Little Dish Bigger Kids Meals

We were sent four meals from the new range in this lovely cooler bag which will be handy for the future. The meals we were sent all came in colourful packaging with lovely illustrations which certainly got Jack’s attention and had him wanting to have one there and then…it was breakfast time! I resisted and told him he could have one for dinner..

We were sent the following meals to review – Mediterranean Cod & Tomato Casserole, Mild Beef Chilli & Rice, Chunky Chicken Pot Roast and Seven Veg Lasagne. Despite these being meals for a toddler, I did a taste test on all and actually found some of them to be quite pleasant (unlike most meals marketed at babies and toddlers – there’s a reason why its marketed at them you know!)

First of all, lets start with presentation. As mentioned above, the packaging is colourful and instantly catches the attention of young children. Packed full of goodness, these meals are products that I want Jack to be asking for rather than a Kinder Egg or a bag of sweets. Inside the packaging and once dished up, the meals aren’t exactly the most well presented – but what does it matter? Toddlers will soon make a mess anyway – plus food is for eating, not for making art out of, right? Now onto the taste test..

Let’s start with my favourite – the cod and tomato casserole. Jack normally has his fish in fish fingers or from the fish and chip shop as we tend not to have fish in the house. Steve hates it and Jack isn’t always too fond so I don’t waste money on it unless I really fancy it. However, this casserole tasted fantastic and I would definitely buy an adult version if there was one. Surprisingly this was one of Jack’s favourites also!

The chilli was a big thumbs down from Jack unfortunately. Despite being mild, he still found it a little too much for his tastebuds and left the majority of it. When he was younger, he wasn’t phased by a little bit of heat but now he seems to be developing tastebuds which aren’t fans.

The chicken pot roast was the one I thought would go down best and Jack did like it but didn’t exactly wolf it down like he did the fish and the lasagne. He loves a good roast dinner and loves chicken and veg but he pushed most of the vegetables to the side and focused on eating the chicken. Whether he was just being fussy for that day or whether he wasn’t sure about it, I’m not sure.

Finally, he had the lasagne. Jack is a MASSIVE pasta fan so there is little surprise this went down quite well. He’d never really had lasagne before so was a bit unsure at first but soon had a few mouthfuls and seemed to enjoy it.

What is my final view on these? I think these are handy products to have stocked in the freezer for when you need to make something quickly or the family dinner is not appropriate for their tastebuds. I do prefer to make meals that all of us will eat – pasta bake, roast dinner etc but I can see myself buying these in the future and keeping them in the freezer as a failsafe.

In their own words:

Every Little Dish meal…

For this reason, I will continue to purchase Little Dish products and keeping them aside for when I need them. I know my son is getting the goodness he needs and will always have a failsafe. Granted he may sometimes be fussy as all toddlers are and not necessarily want that specific meal but having the option is better than no option at all.

These dishes currently retail at £2.99 apiece and can be bought in your local Waitrose or Tesco.

Have you ever tried any Little Dish products?