How to Make the Best Choices for Supermarket Meal Deals
Supermarket meal deals are one of those things that can either be incredibly useful or leave you standing in front of a fridge for ten minutes wondering whether you’re supposed to choose the sandwich you actually want or the tiny salad that looks like it will leave you hungry before you’ve even got back to your desk.
I’ve definitely been guilty in the past of looking for whatever had the fewest calories and assuming that automatically made it the “best” choice. When you’re trying to lose weight, it’s very easy to get into that mindset. If one sandwich has 330 calories and another has 470, surely the 330-calorie one wins?
Not necessarily.
These days, I think there is much more to choosing a good supermarket meal deal than finding the lowest number on the packet. You want something that fits your goals, of course, but ideally you also want a lunch that’s satisfying enough to stop you raiding the biscuit cupboard an hour later.
Whether you’re buying a Tesco, Boots, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda or Co-op meal deal, here are the things I’d consider when putting together your lunch.
What actually makes a healthy meal deal?
There isn’t one supermarket meal deal combination that will be perfect for everyone.
Someone trying to increase their protein intake might make completely different choices from someone who needs more fibre, while someone with a physically demanding job may need a considerably more substantial lunch than somebody who spends most of their working day sitting at a desk.
That’s why I don’t particularly like lists claiming to show the “healthiest meal deal”.
Health isn’t determined by whether you chose the chicken sandwich instead of the cheese one on Tuesday afternoon.
Instead, I like to look at the meal deal as a whole. Does it contain some protein? Is there any fibre? Will it actually fill you up? Does it contribute something useful nutritionally? And, rather importantly, do you actually want to eat it?
You don’t need every meal to be nutritionally perfect.
Start with the main, not the snack
If you’re trying to make a more balanced meal deal, I’d start with the main part of your lunch and build everything else around it. That might be a sandwich, wrap, salad, sushi, pasta pot or whatever else your supermarket includes in its deal.
Rather than automatically reaching for the lowest-calorie option, have a look at what’s actually in it.
A chicken salad sandwich on wholemeal bread, for example, may give you protein from the chicken and some fibre from the bread. A bean or lentil-based salad could provide both protein and fibre. Some sushi options can provide protein from fish, although they aren’t necessarily particularly high in fibre.
The nutritional information on the front of the packet can give you a quick comparison, but turn it over if you want a better idea of what you’re buying.
Look for some protein
Protein can be particularly useful when you’re trying to make a lunch more satisfying. Meal deal mains containing chicken, turkey, tuna, salmon, eggs, beans, lentils, tofu or other protein-rich ingredients can be worth considering.
That doesn’t mean you need to hunt down the product with PROTEIN written across the packet in enormous letters. Sometimes a perfectly ordinary sandwich contains a decent amount anyway.
If two mains appeal to me equally, I’d probably compare their protein and choose the one likely to be more satisfying rather than automatically choosing whichever contains 30 fewer calories.
If you’re trying to increase your protein generally, I have plenty more ideas in my high-protein foods and recipes guides that you can link to here.
Don’t forget fibre
Protein gets a lot of attention, especially on social media, but fibre is another thing I’d look at.
Wholemeal and wholegrain breads, vegetables, fruit, beans, pulses, nuts and seeds can all contribute fibre to your lunch.
You don’t necessarily need your main to provide everything either. If the sandwich you fancy isn’t particularly high in fibre, your snack could be fruit, for example. It’s the whole meal deal that matters.
This is something I wish I’d understood better when I was losing weight. I spent far too much time trying to make individual foods fit into little boxes rather than looking at what I was eating across the whole day.
Is the lowest-calorie meal deal always best for weight loss?
No, and this is probably the biggest thing I’d like people to take away from this article. Calories absolutely matter when we’re talking about weight loss, but the lowest-calorie lunch isn’t automatically the best lunch for you.
Imagine you choose a very small salad because it has 220 calories rather than the sandwich you really wanted at 400 calories. If you’re perfectly satisfied afterwards, brilliant.
But if you’re starving at 3pm and subsequently eat another 400 calories because lunch wasn’t remotely filling enough, choosing the salad hasn’t magically made your day lower in calories.
This is why I prefer thinking about satisfaction as well as calories.
I’d rather have a slightly more substantial lunch containing protein and fibre that keeps me going than spend the entire afternoon thinking about what I can eat next.
How to choose the best meal deal snack
Ah, the important bit.
For years, supermarket meal deals seemed to make you feel as though the choice was essentially crisps or chocolate, but there are often considerably more options now.
Depending on the supermarket and the particular meal deal, you might find fruit, yoghurt, boiled eggs, vegetable snacks, protein pots, nuts, popcorn, cheesecake, sausage rolls, Cornish pasties and other choices alongside the traditional crisps and chocolate.
If your main is quite light, this can be an opportunity to make lunch more substantial. A protein-based snack might complement a vegetable-heavy salad, while fruit could add some fibre and one of your five-a-day to a sandwich meal.
But equally, you are allowed the crisps.
If you’ve chosen a fairly balanced main and what you really fancy alongside it is a packet of crisps, have the crisps. Healthy eating doesn’t require every single component of your lunch to have an impressive nutritional CV.
What about choosing fruit?
Fruit can be a really useful meal deal side, particularly if you struggle to eat much fruit during the rest of the day. A pot of berries, grapes, melon or other prepared fruit can also be convenient if you’re eating lunch at work or on the go.
There is one catch, though: supermarket prepared fruit can sometimes be ridiculously expensive compared with buying whole fruit separately.
If you’re buying meal deals regularly, check whether the fruit is actually giving you good value as part of the deal. You might be better off keeping apples, satsumas or bananas at work and using your included snack for something you’d otherwise have to buy separately. Healthy choices and financially sensible choices don’t always arrive in the same little plastic pot!
Are nuts a good meal deal choice?
Nuts are nutritious and can provide protein, fibre and unsaturated fats, but they’re also fairly energy-dense. That’s not a reason to avoid them. It simply means that if calories are something you’re monitoring, portion size is worth being aware of.
A small packet of nuts might work brilliantly alongside a lighter main. If you’ve already chosen a particularly substantial lunch, you might decide you’d rather have fruit or something else. Again, there isn’t one correct combination.
Is yoghurt a good option?
Yoghurt can be another useful side, especially if you’d like to increase the protein in your meal.
Greek-style yoghurt, skyr and some high-protein yoghurts can contain considerably more protein than other varieties, so compare the labels if that’s important to you.
Don’t assume that you have to choose the lowest-fat or lowest-calorie yoghurt, though. Choose one you actually enjoy and that works with the rest of your lunch.
Choosing a drink for your meal deal
This is probably where you can accidentally add quite a lot to a meal deal without really noticing.
A bottle of regular fizzy drink, smoothie, juice or sweetened coffee can contain a significant number of calories. Again, that doesn’t make them “bad”, but it’s useful to know what you’re choosing.
If you don’t particularly want calories in your drink, water, sparkling water and sugar-free drinks are easy options. That’s often what I’d choose because I’d personally rather use those calories on something I can chew!
However, if you love a particular smoothie and that’s part of what makes the meal deal enjoyable, there’s no rule saying you can’t choose it.
Are smoothies and fruit juices healthy?
This is where “healthy” gets annoyingly complicated.
Fruit juice and smoothies can provide vitamins and other nutrients, but they’re not nutritionally identical to eating whole fruit. They’re also easy to drink quickly without necessarily making you feel particularly full.
If you’re buying one because you enjoy it, that’s fine. If you’re buying it solely because you think a smoothie must automatically be healthier than every other drink in the fridge, I’d look at the label and decide whether it’s actually what you want.
The best meal deal for weight loss
I wouldn’t give you one exact sandwich + snack + drink combination and declare it the best supermarket meal deal for weight loss, because that’s not how real life works.
Instead, I’d aim for something roughly like:
A main containing protein and ideally some fibre + a snack that complements what’s missing + a drink you actually want.
For example, a chicken wholemeal sandwich with fruit and a zero-sugar drink could make a perfectly sensible lunch.
So could a bean salad with a yoghurt and water.
And so could a tuna sandwich, packet of crisps and Diet Coke.
The latter hasn’t suddenly become a terrible lunch because crisps are involved. What matters far more is whether the meal fits comfortably into your overall diet and leaves you reasonably satisfied.
What if you’re following Slimming World?
Meal deals can be a little trickier on Slimming World because you can’t judge a product purely from its calories.
Some components may count towards your Healthy Extras, while others may need to be counted as Swips. The exact values can also change when recipes and products change.
I’d therefore check individual packaged products using the current Slimming World app rather than relying on an old list of “Syn-free Tesco meal deals” you found on Pinterest six years ago!
You can still use the same general principles, though. Look for plenty of Free Foods where possible, consider how you’re using your Healthy Extras, and choose something that will actually satisfy you.
Slimming World Swips calculator.
What if you’re following Weight Watchers?
The same applies to WW. Because Points are calculated using more than simply calories, two sandwiches with similar calorie counts may have different Points values.
If you’re actively following WW, scan or search the individual products in the WW app rather than guessing based on calories.
I’d still consider protein, fibre and how filling the meal is. A lunch being low in Points isn’t particularly useful if you’re hungry again almost immediately.
Meal deals when you’re taking a GLP-1 medication
If your appetite is reduced while taking a GLP-1 medication, you might find an entire supermarket meal deal is simply too much food.
In that situation, I’d focus less on finding the lowest-calorie combination and more on making the food you can manage count nutritionally.
Protein is particularly important when you’re losing weight and eating less, while fibre, fruit and vegetables and adequate fluids are worth thinking about too.
You don’t have to eat all three components simply because you’ve bought a meal deal. Save something for later if that’s more comfortable.
If you’re taking medication such as Wegovy or Mounjaro, check my foods to eat while taking GLP-1 medications guide.
How to get better value from supermarket meal deals
This is one area where being “healthy” and being savvy with money can sometimes clash.
The cheapest-looking product isn’t necessarily the best thing to include in a meal deal. If everything costs the same as part of the deal, choosing something that would normally be more expensive can give you considerably better value.
Equally, don’t buy a meal deal simply because it’s a meal deal. If you only want a sandwich and you’ve already got a drink in your bag, check the individual price. Spending extra money on a snack and drink you didn’t actually want isn’t saving money.
I know that sounds obvious, but supermarket meal deals have an ability to convince us we’ve somehow made money by buying three things instead of one!
My quick supermarket meal deal rule
If I’m trying to put together a balanced lunch without standing in the aisle analysing nutritional labels until security starts getting suspicious, I’d think:
What do I fancy?
Then:
Where’s my protein?
Can I get some fibre or fruit/veg in there?
Will this actually fill me up?
And finally:
Am I choosing this because I want it, or simply because I’ve decided it’s the “diet” option?
That takes seconds rather than turning buying lunch into another complicated set of food rules.
A supermarket meal deal doesn’t need to be perfect
If you buy supermarket meal deals regularly, it’s worth thinking about how you put them together. But if you’re grabbing one occasionally because you’ve forgotten your lunch, you’re travelling or you’re simply having one of those days, don’t overthink it.
One supermarket lunch isn’t going to determine whether your diet is healthy, just as one packet of crisps isn’t going to undo everything else you eat.
For me, the best supermarket meal deal is one that fits what I need that day, gives me enough food to feel satisfied and contains things I actually enjoy eating.
Because if the supposedly perfect healthy lunch leaves you staring mournfully at somebody else’s sandwich five minutes later, I’m not convinced it was the perfect choice after all.
