Being a student is an ongoing battle – and we don’t just mean with your student bank account. When money is short and you suddenly have the freedom to eat whatever you want, the temptation to resort to ready meals will inevitably strike. But is buying ready meals really the best option? And is spending the time cooking your own meals from scratch really worth the effort? We decided to put these questions to the test, once and for all.
We conducted a blind taste experiment with a few willing student volunteers to see whether scrimping on price also means scrimping on taste. Take a look at what they thought…
GUACAMOLE…
homemade…
Taste test: ‘very flavoursome and creamy, good balance between chili and avacado’
Price per tub: £0.70
ready made…
Taste test: ‘contains a lot of vinegar and tastes a bit like mayonnaise’
Price: £1.65
SPAG BOL
homemade…
Taste test: ‘tastes just right – lots of different textures and flavours’
Price per serving: £1.00
ready made…
Taste test: ‘sweeter but the sauce has a much thinner consistency’
Price per serving: £3.50
CHILLI CON CARNE
homemade…
Taste test: ‘very meaty and bursting with spices’
Price: £1.00
ready made…
Taste test: ‘too sweet for a chili and has the unfortunate consistency of dog food in gravy’
Price: £2.30
MASH
homemade…
Taste test: ‘good creamy flavour and firm texture but slightly lumpy’
Price per one person serving: £0.40
ready made…
Taste test: ‘smooth and velvety but needs seasoning, can tell it is Smash straight away’
Price per one person serving: £0.21
ONION SOUP
homemade…
Taste test: ‘real depth of flavour but much thinner consistency that the other sample. Would be great with crusty bread’
Price per one person serving: £0.47
ready made…
Taste test: ‘too salty for my liking, tasted more like flavourings than flavour’
Price per one person serving: £1.09
COOKIES
homemade…
Taste test: ‘gooey rather than chewy with much nicer chocolate BUT I might need to try it again…’
Price per 4 cookies: £0.29
ready made…
Taste test: ‘chewy, very sweet, it’s a shame that the sugariness overpowers the chocolate chunks’
Price per 4 cookies: £1.60
The Verdict
Not only did the homemade dishes taste better, they were also surprisingly cheaper to make. You might think it’s a lot of effort to buy the ingredients separately and to cook meals from scratch but we both found that cooking and baking can be incredibly therapeutic when the workload gets too much. If that isn’t enough to convince you, just think about all the pints that you can buy at the end of the week with the money you’ve saved by cooking your own!
