Let’s face it, if there is one thing that we can all agree on in the UK, it’s that we love a good meal deal.
Sharing our favourite combination of main, snack and drink can almost be as pleasing as a conversation about the weather, and has been since Boots was credited with introducing the concept back in 1999.
However, the great British meal deal has not been free from the toll that inflation has exacted on our shopping bills.
In what feels like a lifetime ago (but was actually only 2022), you could still pick up a Tesco meal deal for just £3. Sadly, it was not to last. The price was increased to £3.40 that very year, and for those without a Clubcard, lunch would set you back £3.90.
At the time of writing, the cost comes to £3.60 with a Clubcard, or £4 without. And this got me thinking… can you build your own meal deal for less, outside of the items in the offer?
So, armed with nothing more than my Clubcard, vivid flashbacks to my trip to the UK’s biggest Tesco, and ever-increasing pangs of hunger, I set off for my local big store to find out. Here is how I got on.
The Tesco Meal Deal Challenge rules
To keep my challenge fair, I established a few golden rules that I had to adhere to:
Only ‘on the go’ foods, with no cooking involved
‘Eat hot or cold’ items were fine, but no whipping up a quick carbonara on the bus home; essentially, something I could eat at my desk, in the park, or when hungover on a train – all classic meal deal settings.
No yellow sticker items allowed
While it is sometimes possible to grab yourself an absolute steal with reduced shopping, this felt like cheating.
Although, theoretically, I could claim victory with a whole rotisserie chicken for £1.47, there was no guarantee that you would be able to get the same deal. Seasonal produce and offers, however, would be fine.
Live by the Clubcard, die by the Clubcard
If I wanted to take advantage of Clubcard-only pricing, I would have to stick to the Clubcard meal deal budget of £3.60 – not the £4 upper limit.
A measurable improvement
While this is somewhat subjective, I decided that my meal deal had to offer something more than its supermarket counterpart. While I could have bought six large bags of peanuts and claimed value, that is not (to coin a phrase from the year we all try to forget) a substantial meal.
I needed some improvement in offering, be that through premium brand, larger sized, or better quality products.
Pretend the ‘premium meal deal’ doesn’t exist
Does anyone ever buy that one anyway?
Can you get a Tesco Meal Deal for less?
My first move (apart from taking some pictures with the Tesco sign outside, which must have made me look more than a little strange) was to conduct some product research – what sort of items are available in the meal deal?
My own personal preference – a chicken and bacon sandwich, a bag of spicy Nik Naks, and a Pepsi Max – I consider an elite combination, but other options are available.
My local Tesco is well-stocked with meal deal items, including savoury mini eggs, protein yoghurts, and large fruit pots, making for an appetising option, and helped inform the sort of thing I was looking for.
However, I had to delve deeper.
The meal deal drink
Starting at the far end of the store, I decided to begin my quest by quenching my thirst.
Heading into the soft drink section, I immediately spied bottles of flavoured water (both sparkling or still) in a big range of flavours and priced at just 75p. Bargain.
At one litre in size, this definitely outclasses all of its meal deal brethren, with most of the bottled drinks in the offer being just 500ml.
The only comparable meal deal drink I could find was the Highland Spring strawberry flavoured water – and this was only 750ml. Ultimately, I chose Tesco’s own-brand Peach and Passionfruit Sparkling Water. Off to a winning start.
Cost: 75p
Budget remaining: £2.85
The meal deal main
The main felt like the item that would be hardest to find, with sandwiches and wraps out of the question, and ‘making my own’ not only violating some of the rules, but the spirit of the challenge itself.
Some early items showed promise though. I initially turned to the hot and cold section, and discovered it was possible to get an entire quiche for just £2 with a Clubcard, even including the ‘summer edition’ mozzarella and pesto. Very tempting.
However, this would use up a substantial amount of my budget, leaving me with just 85p to source a reasonable snack. And while I was tempted to include a mini-quiche at just £1.65, it felt more in the realm of snack territory than a main.
A ‘protien grazing pack’ struck me as pretty good value at £2.75, with fruit, veg, boiled eggs and a dip included. But having already ruled out the quiche on price, there was no way this would make it into the basket. Rustler’s burgers were out too, as despite their budget-friendly £1.60 price point, they’re heat-only – not to mention I’ve never enjoyed them.
Eventually, I found considerable success in the pasty section. After flirting with the idea of two Tesco own-brand pasties for £1.69, I spied a much more premium offering that won me over – a Ginster’s Chicken and Bacon Cornish Pasty, priced at just £1.50 with a Clubcard.
Before anyone @’s me for the fact that you can get a pasty in the meal deal – I checked. You can only buy the smaller one (100g, vs the 180g on offer here) and only as a snack, not a main. Plus, the ‘steak and marmite’ option on display doesn’t sound all that appealing to me (you either love it or hate it, I guess).
So, with a branded item and a larger size, it met my criteria, and in the basket it went.
Cost: £1.50
Budget remaining: £1.35
The meal deal snack
With a remaining budget of well over a quid, shopping for my snack took the experience from challenging to a positive delight.
Heading to the crisps aisle, the family-sized bag of Nik Naks very nearly came straight home with me, as it would have brought me in precisely on budget – and, at ‘great for sharing’ size, definitely outclassed its meal deal competitor.
However, I wanted to explore all my options and see what else I could do.
Considering some dessert, Mr Kipling ‘lunchbox’ slices ticked the box at four for just £1, although the chocolate or toffee sundaes were just out of budget.
It was while on the quest to check the price of another item that I discovered an absolute billy bargain though: A ‘summer edition’ Caramelised Onion Scotch Egg priced at just 80p.
Given an ‘ordinary’ scotch egg or mini-savoury eggs is a staple of the traditional meal deal, the slightly unusual flavour and tiny price tag of this one ultimately won me over.
Cost: 80p
Budget remaining: 55p
The bonus item
Let’s face it, while no one could claim that my meal deal selection would leave them hungry, my choices so far haven’t exactly been the healthiest.
So although I debated taking my win and heading home, I decided to use the 55p still in my budget that’d go towards my five a day.
Taking what little change I had left, I ran around the store trying to see if it was possible to score one more item. The 50p snack pack of apple and grapes fit the bill perfectly, and I left Tesco with my head held high.
I’d officially beaten the meal deal, with not just three, but four bigger or better items – and with all of five pence change left to boot.
Cost: 50p
Budget remaining: 5p
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