{"id":510394,"date":"2025-10-18T21:51:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T21:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/510394\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T21:51:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T21:51:35","slug":"a-ready-meal-dinner-party-canny-or-calamity-we-tucked-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/510394\/","title":{"rendered":"A ready-meal dinner party. Canny or calamity? We tucked in"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sun is setting outside the window and I am flitting round the kitchen like an unsettling hybrid of Nigella Lawson and Kerry Katona. The champagne\u2019s in the fridge, the red\u2019s on the table and five friends are on their way to eat. Usually I\u2019d be frantically chopping onions at this point, but instead I\u2019m looking round for something to do because, next to the oven, lined up in regiments, are boxes and boxes of posh ready meals. <\/p>\n

This, if the data is to be believed, is the new middle-class dream. No longer are ready meals a shameful secret to be scoffed down in front of the television. Instead, they are something to boast about. <\/p>\n

As cost of living pressures increase, we are changing the way we eat. Half of us are ordering fewer takeaways and 56 per cent are eating out less, according to the market research firm Mintel. Meanwhile, the value of the UK ready meals market is expected to hit \u00a35 billion this year, driven by a rise in luxury brands such as Cook and Charlie Bigham\u2019s. The latter\u2019s new range of high-end meals, including a beef wellington, went on sale in Waitrose last week. <\/p>\n

\"Charlotte<\/p>\n

Ivers consults the small print<\/p>\n

JOSHUA BRATT FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES<\/p>\n

These \u201cdine-in\u201d meals (don\u2019t say \u201cready meals\u201d, darling, it\u2019s terribly common) are not cheap. Charlie Bigham\u2019s beef wellington for two \u2014 which \u201clooked and smells like a steak bake<\/a>\u201d, according to The Times\u2019s deputy food editor \u2014 costs \u00a329.95. A Cook beef wellington for six will set you back \u00a390. <\/p>\n

But with the cost of a dinner even at a casual chain like Wagamama or Nando\u2019s frequently hitting \u00a350 for two, for many these dine-at-home options are starting to look more appealing. Plus, you can splash out on a nicer bottle of wine without the pain of the restaurant mark-up. <\/p>\n

Supermarkets are also getting in on the act. Waitrose and M&S both offer their own multi-course prepared meals targeted towards couples on a date night. \u201cThis is not just a dine-in,\u201d croons the voiceover in an advert from earlier this year. \u201cThis is an M&S Valentine\u2019s dine-in.\u201d Gosh. <\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Some of the dishes on the table at Ivers\u2019s dinner party<\/p>\n

JOSHUA BRATT FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES<\/p>\n

What\u2019s driving the trend? Economists have long speculated about the \u201clipstick effect\u201d: the hypothesis that, as the economy stagnates, women who can no longer afford to regularly buy a new dress or an expensive necklace will instead spend their money on smaller luxuries, such as lipstick. <\/p>\n

Airlines have also decided there is a market for this type of marginal luxury, with some offering customers the opportunity to pay small amounts for extra legroom or a seat without a neighbour. <\/p>\n

Posh ready meals seem to offer a similar dose of austerity-friendly luxury. They are an expense, yes, but a small one that makes life just a little better. It is telling that budget ready meals are not seeing any particular rise in popularity, but the premium sector of the market has grown by 15 to 20 per cent over the past two years. <\/p>\n

Are these meals actually any good? In a quest to find out, I\u2019m throwing a dinner party: starter, main, dessert, all purchased boxed up from the fridges and freezers of my local supermarkets. <\/p>\n

The results are mixed. Everyone falls delightedly on the creamy Aldi chicken and pancetta with potatoes, which I picked up for just \u00a33.45 from its Specially Selected Gastro premium range. We all agree that we\u2019d just about tolerate the Cook parmesan chicken (\u00a37) on an aeroplane. <\/p>\n

\"Cook-brand<\/p>\n

The Cook parmesan chicken was deemed \u201ctolerable on an airplane\u201d<\/p>\n

JOSHUA BRATT FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES<\/p>\n

But the M&S roasted duck legs \u201cserved atop a sumptuous cassoulet\u201d (their words, I would like to stress, not mine) are causing consternation. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever eaten a meat that has fought back before,\u201d wails a friend as he picks through gristle; \u00a312.50, since you ask. <\/p>\n

The packaging for the victorious Aldi chicken is strewn with unnerving red health indicators. Fat: 47 per cent of your daily intake. Salt: 48 per cent. Perhaps that\u2019s why it tastes so delicious. But many of these dishes remain firmly in the green. <\/p>\n

The Waitrose beef bourguignon and the Tesco Finest chicken, prawn and chorizo paella only tip over into red when it comes to salt, and both packages boast about the provenance or welfare of their ingredients. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s not pretend that ready meals of any kind will be healthier than cooking from scratch at home,\u201d says Flo Allday, a trend and brand strategy consultant who works with several food and hospitality companies. However, luxury brands have successfully \u201cpositioned themselves as beacons of trust, quality and ingredient nutrition, offering restaurant-quality food that, if not low calorie, isn\u2019t as full of unidentifiable ingredients as traditional lower-priced ready meals\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

JOSHUA BRATT FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES<\/p>\n

With ready meals you also know exactly what you\u2019re getting \u2014 and they make life easy for consumers who are tracking calories. Brands such as Myprotein, sold online and in Iceland supermarkets, serve the growing swathes of the younger population obsessed with tracking their \u201cmacros\u201d (proteins, fats and carbohydrates). You do not get that level of certainty at restaurants, or even when cooking at home. <\/p>\n

Allday says there is an element of \u201ccontrolled \u2014 or permitted \u2014 indulgence\u201d at play in customer decisions to choose ready meals. \u201cIn today\u2019s food culture, the joy of eating is being squeezed from all sides by Ozempic<\/a> culture and a growing awareness (and fear) of ultra-processed foods, not to mention the cost of living.\u201d <\/p>\n

Spontaneity when going out is getting harder too. Post-pandemic booking culture and social media hype around top restaurants mean \u2014 particularly in big cities \u2014 that it\u2019s hard to presume you\u2019ll be able to slide behind a last-minute table. <\/p>\n

\"Charlotte<\/p>\n

Ready meals, however, are always there. Even if you can\u2019t be bothered to pop to the supermarket, you can order online the perfectly decent Cook apple and blackberry crumble I serve for dessert, and Charlie Bigham\u2019s can now be brought to your door by Deliveroo. <\/p>\n

Our other dessert comes from M&S Gastropub range: a \u00a35.50 chocolate cookie dough dessert for two by celebrity chef Tom Kerridge. It comes out burnt and borderline inedible. Outrageously, everyone blames me rather than Mr Kerridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sun is setting outside the window and I am flitting round the kitchen like an unsettling hybrid…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[51,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-510394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115397387677897836","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}