A ready meal is a meal that requires very little preparation and contains all the elements of the course in one package.
An example might be a chicken tikka masala where the rice, chicken and all other ingredients are prepackaged in a plastic tray and require a few minutes in a microwave oven to prepare.
Such meals are criticised as being unhealthy since they lack fresh ingredients and are often very high in salt and fat.
The UK spends £5 million a day on ready meals, it is the largest consumer of ready meals in Europe.
Lasagne is the most popular ready meal in the UK, Sainsburys sells 26 a minute.
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