Has anyone else found Gousto a bit disappointing lately?

[Nangula]

When we first started using Gousto, about 2 years ago, it was an absolute revelation. We tried loads of different recipes and flavours and it made my kids more confident with cooking. However, over the last two or three months I have found the boxes quite disappointing. There seems to be a lot of repetition in the recipes and flavours, the quality of the produce has sometimes been disappointing and we have had some quite odd smelling chicken. I don’t mind the additional cost because it took out the brain work, but that was negated by having to go to the supermarket to buy fresher products because the ones we were sent were not great. Not the company’s fault, but I also got fed up with meals going to waste when people’s plans changed at the last minute (or even not at the last minute as recipes need to be ordered at least a week advance). I guess that is just the reality of working and having three busy teenagers!

We are giving it a break and maybe resuming in September to see if we had just got bored or whether we can eat better without it.
Has anyone else found it a bit disappointing lately? It may be that we were just unlucky for a few weeks. Any recommendations for alternatives?

Recipe choices have seemed a bit poor lately I agree.
my biggest bugbear with them has always been their use of DPD though who seem to work on abandonment rather than delivery.

I agree about DPD!

I only get a box a few times a year, otherwise I find the menu so repetitive. I pay the extra ££ because I want some variety and it doesn't deliver.

I just ordered a Hello Fresh for the first time in years as it was 50% off. But no way am I going to continue at over £40 a box, even if everything is great.

We used gousto for years but stopped for good about a year ago. Choice and produce quality just went down and down and the chicken portions were so small.

I must be lucky as my DPD driver is great! He makes me laugh every week with his “how do? Alright today cocker?” and singing away

We found we were often ordering ‘double protein’ chicken portions- with three sporty teens in the house a few cubes of chicken really didn’t cut it. Doing that a couple of times a week, plus ordering salmon made our box really expensive for what felt like quite mediocre meals meals.

I have still kept all of my recipes in folders though, so I will definitely refer back when doing my own meal planning. Gousto has got my kids hooked on Shakshuka and paneer!

I only use it when there is a promo. I’ve found now they will give you three potatoes for a portion of two people.
If anyone wants to try I have a code that will give you 70% off your first box then you can cancel if you don’t like it.

www.gousto.co.uk/raf/?promo_code=ANOUA43129362

Good to know as I am bored stiff of Hello Fresh and was thinking of trying Gousto. There's only 2 of us now so we have 3 meals a week from them. Maybe try The Mindful Chef who seem to have good reviews?

We cancelled ours before the promotion ended as the recipes seemed to be all flavoured with chicken stock intense and not much else. The first couple of boxes were great and then we had some slimy funky chicken. I found I was freezing the meats when it arrived to make sure it was fresh.

My friend still orders theirs and at full price! I've been using the Slimming Eats website for some healthy meals. I was going to try Hello Fresh but there was a thread complaining about the quality a few weeks ago.

I’ve recently taken a break. I was also getting fed up of wasting the meals when plans changed. They used to do Bluey’s kitchen which helped my kids eat the meals but they seemed to have stopped that.

It’s always the same stuff….boil a kettle and dump a load of vegetable stock in. Vegetarian options are heavily cheese based. I was getting bored.

@BotterMon I would love to try Mindful Chef but with our teens appetite, we would need a second mortgage! While I will obviously be sad when they all head off to university, let’s just say I have plans 😉

Probably doesn’t work when you have kids, but we use Grubby, there is just the two of us. Honestly swear by it. Around £60 for five meals, but so incredibly worth it. You don’t even realise you’re eating fully vegan! The recipes are really imaginative as well. It’s been a bit of a revelation for us!

When we used Gousto a few years ago there were loads of fresh herbs, unusual spices (like sumac) and lemon/limes. We reordered for a few months recently and they no longer seem to add this to most meals… it was less tasty for sure

We still use Gousto as I’m too lazy too stop!

May main bug bear is the extra per portion costs now on a lot of the meals, which I refuse to pay so our choice is a bit more limited!

Gosh I wish mine was. I'm in a flat, wouldn't mind if he left it in the communal entrance but half the time he just drops it in the car park. Got to the point where I changed my name on the delivery to 'do not leave in car park ring bell', but he still did it. One Saturday he left it at the front of the flats on the main road... well you can guess what happened next.
Gousto were so sick of my complaints they switched to Yodel, who are fabulous here, but the last two deliveries have been back with DPD and a game of 'hunt the box'.

As a two person household it works for me, and tbh I'm currently purchasing a house so it shouldn't be an issue when I move, but it is frustrating.

Meanwhile, the beef shin ragu last night was bloody lovely!