HOW DOES A SUNDAY ROAST STACK UP?

HOMEMADE: Roast chicken with olive oil, 150g meat per person. Stuffing with onion, olive oil, breadcrumbs, egg. Served with 3 potatoes roasted in olive oil, broccoli, carrots and peas. Gravy using pan juices plus 1 tbsp flour.

Pudding: Apple crumble — apple stewed with 2tbsp sugar, topped with plain flour, 110g sugar and 110g butter. Served with custard made from 200g double cream, 700ml whole milk, 4 eggs, 100g sugar. Per portion of roast dinner and pudding: 1,400 calories 94g fat, 74g sugar, 7g fibre 3g salt

Packaged: Waitrose British Roast Chicken, £6.19. Bannisters Farm Garlic & Rosemary Roast Potatoes 360g, £2.15. Paxo sage & onion stuffing, 170g, £1.40. Sainsbury’s Green Vegetable Selection With Mint Butter

260g, £2 (peas, broccoli, green beans). Bisto chicken gravy, 200g, £2. Pudding: Waitrose Bramley Apple Crumble 500g, £3. Tesco

Finest custard 500g, £2.30. Per portion ( half pack roast potatoes, 100g stuffing, 150g chicken meat, 130g veg, 50ml gravy plus 125g crumble served with 100ml custard): 1,306 calories, 60.5g fat, 46.5g sugar, 12.3 g fibre, 4.3g salt

Verdict: The nutritional profile of the homemade and shop-bought roasts is similar — both high in calories and sugar. But the packaged is lower in fat. This might be as people tend to drown their roasts in oil and butter at home. The shop-bought frozen veg is just as good a source of vitamins and minerals. The key is portion size.

WINNER: PACKAGED