I absolutely love a roast dinner, so much that it's become a staple in my household to have one every Sunday.
Some say a Sunday roast is a 'dying tradition' but I'll never let that happen in my house because it's by far one of my favourite meals to cook and enjoy! Which is why when we had some guests round last weekend, we thought we'd treat them to a good old Sunday roast.
Depending on how much you spend on your ingredients, a Sunday roast can certainly rack up in cost. Usually my boyfriend and I will opt for chicken or pork as it's usually cheaper, but sometimes we can still end up paying over £5 for the smallest portion of meat alone, depending on where we shop.
READ MORE: I tried the new Asda 'Just Essentials' range for a week to see how it compared to Smart Price
After recently trying out the Asda 'Just Essentials' range for a weekly shop and being very impressed, I thought it was time to put the range to the test another way. My local store had a variety of Sunday roast ingredients for a fraction of the price I'd normally pay, so I wanted to see how it actually tasted.
Here's what I bought for my roast:
- Asda 'Just Essentials' Stuffing Balls - 25p
- Asda 'Just Essentials' Gravy Granules -32p
- Asda 'Just Essentials' Yorkshire Puddings - 50p
- Asda 'Just Essentials' Whole Chicken - £3.21
- Asda 'Just Essentials' White Potatoes - £1.09
- Asda Broccoli - 65p
- Asda Carrots - 25p
It's no denying that my receipt had some serious value. I don't think I've ever paid 25p for something like stuffing balls in my life, and don't even get me started on the £3.21 whole roast chicken. Usually I'll go for a small 'Extra Tasty chicken' priced at £4.40, but there was way more meat on the £3.21 whole chicken, that's for certain.
Although the 'Just Essentials' whole chicken didn't have any seasoning on it, that wasn't really an issue because we had plenty stored away in our cupboards at home. Considering we usually pay £1 more for a smaller chicken just for seasoning, I was more than happy to give the 'Just Essentials' chicken a go.
Everything was really simple to cook and prepare, which was great for a Sunday roast novice like me. We made the potatoes from scratch with some oil and seasoning and steamed the veggies with a bit of butter.
Taste test one - the chicken
One word. Wow. A few things really stood out to me with the 'Just Essentials' Sunday roast, the main one being the chicken. It was so juicy and so tasty and fell right off the bone.
There wasn't any nasty gristle or unpleasant bits of chicken, it all tasted amazing and there was so much of it. The skin crisped up nicely and it seriously tasted no different to the chicken we usually get after a bit of seasoning.
I wasn't too sure what to expect with the meat, but I have to say, I was amazed. I'll definitely be swapping to this chicken in the future to save a bit of money because it was really tasty.
Taste test two - the gravy
My second favourite 'Just Essentials' ingredient had to be the gravy granules. I'm a big gravy lover and have to completely smother my roast in it, so I was really hoping the granules were up to scratch.
The gravy had a really lovely meaty flavour that complemented the roast dinner well, and it was also incredibly thick which was a massive bonus. Let's be honest, there's nothing worse than thin gravy trickling down your fork when you're trying to tuck into a Sunday feast, so I was really chuffed with the 32p gravy granules.
Taste test three - the vegetables
In terms of vegetables, I could only get my hands on the Asda Broccoli and Carrots but I couldn't see a 'Just Essentials' variety like I did for the potatoes. Nevertheless, the vegetables were still delicious and really added to the roast.
The white potatoes were fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside and tasted pretty good. Considering we usually pay £1.49 for Maris Piper potatoes and these were £1.09, I was really impressed.
Taste test four - the stuffing and Yorkshire puddings
I really liked the buttery taste of the stuffing balls, and the Yorkshire puddings were relatively similar to the Aunt Bessie's ones that can cost anything between £2.10-£2.50. Usually we do like to make our own, but these were so quick and easy and amazing value for 50p (of course, I had to have two!)
The overall verdict
Considering this roast was more than enough for four people and gave us a lot of chicken - I've been wowed by the Asda 'Just Essentials' range once again. I think it's an amazing, tasty alternative for those who don't fancy spending extra money on a roast.
The meat for me was a definite highlight, and just goes to show that you don't always need to spend loads of money on posh 'extra special' branded foods if you don't want to. This roast seriously tasted no different to what we usually make, and I'll 100% be swapping most if not all ingredients for our signature weekly roast.
Browse the Asda 'Just Essentials' range in full here.
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