I was in the supermarket one evening having decided I wanted something different and nothing I had in the house would do. After scouring shelves for inspiration I noticed a Spanish-inspired sauce for chicken (I can't remember the name of the range now, but it was in the fancy ingredient section and cost nearly £3). Even though it was expensive it became something I made fairly frequently. This then got discontinued from my local Sainsbury's and I have to say I was pretty upset--until I noticed the Chicken Tonight Spanish Chicken sauce. Turns out the other one getting discontinued was a blessing in disguise, as the Chicken Tonight version is just as delicious and half the price, usually costing around £1.80. It also regularly goes on offer at £1 or 2 for 1, which means I stock up since I know that it'll get eaten!

The sauce is tomato-based, with peppers, garlic and thyme. It has a lovely, fresh flavour and makes a really delicious meal super easy and quick to make. The label suggests cooking it with chicken and then serving it with salad and potatoes, but I serve it with rice and add one extra ingredient that makes it all the more tasty and Spanish-flavoured: chorizo. I cook the chicken and chorizo until done, then add the sauce and simmer for about 15 minutes, which is perfect as that's how long the rice I serve with it takes to cook. It really is one of the simplest meals to make, and while I know ready-made sauce isn't always a great option, this one is quite low in calories, salt, and saturated fat. The chorizo obviously makes the meal slightly less healthy but it really adds to it. The sauce has no artificial ingredients, either, so while I'm sure I could manage to make this sauce fresh, it's much easier to use the jar and I don't have to feel too guilty about it.

I now cook this once every couple of weeks and always look forward to it. This sauce is such an easy way to get some different flavours in a meal and is very filling. The jar is a great size (500g) and with a small pack of diced chicken breast and some chorizo, it makes plenty for four for dinner (or in my case, two for dinner and then lots of leftovers for a few lunches!). The leftovers are still very tasty the next day after being microwaved. The sauce itself also has a great consistency--it's not too thick but definitely not watery either.

The great thing about this sauce is that it's quite flexible. I used to add fresh chilli but decided that the chorizo gives enough of a kick and there's not a huge difference when adding a chilli to it. Adding extra vegetables would probably be a good idea too, or having it with potatoes rather than rice. I always mean to experiment with it a bit more but it's just so good as I usually have it that I never bother to do so. Overall, though, I would highly recommend this sauce as an addition to anyone's dinner repertoire, especially on a busy weeknight when you just want to get cooking over with!