Supermarkets are pushing frozen turkey and all the trimmings bundles this Christmas to offer cash-strapped shoppers the cheapest meal deals.
Siobhan McNally tested five Christmas dinners in a day… and discovered, you can have too much of a good thing.
I was about halfway through my third Christmas dinner of the day when I realised I may have bitten off more than I can chew.
Testing five Christmas dinners may sound like the dream job, but I needed a cow’s four stomachs to digest that many Brussel sprouts.
Luckily I had my teenage daughter, Jesse, to help with the tough job of Yorkie and roastie testing, sometimes before I’d even put them all out on the plates.
Overall I thought all five of the frozen meals offered good food at good value, but there seems to be a law in this country that says all roasts must be as plain as possible, which apart from Heron Foods, they all managed.
I also discovered that when it comes to cooking turkey crowns, bigger is better.
Smaller families would be better off buying a rolled breast that comes ready stuffed and wrapped in bacon, which keeps the meat nice and tender.
The jug of Bisto gravy and cranberry jelly in the photos were model’s own, as I couldn’t get through that amount of dry turkey without the help of condiments.
If I had my own way, I would definitely have swapped every single frozen bag of Brussels with fresh sprouts, as they all tasted like they’d been par-boiled for several weeks.
I also found the cooking instructions on all the bags of roasties, parsnips and pigs in blankets weren’t quite hot or long enough to brown them properly, so I whacked my fan oven right up to 210.
Which meant the lava-hot trays burned most of my finger tips off.
On the upside, if there was ever a good time in a cost-of-living crisis to do a bank robbery, it’s now while they can’t trace me…
Aldi
When Aldi gets it right, it does an own brand version that’s even better than the real thing. And I thought its Champion roasties (95p for 1k) were just as good as Aunt Bessie’s (600kg for £3.95), which makes them a damn good swap for any lunch.
However, it failed on the honeyed parsnips, which is a shame as they’re my favourite part of a roast. Someone must have cut Aldi’s parsnips up with a pick axe, because I kept finding tree trunks in my meal.
Then again, Aldi’s frozen vegetable selection of peas and carrots were winners – really small, sweet and fresh-tasting and even the Brussels were bearable.
But finally points had to be deducted for a fairly tasteless bird, and most unforgivable, not enough pigs in blankets. Two per plate is possibly illegal.
Price : £22.30
Serves : 6
Price per head : £3.71
Score : 3/5
Good for : Value roasties and Yorkies that rival Aunt Bessie’s
Asda
This deal comes with a really tasty turkey that’s big enough to feed you and the next-door neighbours – but there’s not quite enough trimmings to go round.
On the plus side, it didn’t come with yucky mushy Brussel sprouts, and I preferred the Birds Eye Mixed Vegetables. I’d buy an extra bag to make sure everyone gets a few portions of their five a day (two for £3.50).
Again I had a couple of substitutions – Asda Yorkies rather than Aunt Bessie’s, and normal pigs in blankets rather than maple syrup, but this didn’t matter, because Asda pigs were definitely the meaty and crispy of all the meal deals. But sadly, not enough to go around – two per person is a heresy.
But the delicious bird was really Asda’s crowning glory, and made it best runner-up in the test results.
Price : £28.15
Serves : 6
Price per head : £4.69
Score : 4/5
Good for : Big families but buy extra trimmings
Heron Foods
Heron Foods gets my gold star! Like finding an oasis in the desert, this was the best value dinner – and the only one that came with added taste.
The pigs in blankets were a bit salty, but apart from that everything else was well seasoned, sprinkled with herbs and nicely presented.
The entire menu was made to be cooked in the oven, except the carrots in garlic butter, which got zapped in the microwave. This was really clever and meant there were no steaming pans of veggies to slave over.
This deal also came with a delicious cauliflower cheese, and the option of honey-glazed ham, which was just as appetising as the turkey joint.
Easily the most impressive meal deal, and one I would happily serve on Christmas Day.
Price : £15
Serves : 4
Price per head : £3.75
Score : 5/5
Good for : Foodies who like luxury on a shoestring
Iceland
I had high hopes from the frozen food giant, and although the stuffed turkey joint was really excellent, its own brand roasties and flat-as-a-pancake Yorkies didn’t quite hit the mark.
But most disappointing were the veggies – the huge garden peas tasted cardboardy and the tiny shreds of carrots (supposed to be batons) were too small to steam or boil without over-cooking them.
However, Iceland’s delicious mince pies pulled the entire meal deal out of four place and into third. Rich, buttery pastry with a spicy, fruity filling and only a hint of (my hated) candied peel – they almost made me start liking mince pies again.
Price : £20
Serves : 4
Price per head : £5
Score : 4/5
Good for : Mince pie fans
Tesco
This was a good, basic plate of food from the supermarket giant, but no more than that.
The Hearty Food Co. 15 Yorkshire puddings normally offered with this deal were out of stock online and in my local store, so I swapped with 12 of the Tesco own brand. They were nice enough, but nothing to write home about.
I rested the crown for a long time after cooking while I did the rest of the trimmings, which meant the small turkey crown was nice and moist, but it lacked flavour.
Possibly the worst offender of the mushy Brussels gang, but the sliced carrots and peas were sweet and fresh-tasting.
This bundle would easily feed five, or four if you like lots of leftovers. But you’ll need lots of extras like gravy and bread sauce to zhoosh it up a bit.
Price : £24.85
Serves : 5
Price per head : £4.97
Score : 3.5/5
Good for : No frills traditional grub
