Chicken out the low calorie Pieminister Chickalito

Pieminister (Less than 440 Calories) Chickalito Pie Review

You don’t normally see the words “diet”, “low calories” and “pie” in the same sentence. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if – over 340 pie reviews in – this is the first time we have mentioned the words “low calorie pie” in a pie review. And I think there’s a reason for that, to be quite frank. Sad to say it, I don’t think a low calorie pie really exists.

For while Pieminister have attempted to create a low calorie option to their range, we sadly can’t endorse its pie status as a proper pie. For in an effort to cut the calories, they have dropped their pastry lid. This meant the pastry content was just 28% of the finished pie and the filled pastry dish was topped with natural breadcrumbs instead. The pastry itself was quite crisp and crunchy, though a bit too dry for my liking. However the thin seeded crust did make an interesting change to the typical pastry, even if I prefer the normal pastry.

Pieminister Chickalito

The content of the pie was quite a nice blend of chicken, cured ham and a few vegetables in a light sauce. However with just 12.6% chicken and 2.6% dry cured ham in the finished pies, the pies certainly lacked a meaty filling which I like in my pies. With a very dry outer pastry, the filling was at least quite moist, balancing it out reasonably well.

Pieminister Chickalito Cut Through

Eaten out at John Gordons in Cheltenham this pie alone cost £6, which for such a small non-pie was far beyond what I’d be willing to pay again (though that’s nothing against the lovely bar we ate in), and even at £3.50 on the Pieminister website I’m not convinced.


However, all in all while a novel idea – which certainly may appeal to those wanting a lighter, low calorie dinner option – unfortunately a novel idea is really where it stays for me. It was not really very filling (I could certainly have done with at least two), was not fully encased in pastry and the meat content was disappointingly low. All in all, this product seemed shackled by its attempt to remain low calorie (under 440 calories in total), which in turn diminished its rating. A reasonable dinner item – though not meaty enough for me to ever consider buying again – this is a novel idea but quite simply if I want a pie, I’ll stick to buying a nice, high calorie pie next time!

Pieminister Chickalito (Low Calorie) Pie
Score: 3.86/7
[Colour 5/7; Consistency 3/7; Cheapness 3/7; Chewiness 5/7; Condition 4/7; Content 4/7; Capacity 3/7; Total: 3.86/7]
RAS