These ready meal delivery services...
Discussion
The likes of FRIVE, Ping, Simmer etc. seem to be increasingly popular, but what do we think? Healthy resturant quality precooked meals delivered to your door, saving you time and improving your diet, or glorified medicore ready meals?
I must admit I like the concept, I just don't know if I can mentally commit to spending £7.99 for a meal that arrives in plastic packaging that you reheat in the microwave.
Has anyone tried them and found a favorite service or meal that actually feels worth it? Or do they mostly disappoint?
I must admit I like the concept, I just don't know if I can mentally commit to spending £7.99 for a meal that arrives in plastic packaging that you reheat in the microwave.
Has anyone tried them and found a favorite service or meal that actually feels worth it? Or do they mostly disappoint?
We occasionally get single meals from cook, useful if one of us (me) is working away and the other one (Mrs TR) can't cook / be arsed to cook. Usually very good, the fish dishes especially.
https://www.cookfood.net
https://www.cookfood.net
I think it depends greatly on what your own cooking ability is & experience with food.
It amazed me during Covid how many in their 20/30’s couldn’t actually cook a meal - home was takeaway/frozen oven stuff - for these kinda characters it’s probably a good shout to get something vaguely healthy relatively quickly at compariable pricing.
I’d struggle with paying for the pre made stuff as fairly sure I could make anything on offer fairly easily myself & for most I wouldn’t view as a “treat”. ( It amazes me folk go out & order “macaroni!!
It amazed me during Covid how many in their 20/30’s couldn’t actually cook a meal - home was takeaway/frozen oven stuff - for these kinda characters it’s probably a good shout to get something vaguely healthy relatively quickly at compariable pricing.
I’d struggle with paying for the pre made stuff as fairly sure I could make anything on offer fairly easily myself & for most I wouldn’t view as a “treat”. ( It amazes me folk go out & order “macaroni!!
Fair point about peoples ability to cook, that could definitely cloud their judgement.
I've taken advantage of a 40% discount at FRIVE for a first order, and will report back with my thoughts. Though one thing I've noticed already is the high sugar content of these "healthy" dishes which will probably spoil it for me.
I've taken advantage of a 40% discount at FRIVE for a first order, and will report back with my thoughts. Though one thing I've noticed already is the high sugar content of these "healthy" dishes which will probably spoil it for me.
I've tried a few.
Frive are surprisingly delicious and nutritionally pretty good too. There are a couple of issues, however:
1. They don't freeze well
2. As fresh meals, they go off within 3-4 days in the fridge if you don't cook them
3. Their allergen control was extremely poor - don't know if they fixed it. Once they sent out a meal containing nuts without listing it on the label or website - luckily they somehow spotted it and emailed the day after we got the delivery pointing out the mistake. Another time, they sent out a meal containing nuts, which wasn't mentioned on the website, but was on the label and I luckily noticed before eating it - they weren't aware at all. Pretty unforgiveable for an 'ingredient/nutrition focused' company.
Field Doctor https://www.fielddoctor.co.uk/ are good and arrive frozen. This is much better for us as with work etc never know if we're going to need a meal or not. I think they are healthier than Frive, but not quite as delcious. We use them a lot.
Cook as mentioned previously are okay but they are much more like a traditional ready meal and not the sort of thing I'd want to eat every day (delicious, but too rich).
Field Goods https://fieldgoods.co.uk/ also nice but I'd put into the same category as Cook. Basically a posh ready meal.
My partner is having Simmer at the moment and so far so good...
With all of them the overriding issue is you get bored with the menus as they become quite repetitive.
Overall, I think there's a place for them and I'm a fan of them for weekdays. To the point above (which always comes up on threads about ready meals and takeaways) regarding cooking ability - it's not always because people can't cook (although there is of course a lot of them too). For us, it means a lot less wastage (there's only two of us) and with demanding jobs it's an easy way to get a healthy meal in. We do enjoy cooking as well - lunches we meal prep on Sundays and usually cook at least one of our meals at the weekend if not out with friends etc. But at the moment convenience is king on weekdays.
Other people can cook, but don't enjoy it and have zero interest in it.
Frive are surprisingly delicious and nutritionally pretty good too. There are a couple of issues, however:
1. They don't freeze well
2. As fresh meals, they go off within 3-4 days in the fridge if you don't cook them
3. Their allergen control was extremely poor - don't know if they fixed it. Once they sent out a meal containing nuts without listing it on the label or website - luckily they somehow spotted it and emailed the day after we got the delivery pointing out the mistake. Another time, they sent out a meal containing nuts, which wasn't mentioned on the website, but was on the label and I luckily noticed before eating it - they weren't aware at all. Pretty unforgiveable for an 'ingredient/nutrition focused' company.
Field Doctor https://www.fielddoctor.co.uk/ are good and arrive frozen. This is much better for us as with work etc never know if we're going to need a meal or not. I think they are healthier than Frive, but not quite as delcious. We use them a lot.
Cook as mentioned previously are okay but they are much more like a traditional ready meal and not the sort of thing I'd want to eat every day (delicious, but too rich).
Field Goods https://fieldgoods.co.uk/ also nice but I'd put into the same category as Cook. Basically a posh ready meal.
My partner is having Simmer at the moment and so far so good...
With all of them the overriding issue is you get bored with the menus as they become quite repetitive.
Overall, I think there's a place for them and I'm a fan of them for weekdays. To the point above (which always comes up on threads about ready meals and takeaways) regarding cooking ability - it's not always because people can't cook (although there is of course a lot of them too). For us, it means a lot less wastage (there's only two of us) and with demanding jobs it's an easy way to get a healthy meal in. We do enjoy cooking as well - lunches we meal prep on Sundays and usually cook at least one of our meals at the weekend if not out with friends etc. But at the moment convenience is king on weekdays.
Other people can cook, but don't enjoy it and have zero interest in it.
Edited by 22s on Sunday 8th February 15:45
I would interested to know about the quality of the food provided by the services mentioned here.
I want to compare them to something like those advertising a lot on the TV.
Due to necessity some years ago I had to get serious about cooking for myself and kids.
Its going to take something mind blowing for me to change my opinion that cooking well for oneself and family is a necessity.
I want to compare them to something like those advertising a lot on the TV.
Due to necessity some years ago I had to get serious about cooking for myself and kids.
Its going to take something mind blowing for me to change my opinion that cooking well for oneself and family is a necessity.
Jordan247 said:
We have used "Hello Fresh" and similar in the past when they have additional discount and the quality of the meals is generally excellent.
I do find the portions quite small, but that probably down to me..
Hello Fresh is a recipe box not a preprepared delivered meal though.I do find the portions quite small, but that probably down to me..
22s said:
Lots of good stuff
Thanks for that.I've tried the first of the Frive food which arrived today. There is no doubting the flavour, it does taste like a good home cooked meal thats been reheated in the microwave, but the salt and sugar content is on the higher side for a lot of the dishes.
I'll continue to try them over the coming weeks before switching to another supplier and taking advantage of another welcome bonus
Although convenient they will never be as healthy as of you cook your meals yourself. We probably do that once a month but otherwise we cook from scratch everyday or sometimes batch cook. We both work full time. Doesn’t take much time or effort to cook a nutritious meal. It’s all a matter of being prepared with ingredients at hand.
My only issues with these ready meals is that they can become boring and have questionable long term health effects depending on ingredients used. Some better than others surely. Not for us but can understand appeal for some.
My only issues with these ready meals is that they can become boring and have questionable long term health effects depending on ingredients used. Some better than others surely. Not for us but can understand appeal for some.
CrgT16 said:
Although convenient they will never be as healthy as of you cook your meals yourself. We probably do that once a month but otherwise we cook from scratch everyday or sometimes batch cook. We both work full time. Doesn t take much time or effort to cook a nutritious meal. It s all a matter of being prepared with ingredients at hand.
My only issues with these ready meals is that they can become boring and have questionable long term health effects depending on ingredients used. Some better than others surely. Not for us but can understand appeal for some.
All probably true. But if you live on your own (for example) and spend 40 minutes preparing, 30 minutes + cooking, 7 minutes eating and 15 minutes washing up, a decent quality ready meal (such as Cook) is very appealing.My only issues with these ready meals is that they can become boring and have questionable long term health effects depending on ingredients used. Some better than others surely. Not for us but can understand appeal for some.
I know some will say '40 minutes preparing?!' But this is certainly the case if you want something vaguely interesting to eat. Even a humble cottage pie takes time to prepare.
NDA said:
All probably true. But if you live on your own (for example) and spend 40 minutes preparing, 30 minutes + cooking, 7 minutes eating and 15 minutes washing up, a decent quality ready meal (such as Cook) is very appealing.
I know some will say '40 minutes preparing?!' But this is certainly the case if you want something vaguely interesting to eat. Even a humble cottage pie takes time to prepare.
This is what I’m getting at.I know some will say '40 minutes preparing?!' But this is certainly the case if you want something vaguely interesting to eat. Even a humble cottage pie takes time to prepare.
I can easily spend 30 minutes just prepping lunch - then there’s the cooking, eating, loading the dishwasher…only to repeat the whole performance again in the evening (granted, I usually make enough for leftovers the following day, but still)
I’m now on my second box of FRIVE. It’s… fine. But it’s not really my thing. It has that classic supermarket ready-meal vibe: aggressively seasoned, oddly rich, and somehow containing a completely unnecessary minimum of 10g of sugar in most meals. Why is there dessert-level sweetness in my savoury dinner?
SkinnyPete said:
NDA said:
All probably true. But if you live on your own (for example) and spend 40 minutes preparing, 30 minutes + cooking, 7 minutes eating and 15 minutes washing up, a decent quality ready meal (such as Cook) is very appealing.
I know some will say '40 minutes preparing?!' But this is certainly the case if you want something vaguely interesting to eat. Even a humble cottage pie takes time to prepare.
This is what I m getting at.I know some will say '40 minutes preparing?!' But this is certainly the case if you want something vaguely interesting to eat. Even a humble cottage pie takes time to prepare.
I can easily spend 30 minutes just prepping lunch - then there s the cooking, eating, loading the dishwasher only to repeat the whole performance again in the evening (granted, I usually make enough for leftovers the following day, but still)
I m now on my second box of FRIVE. It s fine. But it s not really my thing. It has that classic supermarket ready-meal vibe: aggressively seasoned, oddly rich, and somehow containing a completely unnecessary minimum of 10g of sugar in most meals. Why is there dessert-level sweetness in my savoury dinner?
I can see the attraction from a time perspective, but I don't mind a spending time on it. Keeps me out of trouble for a bit
.Pete, sounds like one may as well buy in supermarket meals than use Frive - is that about right?
Has anyone tried Chef Akila's Indian meals? I love a good curry but O/H doesn't so I wouldn't mind having a few stashed in the freezer for when I get the urge to 'go hot'.
Here's the link if you haven't come across them: https://www.chefakila.com/shop/
Here's the link if you haven't come across them: https://www.chefakila.com/shop/
Try one delivery from https://thegoodprep.com/
They are at the expensive end of the market, good reviews, no additives
They are at the expensive end of the market, good reviews, no additives
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