Asda recently unveiled its Essentials Range, which is designed to help families keep to a budget when doing a food shop. As customers tighten their belts, millions of households are looking for cheaper ingredients and meal options that'll stretch.
When you think about budgeting, M&S isn't really a grocer that springs to mind. But it has just released its very own 'Remarksable' range that it promises will provide five 'family' meals for just £25 a week.
What's more, Marks & Spencer is freezing the price of all the ingredients throughout summer, so the basic £25 bill will remain the same. There's a handy shopping menu online for each meal, along with videos and step-by-step instructions from celeb chef Tom Kerridge.
One dad decided to put the new £25 menu to the test, here's how he got on, as originally reported by Hull Live.
Now, I have that same issue as many parents; like to cook, have no time to cook. Pizzas and pasta, the odd run to McDonald’s and a takeaway help ease the pressure on time, but at a cost. That combination isn’t a great diet and actually not very cheap in the long run.
So I had a go at the new M&S Tom Kerridge budget meal plan to see if it was good value and what the grub was like. Here's what I found,
Day 1 - Chipotle chicken thighs with herby rice
I thought I’d have two problems with this; chicken thighs and chipotle. I’m not keen on chicken thighs – anything with more bone than meat surely belongs at the bottom of a fried takeaway bucket. And chipotle? a) I still can’t pronounce it and a) I’ve never been keen on the 'smokey' chilies.
Chuck them together in a tub and at first its pretty grim. But stick at it, this is worth the wait.
This one takes about an hour in the kitchen and is one of the most involved. But after mixing it together and then frying up, you start to see and smell something delicious going on. After another 25-minutes in the oven and combined with mixed herby rice, this is a fantastic dish. The M&S chicken thighs are juicy with plenty of tender meat and the chipotle sauce gives it a lip-smacking kick. A great dish and my favourite of the week. Score: 5/5
Day 2 - Spiced roasted whole cauliflower with slow-cooked onions
This is where I thought it was all going to go wrong. The last time I had a cauliflower-based meal I was about 12 and my mum only made it passable by smothering it in melted cheese. Do people still even buy cauliflowers? It's like the Cortina of cooking.
But what a mistake to underestimate this dish from Kerridge. Pasted with tasty M&S za’atar spices and yoghurt and baked in the oven with small potatoes and buttered onions, this was absolutely lovely. Simple to make, probably only 15-minutes work, and it shows what Kerridge excels at, great big flavours which transform fairly ordinary ingredients. Deeply sceptical at the start, we liked this one so much, we had it again later in the week. 4/5
Day 3 - Tom’s never-fail mince
Basically posh spag. This is no half pound of mince with some Dolmio dropped on top. It takes some time, and a lot of chopping and mixing, but the result is a rich, spicy bolognaise sauce with well fried, almost Taco style, beef. The mince actually fries for 20-miutes and if you’re like me, prepare to be a little surprised to find that after that amount of time, mince starts to burst like popcorn.
A winner with the rest of the table, I found I was a bit chipotle’d out as the sauce uses up the rest of the jar you didn’t use from the chicken thigh recipe. Still, a very tasty meal and bags to go around for a family. 4/5
Day 4 - Sweet and spicy sausage, carrot and broccoli bake
Day three and for mid-summer this is feeling a bit heavy after all the spice and richness of the dishes so far. But this is also one of the easiest dishes to make. Mix some stuff up and throw in with the sausages and veg in the oven. The result is a tasty dish that brings some life to the sausages. A decent meal and a great way to promote the simple sausages. 3/5
Day 5 - Buttery bacon potato cakes with perfect poached eggs
On the face of it this looked more like a snack than a meal. It also takes a bit of work. But this is a tasty and filling savoury surprise. The potato cakes from shredded spuds were delicious when combined with the bacon, and adding an egg on top felt like a perfect late Sunday morning wake up meal. But the avocado is a nice balance and a nod to healthy. A lovely meal and once that could easily be added to anyone’s mid-week menu. 4/5
VERDICT
These were great meals and with all the quality you’d expect from M&S. Most of the ingredients, including all the meat and veg, are British, meaning you're supporting UK farmers and, for the green-inclined, you're not piling on the food miles. But the masterstroke was bringing in Tom Kerridge. He has turned solid, good value ingredients into rich dishes, full of flavour. No, you wouldn’t have them every day or every week. But there’s certainly three I’ll be adding to my regular dishes and from M&S.
In theory, it’s £25 for five family meals. You get a big haul of M&S food for that, and I have rarely had so much veg in the trolley for a week. That’s a big win, as there’s a very healthy dose of veg and vitamins in these meals. There are also spin-off snacks that can be made from the extras. We had chipotle chicken sandwiches the following day with leftovers from the first meal.
Without being a bit tight on portions, a family would probably struggle to feed everyone with these meals. And because some flavours are just too rich for kids, bank on having some staple favourites on hand, as I did, to feed smaller mouths. There's also a fair amount of hob and oven use here so the gas and electricity meters are working hard. But if there are two of you and maybe a hungry teenager, on balance you’ll be quids in with this M&S budget menu. You can find the M&S ingredients and Tom Kerridge meal planner here.
