Tesco’s Chef’s Finest Collection meals are slow cooked and inspired by British, Italian and Indian cuisine – but are they worth the price tag? We put them to the test
Vita got to try Tesco’s new Chef’s Finest Collection meals(Image: Vita Molyneux)
Writer Vita Molyneux grew up in a household where everything was made from scratch. From pastry dough to gravies and sauces, she learned how to whip it all up with her own two hands.
It wasn’t until Vita flew the nest that she discovered the joy of ready meals (sorry Mum) and now she would say she’s chucking a pizza in the oven and calling it a night at least twice a week. So when Tesco got in touch and asked if Vita fancied trying their new Chef’s Finest Collection meals, she jumped at the chance.
These chef-crafted meals are slow cooked and inspired by British, Italian and Indian cuisine and for the first time, they’re available all year round, not just at Christmas.
Priced between £17.50 and £20, the meals promise a posh experience – definitely a notch above my usual pizza.
Vita was sent three of these meals, along with a couple of suggested side dishes. However, it’s worth noting that the meals themselves aren’t sold as a package deal with sides in store.
Also, the range currently doesn’t cater to vegetarians or vegans – it’s all about the meat, reports the Express.
The ready meals that were sent to Vita(Image: Vita Molyneux)Pork Belly with a mustard & tarragon sauce and apple & brandy chutney (£17.50)
This was the first meal of the week because Vita absolutely adores pork belly. Vita preheated the oven to the correct temperature and started unpacking the meal.
Vita was chuffed that the pork came in its own roasting tray, as she wasn’t sure she had a suitable one and all the sauces were clearly labelled and easy to identify.
The first obstacle was the instructions asking me to place the pork on the tray ‘fat side up’. Due to the heavy seasoning, Vita couldn’t tell which side was which.
After several minutes of flipping it back and forth, Vita decided to take a chance, knowing there was a 50/50 shot she would get it right.
Half an hour later, the timer rang out and the delicious aroma wafting from her kitchen drew Vita’s flatmates out. After letting the meat rest for five minutes, Vita sliced into it, relieved to find that she had indeed placed the fat side up.
Vita served the pork over the tarragon and mustard sauce, topped with the crumb. It was a picture-perfect match to the image on the box, which was quite gratifying.
She also prepared some Tesco finest fries as a side dish.
The pork was undoubtedly succulent and tasty, with the tarragon enhancing its flavour. The crumb added a pleasant crunch to the otherwise soft meal, and the apple sauce provided a nice contrast.
However, the pork was slightly too salty for Vita’s palate – thankfully, she hadn’t added any extra salt as she usually would, or she might have ended up thirsty.
Despite the excess salt, it was still a satisfying and hearty meal when paired with the side dish. But, if it were just the main dish shared between two, it might not be enough.
Tandoori Spiced Chicken Supremes with a smoky butter masala sauce, tandoori spiced yogurt and onion crumb (£17.50)
The cooking process for this dish was a bit more intricate, requiring Vita to remove it at one point and slather some yoghurt on it – hardly Gordon Ramsay level of complexity. The aroma was tantalising, but she was let down by the lack of accompanying rice.
Eating just a chicken breast, no matter how well-seasoned, felt a bit bleak. Vita ended up preparing some rice myself to go with it, as she was famished and didn’t think that just chicken would suffice.
Once everything was served, it looked exactly like the picture on the packet (apart from the added rice).
Upon slicing into the chicken, sje realised that my 50/50 gamble on which side was up had not paid off – Vita had definitely cooked this one upside down as there was some seasoning clumped across the fattier side of the chicken which hadn’t properly spread throughout the meat – but that is Vita’s fault.
Regrettably, like the pork belly, this chicken was also too salty for her liking. However, the meat was succulent and tender and the masala butter sauce was creamy, smoky, and spot on.
If it was a tad less salty, and came with a rice that Vita could have just popped in the microwave it would have been a fantastic meal. As it stood, it was a decent meal but not one she would necessarily eat again.
Vita thought the chicken was a decent meal but not one she would necessarily eat again(Image: Vita Molyneux)Stuffed Beef Featherblade with a Porcini & Parmigiano Reggiano stuffing, peperonata and pine nut pesto (£17.50)
This was originally meant to be night two’s dinner because it went off before the chicken did, but Vita had arrived home late and realised at the eleventh hour that this one requires a staggering 55 minutes to prepare.
Hardly a swift ready meal, so it got postponed to night three when she would have had more time available.
This particular dish demanded slightly more effort than the previous two – Vita needed to line the supplied roasting tray with kitchen foil (not included) which she fortunately had tucked away in the drawer.
Then it went into the oven for 35 minutes with frequent basting, followed by removing the foil and another 20 minutes of cooking – once again basting throughout.
The peperonata sauce required simmering whilst the beef rested before it was ready to plate up.
Vita was told to carve the beef “as thick as I like.”
Yet the meat proved so succulent it couldn’t be sliced.
Any effort with a blade simply glided straight through.
On this occasion, the seasoning hit the mark perfectly.
It wasn’t overly salty like the chicken and pork, and the sauce complemented the rich meat beautifully.
It was spicy and zesty, with the sharpness balancing the savoury meat brilliantly.
Nevertheless, the pesto felt somewhat ordinary – she suspected it was simply overwhelmed by the other tastes.
This proved Vita’s top pick of the trio flavour-wise.
But with a cooking duration of nearly an hour, it certainly wasn’t as straightforward to prepare. All in all, Vita’s week of sampling Tesco’s new ready meals was a bit hit and miss.
They have their advantages and disadvantages, pretty much evenly balanced. If you’ve got the cash to spare and don’t mind a bit of additional preparation, they’re worth a try – but an oven pizza is less expensive and requires no thought.
Dining and Cooking