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I had £52 Valentine's Day ready meal - it was nothing like I expected
Reach Daily Express | February 11, 2026 3:40 PM CST

Valentine's Day is a time for indulgence and what better way to mark the occasion than a three-course meal for two. I decided to celebrate the romantic day early this year by treating my partner and I to a ready meal.

But, it wasn't just any old ready meal. We tucked into Cook's Luxury Valentine's Dinner for Two that was delivered straight to our door, and were blown away. I didn't have too many expectations, despite the £52.50 price tag, as it was still a frozen ready meal that we had to cook at home.

However, I soon ate my words when our box arrived and I saw the contents. The box, which is the most expensive Valentine's offering from the company, included three cheese fondant souffles as a starter and beef wellington, dauphinoise potatoes, braised red cabbage and trio of greens as the main.

For the dessert, we had sticky toffee pudding. There certainly wasn't any shortage of food. Each item was individually packaged and came with their own cooking instructions.

The idea is for couples to be able to enjoy a meal at home without spending hours in the kitchen. Unlike other ready meals that you simply ping in the microwave for a couple minutes, some of the dishes needed to be cooked for quite some time.

To make it easier for ourselves, we wrote out how long each item needed to be cooked for so we could work out our timings. The longest item to cook was the beef wellington at 55 minutes, plus an extra 10 if you want it to be medium rather than rare.

At first, we were surprised by the length of the cooking times due to it being a ready meal dinner. However, as soon as we tucked into the meal we totally understood.

The three cheese fondant souffles, which took 30 minutes in the oven, were incredible and really gave a light yet decadent taste. I was too excited to try the starter that I missed the instruction not to open the oven door while they were cooking.

I admit I did take a few peeks at how they were looking, so be warned not to do the same if you want a fully risen souffle. The main event was special; I couldn't believe how much food we had on our plates.

The beef was perfectly moist and the pastry was golden and flaky. You would never know the vegetables were frozen as they tasted so fresh after being cooked in the microwave for less than four minutes.

To top it all off, the sticky toffee pudding was the best I'd ever had. I did make a bit of a mess of it while plating up after it was cooked in the oven for 30 minutes, but I really didn't mind once I tasted it.

After our three courses came to an end, I was pretty astonished that everything we'd eaten was a ready meal. It felt like we had been out to a fancy restaurant rather than simply being in the comfort of our own home.

Cook know what they are doing when it comes to ready meals and at first I though the price tag was steep. Yet, after tasting the three courses, I know you'd pay a lot more dining out. It's definitely a treat, but a treat I would have again.


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