I have loved tinned meat balls in tomato sauce since I was a child and my toddler son has the same taste. I have only ever eaten bought the branded product.

I bought a can of the value meatballs from Tesco's after reading a positive review on Dooyoo however I still felt dubious and these have lingered in my cupboard. However my son currently has a cough and cold and sore throat so have been trying to think of tasty soft foods to tempt him to eat. I did intend to make him once more the branded Meatballs as I know it is something he does like but as there were none in the cupboard it was time to try the value range.

The meatballs are 38p for a 392g values.

Ingredients: The meatballs contain 74% chicken

Allergy advice: wheat and gluten and although the factory is nut free they do not guarantee the product is nut free.

Nutritional advice:

Each half a can contains

193 calories
9.0g of fat
0.6 g of sodium

The meatballs upon opening didn't smell particularly different although the sauce did not seem as thick.

The instructions state to cook in the 750W microwave for 2 minutes stir then cook for a further minute. I however did not read the instructions until I wrote this review and just cooked them for four minutes then stirred. My son has basically wanted to sit on my lap most of the day and didn't want me out the lounge my time was limited.

I served the meatballs with boiled whole wheat spaghetti and then poured the spaghetti on top and cut my sons in half.

It still did not smell very different but the sauce did look a thinner than the branded and slightly greasy.

As I bit into the meatball I was actually surprised they were quite hard but as I started chewing I found that they actually tasted less fatty, more firm and more meaty than branded.

I happily munched my way through my bowl and my son ate most. He loved the spaghetti with the sauce but think he found the meatball still a little painful to eat which is not a reflection on the product.
Tinned meatballs are significantly different to fresh meatballs less chewy and taste less meaty which often suits children's taste however the lower meat involved is also reflected in the price.

They do only make these in the tomato sauce flavour but in my opinion this is the best flavour anyway.

I am shocked to say that I actually prefer the value range to the branded and will definitely be buying them again; I recommend that if you like tinned meatballs then they are definitely worth trying.