There’s a very particular kind of dinner dilemma that comes with self-catering breaks. You’ve landed somewhere lovely, you’re determined not to spend the whole holiday eating out blowing the budget, but the local supermarket shelves are stacked with packet sauces and herbs and sachet mixes that you don’t want to waste time looking at or washing pans. That’s exactly the gap Frood has filled for me, and it now will be a permanent fixture in my whenever we’re off somewhere with a kitchen and a budget to stick to.
Created by Frida Redknapp, the brand was born out of a very relatable problem: in the space between packet mixes, meats and herbs, there was no genuinely healthy convenience option. So she spent months in her own kitchen developing blends that could close that gap, and the result is a small range of whole-food cooking mixes, including Swedish Meatballs, Bella Bolognese, Golden Curry and Mexi Fiesta, that you simply pair with a protein of your choice to build a complete meal.
That’s the bit I love most for holidays and weekends away: I’m not a fan of relying on processed, packeted food when we’re self-catering, but I also don’t want to be doing a full supermarket shop with ten different spice jars I’ll use once and bin. With Frood, I just pop a couple of sachets in with the suitcase, then pick up fresh meat or fish wherever we’re staying. No planning a menu in advance, no overpacking the cool bag with sauces and stock cubes on the way to Anglesey, just fresh, local, affordable protein and a sachet that turns it into an actual meal.
Each pack contains four servings and is fibre-rich with a natural source of protein, made with gently dried fruits and vegetables that work out to the equivalent of 560g of raw veg per pack, alongside grains, seeds and plant proteins. You add your sachet, your protein, and you’re sitting down to eat well within minutes, in a kitchen you don’t fully know, with utensils that definitely aren’t your own.
And because it skips the usual convenience-food compromise, it doesn’t feel like settling. The blends are free from ultra-processed ingredients, with no added sugar, flavourings or colours, and are made without heat or oil. For a self-catering trip on a budget, that’s a real win: you get a proper, fresh-cooked meal without the cost of eating out every night, and without resorting to the kind of packet food that leaves you feeling like you’ve cut corners.
My go-to for is Golden Curry with whatever fresh chicken or fish is available locally, and Bella Bolognese if there’s good mince to be had. Both come together in well under half an hour in an unfamiliar kitchen (or mine regularly!!) , which is perfect.
Frood launched into M&S and Ocado from 1st June, and at around £3 a pack for four servings, it’s cheap enough to pack a few different flavours for a week away without it denting the holiday budget. For anyone who wants fresh, proper food quickly without the faff, it’s earned a permanent spot in my hand luggage.
