How to cook ready meals safely
To avoid food poisoning when eating ready meals, always heat your meal until it's steaming hot and never reheat it. Do check cooking instructions before heating.
What you need to know
Ready meals are cooked food found in chilled sections of a supermarket like lasagne, shepherd’s pie or roasted chicken dinners. These need to be heated fully before eating and should never be reheated. Here's our advice on making sure ready meals are safe to eat.
Advice at a glance
- Check the use by date
- Always store in the fridge
- Follow cooking instructions carefully
- Always heat it until it is steaming hot
- Never reheat
Check the use by date
- Use by date means the food is not safe to eat after this date, even if it looks or smells fine. Check the use by date on food packaging before buying and before heating it at home. Read more about use by dates.
- A use by date is only correct if the food has been stored properly (in the fridge at 5°C or lower) and the packaging is sealed.
- Once opened, eat ready meals within 2 to 3 days. Do check the food label for specific instructions.
Store it in the fridge
- Ready meals should be kept in the fridge where the temperature is at 5°C or lower, unless the label says they can be frozen. Always follow the storage instructions on the packaging.
- Never eat meals that have been left out at room temperature.
- Avoid any ready meal with torn, leaking or bloated packaging.
Follow instructions on the pack
Always read the cooking instructions on the packaging and follow them carefully. Check them for:
- How long to heat the meal
- What temperature to use
- Whether to stir or shake it during cooking
- If it’s suitable for the microwave, the oven, or both
Cook until piping hot
Ready meals must be heated until they are piping hot. You should see steam rising, and any sauce should be bubbling. If you have a meat thermometer, check the food has reached 75°C.
Don’t reheat
- Once you’ve heated a ready meal, eat it straight away.
- Don’t keep leftovers for another time unless the label or instructions clearly says it’s okay.
Recap
- Always follow the cooking instructions
- Never eat food past the use by date
- Store in your fridge at 5°C or colder
- Cook until piping hot
- Never reheat
