Birds Eye Potato Waffles > Reviews (3)

Review of Birds Eye Potato Waffles

So, What Are They?

Potato Waffles are a potato product from the Birds Eye frozen food company. They are sold in most supermarkets in boxes of 12 (680g), this product can be located in the frozen food aisles along with other frozen potato items.

Each waffle is an attractive latticed effect, oblong of pale golden brown, processed potato. When cooked properly, the waffle retains it's golden brown colour and the outside is crisp in texture, whilst the inside is a creamy white soft mashed potato. This nestles within the outer casing providing a delicious contrast of texture. They smell absolutely delicious as they cook and are extremely easy to prepare. The taste is very fresh and quite similar to chips, but without the fatty after taste I often find with any fried food.

Waffles are a very versatile food, an alternative to chips or ordinary mashed potato.

I do find them very filling and one or two is usually adequate for me as an accompaniment to a main meal, although I have been known to eat three when feeling particularly greedy!

Packaging

Birds Eye Potato waffles come in a recyclable cardboard box, predominantly red in colour with the Birds Eye logo in a white font. A picture of a cooked waffle topped with peas and sweetcorn is on the right of the the strap line “12 potato waffles---made with real potatoes”.

The packaging also carries as you might expect, serving suggestions, cooking instructions, nutritional values, ingredients and allergy advice.

Cooking Instructions

Potato waffles can be oven cooked, grilled or cooked on a barbeque. They are best cooked from frozen.
To oven cook:- Preheat oven to gas 7, electricity 220 degree and cook for approximately 15 minutes, on a baking tin, turning once during cooking.

To grill:- Place waffles under a medium temperature grill and cook for approximately 8 minutes, again turning once.

I usually oven cook this product and find it is not necessary to grease or line my tin as they seem to ooze a little fat in the cooking process, which is adequate to ensure that they do not stick to the baking tin.

Birds Eye also inform consumers that the product should not be re frozen once thawed out and that cooking instructions are guidelines only.

How to Serve

As previously mentioned Birds Eye Potato Waffles are a very versatile addition to your freezer. They taste great on their own as a quick snack and go with so many other foods that they are a really adaptable way of serving potatoes. I particularly enjoy them with a light meal such as an omelette or a slice of quiche, my other half sometimes grills himself a couple of waffles, adds a slice of cheese and then tops the waffles with scrambled egg, as a substantial lunch.
We don't tend to eat much fried food in our house and I rarely cook chips, but these waffles fit the bill when a chip accompaniment would normally be used. They are lower in fat and calories that traditional fried chips, which has to be a bonus!

Birds Eye helpfully list a selection of ideas for serving on the packaging, I won't list them all here but pork or lamb chops, Chicken Kiev, fish fingers, bacon, baked beans and sausages all get a Birds Eye mention!

Ingredients and Nutritional Values

Just a brief run-down for this section, no one wants to read through a long list of figures and data for such a self explanatory product!

Naturally the main ingredient used in the production of potato waffles is--- wait for it---artichokes. (Sorry, couldn't resist that- of course it is potato!)
Birds Eye boast that their waffles are made with 115g of potatoes per 100g of product, this amused me no end, until I realised that of course once the potatoes were peeled and prepared their weight would drop!!!
Birds Eye also state that potato waffles are made with freshly mashed potatoes, are low in saturated fat and contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

Allergy advice states that the product contains Wheat, Wheat Flour & Mustard.

Each waffle, when cooked according to Birds Eye's advice, contains 95 calories, 1.2g protein, 4.9g fat, 12g carbohydrate and 0.2g sodium.
Not the best way to eat vegetables but a very tasty one!

Price, Availability and Company Information

Available from most supermarkets at around £1.30 for a box of 12 – 680g.
Exists also in pack of 4 (227g) and 15 (850g).
At the time of writing this review, Sainsbury's and Tesco have these on special offer at £1 per box of 12 and Asda have them on a 2 for £2 deal. Worth stocking up on!

Birds Eye have a very good website which contains information about all their products, recipe and menu ideas. Contact details for the company can be found on their site:-
http://www.birdseye.co.uk

My Thoughts and Conclusion

Birds Eye Potato Waffles are a reliable, versatile product which I always keep a box of in the freezer for occasional use. They are tasty, filling and very, very good! I have tried supermarket own versions of potato waffles, but always come back to Birds Eye, this is one of those products where it simply isn't worth compromising taste for the sake of saving a few pence, in short, I would recommend Birds Eye Potato Waffles to others.

Thank you for reading
©brittle1906 November 2009

N.B. Please note my review may be found on other review sites under the same use name.