In our busy modern lives, we often do not have time to prepare meals, which is when ready-to-eat meals come in handy. Such meals are the most common saviors when we are hungry, tired, or not in the mood to cook. It is an option when one has a dilemma about what to eat and does not want to spend hours cooking. They are practical, quick, inexpensive, convenient, and delicious, and ideal for individuals and travelers.

The Indian market is flooded with many ready-to-eat brands that offer delicious meals at reasonable prices. So, if you are looking for popular picks to keep at home for a lazy day of cooking, read on.

Here is a list of some of India's best ready-to-eat meal brands that offer products that are easy to make and taste great.

MTR Foods

Founded in 1924, MTR is an Indian food company based in Bengaluru that offers convenience food. With consumer-friendly packaging and instructions mentioned on the outside, MTR is also known for its wide range of authentic Indian vegetarian dishes that can be prepared in just 3 minutes. The brand offers delectable RTC options like idli and dosa mixes, upma mix, bajji bonda mix, and RTE options like paneer tikka masala, paneer butter masala, mixed vegetable curry, alu mutter and a host of rice options including bisibele bhath, lemon rice, masala rice and jeera rice and much more. Available in various pack sizes, these products offer a simple and easy way to satisfy your hunger pangs.

Gits 

Pune, Maharastra-based Gits is an Indian instant foods company. It is a popular brand known for instant mixes such as desserts and snack for years. It has also ventured into the comfort ready-to-cook meals segment along with instant mixes. Intending to provide time-saving meal options at reasonable rates, it has a wide range of Indian food options like dal makhani, pav bhaji, rajma, palak paneer, and much more. While offering authentic flavors, Gits promises to be free from artificial colors and flavors and only provides international quality standards. Hence, for all Indian food lovers, this brand is a great choice.

Haldiram's Minute Khana

It is a well-known north Indian snack, confectionery, and restaurant business that embarked its journey in 1941 at Rajasthan's Bikaner. Made with only the finest quality ingredients, Haldiram guarantees no harm to the health and only finger-licking good vegetarian meals. Its ready-to-eat range Minute Khana includes tasty options such as fatafat bhel, dal palak, dal tadka, Punjabi choley, paneer makhani, thepla, dal makhani chawal, namkeen, palak paneer, among others. Offering recyclable packaging to its customers also makes this a sustainably conscious option.

Kitchens of India

An ITC brand of ready-to-eat food products, Kitchens of India is a must if looking for culinary dishes with quintessential flavors from Indian cuisine. Created using the highest quality ingredients and hand-selected spices, Kitchens of India promises to use no preservatives in any meal. Consumers can choose from various desserts, gourmet delights and daily treats such as paneer butter masala, chicken darbari,mirch ka salan, yakhni pulao, pav bhaji, Pindi chana, navratan korma, Awadhi badam halwa, Jodhpuri moong dal halwa and nawabi kaju halwa. Every meal is well packed and sterilized with retort process technology to prevent infections or bacteria, making it a safe and secure choice for you and your loved ones.upm

Suhana

Suhana started in 1962 as a small line of homemade spices and gradually expanded its range to pickles, papads, and ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook products. The company focuses on keeping up with the latest technology and packaging innovations to fulfill the rising demand for production. Suhana has 5 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities across India that follow the GMP, ISO, and HACCP guidelines to ensure food safety. The range of products offered includes a ready-to-eat cuppa range (instant poha mix, upma mix, misal mix, and dal tadka and jeera rice and dal khichadi masala among others), ready-to-cook range (paneer butter masala mix, paneer tikka spice mix, chicken biryani spice mix, butter chicken spice mix, and more), ready-to-cook Indian Chinese range (paneer chilli dry and gravy mixes, chicken chilli dry and manchurian ready mix). Dessert lovers can explore their instant mithai range that can be prepared in minutes (sheer khurma mix and gulab jamun mix) and South Indian food fanatics can explore instant rice idli, rava idli, rava dosa, and medu vada mixes to please their taste buds. Their products claim to be free from MSG, added preservatives, and artificial colors and flavors.

Aashirvaad

Owned by ITC, Aashirvaad is an Indian brand of essential foods and household items. It is also known for its instant meals' lineup, which apart from being affordable, is also made with real ingredients, giving us home-cooked food comfort within minutes. From idli sambar and khatta meetha poha to suji halwa, these healthy meal options are available in different packaging sizes and claim no added preservatives.

MOM

Meal of The Moment (MOM) is an Indian edible foods company that offers a wide range of products such as poha, instant pasta, vegetable biryani, red Thai curry rice, Chinese fried rice, idli sambar and many more. These meals are prepared by simply adding hot water and take no more than 6-8 minutes to prepare. They are also available on various platforms, including airlines like Go First and Indigo Airlines, retail chains like Hyper City, Max Hyper Spar, Reliance Retail, TATA - Tesco Star Bazar and online platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Big Basket and many more. Made with quality ingredients, MOM claims to be 100% vegetarian, providing rich dietary fiber sources and ensuring no artificial flavors are used.

Slurrp Farm

This is an Indian convenience food brand created to provide healthy, tasty, and attractive food for children. The products are made with super grains like jowar, ragi, bajra, amaranth, and foxtail millet. This gives kids a healthy version of delicious dishes, like millet pancakes, dosa, ragi flakes, and more. All these ingredients make these foods rich in critical nutrients and free of preservatives, artificial flavors, zero trans fats, and harmful synthetic colors.

Concerned mothers can choose from a range of products like toddler cereal (strawberry, ragi and rice, rolled oats, sathu maavu porridge mix, moong dal khichdi porridge mix and more), pancakes, dosas and upma (banana choco chip millet pancake, upma instant mix and more) and noodles (foxtail millet, little millet and more). The brand also offers superfoods like almond date powder, chia seeds, and panjiri.

TATA Sampann Yumside

In October 2022, TATA Q to ‘Tata Sampann Yumside’ and was integrated with the Tata Sampann portfolio of food offerings. For ease and convenience, Tata Sampann Yumside RTE product portfolio offers an array of options with rich and authentic flavors, ready to consume in 60 seconds or less. Whether looking for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack, you will find everything from biryani and noodles to pasta, kebabs, and more, made with quality ingredients.

The Taste Company

It is an instant food brand that offers food prepared according to home recipes for healthy consumption. It uses freeze-drying technology to ensure the preservation of the natural nutrients, taste, softness, aroma, and texture of the food and offers exciting combinations with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes in various flavor options. Thanks to the easy-to-store, hassle-free food packaging, the food retains moisture, preventing a change in taste. The brand claims to use naturally grown, antibiotic-free chicken in its products for consumers' health. Consumers can pick from biryanis (prawn, vegetable, chicken), classic rava upma, dal khichdi, pongal, oat upma, chicken curry rice, apple oat meal, bisibele bath and others.

In a fast-paced world, consumers find solace in RTE foods that allow them to enjoy piping hot food with the bonus of a homely feel. The demand for these foods is set to rise in the coming times as the urban Indian struggles to balance work and personal life. Food manufacturers should take this opportunity to continue to innovate and bring out products that please the consumers' tastebuds without burning a hole in their pockets.