The new additions to the range will include old favourites such as Lancashire Hotpot, Scotch broth, Irish stew, steak and ale casserole and minced lamb with mint dumplings. These will be available from autumn and prices will range from £1.79 to £3.49.
As consumers increasingly display a healthy appetite for traditional meals, British food has now pushed Italian cuisine into third place, only losing out to Indian dishes. The British ready made meals market is now worth £221m (€326m), sales data from TNS reveals.
In a similar move Tesco's launched a new range of traditional British-inspired ready made meals last month. The new launch not only represented customer demand, and consumer tastes for a more refined approach to British food.
"The big change for British cuisine has come about because the decline forced food suppliers back to the drawing board to rethink their recipes," said Kathryn Bettles, lead food development manager at Tesco's.
Waitrose's British ready made meal range uses British pork and chicken, New Zealand lamb, and the same salmon, haddock and fish stocks that supply its fresh fish counter.