To not get gousto, hello fresh, etc?

[MayThe4th]

I know that a lot of people swear by them, but I just don’t get it.

I do see that they have all the ingredients to make a recipe, but they A, seem so expensive, B, have a million teeny tiny packets so presumably a lot of single use plastic etc, and are far more faff than just cooking the same recipe (which can be found on their website) from scratch, which is essentially what you’re doing anyway.

Plus I’ve heard horror stories of ingredients either having gone off or being missing entirely.

What am I missing?

Ease.

I'm a pretty confident and experienced cook. I enjoy meal planning and probably try out 2-3 new recipes a week on average but some weeks with work I'm just too busy to even get to the supermarket or even do an online order so for those weeks it helps take the pain away.

But cheaper than takeaways

Same here with gusto. Proper faff! I was relieved when I’d used all the meals up. I didn’t rate the food either, the chicken especially was poor quality. I’m quite a creative cook though and not really one for following recipes to the letter. There’s no room for that with gusto. I can see why people use them though, just not for me.

We used Hello Fresh for a while in lockdown - my DC (13 and 11 at the time) wanted to do some more cooking so they had the app and would choose the recipes. Was really good for them as everything was in correct amounts and very clear instructions and most importantly minimal input from me needed so I got a break from cooking a couple of nights a week!

If you ate a lot of takeaways and ready meals you'd spend a lot of money too, at least with these boxes you learn how the dish is put together.

I find it annoying to follow recipes too.
I am more of a fling everything into a pan type of cook.

I tried Hello Fresh briefly during the pandemic as I was bored with cooking and I had a good offer code.

I didn't think like it at all to be honest. So many annoying little tiny sachets of things. Multiple sachets of the same thing, if you are cooking for a family. And often stuff I had already anyway. On offer it was a decent price, but at normal price it was very expensive. I tried to stop it after first trial offer but their deadlines mean you inevitably pay for an extra.

I can see how it might be worthwhile if you are just cooking for two people and are not set up to cook at all so don't already have a range of cooking ingredients. But not for me. To be honest, I already suspected this, which was why I had never tried it before. I tried it because various people I know (and who I thought were regular cooks) liked it. But my first opinion was correct!

Funnily enough, that's usually how I cook too, but I don't mind it with Mindful Chef. I think it must be because I'm too lazy to be arsed with measuring out all of the ingredients but you don't have to think about that when they have already done it for you!

Your comment is like someone going on a football fan forum and saying “Never watched it, much prefer gymnastics”.

Why did you even bother?

We did hello fresh for a year or so a few years back when it was pretty new. It was brilliant, yes you pay for the convenience but it ensured we cooked from scratch and stopped ordering so many take aways. I've kept the recipe cards and cooked many of them again. We tried it again last year to kick start some fresh cooking again after falling into bad habits and it was very poor. Tiny fresh veg, about to go off, missing ingredients and also you had to pay extra for so many meals (usually with meat) that used to be in the 'normal' meal selections. We cancelled after a couple of boxes.

I totally get the concept. Its not a budget option but if you're a family who slips into takeaways far too often, it's a cheaper and healthier way to cook/eat.

I think the companies have got lazy / overwhelmed though and can't deliver the high quality and variety they used to.

It's just variety and convenience.

Whereas usually you have to think up meals, find the recipes, write the shopping list, buy and order everything
with Gousto you just pick things you like the sound of from the website and it is all sent to you.

It's more expensive than doing it yourself but not hugely more ime.

We use Gousto and I love it. They are for time-poor people and takes all the faff out of meal planning. I usually get a lot of their 10 minute meals. I get home from work and go straight to the gym. Come back around 8:30, shower and cook a tasty meal in 10 minutes. Other benefits for me is no food waste as everything is carefully measured and you can also check calories in your meals.
i don’t find it expensive. We pay the same for 4 or 5 Gousto meals a week as we would for one take away and we never get those.

I might give it another go then. Am rubbish at meal planning anyway.

I'm with you, OP. I'd much rather spend the equivalent on ready meals from Cook, which I just bung in the microwave when I CBA to cook.

But I can see that Hello Fresh & co are good for building your confidence and range, if you haven't done much cooking.

I have just been on gousto s website and the recipes are stuff like burgers, spag bol, bangers and mash and the odd curry. These (aside from the curries I guess) are all really basic. Am I missing something?

Well yes, but takeaways are delivered to your door ready to eat so sometimes worth it.

Confident cook but sometimes we get them for convenience and to try some new bits.
Wouldn't have them all the time, but found them ok for sometimes when there is an offer

I got a Gousto box this week thanks to the free box offer. The main ingredients for two meals were rotten three days after delivery.

Would not recommend.

Yes, you are! I never get the boring stuff. Examples of things I’ve ordered:

spicy chilli prawn & herby rice bowl with mango

smoky beef enchiladas with fresh tomato salsa

Brazilian style chicken & coriander curry

Sri Lanka style coconut daal with aubergine pickle

chicken shashlik burritos with mango yoghurt

Turkish spiced lamb pastry pie & herby bulgur

Plus a while back now:

Venetian risotto with squid ink & pan fried cod

Korean beef bulgogi with beans

Sticky Chinese pork chops & sesame pak choi

I never pay anything extra for the specials & I make a point of staying away from those duller, everyday things.

Erm, I’m not sure. Maybe I’m doing it wrong?

I've tried both recently and Gousto is way better than hello fresh, especially in terms of menu choices. I think gousto is fab and I'll keep doing if if I can afford to, takes away the having to plan and buy ingredients and also, I'm learning how to cook some new meals! I've got a folder to store the recipes in and I have built up some credit from.people signing up for a cheap box with my code, they get a cheap box and I get £20 off my next one, winning 😁

@courgettigreensadwater yes it’s really great!

I’ve noticed a few of the kits being sold in Tesco now too. Also very hand if you are going anywhere self catering and not sure what the faculties will be like.

I am a confident cook and I love meal planning a cooking so it’s not for me. But, I think they are a good thing if it encourages less confident cooks to make fresh meals rather than rely on convenience food or eat the same meals on loop.

I agree with all you say. We also favour Mindful Chef over Hello Fresh and Gousto, having tried them all. Gousto recipes I find a bit pedestrian.

The food quality is excellent- they do a pork mince that is miles more tasty than anything I have been able to buy in a supermarket (usually in meatball recipes) and a lot of the meat comes from a very well-respected farm shop near where my inlaws live in Somerset.

I’m a confident and experienced cook but I’ve been very pleased with the variety of flavours and textures. The sachets of spice are great as you can try different mixes without having to buy a big jar that might not get used up and end up being thrown out when it gets stale- and believe me, spices go stale faster than you might think, but a lot of people cook with stale old ones from their rack and wonder why the flavours are so underwhelming.

My only problem is that now and again I forgot to make the choices in time and end up with the default choices not being what I would have chosen. That’s entirely my own fault though.

It’s not cheap but it’s reasonable value when you consider all the other benefits that @Anothernamechangeplease listed, and we are fortunate to be able to afford it.

Our son eats with the childminder after school so we’re not cooking for him.

Been using Gousto for several months, really like it. All your ingredients are there, in the correct amount so you're not buying ingredients in big bottles to go to waste. We do it for the variety . We all get in a rut where we end up buying the same food and meals from the supermarket all the time,and we choose meals that we would probably never ever think of ourselves, and most of it is bloody lovely!