In January my Facebook and Instagram was swamped with ads for food subscription boxes promising fresh, delicious and healthy food delivered straight to your door. Seeing all these happy people receiving their food boxes made me click, and we ordered our very own plant based Gousto box with 4 meals included …
A huge positive to subscription boxes is the impact they have on reducing food waste, as you only get what you need. Food waste is something I am very conscious of at the moment- I am really trying to dramatically reduce the amount of food we throw away. I have been using my food caddy provided by Norwich City Council, which they collect every week and it has certainly helped me focus on reducing my food waste. On average the UK wastes 7 million tons of food waste every year. Gousto provide everything you need to make your meals, no more, no less and it really limits waste, which is fantastic.
We also loved the idea of trying new recipes and expanding our knowledge of different cuisines. Gousto send you recipe cards with your box, and a free recipe card folder so you can keep them all and easily refer back to your favourites to make again. It feels like an investment for your kitchen, a custom-made cookbook!
Gousto uses a mixture of well-known brands, smaller lesser known brands they want to champion and the best fresh ingredients from their trusted suppliers. The quality is brilliant and has a great shelf life. You receive an email the day you receive your box with estimated best before dates for each meal so you can plan your week.
My Top Reasons for Choosing Gousto:
Variety
It is fun hand-picking recipes you want to try from a never-ending selection that changes each and every week. Gousto provide healthy options, ‘fakeaways’, 10-minute meals and more.
New Tastes
We love trying new foods, ingredients and cuisines. Gousto helps expand your palate and gives you the opportunity to try some amazing flavours you may never have tried otherwise.
Quality Ingredients
As I have said, the food provided is of a high quality, and mainly sourced in Britain and is chosen seasonally- so you are only cooking with the best ingredients!
Convenience
One of the biggest benefits for any subscription service is the convenience. You can choose how many meals you have in your box; 2, 3 or 4 and what day you would like it delivered. You can alter anything, up until three days before your delivery date, and you can easily skip a box too.
Healthy Meals
Using Gousto it is easier than ever to eat healthy and balanced meals. All the nutritional and calorie information is provided clearly per portion, so you know exactly what you are putting into your body.
So how does Gousto work?
A major positive to signing up with Gousto is that you are not tied into any fixed subscriptions. It is incredibly flexible. You can choose to pause your delivery by just clicking a button in your account or in the app (as long as you do so 3 days prior to your scheduled delivery)
You can choose between ordering for 2 people or 4 people.
You can choose to order 2, 3 or 4 recipes.
You can choose the frequency of deliveries… weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
And another handy option is the ability to order one off boxes.
The Ordering Process
Ordering from Gousto is really straight forward and intuitive. All the food looks amazing. There are plenty of inspiring recipes to choose from and they change weekly. You can either search through all the available recipes or go via the categories, for example… Most Popular, Quick & Easy, Discover, Vegetarian, Plant- Based, Low Calorie and Family Friendly.
When you have chosen your category the recipes available will come up, you can browse through- reading reviews, cooking time, ingredients and nutritional information.
What is inside your big red box!?
So, your box has arrived and now you get to unbox your yummy food. The ingredients come in a cardboard box. They are packaged according to how they need to be stored by you. Everything in the woolcool bag needs to go in the fridge (along with leafy veg and herbs). All the items in the brown paper bag can go in a cupboard and you can store your root vegetables as you would usually, in a dark, cool and dry place. The packaging is minimal, as it should be… Gousto are commited to limiting their plastic use, and are on track to reduce plastic by 50% this year in their boxes.
Gousto Meal Reviews
This is the important bit – how easy were the meals to cook and how did they taste? The short answer is they were all great fun to make and delivered on flavour. We also learnt a lot of new techniques, tips and tricks. The recipes were easy to follow, and everything is perfectly measured so it’s easy to create perfection!
Our Menu
First Box
The Ultimate Vegan Stack Burger
Roasted Veg & Meat Free Sausage Pasta
Chunky Roast Vegetables with Jewelled Couscous
10-Min Spiced Lentil Stew & Chilli-Peanut Crumb
The Verdict
We love to cook and explore plant-based foods and Gousto allows us to do this with such ease and with an element of fun. We get to choose meals and foods we wouldn’t normally. The food is nutritious and balanced, but you can treat yourself to some of their more indulgent recipes if you want too. The fact that the ingredients are all measured out is ideal for reducing food waste. Ultimately, I love that Gousto is so flexible – it’s not something we have to commit to every week, and in fact we have opted for a monthly box and it really feels like a treat and something to look forward to. I couldn’t reccomend them more, so if you are wondering just give it a go!
Click the link below for 60% off your first box, and 30% off all your boxes in the first month !!!
https://cook.gousto.co.uk/raf/?promo_code=EMILY35367872&utm_source=weblink
