We put the nation’s favourite meal deals to the test
By Making Moves London
January 8, 2025
If you work in the UK, there’s one lunch option that’s likely to spark an opinion: the humble meal deal. From office workers to tradies, hairdressers to healthcare workers, chances are you or someone you know can’t resist this British classic. And although meal deals are now firmly embedded in UK lunch culture, they have only been around since 1999. Boots launched the first in 16 locations for just £2.50, with large major retailers following suit in the years after.
With so many variations now on offer, we wanted to see which one truly delivers.
To find out, we purchased meal deals from some of the UK’s biggest retailers, stripped away the branding and put the selection to a group of taste testers. We also looked at nutrition, value for money and overall satisfaction to uncover which supermarket is really nailing it.
The results? Let’s say not all sandwiches are made equal.
To select our sandwich, we began by looking at which filling UK households favour most. According to The Grocer’s ‘Rise of the Gourmet Sandwich: Lunchbox Category Report 2025’, ham and cheese is the clear favourite, chosen by 19.1% of respondents, followed by chicken salad at 13%.
Snacks are another matter. To understand more, we consulted Tesco’s latest Clubcard Unpacked report. Surprisingly (and controversially), the egg pot tops the snack chart, beating a packet of crisps, likely reflecting the UK’s obsession with protein. Tesco’s report also suggests that a small bottle of Coca-Cola is the nation’s favourite meal deal drink.
Using this combination: ham and cheese sandwich, egg pot, and a bottle of Coke, we set out to see which retailer measures up in taste, enjoyment, price and nutrition.
We then purchased this combination of meals from the following retailers, only selecting retailers who offered this as a deal and not items sold separately:
After anonymising the meal deals, we then put them to our panel of taste testers – all UK workers who regularly purchase meal deals and come from a variety of economic backgrounds.
As of this year, Tesco holds the biggest market share out of all retailers we put to the test. Given their size, marketing budget and the fact that their name is synonymous with a meal deal, we predicted they would take first place. How wrong we were.
The supermarket that came out top as the overall winner is Waitrose, which scored highly with our panel of taste testers for taste and flavour, freshness and quality, presentation, appeal and overall enjoyment.
Since launching their meal deal in 2023, Waitrose has received praise for both the quality and variety on offer. At the time, YouGov noted that the initiative was part of a broader strategy to attract budget-conscious shoppers by delivering value without compromising on quality.
The sandwich we put to the taste testers featured oat-smoked ham, mature cheddar, and creamy mayo on malted bread. The packaging highlights that the British pork used has been awarded a first for animal welfare, with pigs reared to higher welfare standards by farmers who share Waitrose’s values. Our testers were particularly impressed with the quality of the smoked ham and the balanced combination of cheese and mayo, which they felt was just right.
During the scoring process, our panel of taste testers evaluated each meal deal across several key factors:
Waitrose came out on top in every category, sharing the top spot with Boots for ‘overall enjoyment’. Our testers praised Waitrose for the consistently high-quality ingredients, well-balanced flavours, and satisfying portions, making it the clear favourite.
Greggs – beloved by many, particularly in the North scored consistently low with our panel, especially in taste and flavour, presentation and appeal, and portion size and satisfaction. The bakery generated plenty of buzz with their newly launched meal deal combo in September 2025 but our tasters noted that despite the excitement, the bakery chain still has some catching up to do compared to its rivals.
While millions of meal deals are snapped up every day across the UK, our findings reveal that convenience often comes with a nutritional catch. Although many office workers are making healthier swaps, choosing an egg pot over a packet of crisps for instance, the average meal deal from the retailers we tested still clocks in at 762 calories, almost 40% of an adult’s recommended daily intake.
We ranked the meal deals based on their overall nutritional content, taking into account calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt. Each factor was given a weighted score, and the combined total determined the overall ranking for each deal. 1 represents ‘Best’ for nutritional balance, whereas 6 represents ‘least’.
| Nutritional balance ranking | Retailer | Calories (all) | Fat (sandwich, egg pot) | Saturates (sandwich, egg pot) | Sugars (all) | Salt (sandwich, egg pot) |
| 1 | Waitrose | 757 | 21.1g | 8.8g | 58.6g | 2.68g |
| 2 | Co-Op | 739 | 23.5g | 9.3g | 57.5g | 2.18g |
| 3 | Sainsburys | 705 | 26.7g | 10g | 57.7g | 2.12g |
| 4 | Tesco | 768 | 26g | 10.8g | 57.5g | 1.85g |
| 5 | Boots | 770 | 28.5g | 9.5g | 58.6g | 2.11g |
| 6 | Greggs | 835 | 25.1g | 10.9g | 56.9g | 2.6g |
Once again, Waitrose came out on top for overall nutritional balance, thanks to its lower fat (21.1g) and saturated fat (8.8g) content. However, it isn’t perfect. The Waitrose sandwich and egg pot contained the highest salt levels (2.68g), just under half the recommended daily limit of 6g.
At the other end of the scale, Greggs scored lowest for overall nutritional balance, driven by its calorie-dense sandwich and egg pot combo (835 kcal). To put that in perspective, that’s more calories than a McDonald’s Big Mac (580 kcal). Greggs also had the highest saturated fat (10.9g) and another substantial serving of salt (2.6g).
Meanwhile, Co-op’s meal deal offered the fewest calories, least sugar, and second-lowest fat content (23.5g). Despite this, it failed to win over our taste testers, who ranked it the least enjoyable overall, with more than one describing the sandwich as “too cheesy.”
Donna Peters, a registered Nutritional Therapist shares her thoughts on meal deals:
“Meal deals aren’t necessarily unhealthy, but many contain ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and are light on good quality protein, fibre and fresh produce. These are the key things we all need to maintain our energy levels, focus and mood stability throughout the working day.
What we eat at lunchtime has a huge impact on how we perform in the afternoon. Choose a meal deal that’s high in refined carbs and sugar, and the chances are you’ll feel tired and distracted, as a result of a blood sugar spike and then a dip. However, choosing a more balanced option will help keep your blood sugar stable, resulting in steady energy and focus.
A classic meal deal such as a cheese and ham sandwich, egg pot and a fizzy drink tends to be high in refined carbs, added sugar and salt, but low in fibre, vitamins and minerals. This leads to a quick energy spike followed by a crash – leaving you hungry, tired and craving a sweet snack.
By contrast, a selection that includes a high-protein salad, small fruit pot and a bottle of water provides slow-release carbs, lean protein, healthy fats and antioxidants. This combination helps to stabilise blood sugar levels, keeping you fuller for longer and enabling better focus and concentration.”
We asked Donna how to share her tips for healthier options without compromising on convenience:
Last year, we spoke to 2,000 office workers across the UK about their lunchtime habits. Just under 70% said they spend more on lunches when working from the office, while 64% noted that their lunch costs had risen due to the cost-of-living crisis. Although the economy looks a little different in 2025, inflation continues to bite, with some retailers including Tesco increasing their meal deal prices as a result.
Our Managing Director Sally Evans shares her thoughts: 
“Our research of 2,000 office workers highlights just how important lunchtime choices are in the office. With prices continuing to rise, finding a lunch that balances value, taste and nutrition has never been more important. A good lunch should energise people for the rest of the day without making them compromise on quality or their budget.
Employers can also support wellbeing and team spirit by offering regular nutrition-focused lunches, which are a simple yet effective way to boost morale and encourage team bonding”
So, which deal offers the best value for money?
| Retailer | Cost |
| Boots | £3.75 |
| Sainsburys | £3.95 |
| Tesco | £4.25 |
| Co-Op | £4.5 |
| Waitrose | £5 |
| Greggs | £5.14 |
At £3.75, Boots takes the title for the cheapest meal deal, while somewhat surprisingly Greggs comes in as the most expensive at £5.14, 14p more expensive than Waitrose.
While these differences might seem small at first glance, they quickly add up. For regular meal deal buyers, that extra pound or so a day could mean spending hundreds more over the course of a year. It’s a clear sign of how ongoing food inflation continues to shape our everyday spending, raising the question: is the era of the cheap meal deal behind us?
The meal deal remains one of Britain’s most loved lunch traditions, but our findings show it’s evolving fast. What was once a simple £3 grab-and-go option has become a reflection of wider shifts in how we eat, spend and think about our health.
Price rises across the high street show how inflation continues to shape even the smallest everyday choices, while the nutritional breakdown highlights just how dependent many of these lunches are on ultra-processed foods. For time-poor workers, the balance between convenience, cost and nutrition has never been trickier to strike.
As more people return to offices and hybrid routines settle in, the meal deal is likely to stay a lunchtime staple, but expectations are changing. Shoppers are looking for better ingredients, less processing and prices that feel fair in a post-crisis economy. The UK’s favourite lunch may still come wrapped in plastic, but the appetite for something fresher and smarter is only growing.
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