Supermarket ready meals have been the path of least resistance to people who are tired of the usual lunchtime sandwich fare so common in the UK. These meals, designed to be re-heated in a conventional or microwave oven, address a real need for people who are too busy to spend more than a few minutes preparing their lunch.
Overall, the meal made a good impression. Once cooked and served on a plate, the colours were nice and the dish had a pleasant aroma. The sauce was quite good, very rich, and tasted of it's ingredients: mushrooms, sour cream and a touch of brandy. The rice turned out quite fluffy, if under-seasoned, and the meat itself was very tender. The sauce contains both single cream and sour cream in differing proportions totaling one quarter of the sauce. However, one real failing of this meal can be found by reading the percentages on its ingredients list: "Cooked Herb Rice (43%), Stroganoff Sauce (37%), Marinated Mey Selections Beef (20%)". For a dish in which beef plays the leading role, Sainsbury's has been quite stingy with the actual meat.
One should note that the rice requires the addition of water before heating. This is simple to do, but not usually required of ready meals, so one should pay close attention to the directions on the sleeve. I don't really see the richness of the sauce as a problem--it's what one would expect from something labeled "stroganoff" and ready meals have built-in portion control. Still, people conscious of their fat intake should note that this meal contains 20.9 grams of fat--8.2 of which are saturated. The entire meal weighs in at 450 grams.
The "Taste the Difference" line may be marketed at people who value flavour over price, but at £3.49 Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Beef Stroganoff and Herby Rice is an economical lunch option for almost anyone. The paltry portion of beef brings the final score down for me.
Gannet rating: 7/10
