Sports supplement company Myprotein has launched its first range of ready meals, which will be available exclusively at Iceland, both in stores and online. There are 15 meals available costing from £3.50 to £6 and they are designed to fit in easily with a healthy lifestyle.
As you’d expect, the meals are high in protein, and the calorie counts are generally between 400 and 600 calories for a main meal, although the huge Meat Feast Pasta meal bucks that trend with 633 calories (and a whopping 61g of protein).
Myprotein says the meals are also generally low in fat and high in fibre, and the range contains options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So far the range only really caters to omnivores, since the veggie options are restricted to a couple of breakfast meals.
Myprotein has tried to produce easier, healthier versions of comfort-food classics, with a menu that includes Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese, Chicken Tikka, Bolognese Pasta and Piri Piri Chicken meals, all of which should hit the spot on active days.
I tried out the Meat Feast Pasta after a 10-mile run and it certainly hit the spot as a filling and tasty lunch, although it didn’t strike me as a particularly healthy option if you weren’t also exercising hard that day. That’s mostly because of the high salt content, which is 3.5g – a big chunk of your 6g recommended daily allowance.
It took 10 minutes in the microwave to make the meal, which comes in a plastic bowl with a sleeve. Myprotein called this “reusable packaging” when the meals launched, but a flimsy plastic bowl without a lid doesn’t strike me as all that reusable.
Along with being able to get the meals in-store and online with Iceland, you can also get them from Iceland’s sub-brand The Food Warehouse.
Although a couple are £6, the majority of the meals cost £4 or £4.75, which is cheaper than almost all the picks in our best healthy meal prep services round-up. Granted those picks are delivered to your door, but it’s not tricky for most of us to find a branch of Iceland nearby, and Iceland also delivers for free if you spend over £40 on a food order online.
While cooking your own food is always a good way to help ensure you’re eating healthily, meal prep services like this can be highly convenient for keeping your diet on track during busy periods – they’re certainly better than opting for a takeaway or a standard ready meal.
If you’re planning on beginning a fitness kick in January, eating balanced meals with plenty of protein is a great way to support your training. And if Myprotein’s meals can match the standards of our existing favourite meal prep services at a lower cost, we’re all for it.
