I’m no stranger to a store meal deal having been a university student, Boots employee and general busy bee constantly forgetting to eat. They certainly come in handy when you need nutritional sustenance quickly and fairly cheaply.
The lunchtime offer has always been popular amongst shoppers keen to grab a bite to eat while on the go or on a half-hour lunch break - but have recently sparked quite a bit of debate - for more reason than one, too.
First campaigners have called for them to be banned from stores such as Boots and Tesco, with one HSE clinical lead saying they ‘should be illegal’ in a bid to combat obesity.
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But shoppers were left disappointed last week when Morrisons became the latest retailer to hike the price on their meal deals in 2022, following Boots and the Co-op. The supermarket previously had the cheapest meal deal on the high street, matching Tesco’s clubcard price, but is now in line with non-clubcard prices, and Sainsbury’s, at £3.50.
So I headed out to Boots, Morrisons, Tesco, M&S and Sainsbury’s to see where I could find the best meal deal in terms of price, choice and taste. I picked up a main, snack and drink at each of the stores, selecting whatever I happened to fancy on the day, and enjoyed them for lunch over the course of my working from home week.
Here’s what I picked up from each of the stores, alongside how much their meal deal was, and how much I saved in the offer.
Monday - Boots Meal Deal
I kicked off in my former stomping ground, Boots, where the price of a meal deal quietly increased back in March from £3.39 to £3.59 - hiking from £3.99 to £4.19 in London. I selected a chicken and chorizo sandwich worth £3 and bypassed the fruit pots and granola yoghurts for a caramel shortbread for £1.20. I find these totally irresistible because they are the perfect cuppa dunker.
To drink, I went for a Shaken Udder strawberries and clotted cream shake because I’d never seen them before and rather enjoyed the branding. Made with Rodda’s Cornish clotted cream the drink is usually £1.65. Overall, my meal deal saved me £2.26 on the retail price.
The sandwich was on slightly healthier wholemeal bread rather than white, with fairly thickly cut chicken, a generous amount of chorizo and some crunchy salad, for 368 calories. Admittedly my chocolate shortbread and shake bumped my calorie intake up by 554 between them, but both were absolutely delicious.
Tuesday - Morrisons Meal Deal
I headed down to Morrisons to see if their 50p price increase was worth it, and to be honest, in comparison to some of the other £3.50 meal deals on the market, it wasn’t too bad.
I browsed the sandwiches but ended up being drawn in by a Chicken and Bacon pasta worth £2.20. The bowl was filled with creamy pasta in a mayonnaise dressing with sweetcorn, tomatoes, chunks of bacon and quite large pieces of chicken, and made for a very enjoyable lunch that I didn’t have to make myself.
To drink, I went for an Oasis Citrus Punch for £1.65, with a Nomadic Yoghurt and Oat Clusters Strawberry for my snack. I practically lived on these at university, and regularly pick them up from the supermarket for a quick and easy breakfast or snack. I’d often be happy to have one of these as a main, so I was able to eat the pasta at lunch and save the granola pot, worth £1.50, for later in the day.
The Morrisons meal deal came in at £3.50, but the total value of the products was £5.35, saving me £1.85. This meal deal seemed fairly healthy with a total calorie intake of 455, which is less than anything I’d have likely made at home.
Wednesday - Sainsbury’s Meal Deal
I was feeling pretty hungry when I got up on Wednesday so started the day off with half of my Bacon Butty from their £3.50 meal deal. There was some ketchup on the £2.55 sarnie, but ultimately it was quite dry. Luckily, being at home I could add more, opting for the M&S one which is now a firm favourite following this supermarket comparison.
Later on in the day I finished off the sandwich alongside the Sainsbury’s snack sausage roll, which was actually quite big for a snack, costing £1.55. However, if I was looking for something quick to eat on the go, I’d definitely head to the deli counter for a hot sausage roll over a cold one.
For my drink, I went for a Fanta this time, though I was intrigued by the fancy bottles of Kombucha. I thought it best to stick to what I know, picking up my favourite fizzy orange flavour.
The total value of this meal was £5.55, saving me a grand total of £2.05 overall. It didn’t feel particularly unhealthy, however I was pretty stunned that my sandwich was more than 450 calories, and my sausage roll was 442. Together with the drink the meal totalled 991 calories, making it the most calorific of the week so far.
Thursday - M&S Grab and Go
Marks and Spencer don’t have a dedicated meal deal, but they do have a fridge section filled with ready to eat meals, snacks and drinks, so you can essentially DIY your meal deal, without the benefit of a discount.
After a calorie shock at Sainsbury’s, I opted for a berry medley pot and Diet Sparkling Pink Cranberry Lemonade, alongside a Japanese Style Pork and BBQ wrap. The wrap featured Japanese-style BBQ pork with tonkatsu ketchup and umami mayo with crunchy pickled cabbage and cucumber. It cost £3.50 and was certainly the most interesting thing I’d eaten all week, with the berry pot adding a burst of freshness to my day for £1.85.
The cranberry lemonade cost £1.45, taking my total up to £6.80, with absolutely zero savings to be made.
The wrap contained 441 calories with the drink weighing in at only 10 calories, and the berry pot being around 60 calories, with a total of 511 calories all together.
Friday - Tesco Meal Deal
I ended the week with a Tesco meal deal, which if you’re a Clubcard holder, is just £3 - or £3.50 without. I went for the Feta and Semi-Dried Tomato Pasta for £2.50 and a pack of Quavers for 85p, as well as a bottle of Lucozade to fuel me for the day ready for the weekend. The drink cost £1.65, taking the total value to exactly £5, saving myself £1.50. I could have saved £2 if only I’d remembered my Clubcard.
The Tesco pasta was beautiful, with crumbly feta cheese and a rich tomato sauce, totalling 495 calories. I was totally full by the generous pot and there was no need for the 161 calorie crisps, though I did eat them later on. The Lucozade contained 87 calories, adding up to 743 calories for the full meal deal. Though I could have made some healthier choices at the counter, I simply picked up whatever I fancied.
Verdict
In eating meal deals every day for a week, I spent a total of £20.89, which could add up to £1,086.28 if I did so every single week for a year. It’s a pricey lunch option if you make it a regular thing, however, it is quick, easy and convenient, and I absolutely would go for the odd meal deal if I was out and about and in a rush.
My best piece of advice though is that if you're popping in to the shop for a drink and a snack, it may be worth upgrading to a meal deal and eating the items individually throughout the week, and don't forget to collect loyalty points like Nectar, Clubcard and Advantage Card points, because they soon add up and you could bag a free meal with them.
I think calls to ban meal deals are pretty drastic. In fact, none of the meals I randomly selected exceeded 1,000 calories, and while the energy stats in some of these were a bit of a shock - namely the sausage roll - my meals over the week were fairly balanced. At times I could have made healthier choices, but I don’t think anything was as calorific as heading to a fast food drive thru, for example.
Overall my favourite meal deal came from Boots, who also offered the biggest saving - though Tesco's pasta was a close second. I’d love to see M&S offer a discount for a meal, snack and drink combo, because their offering is otherwise expensive.
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