The Service
Gousto were one of the first companies to provide recipe boxes all the way back in 2012. They now send boxes packed with pre-weighed ingredients and easy to follow recipe card’s straight to thousands of houses each week. The pre-weighed ingredient side of things really is a great feature – it makes cooking a fresh meal in the evening much quicker and more convenient. Their instructions cards are also super simple to follow, with photos at every stage, making cooking easy and accessible for even novice cooks!
Prices start at £6.25 per portion when buying 2 meals for 2 people and come down as low as £2.98 per portion for 4 meals for 4 people. They regularly have deals on for first time users of the service, currently they are offering 30% off all boxes ordered in the first month. It’s certainly worth having a quick search online to fine the best deal.
Our one slight irk is that once you sign up you are forced to subscribe weekly or fortnightly to the service. This means that you have to actively unsubscribe if you are a more intermittent user of Gousto.
The Taste
We loved the fact these meals are so simple and quick but still provide a tasty, fresh meal. Nothing beats home cooked food however buying, prepping and cooking mid-week can be a real chore and this truly does cut out most of the work.
They have a wide-range of recipes to choose from each week and we have to say quite a few of their offerings caught the attention of our taste buds. The customer reviews for each recipe were a real bonus and did end up helping with our final decisions.
We tried 2 dishes, the first, miso ginger chicken noodles, was a hit. The miso and ginger flavours topped off with coriander were tasty. It took us 20 minutes to prep and cook and was certainly worth the effort. The second was a chicken jalfrezi, this was ok although a little flat in flavour for a curry and could have done with an option to add a little more punch. Both dishes definitely needed the addition of extra veg and they felt a little carb heavy for our mid-week meal tastes.
Health
They have around 40 recipes on offer each week, with something to suit almost everyone – gluten-free, dairy-free, veggie and even a small selection of plant-based options.
For people on the hunt for health-conscious choices, they had an offer of 6 ‘healthy recipes’ to choose from. These included Fiesta Chicken Fajitas, Blackened Haddock & Corn Salsa Bowl and Joe’s Satay Sweet Potato & Kale Curry. These were all around 500-600kcals and had a generally balanced macro split. Although not unhealthy, we did not feel that all of these dishes were particularly nourishing, with most being low in veggies and some including white wraps and rice.
Customers are able to access the nutritional information for each recipe, which is extremely useful however this does not include any extras that are needed outside of the Gousto box provided. Most recipes request the customer to add a glug of oil – this can add considerable calories and fats to the meal and can make it difficult to track calories and macros.
Sustainability
Gousto deliver their food in cardboard boxes that have been sustainably sourced, and these can then go into your household recycling. The natural wool insulation liners are compostable – customers also seem to come up with some seriously creative uses for them, including bedding for their pet hamster!
Their recipe cards are also printed by super sustainable company Seacourt, they not only offset their entire operational footprint but add 10% back via forest conservation and regeneration projects.
One downside is that as their ingredients tend to be individually wrapped, a lot of small plastic bags are included and some of these have not been made from recyclable plastic yet. However, Gousto have said this is something they are looking to resolve in the future.
Final Verdict
Gousto is a great service for anyone lacking in time but wanting to eat freshly made food. They are also brilliant for trying out new recipes, ingredients and cooking methods. We all fall into food ruts, eating the same meal week in and week out, and Gousto can help to provide that inspiration you need.
Generally, since their meals are made from whole foods, we would classify them as healthy however a bit of additional veg wouldn’t go a miss. Plus, including the calories of the ingredient’s customers must add themselves into the recipe would be useful for those trying to strictly count calories and macros.
