At a glance:
The Little Dish Pots and Pies look like mini versions of the kind of meals you would buy for yourself. Healthy and nutritious and made with all natural ingredients, these were a hit with our panel of mum testers. Be warned the meals get quite hot, so you’ll need to let them cool before feeding them to your tot.
What they say:
“Our pots and pies were developed with the help of nutritionist Lucy Jones and have been given the thumbs up by our Tiny Tasters and their Mums and Dads. Every lovely little meal is low in salt, has no added sugar, provides at least 1 of 5 a day and is a source of protein and balanced for energy and fat.”
Our special little pot and pie dishes have been crafted to fit our meals perfectly – and if you have been a Little Dish customer for a while, you’ll be pleased to know that the meals are exactly the same size as our original meals (200g)."
Tested by mum Cadey Riley for the Mother & Baby awards 2018:
Would you recommend this to other mums?
Yes - they taste absolutely yummy.!They are made from great fresh healthy ingredients and look like a proper meal, compared to some of the baby food you can buy which just looks like blended food. They are packaged really well and have all the key information you need on display, so you can check quickly for allergies. There is a great range to choose from and they all taste really different.
How did this product make your life easier?
These meals make my life a lot easier as a mum as I know that if I don't have the time to prepare a fresh home cooked meal myself, these meals are just as good. They are a good source of all the vitamins and key things that a growing toddler needs. They also store for a while and keep just as fresh, so I know I can buy some to keep as reserves and they will still be usable in a couple of weeks.
Would you choose this product to win?
I really like this product and believe that it should win a Mother & Baby award. It has a great range and a lot of healthy ingredients, and it's a good price for the size of the portion you get in the container. It can also be stored for a good amount of time which will be really useful for busy families.
What changes would you make to this product?
The only thing that I dislike about this product is that it takes so long to cool down once you cook it. We cooked it for the appropriate times and then would need to wait at least ten minutes for it to cool before we could feed it to our daughter. It would help if it had a more vented dish so it would cool quicker.
Tested by mum Kimberley Hogg for the Mother & Baby awards 2018:
Would you recommend this to other mums?
I really liked the ability to cook from frozen, and the fact that there are no additives or sweeteners in them. I like the way they don’t shy away from strong flavours and that each of the dishes are things they I would eat myself. The portion sizes are a bit big for my son (14-months-old) but would be perfect for an older toddler. We took one in the changing bag out with us when going to visit a friend, as it made it really simple to pop it in the microwave and cook up his dinner with no fuss while there.
How did this product make your life easier?
The ability to cook from frozen is the best feature for me. It means you can have one or two in the freezer ready for an occasion where you don’t have time to make a meal from scratch. It takes away the stress of having to think of a healthy meal option on short notice, as they are only made with natural ingredients.
Would you choose this product to win?
I have found other toddler meals on the market add apple juice or similar to sweeten their meals. From what I can read in the ingredients, Little Dish don’t do this. This makes the meals more ‘real’, and my son really enjoys them this way. I do find it to be a bit more expensive than others on the market, but I think it is worth the additional cost.
What changes would you make to this product?
I found in some of the dishes, such as the fish pie, that there wasn’t a huge amount of fish. The pie was predominately made up of mashed potato and white sauce and there were very few pieces of fish. I would have preferred to have a little more in the way of meat for the price you pay, in order to give you greater value for money.
Tested by mum Nicola Hughes for the Mother & Baby awards 2018:
Would you recommend this to other mums?
I loved that each meal had two daily portions of vegetables, as I find giving my baby fruit easy, but struggle with vegetables. They were quick to cook and tasted amazing. I loved the long sell-by dates on the meals that means I can bulk buy and store in the fridge for convenience. The meals are easy to cook – you only have to pierce the plastic and then place in the microwave for two minutes. I then left it to cool for twenty minutes or so. It's important to me that baby eats healthy and nutritious meals and these were!
How did this product make your life easier?
It’s such a quick and easy way to give my baby lunch. It’s hard having to cook three meals a day and this product saves me having to cook from scratch and I know it’s a healthy and nutritious option for my baby. When I return to work next week, I will bulk buy these for my baby to have at my mother in law's house. She will love to feed him these as she loves traditional weaning. I'm more of a baby led weaner, but I did spoon feed some of these meals to him.
Would you choose this product to win?
Yes! I loved the design of the product, the price and how easy they were to cook. I wouldn’t want to give my baby something I don’t eat myself and I tried two of these meals and they were delicious. I think this product is slightly more expensive than others in the market, but it does offer a lot more in terms of healthy ingredients, low sugar and healthy vegetables. The meal is much better than a pouch which my baby turns his nose up at.
What changes would you make to this product?
The only thing I would change is the price. It would be so much better on my pocket if they were less than £2!
Tested by mum Emma Clarke for the Mother & Baby awards 2018:
Would you recommend this to other mums?
We loved these products! My 14-month-old can be very fussy but he had a good go at all 12 of the meals that we were sent. They are extremely convenient and the quality of the nutrition is excellent, and they are exactly what we would cook at home. I liked that each different dish had the same heating instructions too.
How did this product make your life easier?
It is not always possible to provide your toddler with a home cooked meal and this is the perfect alternative. It was great when we were cooking something that was not suitable for him to eat, so I could just pop one of these in the microwave, knowing that he'd get a great meal. He loved every single dish.
Would you choose this product to win?
Without a doubt, I would. It's not a brand we had ever tried before as I was always put off by the higher price, however the quality of the food is clearly better than the cheaper brands and we do think that this is worth paying extra for. These were proper little versions of dishes you would cook at home.
What changes would you make to this product?
This is a very difficult question but there are two little things I would change to suit my child. I think the size of the ravioli was too big and I had to cut each piece in half and I also found the portion size far too big for my child. That said, he is quite small for his age and my four year old was more than happy to finish up what he couldn't eat!
Tested by mum Deborah Taylor for the Mother & Baby awards 2018:
Would you recommend this to other mums?
The packaging on the meals was very nice and family friendly, they are also the perfect size to sustain an active toddler’s appetite. They had a few weeks expiry date which is handy for anyone that wants to keep a few in the fridge until they need them. The meals tasted great and were very healthy. I would recommend these to any of my friends or fellow mums that needed an easy already prepared meal for their little one.
How did this product make your life easier?
This is a great product as it is so easy to use and makes life a lot easier on the nights when you don’t have time to prepare a healthy meal for your little one.
Would you choose this product to win?
I do feel that this product should win as it ticks all the boxes. It is easy to use, looks and tastes great, with a good variety of meals to choose from, so something for all little ones and even the fussiest of eaters. The only other ready meals we have used have been from Marks & Spencers and price wise they are both very similar. The quality of the food is great so I would say they are good value for money.
What changes would you make to this product?
If I could change anything about the Little Dishes it would be that I would make the food a little chunkier. My daughter is 18-months-old and although she can use a fork and a spoon she is still much happier when she can use her hands to pick food up with and unfortunately she couldnt really do this with the Little Dishes as they were well blended.