Ready-to-eat vs Ready-to-cook: What's the difference?

They are all packaged foods. They are all on the same shelf in the supermarket. 

What if you pick up a packet, come home and then read the instructions on how to prepare the meal and it's not what you were looking for? 

So should you read the instructions in the supermarket? 

Don't waste your time between the aisles. And get smart now.

There are three prime categories of packaged food:

1. Ready-to-cook

2. Ready-to-eat

3. Instant Food

Choose wisely.

Ready-to-cook

Do you know how many ingredients or spices it requires to cook a Punjabi sabzi? A lot. Lots of ingredients and lots of steps. And yet, it won't taste good.

So there are sabzi masalas. You blend tomatoes and onions, add the masala powder, add paneer or veggies. And voila! Punjabi sabzi is ready.

Ready-to-cook also includes packets that are to be prepared by adding water. Empty the contents into a pan, add water and heat. It takes 5-10 minutes to cook these packets.

Ready-to-cook simply means the preparation to make the meal is done. You just cook. And the cooking process is not quick; it takes at least 10 to 15 minutes. 

More examples of Ready-to-cook items:

• Idli, dosa, uttappa batter and mixes (Rawa idli, etc)

• Frozen snacks to fry

• Chapatis, parathas

• Frozen momos to steam

• Jelly and custard 

Ready-to-cook food packages can be of great help while hosting a get-together at home, for working couples, if you have a kitchen in your hotel room while travelling, or when kids are alone at home.

Ready-to-eat

Ready-to-eat food packages require no preparation and little cooking.

A ready-to-eat Punjabi sabzi would have all the veggies, paneer, etc. in the packet. You just have to heat the packet or add boiling water to it, depending on the packet you buy.

These are very convenient during travel. 

Ready-to-eat food comes in different packaging:

• Cuppa- just add boiling water into the cup, wait, eat. No extra cutlery required.

• Heat the packet- you heat the food package in water, in a microwave or in a pan. And then open it. These are great for offices and travel. (Cheap unwanted tip: even in the cheapest hotel rooms, if there is hot water running from taps, you can prepare these food packages)

• Prepare with boiling water- you either add boiling water to the contents of the packet or pour the contents into the boiling water, and cook it for a while.

• Dry snacks mixes-bhal, pani puri.

Instant food

There is a fine difference between ready-to-eat and instant food. 

Instant food packages require minimal preparation and no cooking. Boiling water does it all. But you would need to follow a couple of steps to prepare it. For example, first boil the water, then add masala, then pasta or noodles.