I tried one for Chicken Penne Arrabiata, used things such as basil and thyme, salt and pepper, for the first time ever in my life. It didn't turn out the best to be honest... the one I buy that's ready made tastes better.. guess it was just a first time though.
The single biggest limiting factor for beginning cooks that results in sub standard results is
technique!! With only a few exceptions no ready made meal should be better than one cooked at home. Technique has nothing to do with 'recipes', it's
how to cook, not what to cook or what to put in.
Trust me, I know.
I love to cook now that I've learned proper techniques. That took about 2.5 years, give or take. I've been making very good home cooked meals for ~ 30 years now.
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Recipes don't teach technique, they're just a list of ingredients. (and frankly, once you learn technique you won't need recipes... or you can look at one and mentally note the changes you want to make)
You can learn technique two ways. Attend a culinary school - usually expensive and time consuming. Or, you can watch 'Good Eats' with Alton Brown. (US TV show). Much cheaper, but still a bit spendy to get all the episodes. That said, it's worth every penny. That's how I learned, though I didn't have to buy them. I recorded them live on a DVR and transferred them to CD's - back in the day.
I'm not aware of any British cooking shows that teach technique. Nigella Lawson? She makes my pants go crazy but it's just food porn. No technique. Gordon Ramsey? Lots of yelling, screaming and throwing things but no technique. Robert Irvine? Yeah, no! The one that comes closest is the one with Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, the baking one. They don't actually teach technique but you can pick up the techniques by watching. Sadly, that's for baking only. (remember, baking is a science and cooking is an art.)
Bottom line, skip the recipes and learn technique.
