Comfort Food, Elevated: Chef George Kelley Creates New Dishes for Waitrose No.1
16th October 2025
This autumn, the Waitrose No.1 ready-meal range is welcoming three new additions, crafted by Oscar Mayer Development Chef George Kelley and the team. Each dish takes a much-loved classic and gives it a restaurant-quality twist, with the kind of care and attention you’d expect in a professional kitchen.
George recently appeared in Waitrose Weekend magazine, where he shared his passion for creating meals that feel indulgent yet comforting.
“The No.1 range is always an exciting one to work on. It’s restaurant-quality food made for you to eat at home, so we get to push the boat out with both ideas and ingredients. The new additions this autumn are all comforting, quite classic dishes, but we’ve made them extra indulgent.”
– Chef George Kelley
The Dishes
🍴 Wagyu Beef Cottage Pie
This isn’t just any cottage pie. Wagyu beef, known for its exceptional flavour, is slow-cooked with onions, beef stock, Worcester sauce and red wine to create a rich, hearty ragú. Topped with mash made from butter and double cream, then finished with extra mature cheddar, it’s a classic comfort dish taken to new heights.
🍴 Beef Cheek Hotpot
Inspired by restaurant techniques, this dish begins with frying onions and carrots in bone marrow for maximum flavour. The beef cheeks are slow-cooked in ale and stock for four hours until they’re melt-in-the-mouth tender. A topping of sliced potatoes, cooked in beef dripping and stock, gives a savoury, golden finish.
🍴 Spinach & Ricotta Lasagne
For something lighter but equally comforting, this lasagne layers a vibrant tomato sauce (made with red peppers, sundried tomato purée and roasted garlic) with creamy ricotta and fresh spinach. It’s a timeless pairing, elevated through careful preparation and high-quality ingredients.
A Restaurant Approach
George and the team design these meals to mirror the way food is prepared in a restaurant kitchen. That means slow-cooking, layering flavours, and using ingredients you’d find in your own kitchen, not artificial flavourings, colours, or preservatives. The result is indulgent comfort food you can enjoy at home, knowing it’s been made with the same attention to detail as if you ordered it in your favourite restaurant.
Behind the Scenes
During the photoshoot for the Waitrose Weekend feature, we captured some behind-the-scenes moments with George.