosas yum