Whether you're a cheese ploughman's sort of person or a carrot and humous snacker, we're all more than partial to a meal deal.
A staple for city workers on the move, there are a countless number of supermarkets and retailers offering deals on light lunchtime eats. Each of which stock classics like the traditional ham and cheese sandwich with an almost endless selection of drinks and snacks to accompany.
However, as the humble meal deal grows in popularity, so does the variety of goods on offer - with retailers doing their best to get one over on competition with new and exciting choices you simply can't bag at a checkout elsewhere.
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With this in mind, I thought I would head out over the course of the week and try out the alleged 'best of the best' in terms of meal deal providers, to see who offered the most bang for buck while keeping flavour a priority.
Here's what I found out...
Tesco:
The undisputed home of the meal deal is Tesco, who have been offering the trending tradition at supermarkets across the country for years now. Although the supermarket has been slammed recently for their 50p price increase on the deal itself, you can still cop one for £3 should you hold a valid club card.
Tesco has all grounds covered for most who seek a cheap dinner on the move - with a massive variety of sandwiches, pastas, salads and wraps alike.
I vouched for a chicken and chorizo sandwich, Walker's Baked cheese and onion crisps and a sugar free Ribena Light setting me back £3.50 in total. Although it sounds pretty standard on the face of things, the sandwich was a real banker in my eyes - filled with flavour and taste.
Cost and savings:
£2.50 Chicken and chorizo sandwich
£1.35 Ribena light
65p Walker's crisps
£4.50 before meal deal reductions/£3 or £3.50 after.
Saving of £1/£1.50 depending on Club Card status.
Asda:
The Asda that I visited throughout the week didn't have your standard meal deal per say, instead they did a 'three items for the price of two' sort of situation. Those choosing the offer only pay for the two most expensive items of their purchase, with the cheapest free of charge.
And while it sounds like a pretty decent offer - be quite blunt, I was not impressed by the selection of food nor snacks upon my visit.
While the section was well stocked up with drinks, it was almost bare in terms of sandwiches and accompaniments, with a couple of cheese and onion hanging around at the back of the fridge.
In the end I selected a spicy fajita chicken Walls slice, a bottle of Smart Water and some classic Dairylea Dunkers - with the latter being the most enjoyable of the three. The slice itself was almost as tasteless as the water.
Cost and savings:
£1.50 Walls slice
69p Dairylea Dunkers
68p Smart Water
£2.87 before meal deal reductions/£2.19 after.
Saving of 68p as it was the cheapest item.
Boots:
I guarantee that when you think of a meal deal that Boots is probably the last place on your mind - however, the cosmetics store has quite the variety in terms of exciting foods for everyone. It's probably also the one place which offered an array of vegetarian and vegan friendly mains for punters to pick from.
From vegan chicken wraps to classic tomato salads, Boots has quite the choice - and that's without even starting to talk about the meat and fish options on offer. I went for a tuna mayo sandwich, avocado, carrot and humous snack pack and Naked Blue Machine smoothie - because you're doing meal deals wrong if you don't pick the most expensive drink on offer.
Each of these was a real treat in my eyes, with the tuna sandwich being the pick of the bunch - smothered in mayonnaise and the fish itself wasn't too potent.
Cost and savings:
£1.25 Tuna sandwich
£1.20 snack pack
£2.60 smoothie
£5.05 before meal deal reductions/£3.59 after.
Savings of £1.46.
Greggs:
It's no secret that northerners and Greggs are like peanut butter and jam, like beans on toast, like Bonnie and Clyde....you get it, they just go together perfectly. However, those who aren't die-hard fans of the bakery may have missed the fact that they offer daily meal deals to customers in store.
For just £3.45 you can enjoy a cold sandwich, salad or pasta plus a hot or cold beverage of your choice - which is sublime considering the quality of the food from the beloved bakers.
I chose one of their new and exciting cajun chicken rice salads which was absolutely delectable and filled to the brim with taste. I also vouched for the Greggs cherryade to wash it down with, which was worth every drop despite staining my lips bright red for the remainder of the day.
The only bad thing I can say about Greggs though, is that a snack isn't included in the meal deal and every other meal deal featured on this list. Step up your game lads, we expect better of you!
Cost and savings:
£2.85 chicken salad
£1.30 cherryade
£4.15 before meal deal reductions/£3.45 after.
M&S:
Where do I even begin with good old Marks and Sparks? Well the first thing I'll tell you is that there isn't a meal deal in sight at the branch on High Street West in Sunderland - much to my and my bank's dismay.
Although there's a fine selection of foods with a touch of class to them, the price you pay in my opinion resembles that of a sit-down meal and not a cheap and cheerful munch on the move. I wanted to check out M&S after hearing stories of a £5 meal deal in the past, but upon arrival and after further research, no such thing is currently in play.
Not to be disheartened, I thought I would try out some of their food in a meal deal fashion while I was there anyway, so not to waste a trip, hoping that some form of discount may be applied in a stroke of luck upon checkout.
I will give them this, the food selection is immense and the quality is absolutely second to none in terms of taste and flavour. I bought a humble macaroni and cheese toastie which absolutely melted in the mouth, as well as a passionfruit and granola yoghurt bowl for dessert - which basically tasted like a sunny holiday.
Capped off with a can of fresh San Pellegrino Limonata - my belly was all sorts of happy despite my bank balance raging with me.
Cost and savings:
£5.25 toastie
£2.00 yoghurt
£1.10 drink
£8.03 in total as no meal deal discounts were in play.
