They may seem like a well-deserved treat, but they are also a budget-friendly option.
But many meals that you can buy in the supermarket to eat at home usually include a starter, main course, side dish, dessert and sometimes wine for between £10 and £12. However, they contain almost the recommended amount of calories for adults for a whole day, as MailOnline discovered.
Our check of more than 100 products from five major supermarkets, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, ASDA and Tesco, found that meal deals often totalled as much as 1,952 calories.
For comparison, 2,000 grams per day is recommended for an average woman to maintain a healthy weight, and a third of the 2,500 grams recommended for an average man.
Our research came after the University of Birmingham found that around 93 per cent of meals offered in supermarkets exceed the government’s recommended limit of 600 calories per person for dinner.
We found that just a number of main courses offered as part of a meal deal contained over 600 calories per serving.
Supermarkets advertise dinner offers as an alternative to more expensive restaurant meals.
Although it is a cheaper option, nutritionists warn that it is ‘surprisingly high’ in calories and therefore not the healthiest choice and should be considered a ‘treat’.
ASDA steak dinner same as FOUR Big Macs
At ASDA, customers are being offered a meal deal for £10 for two people. The offer includes a starter, main course, side dish and dessert.
While there are healthier options such as a vegetable medley (94 cal), a fish pie (349 cal) or a rump steak (300 cal), Macaroni Cheese (741 cal) and Sticky Toffee Pudding (479 cal) are also among the options.
If a customer were to choose the Goat’s Cheese & Caramelised Onion Tarts as a starter (417 calories), the British Steak & Ale Pies (698 calories) as a main course with a portion of Buttery Maris Piper Mash (266 calories) and finish the meal with a Melt in the Middle Belgian Chocolate Pudding (571 calories), they would consume a whopping 1,952 calories.
To put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of eating about four McDonald’s Big Macs (493 cal).
M&S meal three quarters of a woman’s total daily limit
M&S is offering a £12 deal which includes a main course and a side dish, with customers choosing between a starter or dessert.
Although the supermarket offers lower calorie side dishes such as a salad (16 calories) or Gastropub Greens (85 calories), three of the seven main courses on offer contain more than 600 calories per portion, according to information from Ocado.
The most caloric main course is their Best Ever Mac & Cheese at 821 calories per serving.
If this main course were paired with two slices of Cheesy Garlic Baguette (202 cal) as a side and a Chocolate Melt in the Middle Pudding (533 cal) for dessert, it would total 1,556 calories.
That’s more than three-quarters of a woman’s recommended calorie intake for a day.
Tesco Finest meal is lower in calories if you avoid the wine
Tesco’s ‘Finest’ range offers dine-in for £12. Customers can choose a main course, side dish, dessert and a drink.
Only one of the main dishes offered exceeds 600 calories in a serving.
The most calorific main dish on the menu is the Al Forno Lasagna, which contains 617 calories per serving.
A meal including the duck legs with port and plum sauce (456 cal), a side of creamy buttery mash (279 cal) and a melt-in-the-middle chocolate fondant for dessert (510 cal) comes to 1,245 calories.
However, this offer includes a bottle of wine. If customers also bought a bottle of Tesco’s Finest Malbec, they could add around 188 calories per large glass (250ml).
That could bring the total calorie intake of the meal to 1,433.
That’s more calories than a McDonald’s McNuggets Sharebox, which contains 869 calories.
Sainsbury’s salmon and chips 1,000 cals per portion
Sainsbury’s is also offering a £12 deal, which includes a main course, side, dessert and a drink.
The Scottish salmon, spinach and cheddar en croûte contains 676 calories, which is equivalent to two medium portions of McDonald’s fries (337 per portion).
If you were to purchase this main course along with the Chunky Triple Cook Chips (264 calories), the Sticky Toffee Pudding (352 calories) and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra (196 calories per 250ml glass), that would total 1,488 calories for one meal.
Waitrose belt breaker with only two courses
The Waitrose No.1 £12 offer does not include a bottle of wine and, like M&S, customers can only choose between a starter or dessert.
But even one of the most calorie-dense food combinations for two people comes out to 1,364 calories per person.
That is when a customer combined the Parmigiano Reggiano & Truffle Chicken Kyiv (580 cal) as a main course and the Ultimate Mash (345 cal) as a side dish with the Sticky Toffee Pudding (439 cal) for dessert.
“Eating meals that contain 1,300 to 1,900 calories or more in one sitting can add significantly to calorie intake and may even lead people to exceed the recommended daily calorie intake,” warns Kim Pearson, a nutritionist and owner of a London clinic specialising in weight loss.
“While this won’t cause significant harm for most people if done occasionally, regularly consuming excess calories can lead to weight gain and associated health problems, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” she said.
There’s nothing wrong with an occasional treat
She suggests we should view ready meals as an ‘occasional treat’ and advises people to check labels and choose those with lower calories and healthier ingredients.
“Some of the highest calorie meal combinations can provide as much energy as the full recommended daily allowance for women,” says Rob Hobson, certified nutritionist at Healthspan and author of Unprocess Your Life.
He also warns that while it’s fine to indulge occasionally, eating it regularly can lead to weight gain.
Mr Hobson said: ‘High levels of saturated fat and salt in these meals worsen the problem, as frequent consumption can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease over time.
“These high-calorie options may seem like a better deal compared to salads, lean proteins, and vegetables, but it’s important to check food labels and make the healthiest choice.”
Dr. Duane Mellor, dietitian and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, suggests choosing salads and vegetables as a side dish to reduce overall calorie intake.
Click here to resize this module
He said: ‘If you’re looking for healthier options, try to choose dishes that don’t contain dough, batter or breadcrumbs and opt for tomato-based sauces rather than cream-based ones.’
Andrew Opie, Director of Food and Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: ‘Dining deals give you great value and tasty food. If you eat it as part of a balanced diet, it is unlikely to have a negative effect on the consumer.
‘Retailers of all types have made good progress in supporting consumers to make healthier choices in the food they buy through better labelling, and action has been taken to reformulate products to make them healthier.’
A Waitrose spokesperson said: ‘Our number 1 range is designed to be a little bit special. The £12 meal deal offers a top quality alternative to eating out, and is excellent value for money.
‘To ensure that our customers can make an informed choice, we clearly provide all our products with a traffic light label.’
Tesco told MailOnline that the Tesco Finest Dine In range offers customers the opportunity to ‘treat themselves to a convenient meal for two’. The supermarket stresses that these meals should be part of a balanced diet, rather than something to eat every day.
MailOnline has also contacted Sainsbury’s, ASDA and M&S.