Coles have recently released a new range of affordable ready-made meals available in stores and online. The āColes Kitchenā meals aim to give consumers āreal food, fastā and join their existing convenient meal options including Natureās Kitchen and Coles Finest.
āColes team of Chefās and Product Developers have trialled, tweaked and tasted every meal to ensure it not only tastes great but is packed with quality ingredients and nutrition,ā said Brad Cook, General manager of Owen Brand. āThe majority of the meals have a 3 or 4 health star rating, the soups have up to 3 serves of veg and unnecessary salt has been removed from the Coles Kitchen range to help support a healthier, balanced diet.ā
But if we look beyond the marketing, how do the Coles Kitchen range rate nutritionally? Here, I take a look at the variety, ingredients, nutrient balance and overall value.
Was Coles Kitchen range extensive?
There are currently 34 different meal options in the Coles Kitchen ready-to-heat range. These include a variety of cuisines from Italian and Asian to Indian and Australian classics. Some of the meals I tried included Chicken Tikka Masala, Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni and Cottage Pie.
In the range, youāll find soups for just $3 and main meals starting at $6.50 up to $10.00 for a shared meal. Most are single portions of 350g, but you will find a few mains that are designed for two ranging in size from 400g to 600g. Coles Kitchen also features side dishes such as Pilau Rice, Onion Bhaji and Garlic Nann.
Most of the Coles Kitchen range appeared to be comprised of meat or dairy with few vegetarian options. However, their Natureās Kitchen brand is plant-based providing a variety of meal options suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
Were the Coles Kitchen meals nutritious?
The Coles Kitchen slogan is āreal food fastā and their packaging is emphasising the use of whole food ingredients, in particular vegetables.
As a nutritionist, I always look beyond the marketing claims on the front and refer to the ingredients and nutrient panel on the back. Firstly, it should be noted you may need a magnifying glass to read the information thanks to the tiny font size!
The ingredients clearly show the Coles Kitchen meals donāt just contain āreal foodā. In fact, youāll find preservatives, natural flavours, anti-caking agents, modified starches and stabilisers. Not a great start in my opinion and certainly not real, whole food. There are also so many ingredients! In one meal I counted at least 39 ingredients including three stabiliser numbers (415, 412, 407).
The majority of the Coles Kitchen meals also contain refined oils such as Canola Oil. These oils can be quite inflammatory and contain trans-fatty acids which have been linked to a whole host of health conditions.
There are, however, some positive changes when compared to the standard Coles ready-made meals including the use of RSPCA approved chicken and no added hormone beef.
They do contain more vegetables than some of the Coles traditional ready-made meals, however, with the dietary fibre content less than 2g per 100g in all the meals I tried, itās still not a significant portion. Squeezed onto the packaging is a suggestion to āMake it your dishā with most meals recommending you add veggies or salad. For me, this highlights the lack of vegetables in the ingredients.
When it comes to the nutrition information and the macronutrient balance, while the calories content is okay, these meals arenāt really targeting those who are health conscious or looking to reduce their refined carbohydrate intake.
The meals I tried ranged from about 40-65% carbohydrate which mostly came from a refined carbohydrate source such as flour, breadcrumbs, rice or starch. This means rather than the Ā¼ of your plate consisting of starchy vegetables or grains (my general recommendation), they are filling up half the plate.
Most of the meals did contain a decent portion of protein. The main dishes of 350g contain 19-30g of protein largely coming from the meat or poultry as well as the dairy. The meals I reviewed didnāt feature any plant-based protein sources such as quinoa, tofu, nuts etc.
The fat content varied significantly from about 8-30g per serve depending on the choice of meal and the type of meat used and the addition of creamy sauces and dairy products.
Sodium and sugar are often something I look out for with packaged and processed foods, including convenient style meals. The Coles Kitchen meals are not considered low in sodium as they must contain less than 120mg sodium per 100g, however, they sit within the moderate range of less than 400mg.
While several of the meals did contain a form of refined sugar, the actual sugar content is low in comparison to some of the other ready-made meal providers. The highest meal in sugar I tried was the Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni containing 3.7g per 100g. This is the main reason why the Coles Kitchen range has been given a Health Star Rating of 3 or above – not because they are actually healthy!
So are Cole Kitchen meals nutritious? They are a slight improvement on their existing ready-made meals, but due to the inclusion of refined and lab-made ingredients and lack of fresh vegetables, I would argue that they arenāt a āreal foodā, nutritious meal.
One thing I would like to note is the improvement on the packaging. While Coles Kitchen uses plastic which exposes you to harmful chemicals when heating, the tray is made of 80% recycled content. This is a small but positive step when it comes to reducing waste from ready-made, packaged food.
How did the Coles Kitchen meals taste?
The Coles Kitchen meals are available fresh and most can be microwaved or heated in the oven.
The meals our household tried were all very tasty and certainly carried the flavours and aromas we all associate with the cuisine. The textures were also pleasant with nothing mushy, dry or unpalatable.
As mentioned, the Coles Kitchen packaging does recommend you add vegetables or a salad to meals. I would agree that you do need to add these to improve the nutrient balance to the meal. My husband, who also tried the 350g meals, also said itās necessary to increase the portion size slightly.
Were the Coles Kitchen meals good value?
Ranging from $3.50 – $7.50 per serve, the Coles Kitchen meals are an affordable option for time-poor consumers or those who simply donāt want to cook.
In comparison to some of the other meal providers, particularly those online or subscription models, the Coles Kitchen range is relatively inexpensive. However, you have to question the quality of the ingredients. In this aspect, the Coles Kitchen range doesnāt compare to some of the other meal providers I have reviewed such as My Goodness Organics and even those affordable supermarket options such as Fitness Outcomes.
Overall, there are some slight improvements in the Coles Kitchen meals and they are a convenient meal option that wonāt break the bank. However, most of the changes, in my opinion, come down to marketing not a significant improvement in the nutrient content.
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I think youāre being unfair to Coles.
I recently bought the Madras beef and rice, and the veg samosas and had that for dinner. With my wife being stuck interstate, and with virtually no cooking skills, Iām always thinking of ways to feed myself. Whilst I know that there are many choices when it comes to prepackaged meals, this new range from Coles is superior quality.
The beef madras, for example, had plenty of nice, chunky pieces of tender meat.
It took only a few minutes in the microwave and it was ready to eat. The samosas were also easy to prepare. All I needed to do was to preheat the oven, stick them in for 10 mins, turning them over once, and they were ready. The pastry was thick and doughy and the filling seemed quite healthy, being all vegetarian. There were four samosas in the packet, which I thought was quite generous. Two were sufficient for me, so I had two left over for the next day.
With two samosas as an entree, and the beef and rice as the main, this was just the right quantity.
Coles deserve credit for this, and definitely a better than 2.5 out of five rating that youāve given them. My tot cost was a modest $13 for a decent dinner, with two samosas left over. It took no time at all to prepare and even I, with zero skills in the kitchen dept, could do it and thereās no washing up afterwards.
The packaging is attractive and colourful with a striking new logo and design. All the nutritional info, the important use by date, and the even more important, cooking instructions are easy to read.
Iād give them four out of five.
I have only just tried my first meal it was black bean chicken and egg fried rice and it was delicious
Indian Inspired chicken korma,I didnāt get any chicken in it šš»šš»šš»šš»šš»
Today I purchased a Coles Kitchen roast vegetable medley. It was inedible due to the amount of salt added and I had to throw it in the bin. Never again will I purchase anything from this range.
We sometimes grab the balanced for you bowls when we are busy, and while nutritionally sure itās never going to be as good as home cooked, we love they have brown rice and quinoa and generous servings of veggies like broccoli and pumpkin, and chickpea mash. Itās convenience food, itās better that eating fast food from drive throughs.
Purchased Coles Kitchen beef lasagna and it was disgusting full of gristle was not edible I threw it in the bin.
I’ve just dined on Coles Kitchen Beef Madras & Rice.
Whilst the flavour is quite nice and the rice to my liking every piece of meat was basically gristle
I’d rather have less meat and leave out the disgusting gristle.
I think I got an exceptionally bad one as Iāve had it before and the meat was not that bad.
In fact these are mainly better than most but given the additives etc, itās not something Iād like to eat on a regular basis.
Iām constantly trying to find convenient ready-made meals or any partially prepared foods as due to illness and age cooking is becoming a thing of the past for me.
But you canāt trust these meals to support good nutrition which is very disappointing.
In fact I really find what is offered on the shelves of most supermarkets is really insulting. A lot of the pre prepared foods especially frozen is inedible.
I also believe supermarkets are mostly responsible for the obesity epidemic be it because of additives they use, and the fat thatās concealed . or the fact because there food is so bad it drives people to fast food outlets..
Given the profits they make I think they should put a bit more effort into supplying better and more nutritious food overall
… IN MY OPINION!
I am on a My Age Care package through my provider.
Do Coles Kitchen provide meals through providers under my package and how can I order meals through my provider.
Many thanks
Paul Miller
Hi Paul, we’re not sure if you can get these meals or similar under your My Age Care package. It’s best to enquire with your provider on the services that may be available to you. All the best, Sarah
can you freeze the meals and have at a later date (obviously before you cook them. cause the use by date is only like for 3 days from when you buy them
Not entirely sure on this one. The labelling says “Keep refrigerated. Store at or below 5Ā°C.”
I would suggest the texture and quality of the meal would be affected by freezing and reheating.
Yes I do and was fine
Had the leek and Parmesan cole kitchen soup was absolutely tasteless, disgusting. Added more Parmesan, salt , pepper and even a little bit of butter to give it more taste. After everything I added still tasted disgusting. Two spoon fulls then tossed down the drain. What a waste of money
Have tried a few of these meals love the braised beef and mash it’s delicious
Can you freeze these meals? Thanks.
BTW I agree with you on smaller portion size, lack of vegetable content, and inferiority to other heat and eat meals. These seem very cheap to make and so could definitely make improvements while staying at the same price.
Tried the “Classic Cottage Pie” for a quick meal.
Flavour was quite good but the mince was all gristle.
Guess the “No added hormone beef” was mostly ground up nose and ears.