Pots of new products in Sainsbury's

Sainsbury's has recently launched its own range of pot noodles, grain pots, rice pots and micro pots designed as instant snacks or meals.

Let's start with the pot noodles - a concept we are all familiar with. Sainsbury's. There were two flavours available at my local store: Tom Yum and Beef Pho. Beef Pho has a spicy beef flavour sauce with dried red peppers, leek, mushrooms and dried mint. Tom Yum is the veggie version really - dried peppers, leek and mushrooms in a spicy tomato sauce. Both are made with rice noodles which are often said to be healthier than wheat noodles. Also, they are both under 300cal per pot and have very little fat. Both are £1.50



I chose to try the Tom Yum.... First, I had to tip the contents of the white packet into the pot with the block of dried rice noodles. I then poured boiling water up to the fill line. The instructions told me to stir and wait 4 minutes. After 4 minutes the noodles appeared to be perfectly ready and the dried vegetables had softened. The vegetables were chunky and plentiful. However, they still weren't going to provide anywhere near 1 of your '5-a-day', so I decided to add some spinach leaves to the hot water. As desired, they wilted, 'packed out' the pot noodle and left me with a satisfying and nutritious supper.

There was still a lot of liquid left in the pot when I ate it - I think it was designed to be like this. Tom Yum, is after all, commonly known as a soup. It just meant that I had to use a spoon as well as a fork. It was very spicy - I would say more 'medium' than 'mild'! Nevertheless, you could still taste the vegetables and overall it was delicious. 



Sainsbury's have also produced two grain pots; Moroccan style and Mexican style bean, as well as a chicken tikka rice pot. The Mexican pot contains bulgur wheat and couscous, together with dried red kidney beans in a chipotle sauce. The Moroccan pot is bulgur wheat and couscous in Moroccan spices with dried vegetables, sultanas and apricots. I bought the Mexican pot, and shall be reviewing that sometime later this week! The chicken tikka rice pot  is instant rice with spices and pieces of dried chicken, red pepper and spinach. It Includes a sachet of spicy mango chutney. All three are £1.00




Rather than adding boiling water to rehydrate dry ingredients, these micro pots are already hydrated and are simply popped in the microwave for a matter of minutes...



There are many flavours to choose from and they are currently all sold at £2.00. Take your pick...

• Chicken and mushroom risotto
• Chickpea and chorizo
• Meatball Arrabiata
• BBQ pulled pork and bean
• Med veg pasta
• Chicken tikka rice
• Sweet and sour chicken