Everybody has their favorite meal bargains, but which store has the most extensive array of options? And where can you find the best deal for your money? In order to provide you with the answers, we have searched for the greatest meal offers.
It is impossible to dispute that the convenience, variety, and flavor that are offered by meal deals are often difficult to top, despite the fact that we would never advocate them as the most cost-effective option.
At a price of more than three pounds each item, however, it is essential to get the most value for your money. For the purpose of assisting you in making the most of your meal deal, we have ranked the selection that is available at each store, as well as the most costly combinations that are conceivable. Additionally, in order to prevent you from spending more than twenty pounds per week on lunch, we have presented you with various alternatives to meal deals.
If you believe that you have discovered a meal package that offers a greater value than what we offer, please send us a direct message on Instagram; we would be delighted to see it!
Best lunch meal deals
1. Tesco meal deal
The price of a Tesco meal deal is £3.40 when a Clubcard is used, or £3.90 when it is not used. Meal deal features include: A meal, a snack, and a beverage with it
An Emmi caramel iced latte drink (£2.65), a sausage bun (£1.30), and a triple sandwich consisting of sausage, bacon, and eggs (£3) are included in the best value meal deal offered by Tesco, which costs £6.95.
Meal deals at Tesco go together like… a main dish, a snack, and a drink.
The Tesco meal deal had a busy year in 2022, though. Tesco changed their pricing after 10 years of charging £3 for everything. This caused the first impact. Suddenly, only people with a Clubcard could get it for the normal price. Everyone else had to pay £3.50.
Already too much? In October 2022, Tesco raised the price by 40p for everyone. Now, a meal deal costs £3.40 with a Clubcard and £3.90 without one. It’s clear that inflation has affected everything, even the simple meal deal.
That being said, let’s not dwell on the bad news. Tesco has one of the largest selections of meal deals available.
For main courses, you might be able to choose from sushi, Rustler burgers, toasties that you can heat up in the microwave, and even warm baked goods or desserts, like sausage rolls.
You can still get a good deal even though prices have gone up. Most of the smoothies cost more than £2, so there are a lot of combos that would cost much more than £3.40 or even £3.90.
2. Co-op meal deal
- Co-op meal deals cost £3.50 for members and £4 for non-members.
- Features of meal deals: A entree, a snack, and a drink
- The best deal The Co-op meal deal costs £8.50 and includes a 250ml bottle of Innocent strawberries and bananas drink (£2.60), tomato basil and chicken pasta (£3.45), and millionnaire shortbread (£2.45).
Similar to Tesco, Co-op has two levels of price for meal deals. Others have to pay £4, but Co-op members only pay £3.50. This is a good reason to get a membership card.
Although it’s not the cheapest for people who aren’t members, we really like Co-op’s food deals. In addition to the usual suspects like sushi, salads, pasta, and sandwiches, you can sometimes get soup or even a filled bread. Our opinion is that it’s not bad for £3.50.
3. Sainsbury’s meal deal
- Meal deals at Sainsbury’s cost £3.50, or you can get one for £5.
- What’s in the meal deal? A main dish, a snack, and a drink
- The best deal A free-from turkey feast with gluten-free pork, sage, and onion costs £3.25 at Sainsbury’s, and a Nomadic yogurt with chocolate and oat clusters costs £1.55. A Starbucks large iced latte costs £2.80.
There is no difference in price between Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s meal deals; the price is the same for everyone. You don’t have to be a Nectar user to use this offer, so you’ll still have to pay £3.50 whether you have a loyalty card or not, though we suggest you get one anyway.
For sure, this is another great place to save a lot of money. It took us a while to find a mix that would have cost more than twice as much without the deal. There were other main dishes that cost £3 as well, so even if you don’t want a salad, you can still get a great deal.
When it comes to the snacks, the choice is also good. When it comes to food deals, the individual pieces of fresh fruit aren’t the most cost-effective option, but they’re a much healthier option. There are also many sweets available at the bakery if you’d rather have that.
- Sainsbury’s £5 meal deal
People should know that Sainsbury’s also has a £5 meal deal, even though it’s not a great deal.
This deal comes with a main dish, a snack, and a drink for £5. The drinks and snacks are also the same.
If you buy the £5 lunch deal, there are a lot more expensive main dishes instead of the ones that were available before. We’re talking about high-end salads, sandwiches, and wraps from Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference line.
About £4.75 is how much some of these mains cost. As a result, you could get food worth £9 for just £5 if you chose the most expensive drink and snack. Still, it’s a big savings even though it’s not cheap.
4. Meal deal at Morrisons
- Morrisons meal deal costs £4.
- Meal deal comes with a main dish, a snack, and a drink.
- This Morrisons meal deal is the best value at £7.20. It includes a chicken Caesar wrap (£2.85), chicken tikka kebabs (£1.75), and a Naked Super Smoothie (£2.60).
Morrisons may not have the most or cheapest meal deals, but theirs is still a good choice if you’re ever near one of their shops.
There aren’t many snacks to choose from, in particular. But, just like in Co-op, there’s something else in there that you’d normally expect to be in the mains: a good-sized piece of sushi.
We didn’t choose the sushi as the best value because it costs £1.50, which is less than the kebabs. It’s a winner, though, because of the amount of food and the pure joy of getting a good deal.
Other than that, things are pretty much the same at Morrisons. Wraps, sandwiches, and pasta are available as major dishes. Smoothies, juice, and some Costa Coffee cans are available as drinks. Not very exciting, but still a food deal.
5. ASDA meal deal
- Prices for ASDA meal deals change (choose three things, and the cheapest one is free).
- Meal deal includes any three items that are available
- The best deal Different ASDA meal deals.
The meal deal at ASDA isn’t quite like the usual way things are set up.
ASDA doesn’t offer a set price for a main dish, a snack, and a drink. Instead, you can choose any three items that are qualified, and they’ll give you the cheapest one for free. This one-of-a-kind deal also comes with some pros and cons.
The good news is that you can really choose any three things. For example, if you want three burgers, you can have them.
It can, however, make ASDA’s meal deal a little more pricey than others.
As an example, let’s look at the most expensive meal set. The most expensive meal costs £3.50, the most expensive snack costs £1.50, and the most expensive drink costs £2.40 for 473ml of Red Bull. If you chose those, you would get the eggs for free. You’d still spend £5.90, though.
What a bad deal! Most food deals have a price cap that stays the same no matter what you choose.
Plus, there isn’t a set price, so you can’t feel proud that you got the best deal possible.
6. The Greggs meal deal
- The price of a Greggs meal deal is £4.35
- A cold lunch and a drink are part of the meal deal.
- The best deal It costs £6.35 for a flat white (£2.35) and a club bread with roast chicken and bacon (£4).
Greggs also has a meal deal so it doesn’t fall behind its store competitors. In fact, Greggs does give more than one meal deal.
There are five deals, all of which include a drink, besides the sandwich and salad deals. They are for bakes, spicy rolls, sweet treats, and pizza. We will only talk about the salad and sandwich sets here, though, since they are the most “meal deal”-like.
The meal deal comes with all of your favorite Greggs burgers and salads, if anyone ever gets a salad from Greggs. Your drinks come in either a bottle of something cold or a regular-sized hot drink.
You might think that Greggs’ meal deal, which costs £4.35 and only comes with a main dish and a drink, is not as good value as the others on this list. That might be a good point of view, unless you’re a student.
Why? Because if you are a student at Greggs, you can get a free sausage roll, veggie roll, or sweet treat with any cold sandwich meal deal.
Even with that, it’s still pretty pricey, but it’s a lot better value for money than it seems at first. It’s clear why this is one of our favorite Greggs hacks, right?
Best things to do instead of meal deals
It’s hard to call meal deals a truly cheap lunch, even when you save a few quid on the cost of the individual parts. Here are some cheaper options to meal deals:
1. Follow our meal plan
Feeling like £3.50 for lunch wasn’t a good deal? Meals for students cost less than £3.50 a day and include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
The plan has lunch ideas like a bean salad, cheese and onion rosti, and even a pasta dish. Every single one of them costs less than £1, and most of them cost much less. For less than the price of a meal deal, you also get two other tasty and healthy meals every day, plus snacks.
However, what if you really need a sandwich? Okay, so a meal deal can still be beat…
2. Make your own cheap sandwich
Yes, we understand that a homemade sandwich might not seem as tasty as those you can buy in stores. There’s another way out of this mess.
You can get the delicious lunch you’ve been wanting from our list of cheap but tasty sandwich fillers. Plus, each one should be less expensive per serving than a food deal.
That’s fine too if none of our ideas quite suit you. Really, this is meant to encourage you to make more interesting sandwiches at home than just “ham and cheese.”
3. Try making your own soup
Soups are sometimes included in meal deals at some stores, which can be a lifesaver in the winter.
Making your own soup at home will always be cheaper than buying a meal deal.
Our soup recipes are so easy that even a beginner cook can make them. Each serving costs well under £1, and our recipe for mixed veggie soup is the cheapest and easiest to make.
4. TooGoodToGo has cheap food.
We like apps that help you avoid throwing away food, and TooGoodToGo is one of the best for packing lunch.
Using this app, stores, restaurants, and coffee shops can offer discounted items they don’t need anymore. After signing up, you’ll be able to see all the stores near you that use it, along with what they usually sell and how much they charge.
TooGoodToGo is used by many large stores, including Greggs, Pret, and Costa. You can usually buy a mystery bag at these kinds of places that includes a mix of newly made foods like sandwiches, cakes, and more.
Whatever’s left over at the end of the day will determine exactly what’s in it, but you’ll almost certainly have lunch for at least two days for less than £5.
Keep in mind that most pickup times are after lunch because you’re getting off-day stock. Thus, you must plan ahead for the remainder of the week if you want to use this advice.
5. Check out the reduced section
Again, the best time to use this trick is at the end of the day, when stores really start to fill up their clearance areas.
You should already know that the stock changes every day based on what’s going bad. We explain in our guide on how to keep food fresh longer, though, that best-before times are only a rough guide. You should be able to eat most things again in a few days!
There are usually a few ready-to-eat meals, but the big lunchtime win is when one of the meal deal mains gets a yellow sticker.
For your trouble, you won’t get a snack or a drink, but if the main price goes down enough, you can always use the extra money to buy them individually.
