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Tesco Pasta Shells Ready Meals

By Dave Roberts   

on August 1, 2012    No ratings yet.

Posted in Food, Outdoor Gear Reviews, Wild Camping ReviewsOutdoor Gourmet, mnom mnom, wild camping

Tesco Pasta Shells Ready Meals

On a recent shopping trip, during my usual foray into the ready meals aisle, I found these inexpensive pasta puck meals. Are these cheap and cheerful meals from Tesco any good as a camping meal? We find out.

Available in bolognese and tuna varieties, these cost only£1.29 compared to a Wayfarers at around £4 or a Look What We found at £1.99 upwards. You only need to heat these up and you don’t need water, so you’ve prepared and eaten this before a dehydrated meal would be ready, only with a bit more washing up.

The calorific content is rather low,145 calories for the tuna and 185 for the bolognese, meaning you’d need at least 3 of these to hit the minimum 500cals for an evening meal (with 7-800 calories preferable), but about right for a quick lunch stop.

They’re tasty enough, but thick and starchy. Typical of a processed meal, they start off tasting great, but become bland about half way through. You could always add some basil, some of cheese or chilli to give it a bit of pep, but the ‘gloopy’ and starchy nature of the sauce is enough to put me off.

Verdict. If you’re stuck for some camping food and a Tesco is nearby then these will do the job at a pinch. However, there are much better options available (Look What We Found for instance). I might consider these as a cheap lunch, but they’re just not tasty enough to bring as a main evening meal. Neither is there enough calories in one packet for a main meal and I wouldn’t relish the prospect of eating two of these. However, if you do end up on the hill with nothing but these as your evening meal, expect them to get the job done, only without much fuss or style.

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Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts founded Walk Eryri in 2004, with the aim of providing routes that are off the beaten track. Walk Eryri is now part of Mud and Routes which continues to provide more off beat routes and walks in Snowdonia and beyond. Dave has been exploring the hills of Eryri for over thirty years, and is a qualified Mountain Leader. Dave also established Walk up Snowdon, Walk up Scafell Pike and Walk up Ben Nevis just to mention a few.

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