I bought my Valentine’s Day meal from Iceland for less than £30

Valentine’s Day can be the perfect opportunity to treat your partner to a lovely meal and spend some quality time together. 

But you may also want to keep costs down and dining out can be expensive. 

If you are looking for a cheaper way to mark February 14, we tried out what was on offer at Iceland to see if you could still indulge on a budget. 

I picked up a starter, a main and a dessert for under £30, which, I think, for two people is decent and I am sure you could go even cheaper depending on your choices.

We went for the Iceland ‘Big Daddy’ sirloin streaks as our main, which were the biggest expense at £6.50 each, but, spoiler, they are worth it.

On the shopping list:

• Camembert – £2.65
• Crusty Bread Rolls – £1.20
• Steak Cut Chips – £2
• Steam in a bag veg mix – £2
• Peppercorn sauce mix – £3
• Lemon Meringue Cheesecake – £2.50
• Elmlea double cream – £1.35
• Sirloin Steak – £6.50 (times two – £13) 

Total – £27.70

Starter

Baking the camembert in the air fryer for 15 minutes, the ready to bake bread rolls when into the oven.

The bread was good with the cheese, crunchy and crisp enough to hold the oozing cheese but perhaps a little too dry to have on its own. 

I will say the quality of the camembert isn’t the best I have ever had, there was a slight bitterness to it, but with a drizzle of honey it was nice.

Although a filling starter, I would recommend having it at least an hour before dinner, so you have time to digest it – and at home you will have the luxury to eating at whatever time you want.

There are also plenty of other options for starters in Iceland, from frozen finger foods like tempura prawns to fresh ingredients to make something from scratch if you are more culinary ambitious. 

Main

I don’t eat steak that often, so this really was a treat. I like mine well done, so I fried my steak for five minutes on each side over high heat, adding a nob of butter to the oil halfway through. 

I had already added a good helping of the frozen steak cut chips to the air fryer and microwaved the veg and mixed the peppercorn sauce in the last five minutes of the steak’s cooking time. 

This was an easy and quick meal, and pulling it together on the plate, it looked really good. I would be impressed if I was served this on Valentine’s Day. 

The steak was delicious; it had enough fat on it to add flavour, and while at first I thought it was too big for one person, I found it easy to eat. For a £6.50 steak, I was very impressed with the quality.

The peppercorn sauce was nice and you can thicken to the consistency you want – another bonus of cooking your own Valentine’s meal. The steamed veg offered little pops of sweetness from the peas and the chips where good, considering it was £2 for a huge bag. 

Dessert

I had already taken the Lemon Meringue Cheesecake out of the freezer to defrost – it needs three hours. 

This was a nice palate cleanser and the light lemon flavour was a great way to end a meal. The lemon curd was not too sweet, but I would say the biscuit base was a little harder than I would have liked. 

I served with double cream and this helped with the dry base, but over all a solid dessert.

Verdict

This was a good hearty meal that felt indulgent and filling and could easily pass for a great Valentine’s Day meal for you and your partner.

The quality of the steaks was outstanding, and I would certainly recommend them again, although next time I swap out the camembert for a fish-based starter.  

£27.70 for a three course meal is still a fair amount of money for one meal, but there will be left over chips, veg, sauce, cream and cheesecake and it is divided between two people, so I think you could easily surprise your partner this Valentine’s Day without even leaving the house.