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Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon – April 14, 2015

Lindsey Morse
ByLindsey MorseJul 25, 2016 | 7 comments

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Box

Plated delivers a weekly box of pre-portioned fresh and seasonal ingredients, everything you need to cook their chef-designed recipes at home in your own kitchen. Each week, they offer a different menu, and you can select which dishes you’d like to receive, how many plates of each dish you’d like to make, and when you’d like to receive your delivery.

Three of the dishes offered on every menu are vegetarian. Plated also regularly rotates in vegan and dairy-free options. They’re committed to using sustainably sourced seafood, seasonally fresh produce, and meat raised without antibiotics or added hormones.

Plated also makes it easy to pick recipes that best suit your culinary skill level and lifestyle. Each recipe is tagged with a difficulty level and clearly lists calorie content and prep time.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Inside

Check out all of our reviews of Meal Delivery Services to see every meal kit subscription box option!

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Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Contents

The Subscription Box: Plated

The Cost: Recipes begin at $12 per plate. 2 recipes (4 plates)= $48 per week (+ $6 shipping). 3 recipes (6 plates)= $72 per week (with free shipping). 4 recipes (8 total plates)= $96 per week (with free shipping).

The Products: All of the pre-portioned fresh and seasonal ingredients you need to make chef-designed recipes at home in your own kitchen.

Ships to: 95% of the US. (Currently, Plated does not ship to Hawaii and Alaska, and there are also a few cities in Texas, including San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Laredo, and Midland, where they don’t yet ship.)

Check out all of our Plated Reviews!

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Menu

Each week, Plated offers a different menu with 7 dishes to choose from. I opted for a Tuesday delivery (04/14) and selected Green Spring Minestrone Soup, Mustard-Roasted Pork, and Crispy Tilapia Udon Bowls. When my box shipped, I received an email letting me know that I would need to have the following “pantry items” on hand: black pepper, canola oil, kosher salt, and water. The email also clearly listed the difficulty level, cooking time, and calorie information of my selected dishes.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Packed 1

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Packed 2

When I unpacked the box, I was immediately impressed by the care with which my items had been separated, wrapped, and packaged. Ingredients were bundled by recipe, and each individual item was in its own container.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Sealed Meat 1

The meats were all vacuum-sealed and packed at the bottom of the box, safely away from the produce and surrounded by cool packs.

Meal #1- Green Spring Minestrone Soup with Parmesan Crisps

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Soup Card 1

Each meal comes with a card that provides information about the dish.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Soup Card 2

On the reverse, Plated provides detailed cooking instructions, recipe tips, and a list of what you’ll need to make the dish.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Prepped Soup Ingredients

As per Plated’s recommendation, I prepped my ingredients before I started cooking. I was really impressed by how many vegetables were included for this dish!

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Veggie Sutee

I began by sautéing my vegetables. First, I cooked the garlic in oil until it turned golden and then removed it from the pan. I then added pearl onions and leeks, cooked them until they were soft, and then added the broccolini.

When the vegetables had softened slightly, I added the vegetable base, water, and white beans and brought the soup to a boil. I let everything simmer for 10 minutes, then added peas and mustard greens.

While the soup cooked, I prepared the Parmesan crisps by arranging small mounds of Parmesan cheese on a baking tray.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Parmesan

Unfortunately, the Parmesan crisps weren’t as successful as I’d hoped. Instead of melting and crisping, the cheese stayed crumbly and just toasted a little.

When the soup was ready, I finished it with pesto and chopped parsley and chives.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Plated Soup

I loved how fresh this soup was. It was packed full of vegetables, and I liked the flavor a lot. Sadly, the crisps didn’t turn out as expected. (I tried to eat them anyway, but I wasn’t really a fan.) This recipe also yielded a ton of soup- we had enough for dinner and for lunch the following day!

Meal #2- Sesame-Soy Udon Bowls with Crispy Tilapia

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Udon Card

The following day, I made the Udon Bowls.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Udon Ingredients

After everything was cleaned and chopped, I dredged the fish in seasoned tapioca flour. (There was a TON of fish included for this recipe- a total of 6 small filets.)

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Dredged Tilapia

I pan fried the fish in sesame oil until it started to brown, cut it into 1” pieces, and continued to fry it until it was crispy and cooked through.

In a separate pan, I cooked the udon and garlic. When the udon was warmed through, I added soy sauce, sriracha, and scallions and cooked for 2 minutes.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Cooked Noodles

I decided to serve this dish family style. I placed the noodles in a serving bowl and then topped them with crispy fish and chopped dark green scallions.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Plated Udon

This dish was my favorite of the week. I only wish that Plated had incorporated more vegetables in some way. I think onions and carrots would have been great in this dish! Another minor gripe is that the balance of ingredients felt a little off. The recipe yielded a regular portion of noodles for each person, but there was a ton of fish to eat! I really liked the flavor, though. The soy sriracha sauce was delicious.

Meal #3- Mustard-Roasted Pork with Spring Pea Salad and Crispy Shallots

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Pork Card

The last dish for the week was pork with potatoes and pea salad.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Pork Ingredients

For this recipe, I started by preparing the pork and potatoes for roasting on a baking sheet. I topped them with a mixture of olive oil, mustard, and herbes de Provence.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Prepped Pork

They roasted together in the oven at 425. Plated recommended removing everything after 15 minutes, but I left the potatoes in the oven to roast for an additional 10 minutes.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Roasted Pork

To make the pea salad, I began by blanching the snap peas in salted water. When they turned bright green, I added the fava beans and peas and allowed them to warm through. I then strained them and set them aside while I sautéed the shallot.

When the shallot was crispy, I mixed it into the pea salad (along with some of the cooking oil).

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Pea Salad

When everything was ready, I sliced the pork and plated it alongside the roasted potatoes and pea salad.

Plated Subscription Review + Free Box Coupon - April 14, 2015 - Plated Pork

I thought this dish was good; however, the pea salad was excellent. It was full of flavor and perfect for spring. I’ll definitely be making it again soon!

Verdict: I really enjoy Plated, and I’ve been impressed with my boxes so far. I thought this week’s meals were good, but none of the dishes were outstanding. (A couple of meals I received in previous weeks were restaurant quality.) Still, the meat and produce they send is high quality and fresh, and I love the ease of cooking with pre-portioned ingredients and the Plated recipes. As someone who cooks regularly (and enjoys coming up with new recipes), I wasn’t sure if Plated would be for me. Initially, I was a little worried that it would feel like cooking with training wheels, but I don’t find that to be the case at all. I think the portion sizes are generous, and I think the value is fair. I would compare the quality of the meat and produce to what you can buy at Whole Foods, and I think I would probably spend about as much there for the same number of meals. If you haven’t tried Plated before, I would definitely recommend it!

What do you think of Plated?

Lindsey Morse
Lindsey Morse

Lindsey is a professional baker, cold brew coffee addict, and rosé aficionado who loves writing about food and wine. When she’s not sharing her love of subscription boxes with the world, you’ll find her in the podcasting studio, perfecting her cake decorating techniques, or cursing her way through the New York Times daily crossword puzzle. 


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7 comments

Cynthia

One day I’m gonna join looks like a fun way to cook. Love your photo’s.

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Gwen

Will you guys be doing/adding HelloFresh? I’ve been wanting to buy one of these subscriptions but there is so many!

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Cindy

Do they provide you with nutrition information? Also, how many calories were in these dishes (and in general if you have more experience)? I tried one of the meal plans (can’t recall which company) and the calorie count was astronomical.

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Lindsey

Hi, Cindy! Each recipe card lists the calorie content for the dish but not the detailed nutritional info. For the dishes featured in this review, the calorie counts were: 720 for the pork, 640 for the udon bowl, and 630 for the minestrone. In my experience, the dishes are usually between 500-800 calories each.

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Elle

My brain isn’t working probably but I can’t seem to find the coupon details lol

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Lindsey

Hi, Shannon. Apologies for the inconvenience- I forgot to list the details in the review! The coupon is for 4 free plates with the purchase of your first 2 plates. If you click on any of the “Plated” hyperlinks, it should take you directly to the deal page. Hope that helps!

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Shannon

That is what I was going to comment and say!

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