I’m not a huge ready meal fan, they conjure mental images of bland looking and tasteless meals that only really offer the benefit of being quick to prepare. They are also comparatively expensive. But it’s seems this image is not always valid, I have recently come across Amy’s Kitchen. A brand that has already gained popularity in the US has now jumped the pond, to offer us natural, gluten free, vegetarian ready meals. But can a ready meal ever match a home made meal?

Amy’s Indian Vegetable Korma

I tried out two of the many varieties of ready meals available from Amy’s Kitchen. I began with the Indian Vegetable Korma.

As a Curry this meal is very good, it has a gentle heat provided by the addition of Jalapeño Peppers, but it isn’t hard or rough on the palate. But as a Korma it isn’t quite what I was expecting, not because it was unpleasant, but more because it was rather slim on Coconut flavouring. I normally expect Kormas to give creamy sauces with a heavy and delicious coconut bent. But while I thoroughly enjoyed this curry it wasn’t a pure Korma in my mind.

The rice was very good and perfectly accompanied the curry, the vegetables were also very tender despite being reheated in a microwave. If I had one criticism it would be that the meal had an excess of liquid. This didn’t appear to impact on the flavour however.

The Dal accompaniment was somewhat anaemic in appearance, the box led me to believe I would be tucking into a deep brown Dal, when the reality can only be described as grey. Thankfully colour generally has little bearing on taste and this was certainly the case here

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. All the meals come frozen and I reheated them in the microwave, but they can also be popped in the oven if preferred.

Could It be improved in anyway?

To make it the kind of Korma flavour that the majority might expect it could benefit from a greater addition of coconut.

Amy’s Vegetable Lasagna

My first impressions of the Vegetable Lasagna were very good, it had a lovely colour and smell. Like the Korma it had a lot of excess liquid but this was not problematic at all.

The pasta layers had just the right al dente bite. The flavour was truly wonderful, despite being a completely vegetarian lasagne it was very hearty and filling. I didn’t find I missed the addition of meat at all. The vegetables themselves taste fresh and tender.

Overall I was very impressed with the vegetable lasagne and I plan to buy it in future. I let my husband try it and he too was very impressed. This would suit all my family perfectly.

Could it be improved in anyway?

I genuinely enjoyed this lasagna so much that I’d like to see family sized portions available. In terms of taste it’s pretty spot on so I’d make no improvements there.  This would be a wonderful meal for those busy days when you want to give your family something healthy and tasty but without the effort.

Details

For more information and to find your nearest stockist visit Amy’s Kitchen Online.

Amy’s Kitchen uses certified Organic ingredients. Dairy products are made with pasteurised rBST hormone-free milk and contain No animal enzymes or rennet.

No dishes contain meat, fish, poultry or eggs.

All Amy’s Kitchen products are non – GMO and don’t contain hydrogenated fats or oils