Weight Watchers, M&S Fuller For Longer and Men’s Health frozen meals put to the test
Christmas is looming and many of us will be looking to drop a few pounds ahead of the party season. But with modern day busy lives, it can be tough to find the time to cook a healthy meal every night and calorie cutting can be very hard work.
Luckily, supermarkets have wised up to our predicament and are increasingly stocking convenient – yet healthy – microwave meals that can help keep us on track.
But with some boasting as little as 300 calories per portion, can they satisfy a hungry tummy? And have they moved on from the bland, over-processed and artificial tasting meals we’ve all had before? We asked Femail writer Joanne Gould to find out.
We asked Femail writer Joanne Gould to find out how various brand compare
Having just had a baby, I’ve comfortably got a few pounds to lose before zipping up last year’s party dress, so I’m a willing volunteer to try out some healthy meals.
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Normally I’m not a ready meal fan, preferring to cook healthy food from scratch, but things are a little more hectic right now so I’m happy to put my reservations aside and tuck into this – hopefully – new breed of low calorie lunches and dinners.
I scoured the shelves at most major supermarkets and dutifully microwaved them all. Here’s how I got on.
Tesco Healthy Living
Beautifully Balanced Salmon in Watercress Sauce 385g (£2.50 usually £3)
Tesco Healthy Living Beautifully Balanced Salmon in Watercress Sauce, 385g
Calories: 338
Saturated Fat: 4.7g
Sugar: 4g
Salt: 1.2g
This looks colourful, fresh and appetising with lots of vibrant green veg. The portion of salmon is generous considering the low calorie count and there are lots of potatoes too. It tastes homemade and is nicely flavoured with a rich creamy sauce – again, unusual for low cal low fat meals which tend to be tomato based sauces. It’s well balanced and would easily fill most people up for lunch or even dinner. Very good.
RATING: 7/10
MS Balanced For You
Superfood Keralan Chicken Curry 400g (£4)
MS Balanced For You Superfood Keralan Chicken Curry 400g
Calories: 304
Saturated Fat: 6g
Sugar: 5.2g
Salt: 1.5g
This was one of my favourites because the sauce was well spiced and flavoursome and I liked the fact it was packed full of cauliflower and chickpeas. There could have been more spinach (especially as this would hardly affect the calorie count at all) and it was quite ‘wet’ as there was no rice but I’m being very picky. It’s really nutritious and the low GI chickpeas means you’re unlikely to be hungry soon after. I’d happily eat this for a quick healthy lunch, or perhaps with some brown rice or poppadoms for dinner.
RATING: 9/10
Weight Watchers
Limited Edition Vietnamese Curry Sticky Rice 380g (£2.50 Asda)
Weight Watchers Limited Edition Vietnamese Curry Sticky Rice 380g
Calories: 319
Saturated Fat: 1.1g
Sugar: 2.7g
Salt: 1.9g
‘There’s some nice firm water chestnuts included but I’d have liked to have seen lots more veg’
Weight Watchers tends to work on the principles of low fat high fibre foods, which can often then be high in sugar as a result of the reduced fat but this meal is low in all the key areas yet still provides a good whack of protein (22g).
The texture was a little gloopy, so I wouldn’t have this as a treat instead of a takeaway, but for a diet friendly meal it is quite nice and I like the flavour.
There’s some nice firm water chestnuts included but I’d have liked to have seen lots more veg in there for it to feel like it was doing me some good and to up the portion size.
RATING: 6/10
ASDA
High Protein Low Fat Turkey Meatball Marinara 400g (£1.87)
ASDA High Protein Low Fat Turkey Meatball Marinara 400g
Calories: 375
Saturated Fat: 2.3g
Sugar: 8.4g
Salt: 1.2g
‘The kale is minimal which is a shame and the meatballs are quite hard’
Another meal that impressively ticks all the low fat, low sugar, low salt and low cal boxes whilst still being high protein (21g), there’s a healthy portion of wholewheat pasta in here with meatballs, kale and a spicy tomato sauce.
The kale is minimal which is a shame and the meatballs are quite hard but the pasta and sauce tastes ok. A good idea and not bad for a frozen meal at such a low price (£1.87), but not my favourite.
RATING: 5/10
Kirsty’s
Spicy Meatballs with Rainbow Vegetti 400g (£3 – Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Morrisons)
Kirsty’s Spicy Meatballs with Rainbow Vegetti 400g
Calories: 305
Saturated Fat: 4.3g
Sugar: 19g
Salt: 1.2g
This meal has taken advantage of the craze for spiralising and has replaced traditional spaghetti and meatballs with a mixture of carrot, butternut squash and courgette ‘pasta’ instead.
As a result, there are some lovely fresh and zingy flavours in here with the veg retaining a nice crunch so it feels really healthy.
The meatballs are a mix of pork and beef but I had to read the pack to check what they were made from as I couldn’t tell from the taste.
A nice nutritious and tasty meal, but it left me a little hungry mid-afternoon (as many meals at 300 odd calories would). Nice to see it is gluten, wheat and dairy free too.
RATING: 7/10
The City Kitchen
Skinny Thai Coconut Chicken (£3.50 – exclusive to Tesco)
The City Kitchen Skinny Thai Coconut Chicken (exclusive to Tesco)
Calories: 376
Saturated Fat: 8g
Sugar: 4.2g
Salt: 2.3g
This was my favourite of them all, with loads of crunchy and vibrant pak choi and chicken in a coconutty sauce and a small portion of rice.
The coconut means that the saturated fat is slightly higher than the other meals, but as we know there is a lot of buzz around the nutritional benefits of coconut at the moment so I’m not too bothered.
It’s tasty, filling and feels full of vitamins. I’d definitely buy this if I was in a hurry and wanted something healthy – plus they’ve managed to keep the calories far lower than if I’d have made something similar myself at home.
RATING: 10/10
Men’s Health
Kitchen King Prawns Pomegranate with Persian Rice 425g (£3 Ocado and Asda)
Men’s Health Kitchen King Prawns Pomegranate with Persian Rice 425g
Calories: 477
Saturated Fat: 2.1g
Sugar: 7.8g
Salt: 1.7g
This was a huge portion of rice – and in fact the largest meal overall with the highest calorie count by around 100 calories.
There’s a massive 28.5g of protein in here, though I found the amount of prawns quite measly and this is aided by the inclusion of lentils and turtle beans.
The pomegranate was undetectable and it didn’t taste particularly Persian to me, aside from the odd sultana (hence the sugar) but it’s quite a nice meal and the sheer weight of rice and lentils will fill you up. I wouldn’t buy this again but I guess this meal isn’t aimed at me, to be fair.
RATING: 6/10
CONCLUSION
Overall I was very impressed with the level of flavour in most of the meals. None were unpleasant – which most ready meals I’ve had in the past have been – and I genuinely enjoyed eating the vast majority.
There is a lot of variety out there now from healthy curries and spicy Asian dishes, to the more familiar British favourites and largely the quality is good although there is of course an element of getting what you pay for.
I really liked the fact that there was nice fresh veg in a few of them – City Kitchen, the Kirsty’s meal and MS being most notable.
It’s still incredibly important to read the pack for nutritional info as it would be quite easy to fall into the low fat high sugar trap which most experts would agree is not healthy long term, but in general most of these are a great choice for anyone looking to cut calories in a healthy way.