So I'm considering these meal kit dinner deliveries to make dinner a bit more different. I haven't tried any of them yet ( I intend to) and would like to know from ozb which ones you guys prefer and why one over another if anyone has experiences with a few of them.
Dinnerly is cheaper than Hello Fresh and has simpler meals. Hello Fresh often had rotten or soon to be rotten vegetables but Dinnerly never did. Those are the only two I tried.
Hello Fresh often had rotten or soon to be rotten vegetables
Really? Never had rotten or off fruit and vege with HF, they were just a bit on the small side and sometimes a bit bruised, but nothing too bad.
It happened to me like 2 out of 3 boxes I got. If I complained I would get a refund for the rotten veggies only not for the meal, even though I couldn't cook it and would have to use the remaining unspoilt ingredients for something else
Had similar issues with everyplate, which is owned by hellofresh as far as I know. Going to try dinnerly next, hopefully the meals are a bit "lighter", with more salad.
@brendanm: Yeah I was happy with Dinnerly, would have continued if I didn't get sick of cooking each night. They had a macaroni and cheese one time that I loved so now I make it myself every once in a while
personal experience I guess
I've had 4 boxes and the veggies have been very fresh and lasted longer than woolies ones
The poster above pointed me to an old similar thread, where you said the same thing about a year ago. I’m just wondering if these comments today reflect only your 2020 experience or current? In other words, have you been getting them this year?
Interested to know if your thoughts are current.
They're not current. They may have improved since then.
I've tried HF and Dinnerly a few times and Marley Spoon once.
Hello Fresh is definitely better than Dinnerly (other than on cost!). You get recipe cards (Dinnerly uses an app), and the meals are just nicer and more impressive. I have had Dinnerly meals that were very basic.
Thanks and do you have any comments, thoughts on Marley spoon? I guess since you only had it once says it all?
Got some free Hello Fresh boxes a while ago through OzB, and it was actually pretty good. Nice recipe cards, 'fresh' ingredients such as fruit or vege were a bit on the small side but the meals definitely tasted quite good. The amount of food for a meal was surprising; my family eats a lot of food, and I thought a meal would only sustain one or two people at most, but it definitely was able to feed 4 people comfortably (not super filling, but definitely enough for lunch or a medium-heavy dinner).
You know, most of these are owned by like two main companies…
I live on my own and find it hard to motivate myself to cook. Usually I scrape around food that needs eating and combine it into an edible meal. Now that I've got Dinnerly coming each week with 3 meals for two I cook proper meals 3x week and have left over dinners each following night. Wonderful.
Sure the recipes aren't all gourmet and the ingredients always first class, but heck they are delivered each week and no food goes to waste. I learn to cook better, meals only take 30 minutes to prepare. Don't look in the weekly box and think how much that would cost at woollies though because the contents look really skimpy, despite usually being ample. And in the end my grocery bill is still less each week!!
I do supplement some meals with a salad occasionally, and because they aren't always massive meals I sometimes have dessert now which is great!!
My recommendations!
Walter—-
We have tried most of them, generally on a first box free offer so try to find a friend who uses them as they will get codes often. We tend to cancel then rejoin when they send a 40% off code. At those prices they are on par with buying the ingredients yourself.
Hellofresh and everyplate are the same company with everyplate being cheaper. There are less recipes to choose from with everyplate and the recipes are a bit more basic or require more pantry ingredients. It is cheaper though and often a faster cook so depends what you are after. The hellofresh recipes are all online for anyone to view so you could look at them there.
We only tried Marley spoon once and didn’t really like the recipes.
We find it a nice way to add some variety to our meals
But of course you could visit your local grocer and buy the exact ingredients yourself. That way your husband would see you as a creative, self reliant, caring individual. Caring enough to stop wasting money on needless expenditures that otherwise could go toward a good holiday, or whatever.
Try it.
The meal kit services are good for trying out new recipes but once you've found recipes you like, you're better off buying the ingredients from a supermarket (just keep the recipe cards).
HelloFresh is the premium option as meal kits are in individual bags. EveryPlate is the cheaper alternative (owned by HelloFresh) as meals are more simple and all the ingredients are thrown in the one box. Marley Spoon own Dinnerly (haven't tried them) but I'm assuming it would be similar to HelloFresh & EveryPlate.
We have had HF, Marley Spoon and Every Plate.
Never had any issues. Love them all with great fresh ingredients.
We now prefer Every Plate, which is related to HF.
I feel it is a simpler version, less complicated steps than HF and cheaper.
My family likes Hellofresh most out of the others. We find the recipes are tasty and they have good portion sizes. I like the fact they provide recipe cards and pack each meal in individual bags which makes it convenient when you're short on time. Marley Spoon does as well, but we didn't like their recipes as much.
Dinnerly and Everyplate are quite budget. All ingredients just thrown into the box for you to sort out yourself. Recipes are very basic, but still tasty. I found portion sizes were smaller than HF and MS though, and and you'll get cheaper protein options, like mince and hardly any seafood. I prefer Dinnerly over Everyplate because you have more recipes to choose from. Everyplate had very limited choices and kept repeating their meals, so it was easy to get tired of them. But we've had some delivery issues with Dinnerly, as the drivers didn't always follow the delivery instructions…
So overall, I'd rate them in order of preference HF, MS, Dinnerly, Everyplate
Don't waste your money. There are literally 1000s of YouTube videos that will teach you how to cook a very large variety of dishes. YouTube has basically taught me to how cook beyond jarred sauces and heating up.
any specific recommendations for beginners?
These should get you started:
Chicken curry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wsa7XsaHQo&list=WL&index=33
Stir-fry chicken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwTBNoepS7Q&list=WL&index=16…
American diner style hashbrowns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xDmCLP5mhY&list=WL&index=56
Chilli Con Carne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCiwnRTdrRk&list=WL&index=55
I tend to use hello fresh when I get the 40% off offers. The meals are nice, but due to COVID they haven't been separating the ingredients like they used to (they all just come in a bag together) which makes it a little more cumbersome to find what is needed for each meal.
We have tried a few different providers; not impressed with any of them to be honest.
Coupled with that is the nagging thought that the veggies and meat have traversed hundreds of kms to get to your kitchen, all at a cost that you end up contributing to.
We just buy local wherever possible, eat food that it is in season, and find interesting recipes online. Can't go wrong.
If you're looking to lose weight or for healthier options, I found Hello Fresh very calorific. Many of their recipes are 900+ calories per portion.
There's a "calorie smart" option, but their version of low-cal is anything less than 650 kcals, which for many people is still half a day's worth.
Hello Fresh owns Everyplate. HF is the upmarket choice, EP is the more simplier cheaper version.
Same with Marley Spoon and Dinnerly. MS is the upmarket choice, D is the cheaper version.
When we've received HF, the ingredients weren't packed together into recipes, like they usually did. No idea why.
I prefer EP, cheaper and quicker meals.
I regularly switch between EP and Dinnerly, which ever one is giving me the best discount.
Do they give regular discounts? Or is there 1st time discounts? I see a lot of HF 1st user discounts but don’t see much else with others.
Both give discounts when you cancel your subscription, usually $15-$30 per order for a few order if you resubscribe. Last everyplate discount was 30%-20%-20% off the next three orders, last dinnerly was $20 off the next two orders. By yoyoing between the two I get discounts most fortnights (I only buy fortnightly,3 × 4 people for a single person household).
Had about 10 HelloFresh meals, all have been delicious, however ranged in time and effort to set up from quick and easy to a chore.
Worst one took me about 1.5 hours to prep and cook, however none of them have been "bad" as an end result.
Cant comment on cost as the wife looks after that, she just made me prep and cook it.
Does anyone have a spare free Marley spoon box code?
We are currently doing hello fresh every 2nd week which is working for us,my wife's a great cook but with only 2 of us now at home she lost a lot of the drive to cook,plus we get a good choice of meals that we probably wouldn't of thought to try
HelloFresh does 40% off codes regularly. Personally I’d try them all on introductory offers and keep switching.