Meal subscription services

[citoyen]

We've been trialling the Gousto meal subscription service this week, taking advantage of an introductory offer to get it for less than half the normal price. Have to admit I've been surprisingly impressed by it. The ingredients are clearly of excellent quality (notably the meat) which goes some way to justifying the cost, and the meals have all been very tasty - the silky cashew noodles we had last night were my favourite so far. Portion sizes are also spot on - I was worried they would leave me feeling hungry but they're just right (and I have something of a trencherman's appetite).

Complexity of recipes seems to vary hugely - we had a 'quick and easy lamb biryani' that involved nothing more challenging than chopping an onion and was cooked in one pot inside 20 minutes; on the other hand, we had an aubergine parmigiano that required a lot more ingredient prep and involved several stages in cooking (both on the hob and in the oven). It is really handy having all the ingredients ready measured out for you though, and the recipes are easy to follow (though do assume some basic culinary skills).

We've got another week of cheap meals before it goes up to full price so we'll have to make a decision whether to continue with it. I have my reservations about these services - mainly relating to excessive food miles and packaging - but on the other hand, there is absolutely no food waste beyond a few trimmings and peelings, which is great.

I note that Hello Fresh doesn't offer you the choice of meals, so you don't know what you're getting until it turns up on your doorstep. This would suit me fine - not least because I hate having to choose - but it wouldn't suit my wife who has various dietary requirements so wants some control. Gousto offers you a choice of 20 recipes to select from and apparently they vary from week to week, so that should help prevent boredom setting in.

Anyone else use Gousto or Hello Fresh or any of the other meal subscription services?

[jiberjaber]

I used to use the Able & Cole veg & fruit boxes, but found we were often struggling to use up the stuff plus had to build recipes around what we got in the box... this sounds like an interesting one to try, though I expect the local kebab shop will be disappointed about a downturn in trade. 

[citoyen]

I've used veg box services before and had the same problem.

Abel & Cole also do a recipe box service but it seems to be one of the pricier ones. Whether or not it's worth the money is for the buyer to decide. Clearly these services are all expensive compared to doing a weekly groceries shop at the supermarket.

I like Gousto so far but I'd be interested to know if others still feel the same enthusiasm after they've been using the service for several months.

[Ben T]

We had Hello fresh for a bit, it is reasonable, but generally not enough meat or vegetables and too much starch. Good for a while though to get some ideas. You can choose if you only have 3, i.e. There's 5 for the week and you choose which two of the five to omit.

[citoyen]

I like Gousto so far but I'd be interested to know if others still feel the same enthusiasm after they've been using the service for several months.

Well, if anyone's interested in an update, I'm still enjoying the Gousto meals, although we're only getting them fortnightly because the price makes them a bit of an extravagance.

What I like is that the recipes are geared towards being quick and easy to cook, and they use various clever tricks and shortcuts to achieve things that would normally take a lot more prep and/or cooking. And generally they do so successfully. Although some of the quoted cooking times are a little optimistic - it does depend to some extent on your knife skills, as they seem to allow around 20 seconds for chopping an onion (I tend to read through the recipe first and do all the prep before I start cooking to make it less stressful).

If you're a well organised kind of person, you could probably achieve the same with a cookbook such as Jamie's Meals in 15 Minutes (which always take at least half an hour, in my experience) but that takes a fair bit more planning. You do get a choice of recipes with Gousto but it's more limited than with a cookbook, so you don't spend so long deciding what you fancy. That aside, what you're really paying for with Gousto is the convenience of having all the ingredients delivered to your door and not having to scour the shelves of Waitrose for obscure spices etc. Also because the quantities are measured out, you don't end up with a load of jars of stuff stuck in the cupboard for years until you eventually throw them out.

On the down side, small quantities of ingredients in lots of packaging. And it is expensive.

We've kept all the recipe cards in the supplied folder and we've even repeated several of them on the 'in between' days. Which is funny, because I've got loads of cookbooks full of recipes I've never tried.

[Ben T]

Well, if anyone's interested in an update, I'm still enjoying the Gousto meals, although we're only getting them fortnightly because the price makes them a bit of an extravagance.

What I like is that the recipes are geared towards being quick and easy to cook, and they use various clever tricks and shortcuts to achieve things that would normally take a lot more prep and/or cooking.

Really, that's interesting to know, in our experience Hello Fresh seems to do the exact opposite.
Cook this in one pan, cook that in the other, cook something else in a third pan. Sizzle for a bit. Now combine them. Really, ok well I could have just cooked em all in one pan to start with.

[citoyen]

Well, to be honest, the complexity level varies quite a lot between recipes.

At the extremely easy end of the scale, there's a lamb biryani - the only prep needed for that is chopping an onion, it's all cooked in one pan and it's on the table in 15 minutes (quick-cook rice is one of the shortcuts they use regularly). On the other hand, I did a curried mince and crispy potato 'pie' recipe the other night that involved cooking some mince in one pan with various spices etc, parboiling some potatoes in another pan, then transferring them both to another dish to finish in the oven. And another recipe involved finely slicing some carrots and radishes to make a pickled vegetable salad, which was a lot more time consuming than the recipe card suggested.

Tonight's dinner was a Thai green vegetable curry. Prep was chopping some veg (aubergine, broccoli, sugar snaps), chopping some ginger and chilli, and making a stock with coconut, lime juice and a stock cube - I suppose I could have just chucked the ingredients for the stock straight into the pan rather than mixing it up separately. The green curry paste was prepared for you. It took almost exactly half an hour from getting out the ingredients to serving it up.

Personally, I don't mind spending half an hour or so in the kitchen, but that's because I enjoy cooking. I also think it's worth a bit of effort because the results are generally better than microwave ready meals. YMMV.

[dim]

Not sure if it's done in the UK, but in South Africa (a long time ago before microwave meals were popular), you could go to a local restaurant and negotiate a monthly 'deal' ....

You could have a 3 course meal (plus a drink) every night every night of the week, or you could choose which days of the week you would eat there. Worked out much cheaper (half price) and less hassle than cooking for yourself

I had this arrangement with 3 restaurants and one pub as I liked a bit of variety. I used to get paid monthly, and you had to pay in advance for the month

downside was that if you skipped a night, there was no refund. Many of my mates done the same thing

Living the the UK now, if I were in a similar situation and single, I'd rather get microwave meals from Waitrose or Tesco if I worked long hrs and could not be bothered with cooking

[ElyDave]

I've looked at both these kind of options and the veg boxes, but have questioned value for money.  I'm lucky in that we have a very good farmers market in Ely and I tend to use that and buy what is seasonal and work from there. 

The downside of that can be lots of sprouts, sprout tops and roots this time of year, but I like those veggies.   I'm not a big fan of Peruvian asparagus in December.