I do love shopping in my local Aldi, it's not as close as some of the bigger supermarkets and it's smaller building does mean it can get a bit crowded at busy times, but their produce seems just such good value for money compared to a lot of other places. I could probably feed us all (one adult, one teenager, 2 kids & 2 cats) for a week for under £50 if shopping there all the time.
Aldi recently asked if we would like to try out some of their new launch ready to cook meals. These meals, known as ready-set-cook recently had four new additions giving customers like myself a choice of seven different easy cook healthy meal choices.
Now I am usually skeptical about anything labelled a quick meal or a ready meal and even ready to cook. It makes me think "microwave meal" which are not always the healthiest from supermarkets. However these are not microwave meals at all. Instead it's a selection of stir frys, curries and other lovely sounding dishes.
Aldi's new additions which were only launched last month, include Chicken Tikka, Chicken Fajita, BBQ Pork Stir Fry and Beef Stroganoff. Plus a few other options which Aldi previously had.
The meals are fresh, not frozen and can be found in the refrigerator section of the store. They come in plastic trays, with sections dividing the meat and the vegetables. A satchet of sauce will usually be on top too.
Cooking each meal takes less than 15 minutes. Each one will vary in cooking method, the majority being stir fry so all you need is a frying pan or wok and a little oil. Each meal is also enough for two people, so much cheaper and healthier than a take away.
This is just one of the meal kits that I made for my dinner.
This is one of the chicken meal kits. All I had to do was heat the pan and add the contents, the sauce being last. Very easy indeed. What you see on the plate is half of one tray.
I was really surprised at just how delicious these are. Full of flavour, a bit of spice, big chunks of meat and fresh cut vegetables. All the hard work is done, no peeling, chopping, marinating etc; just simple frying.
The best bit being the price because they only cost £2.99 each and that's for 2 people meaning it's £1.50 per person (plus any extras you choose with it). The beef stroganoff costs slightly more at £3.99 but again only £2.00 per portion.
They seem really filling too and more than perfect portion sizes. If you add noodles or rice or a few fries then the meals will stretch even further and possibly feed three people. If like me, your on your own and kids want something else, then you can just cook half the tray and the other half the next day or cook the whole lot and refrigerate half, reheat etc. I'm not sure how safe re hearing these are tho so don't take my word on that one. I'm happy to do it myself but I'm not advising others.
I did find that I did not need to add extra sides or any noodles to any of the meals I purchased (5 of them!). I found them more than filling enough.
If you take a look at similar meals from other stores and even those online meal boxes and subscriptions you will find that none of them beat the small price of £1.50 per portion from Aldi stores.
