Full disclosure: I’ve been an EveryPlate meal kit home chef for over three years now—and I have every intention of extending that as long as possible. The food is delicious, you learn a lot about cooking and how certain ingredients mix together, and it’s wildly affordable. That last point is probably more salient than ever today, with inflation and food waste two huge issues that most of us face when it comes to groceries and cooking.
Why I’m Team EveryPlate
With EveryPlate, the variety and options are fantastic, the price point just cannot be beat and most recipes take just 20-40 minutes. The boxes come with almost all the ingredients you’d need and each box has freezer packs that can last up to 24 hours upon delivery, so no need to race home when you get the notification your tasty food has been delivered—you got time!
Like most meal kits, you are required to have a few staples on hand: fats (such as butter and olive or whichever favorite cooking oil you like), salt, pepper, sugars, and eggs (not as common as the others, but there are a few recipes that require them). Also, if you don’t have one, get a microplane. You’ll be zesting your little heart out more than you ever think you would.
They have a user-friendly app that provides numerous options that you can swap out a week ahead of your next box from the pre-selected meals they have ready. You can set parameters (like no shellfish). Plus their customer service is excellent and easy to reach.
It’s All About the Food
Ok look, they’re just freakin’ delicious! The variety of regional flavors is great—there’s Vietnamese, American homestyle, Chinese, Mediterranean, Italian, Indian, I could go on and on…and the spices are always great. You’ll learn to make rice—a lot of rice!—couscous, and lots of veggie dishes. The box we got this week brought us three meals: Sweet Chili Chicken with Scallion Rice & Zesty Carrots, Smothered & Stuffed Meatloaves with potato wedges, and Roasted Bell Pepper Flatbreads with Creamy Tomato Sauce & Mozzarella.
EveryPlate has begun offering add-ons to meals for a small additional charge. For instance, with the flatbreads, I had the option to add chicken sausage or bacon (or both!). There are instruction cards with pictures that walk you through how to make the meals so anyone can be a great chef.
Reduce Costs and Waste
We chose EveryPlate among the huge meal box world for two major reasons: 1) no more issues trying to figure out what’s for dinner! And 2) Cost. Cost. COST! Inflation has impacted food costs by almost 10% from last year, and food waste is a very serious issue--buying vegetables, meats, and grains and trying to cook them all in a timely fashion before they go bad is almost a hopeless endeavor.
EveryPlate, though, gives you exactly what you need and no more! They have several options—three, four, or five meals for families of two or four—and there's a way to adapt them to fit larger families. No extra spending on groceries, no price fluctuations weekly…fresh fruits and vegetables, spices, and grains all for a great low cost. How low? How about under $6 per person per meal? You’d be hard pressed to make a meal for that low going to the supermarket and buying the needed ingredients and not having waste or excess.
Final Thoughts
More importantly, though…you get to look like a real chef to your loved ones! You will absolutely hone great knife skills (watch YouTube videos to chop like a Michelin-star chef), and after a few boxes, you’ll get the hang of how to prep and how certain spices and techniques enhance your meals. You’re making real meals with real food! You’ll chop more garlic than you imagine, but when that hits a hot pan…well, on the flap of every box you open it says “It’s about to smell great in here” and they ain’t lying.
