Mmm, pie! (Birds Eye Steak and Kidney Pies)

Member Name: eatingpinkzebras

Product:	Birds Eye Steak and Kidney Pies
Date:	01/03/09 (138 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tastes good, easy to make

Disadvantages: Calories, difficult to get onto plate!

My last review on a Birds Eye product was a one-star angry rant. You'll be pleased to hear that this review will be much more positive and will involve less mention of disturbing peas with gooey yellow centres!

I have been buying Birds Eye's Steak and Kidney Pies for a couple of years now and I will continue to purchase them and keep them in the freezer for days when I fancy a nice comforting hot meal and cannot be bothered to cook anything which requires more effort! I have them with oven chips and peas, which makes a lovely dinner.

The pies are described by Birds Eye as 'Succulent pieces of steak and pork kidney with a delicious gravy in a light shortcrust pastry'. The filling and pastry make up 50 per cent of the pie each.

The cooking instructions are very simple: you just put the pie in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius and cook them for 30-35 minutes. I always find that they need 35-40 minutes though, before they look golden brown. You cook the pies straight from the freezer, which means you don't have to worry about defrosting them.

Once cooked I sometimes have a bit of a problem getting the pies out of their foil cases and onto the plate in one piece, without them collapsing. I think Birds Eye could do with looking at a way to solve this. However once they are on the plate then all systems are go!

The pies taste lovely. The chunks of meat are bite sized and juicy, without any fatty or chewy bits. They taste really high quality. The pastry is lovely too, and there is a reasonable amount of rich gravy inside too. I always enjoy eating the pies and look forward to having them.

Each pie contains a huge 460 calories and 29 grams of fat, 14 grams of which is saturated. This means they aren't very good for your waistline, but I ignore that because they taste so nice!

I buy these pies in packs of 4 which cost £2.47 from Tesco, but you can also get them individually for 99 pence each. Obviously the 4 pack is much better value.

Birds Eye also do a Chicken Pie and a Minced Beef and Onion Pie in the same range, which I might try at some point in the future.

Summary: A freezer staple