This is a paid advertorial with Tesco however all words written are by me and are 100% honest.
If you’ve been following me for a while (on here and on social media!) then you’ll know that I’ve been shopping online with Tesco for my weekly food shop for YEARS and I do smaller top-up shops at my local Tesco express (it’s literally minutes from my house!).
I often share the foods that I buy and I’ve received quite a few messages recently saying how nice it is to see a dietitian buying foods that some may call ‘processed’ or ‘convenient’. In case you didn’t know, I work full time for the NHS as as well as privately and freelance, so although I do prioritise nutrient dense foods, I don’t have as much time as I would like to prepare all of my meals and snacks from scratch; especially midweek! Oh, and I also love my treats too.. 80/20 and all that!
This is where convenient supermarket finds come in and it’s what has inspired this blog post; along with the fact that Tesco have recently launched their ‘Lifestyle & Dietary Filters’; making online food shopping that little bit easier if you follow a certain way of eating e.g. ‘Kosher’, or have an allergy or intolerance e.g. ‘No Gluten’ if you have coeliac disease. You can use the filters when shopping online or via the app:
Together with Tesco’s Nutritionists and Spoon Guru, foods have been categorised under numerous different filters which they explain here:
- No Gluten – Discover products which are free from gluten or do not have gluten-containing ingredients.
- Vegetarian – These products are free from all animal products or animal by-products, with the exception of eggs, milk products and honey. They’re also free from all products or by-products of the fishing industry.
- Vegan – This product list is free from all animal products or animal by-products including eggs, milk products, honey and all products or by-products of the fishing industry.
- Low Fat – These products contain 3g or less of total fat per 100g, or 1.5g or less of total fat per 100ml for liquids.
- Halal – These products don’t contain any alcohol or pork. In addition, products containing meat will not appear on the list unless labelled as Halal by the manufacturer.
- No Lactose – Everything here is lactose-free or doesn’t have lactose listed within the ingredients.
- Organic – This filter produces a list of products which are labelled by the manufacturer as ‘organic’.
- Low Sugar – These products all contain 5g or less of total sugar per 100g, or 2.5g or less per 100ml for liquids.
- Sugar-Free – Products are considered sugar-free if they contain 0.5g or less of total sugar per 100g or 100ml.
- Low Salt – This filter produces a list of products containing 0.3g or less of salt per 100g.
- No Egg – These products contain no egg or do not have egg as an ingredient.
- No Milk – This is a list of products which are free from milk or do not have milk as an ingredient.
- Paleo – These are products which don’t contain ingredients inconsistent with general paleo diet principles, such as grains, milk (including milk-based products such as cheese and yogurt), beans, pulses and peas, sugars that are specifically listed, alcohol, e numbers, sulphites and salt. This filter also includes potatoes.
- Kosher – These are products which are labelled by the manufacturer with a stamp confirming its Kosher status.
- Facto-Vegetarian – Products on this list contain no meat, fish, shellfish, eggs or cheese derived from animal rennet.
- Ovo-Vegetarian – This filter produces a list of products which do not contain meat, fish, shellfish, as well as milk and all dairy products such as cheese & yoghurt.
- Pescetarian – These products may include fish or shellfish but don’t contain any meat as well as cheeses derived from animal rennet such as parmesan.
- Low Alcohol – Products on this list covers beers, wines, or spirits which are labelled by the manufacturer as no alcohol, low-alcohol, alcohol-free or contains less than 1.2% ABV.
- No Alcohol – Products here are beers, wines, or spirits, which are labelled by the manufacturer as no alcohol, alcohol free, or contains less than 0.05% ABV and do not contain alcohol as an ingredient.
- No Caffeine – These products are all caffeine-free or don’t contain caffeine-containing ingredients. Please note that this filter will be applied to non-alcoholic drinks only, and not across food products, beers, wines and spirits.
- Low Saturated Fat – Products here all contain 1.5g or less of saturated fat per 100g, or 0.75g or less per 100ml.
- High Fibre – Products are deemed to be high in fibre if they contain 6g or more of total dietary fibre per 100g or contain 3g or more of total dietary fibre per 100 kcals.
- Source Of Fibre – Products are seen as a source of fibre if they contain 3g or more of total dietary fibre per 100g or contain 1.5g or more of total dietary fibre per 100 kcals.
Tesco recommend that you don’t just rely on this information and always check product labels.
You can see an example of how to use the filters below; I searched for ‘fish cakes’ and then applied the ‘vegan’ filter which brought up these Tesco Meat Free Fishcakes!
So onto how I personally used the filters in my weekly shop; I decided to shop ‘meat-free’ using the ‘Pescetarian’ lifestyle and dietary filter to show you 6 of my ultimate convince foods which I eat throughout the week:
- Salmon, Spinach & Lemon Fishcakes – Although I love making fishcakes from scratch I don’t always have the time and these Tesco Finest Fishcakes are super delicious. Big thumbs up for these!
- Baby Potatoes with herbs & butter – I had these the other week actually along with a fishcake and frozen peas yum!! They require just 6 minutes in the microwave (instead of 20 minutes on the hob!) and are already seasoned; genius. I find a pack easily serves two people.
- Tinned Mackerel in a Tomato Sauce – I usually serve this on seeded toast with spinach & tomatoes for a speedy breakfast or lunch. Mackerel is a type of oily fish and is a source of heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids. We should ideally eat oily fish at least once a week.
- Houmous – I love making hummus from scratch but sometimes peeling and chopping the carrots to dip in is as much prep as I want to do; I love to snack on houmous after work; especially the caramelised onion flavour!
- Tzatziki – Tzatziki is a dip which I first discovered in Greece and it goes amazingly with lamb in a pitta with salad; I love making tzatziki when I have the time but shop-bought is my go-to midweek option!
- Fresh Soup – Soup is another super easy to make dish however I am often so pressed for time mid-week that often I just want to grab, heat, eat and go! One of my favourite soups is this Tesco Carrot & Coriander soup (as seen below!).
What are your favourite convenience foods when you’re pushed for time?!
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