The Frozen Meals Experience

It just happened that I was looking for those ready meal that you can buy online and get delivered.. One brand in particular (youfoodz) did say that they were also available at participant retails (including ALDI)…

I thought to myself, that I may go down to the local shop and try some first before making a large order online… Unfortunately this particular ALDI did not have the youfoodz brand, but there were others available… Because I had to wait until next week for the first delivery, I decide to try those others brand and while at it make a review..

Please note that these review is based on my personal taste, that is for obvious reason (bloody wog), biased toward fresh food (especially pasta). I never tried this kind of frozen meals before, and I also do like proper condiments on most of what I eat. So, keep that in mind…

I bought one of each of what ever brand and type was available, to be consumed as two meals per day…  These are the results:

The picture on the right have numbers on it so that you can also get to see what they look like, coming out of the microwave.. For each meal I followed to the letter the cooking (yeah right) 😅, I meant the re-heating instructions…

ALDI Frozen Meals

N.1 Health & Vitality

Chicken Carbonara:

I say bullshit! What ever it was, it is not even related to a Carbonara, and if it was supposed to have chicken, why has a picture of bacon and cheese on the box?

I’m afraid this was a severe fail. What I got was a lumpy kind of white glue, with some very rubbery pasta and perhaps two very small pieces of chicken (very small).

I didn’t even took the picture of what it came out of the microwave, because it reminds me of something terrible and I simply throw it away.. Zero Stars!!!

N.2 International Cuisine

Singapore Noodles:

Now we are talking.. Noodles are noodles and the veggie were nice in a decent quantity and felt (al dente). The sauce was also enjoyable and overall a decent size for a cheap meal.  Not great, but edible and healthy if looking for noodles…

N.3 Health & Vitality

Lamb Hot Pot:

Oh boy, it seems that this brand just doesn’t want people to enjoy their meal.. What it came out of the microwave did look terrible, but at least this time the taste was ok. Problem was that I got to experience only a single bite of meat in what it felt a sea of mash potato and few veggies… Just not good enough…

N.4 Health & Vitality

Beef Stroganoff:

Mixed feeling again.. Once it came out of the microwave it didn’t look anything like the picture and you can also see the three piece of meat (of which two again, rice grain size). At least this time it did taste ok…

N.5 International Cuisine

Beef Ragù Pappardelle:

It seems that International Cousine does try a bit harder to sell what they say int in the box, but we still need to remember that all these are very cheap meal..

While the quantity was good again, unfortunately that’s where the good news does end. Once out of the microwave it didn’t look that good. The taste was similar to the Dolmio Bolognese sauce (crap), with that very strong acidity in it, and the pappardelle were just too soggy to make it a pleasant meal…

N.6 International Cuisine

Macaroni & Cheese:

Right.. In Italy we call these Pipette Rigate. Macaroni or again in Italian Rigatoni are normally shaped in a straight tube… Also while we are here, you can visit the Barilla Recipes, where you can choose by sauce or by shape… Highly reccomended…

Not sure why I even bought these as it really was only a bit of pasta with cheese, something very easy to make.. When they came out of the microwave you can see that all the cheese was just a blob in the middle… The meal was really bland and I had to add some basil and sundried tomato to make it edible..

N.7 International Cuisine

Satay Chicken:

Here, we could have had a winner… Several pieces of chicken, and the sauce was actually good, but the rice was not right and following the suggestion on the box didn’t help at all.. A real pity…

N.8 International Cuisine

Butter Chicken:

Unfortunately, I forgot to take the picture when it came out of the microwave, but it did look and more importantly tasted very good. This was by far the most enjoyable meal out of the freezer.. The sauce was pretty close to the Indian style advertised on the box and the rice was ok…

N.9 Health & Vitality

Chicken Curry:

Another welcome surprise. It didn’t look healty when it came out but after mixing the lot it became edible. Small portion…

N.10 Health & Vitality

Chicken & Pasta:

The last meal of my review. The pasta “maccheroni” was really bad, like rubber, but on a surprising note, the sauce was nice. The tomato dices and peas were also not really enjoyable.. Decent size portion..

There you have it… You can survive on these meals, but they are really not either healty or good value for money. Between the two brand, International Cuisine did perfomed a fraction better including the winner “n.8 Butter chicken”. Health & Vitality are not really an option in my opinion as they really did taste bad and they are very small in size portion…

Next week I’ll get my online order delivered, and I sincerely pray that they are nothing like these above…

One very positive thing out of this test was the fact that if you eat them out of their plstic plates, you have no washing to do at the end of your meal either.. Small consolation, but definitely not a good reason to buy them…

Later…