Between 3 July and 31 August I have been trialling 7 different recipe box services, i.e. I cooked 42 portions of meals (7 services × 3 meals × 2 portions = 42). I generally consider this experiment a full success.
I was super-excited every time a new box came, I learned something new with every single recipe, I ate healthier and tastier food than usual and I especially loved the experience of each first bite of a new meal.
Unless you already have the time, skill and motivation to cook yourself, any of these 7 services will be an enhancement in your life. Even the ones I don’t particularly recommend are still better than ready-made meals.
When I weigh all my criteria (choice, convenience, eco-friendliness, transparency and food) neutrally against each other, this is my personal order (from best to worst). (The recommendations don’t seem to fully match as food and eco-friendliness play a bigger role for me personally than convenience and choice.)
- Riverford (highly recommended)
- Gousto (recommended)
- HelloFresh (recommended with reservations)
- Marley Spoon (not recommended)
- Abel & Cole (recommended with reservations)
- Mindful Chef (not yet recommended)
- The Original Supper Box (not recommended)
Although I liked Riverford best, their inflexible delivery times meant that I opted for the second best in the end. I now regularly get Gousto boxes every Saturday. (I just had my 11th box.) I cook every Saturday and Sunday and microwave the second portions on Monday and Tuesday at work. And I still love it!
I plan to get Riverford boxes irregularly whenever I’d be home on a Thursday. And I’d like to try Abel & Cole and HelloFresh at least one more time to prove or disprove my reservations.
I started a comparison of recipe boxes on SocialCompare.com to provide a quick overview of all the recipe boxes I tried:
Now I would love to have recipe boxes for cakes and deserts as well! 🙂
Articles in this series
- Trialling recipe boxes: Introduction
- Trialling recipe boxes: The Original Supper Box
- Trialling recipe boxes: Riverford
- Trialling recipe boxes: Marley Spoon
- Trialling recipe boxes: Gousto
- Trialling recipe boxes: HelloFresh
- Trialling recipe boxes: Abel & Cole
- Trialling recipe boxes: Mindful Chef
- Trialling recipe boxes: Conclusion (this article)