GUEST POST : Meal Box Subscription Review
I’ve previously disclosed my love for Meal Box subscriptions. Between the ease of preparation, the elimination of grocery shopping, and the healthiness of options provided, they are amazing (especially for a first-time mom with a disability who is currently self-quarantining).
But my admiration entirely stems from my sister-in-law, whose Meal Box addiction inspired not only my weekly dinners, but also this Guest Post! Here are her detailed reviews of all of the subscriptions she has tried over the past five years…
Thanks, Megan!
I’d like to start by stating that I am not a writer, so I apologize for any grammatical errors and run-on sentences. I’d also like to preface this by stating that I am a food lover. I’m one of the least picky people you’ll ever meet when it comes to trying things – I like mostly everything. So any of the following negative comments I noted are not because I don’t like certain things, but because they really weren’t satisfying on a culinary level.
For the past 5 years now I’ve been trying out different meal subscription box plans.
Like most people, I did some research before getting each one. Of course, everyone states that “THIS ONE” is the best and goes on and on about how delicious and amazing it is. But I feel like they only say that because they only ever tried that particular company and not EVERY ONE OF THEM like I decided to do.
Really, it turned into quite the addiction.
Everyone has a vice. I’d compare mine to being a crazy coupon lady because mostly I just tried to go with the best deals at the time. My husband thought it was cool at first… and after a few months just accepted the fact that I wasn’t going to stop anytime soon and to just go with it.
It all started with a free coupon I got for HELLO FRESH in a package I ordered from Buy Buy Baby for my daughter for Christmas. They’re always throwing weird coupons in boxes when you order things, and usually, I just throw them away, but they got me this time. Free food for my family? Cancel anytime? Don’t have to go to the grocery store to pick it up? Sure I’ll try it!
And so it begins as follows, in no particular order…
Hello Fresh: would recommend
My first box was free (no shipping either). Every box after that they want you to pay $69, but I’ve never paid full price. I’ve done things like sign up with my husband’s email to get another free box or used my parents’ address for another one.
I’ve gotten around 15 boxes from them, probably the most I’ve ordered out of any of the following. If you refer any friends they give you $20 off and your friend $40 off, and eventually they give you free boxes to send out to people as well. The most I’ve paid for a box was $44 maybe twice. That’s for 3 meals – $14.60 for each meal for 2 people, which seems like a fair price to me still. Plus, I didn’t have to go grocery shopping.
I’ve also used a free Groupon for this box that states “first-time buyers only,” but I called after I purchased it and stated I didn’t see that part and they put it through for me anyways. Plus, when you cancel your subscription they’ll eventually send you coupons to PLEASE COME BACK that you can use, too. This worked out better in the long run than just skipping/pausing the weeks. My advice: Deactivate the account and rejoin when a new discount can be applied (the same goes for the rest of the boxes as well).
OPINION:
We loved it at first, and to this day think this was the best option out of all of them (keep reading though). We never had a problem with anything they sent us; everything was always fresh. One time they forgot to send one of the ingredients, but we simply called and they refunded us a credit for the entire meal.
The recipes are somewhat detailed, so if you don’t like actually having to do any work then I wouldn’t suggest this for you. They were easy to follow along, just more prep than some people like to do.
When I say “loved at first” it’s because I’ve canceled and re-subscribed on and off when they’ve offered me “come back for 50%.” And since we originally started, the meal plans have become fairly basic. At first, we were getting unique things like pork larb and stuff we wouldn’t normally make. They’ve gotten rid of a lot of those options and changed the choices to simpler meals like chicken tacos and meatloaf. I’m assuming because this box became trendy and most people’s palates aren’t as diverse as ours, ha! I have, however, saved a few of the original plan recipes that we’ve made ourselves again.
Blue Apron: would recommend
This one is hit or miss. The food was good and pretty easy to make, just nothing spectacular. I’ve gotten about 8 or so boxes through them, probably the second most ordered from. I’ve never spent more than $30 on a box ($10 a meal) and most were free because when you select the “cancel my subscription, too expensive” option they send you an email begging for you to come back with a free box or 50% off. They will also send you free boxes to give to your friends in which I used another email and/or address to do.
They actually started sending me coupons in the mail saying “first-time user discount” and I called and said, “Why would you send me these if you know I’ve already ordered from you and wouldn’t be able to use it again?” And then they put it through for me (their fault they’re dumb like that, not mine).
Home Chef: would recommend
I like the 30 for 30 referral program (give a friend $30 off, you get $30 off). The boxes are $60. The meals were just alright. A lot of the time it seemed like they were missing another side so we’d make a salad or rice or something to go with it. I’ve also gotten about 8 of these boxes but wouldn’t recommend it without a discount – definitely not worth the full price.
Terra’s Kitchen: would NOT recommend
With this one I’ll admit, I got sucked in by the cute little refrigerator they advertise sending you the food in. Found a 50% off coupon and used that to purchase. The meals for this plan are expensive and not worth it. If you’re lazy you’d probably like this though – everything comes already chopped up for you and all you have to do is throw everything in a crockpot. Stuff that wouldn’t even make sense being in a crockpot. My husband was not impressed. It was about a dollar’s worth of chicken thighs they sent for a $15 meal. We did this box one time for the 50% off then canceled.
*** Upon checking back today I came across this bit of information and stand by my shitty review!
“Meal-kit delivery startup Terra’s Kitchen has ceased operations and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection after the company struggled to raise additional capital from investors to cover its growing expenses.”
Green Chef: would recommend
I liked this box. Everything was very fresh and the meals were more unique/different. They also have Keto/Paleo/Vegan etc. options. We tried them a couple of times but that’s only because they don’t send discounts often and are kind of expensive, so paying full price wasn’t worth it to me. But definitely try for the $60 off at least once! Easy to cancel, also.
Sun Basket: would recommend
This one was pretty good. They have LOTS of options to pick from, unlike the other boxes that only give you about 6 choices per week. A lot of different/unique meals, too. Malaysian pork mee goreng with udon noodles and green beans, anyone? My husband says a lot of these boxes just put fancy names with foods to sucker you in – I still went with it though. We tried a couple of boxes and then I got pregnant and hated all things food so I canceled what I had going and haven’t gone back yet, but now that I’m re-reading this I will! Referred a few friends and got $40 off for each one so I’ve never paid more than $20 for a box. Worth it.
Plated: would recommend
The meals were really good, but the boxes were expensive. They have several options to choose from compared to some of the others as well. We tried the first box with the $40 off promo code, but there were no real other promotions so I never went back. I’d recommend trying though.
Purple Carrot: neutral
If you hate Tom Brady, don’t bother with this one. I failed to mention that detail to my husband when I signed up for this one, otherwise I would’ve never been able to try it! (He promotes their “High Performance” box options.)
Anyway, this box is very plant-based and “healthy,” but the options seemed interesting and I like to try new things. I wasn’t disappointed. I only canceled because I wasn’t going to keep paying full price. Good to try out once or twice with a discount though. Not that Tom needs any more of your money, but maybe he donates it to a good cause?
Gobble: would recommend
This one was VERY easy to make. Everything pretty much comes already made and in baggies that you just have to put together and reheat. And, as awful as that sounds, they didn’t end up tasting too horrible. Not anything as delicious as some of the other boxes, but simple stuff like chicken thighs that were easy to make.
I’ve actually gone back to this box a few times because they do send you coupons often to reactivate once you’ve begun. I think I started with a Groupon deal for this one. Make sure when looking for discounts you read the fine print: some will say $60 off, but really they mean $30 off your first 2 boxes… which still might be worth it. (In your first box they add 2 chocolate chip cookies free, too!)
Marley Spoon: would not recommend
This is Martha Stewart’s box, or the one with her face and name attached to it at least. My husband is convinced that there is no way Martha Stewart would approve of any of the meals they are offering in these boxes though because they were pretty awful. Or, if she was approving them, it was during her stint in jail when she didn’t have much to work with.
For example, we got a spinach and artichoke panini, which was about it, no flavor at all, literally just spinach and artichokes. Seared steak with Dijon butter, asparagus and potatoes, again no extra herbs or flavors. And potato gnocchi with ricotta kale and breadcrumbs which did not go together well at all. Needless to say, we were expecting much more and I canceled after just trying once. $30 off was the promo option at the time I believe.
Dinnerly: neutral
They advertise this box as the cheapest one around, which is almost true; it’s basically 50% off of what every other box is. And it’s also the simplest. It was fine to try once for the price. We had turkey lettuce cups, a burger with fried pickles and slaw, and some pork souvlaki meatballs. Just all around average.
EveryPlate: neutral
The price of this box is the cheapest – $30 and worth it. I even found a Groupon for half price, only $15 for 3 meals for 2. Nothing fancy but unlike the other boxes you get a basic meal, easy to prep, good quality.
Go Ready Made: definitely would not recommend
DON’T DO IT! JUST DON’T! Here is where I let my addictions get out of control and I just wanted to try more things and get good deals! I fell for the pictures on the site and, to my surprise, it was literally a bunch of Lean Cuisines in a box. Lean Cuisines are actually better when heated. Here is where I failed. And my husband didn’t let me live this one down!
In conclusion,
I highly suggest if you were going to go about this madness like I did that you print yourself a calendar so you can keep track of which boxes come when, how much you’re really paying for them, and when you need to cancel by.
It is also much easier to navigate all of these sites on a computer rather than their apps.
And ALWAYS make sure you pause/skip your upcoming weeks so you don’t accidentally get sent a box you don’t want and weren’t planning on paying full price for!
A lot of these boxes worked out for me because…
1) It was just my husband and myself at the time. However, there are family plan options with a lot of these boxes. And oftentimes with little kids you’re making them something you aren’t even eating anyway so it is still possible to have a good meal for yourself while they eat butter noodles and broccoli *insert eyeroll.*
And 2) I have a bunch of friends that were interested in a free box or discount that I could send to them to use so I would get perks for referring them, so a big thanks to all of you for the help!
Portion size was never really an issue; some even seemed like more than enough for 2 people. So, even if you’re single, a box of 3 meals could last you an entire week if you don’t mind eating the same meal twice or for lunch the next day.
*One last note:
We’ve recently moved and I’m starting this madness over with a new address! I had started writing all of this years ago and am just getting around to posting now, so some of the pricing information/incentives I can imagine have gone up, so don’t quote me on everything!