Try something new: Meal kits

Meal kits are convenient packs containing everything you need to make a meal, except the fresh ingredients. They typically contain spices, sauces, flavour sachets and shelf-stable carbohydrates like rice, noodles or tortillas.

The pros

They are super convenient to have in the pantry for a quick meal solution, provided you have all the fresh elements on hand too. They’re great for less confident cooks to create interesting meals. They’d be a good introduction to cooking for kids or novices.

The cons

You still need to buy the meat, vegetables and other garnishes, so check pack instructions. Most kits we’ve seen need more veges added than the recipes suggest to make them into full, healthy meals. And some are high in sodium — look for 800mg sodium or less per serve.