Ready-Made Food You Like

Haha... I was inspired by a jar of ready-made curry sauce from the Co-Op (Healthy Living Jalfrezi Sauce - it was really good and spicy) and just wondered what other good foods from a jar might be out there? I don't use them very often, but once in a while, when you don't feel like cooking or have something else to do, things like that can be a real time saver. I also love the Lloyd Grossman sauces, especially the Puttanesca one. And the Pioneer Foods sauces in the gluten free / posh food section at Sainsbury's are wicked good, but expensive. I tried their fennel and apricot tagine sauce and it was amazing. Any that you recommend?

We pretty much love all M&S food. They're our favorite oven baked chunky chips and prepared pizzas.
The one time saver I do is Dolmio bolognese sauce. I used to make my own, but now I just get a jar of this sauce and kick it up with a tin of chopped tomatoes, a squirt of concentrated tomato paste, sauteed onion and garlic, and red pepper flakes.

Tesco do a Finest filo chicken, leek and bacon pie (rectangle shape) that is delish! Big chunks of proper chicken and lovely crispy filo.

I'm sure it's not good for you mind, but really good!

I like Pataks curry paste as well, and Bolst's curry powder is good too.

That's about it really

Hmmmm, I usually think the ready made pizzas are okay - my favourites are the Pizza Express ones in the supermarket & the Dr Oetker ones...but of course, they don't compare to DH's homemade pizza.  I get the ready made ones sometimes if he's going to be out for a night somewhere & it's for me that I don't have to cook.

There's one Lloyd Gossman sauce with tomato & chillies that my MIL uses with prawns & serves over rice, which is nice.  I have done it before as well, but I usually add some vegetables to it.

We got some M&S curry meals on our way home Sunday from our holidays so we would have something to eat when we got home.  DH said after that he had 'ready meal aftertaste' in his mouth.  I said I wasn't sure what he meant, but I tasted it the next morning.    What is that anyway?  And why don't the things you make yourself from scratch have it?

The Tesco quiches are delish! I went on the hunt for them here in the US when I got back from London last summer and there are none! TJs have something similar, but they are loaded with fat and calories (like 650 cals and 80g fat or something horrible!)

I like Pataks curry paste

Yes, I like the Pataks curry pastes, too. I jazz them up with chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chiles, etc. if I can. Also, I do a Jamie Oliver recipe DH really loves where I just chop up some chicken (Jamie actually uses salmon here, but DH doesn't like that so much), toss it in some tandoori or tikka masala paste and then sautee in a bit of oil. Then I put it on top of a naan bread with some cucumber-chili yoghurt and fresh coriander on top. It's delish and super quick. 

Pateks or the one that says something like "Seeds of Change" (some hippy sounding name) are the curry pastes/sauce I use usually.  Sainsbury's Taste the Difference sauces are pretty good.  I usually buy prepared pesto at least once a month or so, although if my basil comes in well enough in our herb garden, I want to make my own.

I love Sainsbury's organic carrot and coriander soup.  I do add a dollop of butter to it though.

Outside the canned and jar aisles, I love frozen herbs, although you do have to check them if you have allergies.  Some contain gluten and other things.  It's really convenient to keep some on hand in the freezer though.  I also love Waitrose's grilled Mediterranean veg pack.  A lot cheaper than buying aubergines, courgettes and peppers in the off season (and probably more nutrients/fresher as well).

I agree on the Dr. Oetker pizzas, but I usually make "homemade" from French bread.  I would love suggestions on the sauce, because I've not found one yet that tastes all that great.  When we are having pasta, lasagne, or I have a need for a red sauce, I usually make my own after a few really bad experiences.  Last week when I made French bread pizzas, I used a Gordon Ramsey sauce that tasted a bit middle eastern.  It might be nice on rice or pasta, but it wasn't good at all on pizza.

I agree on the Dr. Oetker pizzas, but I usually make "homemade" from French bread.  I would love suggestions on the sauce, because I've not found one yet that tastes all that great.  When we are having pasta, lasagne, or I have a need for a red sauce, I usually make my own after a few really bad experiences.  Last week when I made French bread pizzas, I used a Gordon Ramsey sauce that tasted a bit middle eastern.  It might be nice on rice or pasta, but it wasn't good at all on pizza.

You could try some of the Lloyd Grossman sauces. I usually like those. I like the Tesco's Finest pizzas, they seem to have the best texture of the crust, though you do get a bit of a floury taste with it, which is unfortunate because I like the crunchiness of them. The Chicago Town ones aren't too bad. I'm scared of making dough for some reason, so I haven't tried that yet, though I like making pizzas on the parbaked ciabatta breads from Lidl.

You could try some of the Lloyd Grossman sauces.

Lloyd is my buddy!  Love the pasta sauces--we usually do the basil one or the chili one which is quite spicy!  I do usually add some tinned chopped tomatoes to it though because I find them just a tad too oily.

We often (well, once a week) do Morrisons' pizzas--the ones they make in their own kitchen in the store.

Also, Cauldron's veggie sausages and falaffels and Morrisons own gnocchi.

The best frozen pizza I've found is the Goodfellow's Take Away variety.  We never eat pizza because all of the take-aways around here are really lousy, but I've started getting this one for my don't cook days.

I also love Tesco's Italian Mac and Cheese for lunches.

We tried the M&S ready meals once and the lemon sauce hubby had on his lemon chicken tasted like they'd melted those Lemonhead candies (I think that's what they are called). 

For some reason I never think the Lloyd Grossman bottles have enough sauce so I never get them.  I'll give them a try next time though.

For some reason I never think the Lloyd Grossman bottles have enough sauce so I never get them.  I'll give them a try next time though.

I recently saw some larger bottles of LG sauces at Sainsburys, but not sure which ones were in the bigger size.

I tried the curry sauces (korma and tikka masala) from Lidl over the weekend and they were pretty good. 

I loved a lot of M&S stuff but it was too expensive to buy regularly. Like many of you, I typically made most of my stuff from scratch but I did buy chicken and mushroom pies or quiche lorraines every now and then. When I did, if it wasn't M&S, I tried to get the high-end stuff from whatever supermarket I was at. I wasn't a fan of Lloyd Grossman's stuff at all, but there were a few soups I liked from Seeds of Change. Every now and then, like Bmore, I'd make a pumped up pasta sauce from a jar one.

I don't consider Pataks spice pastes to be 'ready-made'. To me that's just a basic ingrediet like a spice from a box or whatever. Do they also do ready-to-eat sauces? If so, I never tried them.

My all-time favorite ready-made item from the UK that I can't get here is the already cooked poppadums. I can't even get those here in the Indian grocery stores... I have to fry them myself. Boo.

I don't consider Pataks spice pastes to be 'ready-made'. To me that's just a basic ingrediet like a spice from a box or whatever. Do they also do ready-to-eat sauces? If so, I never tried them.

Patak's do naan breads, chutneys, ready-to-eat sauces and all sorts. They have a spicy mango marinade that is awesome with chicken, but a bit hard to find. I found it in an Asian supermarket in Chinatown in Newcastle, but haven't seen it in many other places. Too bad, because it's really got a lovely spicy and sweet flavour with Indian spices.

You can probably find it online, too.

Yeah, I did have the chutneys but again, I don't really consider that 'ready made'! I guess it depends upon how you want to define that... I'd like to make my own jams and whatnot, but why should I when there's Bon Marie or lovely local makers? LOL!