How to Elevate your Ready-Made Meal

The term ‘ready-made meal’ doesn’t exactly scream sophistication, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a gourmet dish without the cost associated with a swanky restaurant or the inconvenience of a complicated hours-long recipe. There’s a stigma associated with ready-made meals, and we’re here to combat it, one delicious lasagne at a time.

Convenience doesn’t have to mean skimping on flavour or experience. Our carefully crafted meals do the heavy-lifting on their own, but if you’re looking to really elevate your ready-meal experience, we’ve got some helpful ideas for adding that touch of sophistication…

Set the scene

Just because you’ve opted for a ready-made meal, doesn’t mean you can’t create an elevated atmosphere to enjoy it in. Whether you’re entertaining guests, feeding the family or simply enjoying some solo time, taking a few moments to create that restaurant feeling can go a long way in changing the meal-time mood. It can be as simple as setting the table with some nice linen or your best crockery, lighting a candle and playing some low-key background music to create a moody ambience. Who would ever know that your mouth-watering eggplant parmigiana plated on your fanciest dish took only three minutes to make?

Add a side dish

A great way to make your ready-made meal go further and to add that restaurant-feel is to add some side dishes. Toss together a simple salad, slice up a fresh baguette and sprinkle some parmesan in a bowl, and just like that you’ve created an elaborate meal. One of our favourite ways to add interest to the meal is to add one of our colourful and diverse fresh salads. Minimal effort with maximum results.

Try pairing our bestselling beef lasagne with our roast pumpkin and chickpea salad for the perfect combination of fresh and gourmet.

It’s all in the preparation

All the extra time you’ve saved in slaving away over a hot stove for hours, means you may have a few extra minutes up your sleeve. Our ready-to-eat meals can be heated in just a few minutes in the microwave, but if you’re really looking to elevate your meal and give it your own twist, we’ve got some great suggestions. Try pan-frying our gnocchi meals for just a few minutes on a medium stove, and you’ll have a crispy yet pillowy gnocchi meal that rivals that of your favourite Italian bistro.

Ready-made doesn’t have to mean boring. If anything, saving time on cooking allows those extra few minutes to really set the scene for an elevated dining experience. For an extra time-saver, shop our gourmet meals online and have them delivered to your door, so that you can enjoy convenient, delicious meals without the fuss.