About Cook, Gousto, Hello Fresh, et al?

[Famalamaringwrong]

Hit me. Which is the best of this kind of box? I want to start using one for my family not sure what to try and how the delivery works if you're not in etc? Thank you!!

YABU.

I prefer Gousto, though they all have their pros and cons.

Gousto

• It's easier to recreate the recipe again as the cards have quantities on.
• I'm happier with the quality of the ingredients.

• I find it time-consuming sorting through everything looking for my ingredients. In the olden days they used to be labelled so you knew what recipe each ingredient was for.

Hello Fresh

• I like the ingredients being sorted into bags.

• I'm dubious about the quality of the ingredients as they're repackaged into Hello Fresh packaging.
• If you want to make it again, you have to guess at the quantities or have written them down before you made it originally.

Simply Cook

• Too spicy, curry-orientated for me.
• You can't make it again without the pots
• I found it difficult to remember to cancel so ended up with unwanted boxes

Been using Gousto for a while. I like it because it’s coeliac friendly if you choose the gluten free options. I find it cheaper than buying for DH and I but I shop at Waitrose so that’s probably why I think it’s good value. Not tired the others.

Tried (am tired)

We’ve tried lots.
Hello fresh - fine but limited choice, bit meat/cheese heavy, and we sometimes found random missong or duplicate ingredients in our box.
Gousto - current fave because lots of quick and/or veggie recipes. Usually add an extra portion or two of veg, eg doubling the tomatoes / adding an onion. Lots of dishes we’ve added to our own repertoire.
Simply Cook - doesn’t work for us because it doesn’t save us a supermarket trip. Also, because they have to shoehorn three sauces/spices into each meal it gets a bit salty.
Mindful chef - good but expensive.

I agree with BonnesVacances. Currently got Simply Cook x3 in the cupboard. Enjoyed what I’ve made so far.

I liked Hello Fresh and didn’t find it overly expensive as I wasn’t doing the extra supermarket top up shops. Portions are really generous and I’ll feed 5 of us (4 adults one child) with a family box. I think I spent less weekly - 4 HF meals, a roast, a takeaway and something from the cupboard/freezer.

Not tried Gusto but I think I will after reading this thread.

I don’t get the point of these at all.

Why not just read a recipe and buy?! Are we really that lazy and unwilling now to plan that we need things specially delivered in individual packaging that presumably ends up in landfill?

I despair

Hello fresh was ok, gousto was very disappointing and simply cook has the odd one that isn’t great but overall is SO TASTY. I’m veggie and my husband is not but we can do half and half easily (although some have animal stock). The Indian salmon is my favourite and am not ashamed to say I lick the plate. They’re also big portions so if my kids were less fussy, could expand to feed them too.

We use the Riverford recipe boxes. They are fab, and have had us try things we would not have cooked otherwise. As pp have said too, it is the just not having to think about planning for a night or two that makes it worthwhile.

I vary between Hello Fresh and Gousto. I don’t do them every week - often just twice a month, particularly if we’ve been away as it’s lovely to have the food delivered on the Tuesday knowing that’s my shopping done for the week.

Gousto offers a better selection of meals. HF tend to repeat the same so I skip weeks if I don’t fancy the menu. HF quantities and quality is better imho - for example they’ll include a whole regular pack of a branded pasta, so enough for another meal, whereas Gousto weigh out exact quantity and I can’t see who produced it.

Just remember to cancel or skip when you don’t need it. Often if you cancel the sub, within a month or two they’ll send you a code giving you 30% off next box for re subscription so I often do that.

I’m a big fan and I’ve got a stack of lovely recipe cards so on weeks that I’m not doing it, I choose 3 recipes and recreate them.

I like gousto. The recipe choices aren't as good as they were but generally I really like the ones I have tried and can recreate them at home. Their lasagne is better than any I've tried before (from recipes I've found in books etc).

We tried simply cook. Nice idea but too skewed to spicy and fish dishes for us to find many we wanted to try.

A really nice Chinese leaf dish I wouldn't have otherwise tried came out v well.

The appeal is not having to use brain power trying to decide what to eat, having to work out how much of something to buy and when, then cook it, etc. It is a relief to have a night off from all that mental load.

With Gousto all the packaging is recyclable; I stick it all in my recycling bins.
It's the convenience of flicking through 1 site to choose recipes and not having to shop for them.
My meals were becoming samey and my husband is a reluctant veg eater. This has given us a health kick, jazzed up up our weekly meals and the quality is very high.
Plus I can afford it so why not?

I've tried Hello Fresh but the meals were too small to feed the four of us. I've gone back to recipes and meal planning. Also found towards the end that little things were missed out of the box on occasion, which was annoying.

As for packaging, very little comes in non recyclable materials. The veg today was loose. The ice blocks I use as slow release watering for my garden. The cool wool liner can be sent back or I’ve had people use for their compost heap or wormery.

The small pots of spices etc and other packets I don’t use I donate to the food

I find it helps me food plan and avoids extra top up shops and impulse buys.

If anyone wants a gousto discount code, pm me! We've insulated our shed with the woollen insulation from our gousto boxes 😆

glasgow we've found Hello Fresh really beneficial for my DW with mental health and me (laziness and mental load fatigue).

Problem with picking a recipe is the choice is mentally overwhelming. We've used HF for 6 months. It's weaned us off take away and junk food. We now have a book of HF recipes that we pick from and shop from the supermarket.

I totally get why people who are confident with meal planning and cooking don't get it but for us it's given us the confidence to start cooking rather than eating crap.

Hello Fresh is hella convenient and easy but the recipes tend towards student cooking - they're driving cost per meal down so they're heavy on starch to bulk them out and will often miss out on something that would take a good meal to a great one - some ingredients are too difficult to package up in the required sizes I guess? It's not particularly healthy stuff but if you like 100 ways with mince.... (I found it irritating that there is no price distinction between veggie and meat meals - some of the recipes clearly use far more ££ ingredients and it's not taken into account. Or wasn't at the point I cancelled)

I've been having Gousto for a couple of months. I'm single and work weird shifts and I found I was eating ready meals or sandwiches and I was bored. I've never been an adventurous cook - I'm good at basics (casseroles, pastas, meat 2 veg etc) but I didn't like trying too many new recipes due to not having the ingredients for lots of them and not wanting to buy big ingredients, only to use a tiny amount. I also didn't want to make something for 4 from a recipe book

I get 4 meals for 2 people a week for £34.99. I eat one portion and either freeze the other or have it for lunch the next day. I am definitely spending less as I am not going into shops and buying all the extra things I don't need. There has only been a couple of recipes I didn't enjoy, most of them have been great. None of the recipes take longer than an hour and loads are 10 minutes - which suits me. And most of the recipes only use a couple of pots.

When I've tried to be better and cook more, I found I would not be bothered but as the recipes need to be used in 4-5 days I've found I've not wanted to waste them

I'm definitely eating better

I've used both hello fresh, and Gousto, Hello Fresh being the best. Much nicer meals, better choice of meals, and much better quality ingredients too.

Had to cancel Gausto as they used Yodel who were terrible at delivering. Am now with Hello Fresh and I prefer the ingredients and recipe layout. Much better service.

Cook is great but comes already prepared. Great for one-offs but too expensive for everyday for me.

I was sent a gusto box as a welcome home present when I had my baby. I'm very stuck in my ways when it comes to food but I loved, loved, loved the recipes and the quality of ingredients. I can safely say DH and I relished those meals! Haven't tried the other two so can't compare :/

Loved Hello Fresh but found the Gousto ones a bit cheap/mince oriented and overcomplicated and too ‘commonplace’ - for example, I can make spaghetti bolognese and chilli myself. Both have unbelievably ridiculous amounts of packaging. They do the recipes on their websites if you want a look at them.

Morrison’s Eat Fresh is really good.

I started with Hello Fresh, but was disappointed with the quality of the ingredients - every box had at least one rotten veg in it, and didn't really like the recipe options. We use gousto and have had a much better time with it. There's 40 recipes to pick from each week, and generally we've found the quality much better, and we regularly redo recipes we've enjoyed.

For me, it feels like ordering in a restaurant - you get a list of the options and can pick from a limited number. It helps narrow down the options when I'm busy/mentally drained. And has helped my DH learn to cook and develop confidence in the kitchen.