When I think of Christmas, I think of time spent with family and friends, the exchanging of gifts, and the huge mounds of food that are to be enjoyed. Within that, of course, is the classic Christmas dinner. Succulent turkey, crispy roast potatoes, delicious pigs in blankets, flavoursome gravy. Even Brussels sprouts, too. For me, it’s a top-tier meal, among the best.
It can, however, be quite a pricey, time-consuming and difficult meal to produce yourself. Not everyone can afford the cost of a roast, plus if you live alone, it might not make sense anyway. Research more than a decade ago found that UK households will spend £822 on Christmas. Bear in mind, however, the rising cost of gifts and presents, as well as the cost-of-living crisis experienced by many.
That’s where the art of a ready meal can come in handy. The neatly packaged meals can be thrown in an oven (or sometimes even a microwave) and, within a few moments, a steaming plate of food can be enjoyed without the hassle, at a reasonable expense, and – perhaps most enjoyably – without a mound of washing up to tackle.
Marks & Spencer has launched its Christmas food range for 2025, and it features a wide selection. There are, of course, main course dishes, sides and desserts. There’s also starters and party food to consider.
But the supermarket retailer is selling a roast turkey dinner ready meal for one (£6.50). It includes a few slices of turkey meat, carrots and peas, three roast potatoes, two pigs in blankets, a stuffing ball and a Yorkshire pudding. There’s even plenty of gravy to drizzle over it all. Controversially, there are no sprouts, though.
It takes around 35 minutes to cook at home, and, having recently tried it myself, it was an incredibly surprising good meal. In fact, it was so tasty that it’s arguably better than some roasts I’ve had at a pub.
That’s not to be critical of all Essex pubs by any means. There are some fantastic pubs out there, many of which serve up a great roast dinner. But this was just an exceptionally good ready meal.
They can often have meat that tastes rubbery or has a cardboard-like texture. Whereas this meat was tender, tasty and enjoyable. The pigs in blankets were incredibly flavoursome, the gravy was brilliant too, and the vegetables somehow tasted fresh despite me knowing it was a ready meal.
This is a ready meal. It’s not going to rival (or come anywhere close) a homemade roast dinner, but that’s not what I believe it’s trying to do at the end of the day. Its aim is to be a cheap alternative, and a hassle-free one that has mounds of flavour and taste rather than piles of washing up.
Dining and Cooking