MANY of us have an emergency box of fish fingers in the freezer for days when there is just no time to cook.
Now it seems the tea time saviour could also be good for us.
9
The British Nutrition Foundation has said not all ultra-processed foods, including fish fingers, are unhealthy.
The charity’s Bridget Benelam explains: “For many of us, foods like baked beans, wholemeal toast, fish fingers or ready-made pasta sauces are an affordable way to get a balanced meal on the table quickly.
“These may be classed as ultra-processed foods but can still be part of a healthy diet.”
So where can you get a fish finger that will get the thumbs-up from everyone in your family?
Here journalist Katy-Rose Meaney and daughter Charlotte, three, test super-market offerings and give their verdicts then marks out of ten for taste, value and appearance – which we average out and round up for overall scores.
Lidl, 10 Cod fish fingers, £1.89
Taste: 9, Value: 7, Appearance: 8 8/10
9
REALLY tasty but took ages to crisp up in the oven compared with some other fish fingers – not ideal if you’re looking for a quick after-school tea.
With an extra five minutes in the oven, though, they were finally nice and crispy, and they also had a decent amount of fish inside.
Most read in Money
Charlotte said: Yum! I would like to have these again.
They taste really good.
Aldi, Everyday Essentials 10 fish fingers, 75p
Taste: 7, Value: 7, Appearance: 6 7/10
9
THESE had a lovely golden crumb coating and were beautifully crisp on the outside.
But the inside was a fairly miserable grey colour and there wasn’t much fish to be found.
Charlotte loved them, though, and with a good dollop of ketchup she reckoned they tasted OK.
Charlotte said: Really crunchy, I liked them.
Asda, Just Essentials 10 fish fingers, 75p
Taste: 3, Value: 4, Appearance: 4 4/10
9
TOO thin and a fraction of the size of some of the other brands.
These fish fingers also fell apart a bit when I went to transfer them from baking tray to plate.
We didn’t think they had much flavour, they were pretty bland.
Charlotte said: These weren’t very tasty, I liked the other ones better.
They wouldn’t stay on my fork.
Sainsbury’s, 10 cod fish fingers, £3
Taste: 9, Value: 6, Appearance: 8 8/10
9
PACKED with plenty of lovely, flaky fish and I would happily have wolfed them down in a sandwich with a dollop of ketchup.
They held their shape well during cooking and plating.
And Charlotte eagerly scoffed the lot of hers.
Charlotte said: I really like the inside of these, there is lots of fish.
Morrisons, 10 fish fingers, £2.19
Taste: 6, Value: 6, Appearance: 7 6/10
9
REALLY pretty under-whelming to look at, a thin finger and not much substance.
The outside was a nice colour but the filling felt quite solid rather than nice and flaky.
Charlotte enjoyed them more than I did.
Charlotte said: These ones are nice.
They’re not very big, though.
Tesco, 10 cod fish fingers, £2.20
Taste: 10, Value: 9, Appearance: 9 9/10
9
NICE chunky shape and felt like they had a lot of fish.
They definitely felt like a premium fish finger and could have easily been mistaken for a well known brand.
Golden and crispy on the outside, and light, fluffy fish on the inside.
A real winner.
Charlotte said: They were so tasty!
I could eat them every day.
Birds Eye, 10 cod fish fingers, £3.65 (at Aldi)
Taste: 10, Value: 6, Appearance: 6 7/10
9
DESPITE the big name they weren’t the best to look at.
The crumb coating came away on the bottom of the tray on one fish finger while being cooked.
But they tasted delicious, with a generous portion of really quality fish, and a nice crunch on what was left of the coating.
Very pricey though.
Charlotte said: I’d like to have some more of these.
They’re really tasty.
Iceland, 28 breaded fish fingers, £2.25
Taste: 2, Value: 3, Appearance: 3 3/10
9
PHOTO on the packaging looks incredible but I was seriously underwhelmed when placing these in the oven.
They looked quite cardboardy.
And the taste unfortunately wasn’t much better.
They were completely bland and quite watery.
Definitely not our favourite.
Charlotte said: I didn’t like these ones.
They didn’t taste very nice.
