Tesco Healthy Eating Chicken Paella

Tesco, in my opinion, has surpassed itself with this new range of healthy eating meals. Each one that I have tried has been a good size with lots of taste, and I currently am working my way through the whole range! My favourite so far is this one though, it's s flavoursome and seems a generously sized portion for the amount of calories!

So, onto the dish. On the outside, it's a blue and white package, fresh off the shelf, and surprisingly they can be frozen at home, but otherwise they usually have a good use by date of around 5 days time. You can pull off the outer sleeve and inside is a plastic pot filled with the dish and covered with a clear film, which you must pierce to cook the dish. It can either be cooked in the microwave or the oven, and I choose to cook this in the oven as I think it retains its moisture better, and is actually less hassle as you do not have to stir it during cooking. It takes 20-25 minutes at Gas Mark 5, and during this time you do nothing, just sit back with a glass of wine and relax!

When the time is up, you peel back the cellophane and stir the dish before serving. It occasionally does go a bit too dry on the top, but the rice in this dish particularly does seem to retain its moisture. The aroma is pleasant, of peppers and paprika, and there are a large amount of generously sized pieces of chicken. There are lots of red peppers, mushrooms, and sweetcorn, all of which look juicy and appetising, and the rice is plump and moist.

The taste.. superb! For a ready meal, this really is top notch. It's not spicy as such, but is flavoursome and the peppers definitely add something to the depth of taste. Even the mushrooms are juicy and taste of mushrooms, not of water, which is so often the case. I find these dishes do need seasoning at least with salt and pepper, and soy souce definitely compliments the flavours in this dish, although it is lovely without any additions. The chicken is moist and tender, and very tasty. The rice is nice and wet and does not lose too much moisture during cooking, which makes a nice change.

This dish is priced at £2.99 for a 450g pack, which may seem expensive but it is a very filling meal and definitely big enough for a main course on its own. It has only 416 kcal, 3.2g fat, and 1g saturated fat, which for a main meal is very little. It is perfect for those dieters out there, but definitely does not taste like a 'diet' product.

Overall, I would highly recommend this product as a really good ready meal, it's filling and tasty and does not require much work to cook! Even I didn't manage to ruin it and I'm no masterchef!