Mindful Chef family recipe box product test – Feedback thread!

[MaddyMumsnet]

This thread is ONLY for Mumsnetters who are taking part in this product test.

Hi Mindful Chef testers,

Welcome to your Mindful Chef product test, we’re so excited to have you all here! 🍽️✨

Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll be putting Mindful Chef’s family recipe boxes to the test at home, and this thread is where we’d love you to share your experience as you go along.

We’re really interested in how the meals work in real family life – from busy weeknight dinners to getting everyone around the table – so the more detail you can share, the better.

To get things started, here are a few things you might want to tell us about:
Getting started

• How did you find the ordering process?
• How was the variety of Family-friendly meals on offer?
• What made you pick the recipes you went for?
• First impressions when your box arrived – how did everything look and feel?

Cooking & eating

• How easy were the recipes to cook?
• How well did they fit into your usual family mealtime routine? Did they feel manageable on a weeknight?
• Did they take more or less time than the recipe suggested?
• Did your children get involved in the cooking at all?
• Any favourite meals so far? Or any that didn’t quite hit the mark?

Family mealtimes

• Did the whole family enjoy the meals?
• Any big wins with the kids? Did they clear their plates? 👀
• Did the portions work well for your household?
• Could you see these meals becoming part of your regular routine

Overall thoughts as you go

• How are you finding the quality of the ingredients?
• Has anything surprised you so far?
• Does a recipe box help reduce the mental load of planning and cooking?
• How does Mindful Chef compare to your usual way of planning and cooking meals?

Photos are encouraged if you’re happy to share, we love seeing the meals (and real-life kitchen moments!) 📸

Please make sure you’re updating this thread regularly across the full 2-week testing period - we’re looking to hear from you throughout, not just at the end.

Thanks again for being part of this, we can’t wait to hear how you get on, and we’ll be checking in here along the way too.

MNHQ x

We've cooked and tried our first meal!

We had the pork and apple patties with rainbow salad and sweet potato wedges. It took me about 35 minutes to cook, mainly because grating the apple turned into a faff! What did speed things up was the chilli paste to add to the wedges - great as you can leave it out if your children aren't keen! Mine loved that though, as did we. The yoghurt and mustard sauce was also a great addition - otherwise the pork would have been too bland for us.

One child didn't like the pork at all (despite loving sausages!), the other (ages 11) rated the meal 7/10, would have it again, but only ate half the pork. I wonder if pork as meatballs would be better than a pattie! The green tomatoes that came were really delicious, and those plus cucumber were child friendly. I do wish I'd cooked the pork in an oven friendly frying pan to save washing up and the transferral to a baking sheet as suggested - perhaps this option could be flagged in the instructions?

Bar faffing with the apple it was easier enough to make, and I was really glad the pork was free range - non free range meat is a reason I haven't persevered with meal boxes before. The small plastic pots / packets did make me feel a bit guilty environmentally, but the portions would be really useful it going to a holiday cottage - that's when I think I'd use a recipe box!

I did appreciate a paper recipe book, rather than having to look at my phone.

Thank you for allowing our family to take part in the trial. I have tried other meal boxes in the past but never Mindful Chef, and with 2x extra little mouths to feed dinner time can be difficult for us all to eat the same.
I found the ordering process very straight forward. It wasn't obvious to see just the 'family friendly' and didn't feel there was a huge selection but I did enjoy the options available even with fussy eaters. I chose the mild chicken tikka and sweet and sour chicken.
Everything was packaged well and chicken kept cool with ice packs. Ingredients were fresh and clearly labelled. Only thing I would change is to have the name of the meal on the individual bags as by the time it arrived, I had forgotten what I ordered.
Recipes were easy to follow, clear instructions and didn't take long to cook, although estimated time was accurate. Fit in well with our usual family mealtime routine and manageable on a weeknight.
The children enjoyed the meals, I think I could have reduced the amount of curry powder for the Tikka, but there were 2x sachets so that was down to my choice a and made clear in the recipe book.

We had the gnocchi tonight as our second meal. Again we found the portion sizes to be fine for our family, but can see how a family with bigger children would struggle. It was easy and quick to make but it wasn't as much of a hit as the chilli was yesterday. My husband and son said it was "okay". I still don't see how it's worth the money though unfortunately, £20+ for gnocchi, yoghurt, pesto, mozzarella and a few peas and broccoli seems crazy. I think we'd have to pick the more premium, different recipes to make it feel like we were getting value for money.

No, I definitely ordered for four, I got four large fillets of trout, four large fillets of salmon, and I received the recipe book specific to four people. And it cost £60 for the two meals! But just a measly amount of pasta and rice.

Here are two recipes from the “meals for 4” book. The sweet and sour chicken provides 500g of rice. The salmon teriyaki bowl provides 200g. This disparity doesn’t make sense when both recipes are for four people! Hence why I felt quite short changed with the salmon dish and used my own rice.

@EggbertHeartsTina that’s because the first recipe specifies ‘steamed rice’ (cooked) and the second is dry. When you cook rice it increases by roughly three times the weight so 200g dry would be the equivalent to 600g cooked.

Oh yes of course I didn’t think about that. But 200g dry rice was still too small for four of us. We normally do 2 cups of dry rice in the rice cooker for a family meal which is about 300-340g dry.

And I stand by the 250g pasta not being enough for 4.

Maybe we are carb fiends 😬

It's arrived! Had a text first thing which gave me an hours slot to expect it in, and it came right in the middle of it which is perfect. Box looks sturdy, no damage. Opened it and it is only half full, if that, so maybe using slightly less cardboard might be good from an environmental perspective. I like the packaging, simple but classy and that if you don't have time to unpack it all you can easily see that the whole bag goes in the fridge.

It's arrived! Had a text first thing which gave me an hours slot to expect it in, and it came right in the middle of it which is perfect. Box looks sturdy, no damage. Opened it and it is only half full, if that, so maybe using slightly less cardboard might be good from an environmental perspective. I like the packaging, simple but classy and that if you don't have time to unpack it all you can easily see that the whole bag goes in the fridge.

Oh I completely agree it’s a bit meagre, was just pointing out the reason for the discrepancy ☺️

For our family I generally think I cook around three ‘adult’ portions between the four of us and it works out well but I would do 200g rice between us and <random> 300g pasta which I think shows that it is partly down to family preferences and norms.

Its arrived :) pics below and see my other post for details. I'm always a bit saddened to see broccoli tightly wrapped in plastic, not sure why it needs it but it makes me think it's not fresh. Surely it costs money and time to do it too. The pepper had no plastic at least. But all the items look fresh, good sized portions of meat and quality rice brand too which I wasn't expecting a brand! Looking forward to cooking tonight now, it's nice not to have to think about what is for tea!

First box has just arrived! I had a text first thing this morning with a one hour slot and it arrived on schedule. I did specify that if we weren’t in it should be left in the garden - I was in but still by the time I got to the door the DPD guy had already left the box by the front door 🙄 it’s not actually a problem round here but it’s a big, tempting and obvious box so I wouldn’t have been thrilled in some of our old homes to have it on the doorstep for long.

Speaking of which the box was absolutely huge! I guess it makes sense for them to just have one size but seems a bit wasteful to me. Still at least it is nearly all recyclable.

The contents all look great, lovely looking fish and meat, fresh veg and good accompaniments. The amount of broccoli included with the salmon dish was a bit excessive but better that way round I guess, we do like veg! I checked the dates carefully because I’m not making it today and they were fine, as long as I cook it by the weekend it’s all good. I liked the way the two meals were in separate brown bags and I’ve kept them that way in the fridge to make sure someone doesn’t accidentally use one of the ingredients. It does take up a reasonable amount of fridge space that way but it is simple.

The recipe book is a really nice touch and will be great for taking to the kids about new recipes too.

I’ll probably make the salmon traybake tomorrow and maybe the meatballs on Thursday, depends a bit on clubs and appointments and life. Will update.

Got my email confirmation for my second lot coming this Friday! Excited to try the salmon traybake and the Korean sticky beef.

We had the pesto gnocchi bake last night - really tasty with loads of flavour. My son (11yrs) cooked with very minimal help - just needed some assistance putting things in and out of the oven. He was really pleased with how it went and how easily he managed it all. Portion size was just right for four of us, although a little more salad would have been nice. Looking forward to trying the next meal tomorrow!

So we cooked our first one the other night - This is the one I was concerned about as there wasnt much to it. Our first one was the Pesto Gnocchi Bake. I have to say I love the recipe booklets and will probably try and hunt out their recipe book after this. The meal was incredibly simple and easy to cook. I didnt like the amount of non recyclable packaging but I think thats a personal preference. The quality of the food was excellent. Similar to what we normally buy but the cost for it - £20+ for gnocchi, yoghurt, pesto, broccoli, mozzarella a small amount of peas, and 5 tomatoes seems a little extreme. That said I cannot complain about the taste it was superb and the timing of twenty minutes was spot on.

As to the portion sizes, youngest tried one mouthful he's 16 and very picky and decided against it so we split it up between three of us and had it at lunch time and were snacking an hour or so later. I think we would if we did it ourselves (Which we will thanks to the handy booklet) is to add a heck of alot more veg and salad. I dont think it would be filling enough for us as a family of four for a main meal and for the cost I found it rather disappointing on the pricing and I'd rather fill up on veg and main then on dessert but very good on quality and easy of following the recipe. Mixed review! I would hasten to add as previously said we're a strapping family with every one over 6ft and the teens being boys and we all live a pretty active life.

Cooking & eating
Lamb Meatballs & Tagine, Sunday 3rd (2nd meal for 1st week)

• I had to let my husband make the meatballs as I made a right mess of it! But the rest of it was easy enough to follow. I think he added an egg though, he usually does for making meatballs and this recipe didn’t call for it but he did it how he normally does it. It worked, they stayed together and the rest of it came together as the instructions stated.
• This isn’t something we would choose on a weeknight unless the meatballs were pre-made. I feel this is something that would take a bit too long for a standard weeknight, it would need to be pre-prepared early afternoon if I am off work or the night before if I am in, or just saved for a weekend. We did this on the Sunday and I was out of work by 1, with all of us home for the rest of the day, so had all afternoon to tackle it, but that’s not a regular arrangement for a weekday.
• I feel this took a lot longer than the recipe stated, but that could be because I attempted the meatballs 2 or 3 times before admitting defeat! I also gave the chickpeas a little longer to cook as I don’t really like them too hard and I knew the kids wouldn’t touch them if they weren’t soft enough.

Family mealtimes

• The kids enjoyed the meatballs, we didn’t try them with any of the rest. Hubby and I enjoyed the whole thing for the most part, but the chickpeas still weren’t cooked enough for my liking. I hate them being hard, and if that’s how they’re meant to be then maybe I just hate them! I like my beans and veg to be soft, unless specifically needing the be crunchy and hard for something.
• They cleared the meatballs and we gave them pasta with a bit of the sauce on, but not the whole meal. It was nice to see my son eat something new for a change but then he does like meatballs and pasta, these were just lamb and we’re used to beef.
• Not at all. We got 12 average sized meatballs to feed 4 of us – on a normal ‘meatball and pasta’ night, my kids will have 5 between them, and my husband and I can easily eat 7 each (usually buy a 24 pack for this and some get frozen for the kids for a later date – if I wasn’t doing this I could happily eat half the pack to myself!) Considering these meals aren’t age-specific, I would love to know how families with teenagers get on as mine are 2 and 3 and seem to be eating quite well, but this meal would not be a repeat unless we bought extra mince so everyone could actually have some meatballs and not just chickpea soup.
• This one, absolutely not. Sorry, but not enough meatballs and again, like with the chilli, I can get everything for cheaper and to make more than just this. Not to mention the chickpea sauce wasn’t what I expected, my husband and I ate it to save waste more than anything. We didn’t even try the kids with it. The flavours were nice, don’t get me wrong, but the portion sizes and what actually went into the dish weren’t very good or wholly enjoyable, not for us.

Our first box arrived on Saturday and we cooked the first meal tonight. Firstly credit to the DPD delivery guy, an enormous transport festival takes over the fields by us and the town is turned into a victorian funfair for the bank holiday weekend so driving around is a nightmare .... he turned up slap bang in the middle of our delivery slot which amazed me. So 10/10 for that. I agree with other reviewers the box is rather large but I guess a standard size. The food was well packaged and very cold, would definitely have survived half a day out on my doorstep ... although North Wales is not often at tropical heatwave weather.
I liked the meals being in separate bags and it felt quite classy being brown paper. Mark me easily pleased.....with some things.
I was told via a txt that I wouldn't be getting a recipe book due to a supply issue, this was disappointing I dont like being on my phone when cooking and this was a big negative for me, although I do see the majority of reviewers did receive a recipe book so hopefully this doesnt happen often.
Disappointed with the recycling advice too, being directed to recycle none kerbside recycling items at a supermarket when I presume the whole point of this service is aimed at people who dont have time/want to go to go to a supermarket seems counterintuitive and prob means that most of the not easily recyclable packaging goes in the bin. This means a lot to me and I do try and put my money where my mouth is, I know how annoying it is to collect and wash single use plastics and take them to a supermarket, so im pretty confident most if the single use plastics from Mindful Chef goes into the bin.
We cooked the (none family friendly accidentally picked on the 3rd attempt at ordering) Harissa Chicken Salad. The quality of food was very good, great to see fully free range chicken (and for our meal tomorrow British raised and slaughtered beef) but again single use plastic packaging for harissa, chicken stock, pomegranate seeds, nuts, raisins and mint. Surely there is a better way to do this. I feel it doesnt match with the high quality and thought that's gone into the rest of the service.
The meal was easy to prepare and cook and was delicious, the chicken was especially tasty. I would definitely cook this again. portions were good, with some salad left over for lunch tomorrow.... probably due to my 14 year old not being keen on quinoa.... I do see why this one is not in the family friendly range, back on track tomorrow, promise.

We’ve cooked our first two meals! We had the chicken thighs and prawn peanut rice dish.
Really impressed with the portion sizes. Ingredients also very good quality (better than hello fresh which we have had in the past).
I was a bit worried the meals would be a bit bland since it’s family friendly - but I was pleasantly surprised. They’re very much meals for the whole family, not just kids.
I had to be honest and say that I do prefer hello fresh recipe cards - they’re a bit easier to work through. Of course, the recipes were fine to follow in the mindful chef magazine - but perhaps that’s just me liking things uber clear and simple!
Very much looking forward to my next two dishes, which were super easy to order on website!

Further feedback having eaten both meals from the first box. Sticky peanut prawns - the curry powder was missing from the box. Customer service gave a £3.50 credit because of this, but it didn't really help as I didn't notice the missed item until I came to cook it, so we had it without. It was easy to cook and actually took less time than stated whereas I normally find with these boxes it takes way longer. Me and my partner enjoyed it, both children (7 and 1) rejected it even though I did the sauce separately so they just had plain prawns, rice and broccoli.

The second meal was pesto gnocchi, again was easy to make and all ingredients there and good quality this time. Again though, myself and partner enjoyed it but both children rejected it outright.

So overall not going down well with the kids, will see how next week goes. I don't like to have to cook different meals for different people so if we can't find recipes the children will eat I would not continue the boxes.

We had our second meal last night which was the mild chicken tikka. It took longer to cook than the time stated again. I think maybe at least 10 mins more. I think I am quite efficient in the kitchen so I’m not sure if the timings are just a little optimistic.

The recipe was easy to cook and I noticed I had less washing up than when I usually cook a curry which was a definite plus. The chicken was maybe a little on the chewy side but not horribly so. We all enjoyed the meal apart from my daughter (almost 2) who wasn’t keen on the curry or the rice. She did eat some salad though.

I also placed the order for the second week, which I’m excited about receiving at the weekend. There was some different options which was good.

Forgot to add the picture of our second meal.

What a fantastic little box. I have to admit after trying others in the past a little bit skeptical but these are well balanced and tasty. Love the fact you get the recipe book with all the other recipes as I cant wait to try some more of the others! Easy to order and pick your choices but I do think its very expensive

Very excited to be joining this trial, hadn’t received the original email to say we had been accepted. Have just registered and ordered 1st box of 2 meals for delivery on Sunday. Very excited to try what look like some delicious recipes.

We’ve had our first box arrive today and I was pleased with the delivery. We’ve cooked our first meal and the ingredients were good quality other than garlic which has seen better days, green middles and one actually had completely gone. We made the gnocchi tonight and it was a really tasty lovely dinner for my husband and I. My four year old liked the pasta, meatballs and sauce but would have preferred the veg blended into the sauce or chopped finer. My ten month old enjoyed chunks of it all. I don’t know if it’s me being a bit tired but I did find the recipe harder to follow than the hellofresh/gousto style pages but I do like the booklet with all the recipes all together. We did add extra cheese to the top as the mozzarella wasn’t anywhere near enough.

Overall I’d be keen to make a similar recipe again with a few tweaks. Delicious!

Back on track for our second meal from Mindful Chef: sticky 5 spice beef, definitely chosen from the family friendly range! It was delicious, all the family loved it, that's 2 teenage girls (14 and 18) and my husband. My 18 year old cooked it (anything to not revise!) She said it was easy to follow the recipie and it was quick, her only criticism was she would recommend cutting the veg before cooking the beef as that did take her longer. I'll attach some photos to show how much was left in the pan after we'd all had a serving, there was plenty and if my husband hadn't hoovered it all up I'd have a lunch sorted for tomorrow. Interesting to note that my eldest daughter who has just started her A levels and has lost her appetite due to constantly feeling sick and imagining every possible future bad outcome did enjoy this meal. She ate a small meal but she enjoyed it and it was lovely to know she was getting a healthy balanced meal. The packaging better than our meal yesterday but still 4 pieces of single use plastic including 2 x ginger and garlic.
Again the quality of the ingredients was fantastic, looking forward to trying our final two meals which are being delivered tomorrow.