A documentary by Channel 5 has revealed what is the most popular Tesco Meal Deal combination. The meal deal has been a common topic of discourse for at least the last decade, but the conception of our favourite lunch time hack dates back to 1999, when the pharmaceutical company Boots coined the combination for just £2.50.

Fast forward to 2025, and the Tesco Meal Deal will now cost you £3.60 (that's with a Clubcard), and with the average consumer buying 73 meal deals a year, that would set you back roughly £262.80.

With Tesco offering over 20 million different combinations, in a documentary for Channel 5 which aired on Wednesday, March 26, journalist Harry Wallop asks the question: "Which one is best?". The documentary titled, Meal Deals: Which one is best? also looks into the nutritional values and environmental impacts off the easy lunch option.

On the journalist's substack newsletter, Consuming Matters, Harry wrote: "I’ve asked the three main providers to supply me with their most popular meal deal combos — as shown by their own sales data — which they’ve kindly done". He found that three main things stood out to him with the information he received. From superstar gigs to cosy pubs, find out What’s On in Wales by signing up to our newsletter here.

The three things:

  1. The most expensive items are king, with people picking these because they often think they'll save the most money e.g smoothies or juice.

  2. Despite fast food chains looking to phase out full sugar fizzy drinks, the full-sugar coke still reigns supreme.

  3. With a focus on fitness, and the UK's obsession with protein, crisps are out and eggs are in.

But, what is the most popular meal deal option?

A Chicken club sandwich, an egg pot and an original coke
For me, a disappointing answer to a very debatable question. Who picks an egg pot?!?!

According to the documentary, Tesco’s most popular £3.60 meal deal of 2024 is a Chicken Club Sandwich (£3.25), an Egg Protein Pot (£1.30) and a Coca-Cola 500ml (£1.95). The total of these without the deal would cost £6.50, giving you a saving of £2.90.

The second most popular meal deal is a Sausage Bacon & Egg Triple sandwich (£3.25), a Big Hoops Bbq Beef Grab Bag Crisps 45G (£1.10) and a Red Bull Energy Drink 473ml (£2.55).

You can now catch up on the documentary, Meal Deals: Which one is best? on Channel 5's website now.