People who use recipe boxes…

[Menonut]

I’ve tried both Hello Fresh and Gousto.
As someone who was never taught to cook, I’m finding they are really helpful in getting me out of the rut of cooking the same 5 meals all the time without spending £££ on different ingredients while I find my way. We really like the food and once I’ve learnt a recipe I’m adding it to my repotoire and buying the ingredients separately.

My question is this - do you find the portion sizes in the boxes small or are we overeating? I find I have to either bulk out the recipes with extra meat or pasta or I have to get a box for one person more than I’m actually cooking for? Just wondered if we were out of the ordinary?

For reference I’m cooking for me, plus husband and 21 year old son. Husband and son would never survive on the portions they provide.

DH and I and teenage DD and DS

I can only recall being disappointed by the portions of salmon recipes but otherwise the meat and veg seem right to me and the carbs are sometimes too much especially pasta.

I did a roast chicken on Sunday and it only did 2 adult meals, a lunch sandwich and a dinner for the cat! I’m devastated it hasn’t lasted the entire week…..

The portion sizes of Hello Fresh meat dishes were tiny. Presumably to keep the headline cost down. We always had to add more. Personally I'd rather pay more for a decent amount of food. Family of two adults and two teenagers here.

I’m always surprised when people complain about Hello Fresh portion sizes because they’ve always been fine and we’ve had them for years. Sometimes the ones that come with wraps don’t have enough stuff to fill the amount of wraps provided but I’m not hungry after.

Also use Gousto and have for a couple of years.

Had to adjust to portion sizes depending on meal type. Chicken breast portions I think come of a quail they’re so miniscule. However the rest one bulked out are fine for us. I don’t think a 3 person would satisfy three adults if that included a 21 year old though. We do a 3 box as two adults and a 9 year old boy (who eats like a horse and will cost me a small fortune as a teenager!).

The only ones which are massive are pasta dishes. They can all feed an army.

It worked for us with Gousto as DH and DD2 eat more than me. The "same five dishes" thing is how it ends up with Gousto once you've used them a few times. It taught DD2 a fair bit and gave me a couple of new ideas. But I've now just gone back to choosing four dinners from my recipe collection and shopping for the ingredients.

I’ve done both in recent years. Two adults and two teens in our house, a few times I felt they were a too small. However, I’ve been on weight loss jabs for 6 months and I do think generally our portion sizes are bigger than they need to be.

I think it depends on the dish. Hello fresh meat was like dog food though so we stopped getting that. Gousto is nicer quality but obviously costs more. The pasta dishes could have fed double but salmon and prawns dishes were always quite small.

Has anyone tried any other ones? I’d like to get back in to them

Depends on the 21 year old id imagine. DSS, very normal size, slim,would eat 1/2 a dozen eggs and 6 rashers of bacon as a snack. Very definition of hollow legs.

I think it depends on what your activity level is and honestly, how well you eat the rest of the day. The portion sizes are enough for me, sedentary job and gym 3x a week, but for anyone in a physically demanding job or a growing teenager I can see why you'd want more!

We have Gousto and find the 2 person box enough for us both. Although I do do extra veg sometimes to use up anything we have in the fridge from the weekend.

The thing is, with regard to overeating, it really depends on your lifestyle how you are going to feel about this, we both have desk jobs and, whilst I work out a couple of times a week lifting, DH doesn’t. So has, if we were honest, too much of a sedentary life which means he needs less food. I make up for my workouts with a snack mid morning after working out. It will also depend on what else you’ve eaten during the day too. So nobody is going to be able to tell you if you are overeating really or not.

I find this surprising. I am short and slim and almost always found myself hungry after using meal boxes - so much so that I stopped using them.

I get the four person boxes for 3 people. Two very active teens and DH with a big appetite, If there’s an option I add extra protein and I always add extra vegetables too as there’s rarely enough.

Reading these, I think the pasta dishes are probably generous and the meat-based ones skimpier, not surprisingly.

Gousto show you the calories per portion and I find it very useful to see how "normal" people eat. I am losing weight, am 7 stone down with 3 more to go and it's never been more obvious to me that my portion control is non existent.

The Gousto boxes are usually a good portion of carbs and protein but per a PP, I often add veg to the plate if I think it needs bulking.

How many calories are in a normal Gousto meal? Hello Fresh average around 700.

It varies - 350-1000 is the kind of variation I see, between a chicken, veg and rice dish vs a "feast" which is a main, sides and bread.

ETA - I only order dishes under 650 calories as that's what I allow for my dinner!

We do Hello Fresh, two portions for two adults but I always dish myself up one third and my partner two thirds as he has a bigger appetite that I do (and I have inevitably snacked before eating). The portion sizes work for us but only because of this sharing arrangement. I do think bigger appetites might struggle.

If you have ever tried using a calorie tracking app like My Fitness Pal and weighing out portions of food exactly you will see that most people wildly overestimate what a standard portion should be. I honestly think that the issue is not with the food delivery services usually. There might be different circumstances such as a large male with a manual job, teenager in a growth spurt or someone who only eats one meal a day but on the whole most people don’t need more than is given they might just be used to more.

oh yes, breakfast cereal is the funniest for this. A "portion" as per the calories advertised on the front of the box is usually 30-40g and most toddlers would ask for seconds if you only gave them that much!

We occasionally do Gousto (when it's on offer) and I always have to bulk it out with extra potatoes or veg.

Just me and DH, both average heights and weights and normal appetites.

I use hello fresh, portion sizes are good, I often use leftovers for next day lunch.
My food bill has dropped dramatically as there is little waste.

We used to use Gusto and the portions were fine for DH and I.

I use Hello Fresh and find the portion sizes to be good for me, actually can be a little too big!