In partnership with EveryPlate.
Here at The Quality Edit, we admit to being a little bit bougie. When you fall in love with enough DTC brands, it's easy to get desensitized to higher and higher prices – there's always a rationale, right? "Well, it's Manuka honey… all their bracelets are engraved by hand…"
But sometimes, a bargain is a bargain, and the relationship between price and quality isn't as linear as it seems. When it comes to a daily activity like putting food on the table, inflated price tags are a luxury few can afford, but it's increasingly hard to find affordable meals outside of the world of fast food. That is, unless you order from EveryPlate.
If you're familiar with meal kit delivery services like HelloFresh, then EveryPlate's format will contain very few surprises. (In fact, EveryPlate is now owned by HelloFresh.) But EveryPlate stands out from the increasingly crowded market by offering prices that are shockingly, refreshingly low. With meals as inexpensive as $4.99 per serving, only going up to $7.49 per meal even on smaller orders, even using EveryPlate to fill in the gaps makes a massive difference for your wallet.
We like
- At the risk of sounding repetitive: you just can't beat the price
- Easy, intuitive recipes broken down into six steps
- Flexibility in meal choice, delivery schedule and add-ons
We don't like
- Meal plans don't yet cater to specific diets like keto or paleo
- Fewer weekly options compared to other services
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SAVING, NOT SACRIFICING
If that sticker price wasn't alluring enough, EveryPlate has an intro offer of just $1.49/meal – something that's so discounted we wouldn't blame you if you were concerned. Yet EveryPlate's affordability comes from a streamlined process, not from a compromise in quality. Not only do they use less packaging, which equates to lower production costs, but they keep their recipes simple so you don't need a mountain of ingredients. That way, all the produce, proteins and pantry goods can still come from excellent suppliers, and you're not paying for garnishes that barely affect the flavor.
But enough about the economics. Let's talk about these meals. First-time subscribers have a chance to select their preferred style from five options: Meat & Veggie, Veggie, Family Faves, Quick & Easy, and Nutrish & Delish. Quick & Easy take thirty minutes or less to prepare, Family Faves are formulated with kid-friendly flavors, and Nutrish & Delish meals clock in at 650 calories or less. Yet even within those categories, there's plenty more room to customize: you can even swap proteins or sides to build your ideal plate.
For a service that admits its options aren't as extensive as, say, Factor, EveryPlate still offers 22 meals to choose from every week. The menus are chock-full of crowdpleasers, like Crispy Caesar Chicken with Roasted Carrots & Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Spicy Shrimp Rice Bowls, and Caramelized Onion Patty Melts to name just a few. The bold flavors and variety of cuisines comes as a welcome surprise after all the talk of simplifying the meals for savings: Crispy Katsu Pork Chops with Tangy Lime Slaw and Roasted Potato Rounds is certainly more than we're whipping up for ourselves with $5 at the grocery store.
EASY AS 1-2-3…4-5-6
Where the simplicity really comes into play is in how easily the recipes come together. In fact, each recipe card is broken down into just six steps. For the katsu, that would proceed as follows – 1) roast the potatoes, 2) make the slaw, 3) make sriracha mayo, 4) dredge the cutlets, 5) fry the cutlets, and 6) plate them up – so there are several sub-steps within those six tasks, to be sure. But none of the meals we prepared felt remotely complicated or stressful, while still bringing contrasts in flavor and texture to keep things interesting.
We made sure to take advantage of their variety of add-ons too, which run the full gamut from breakfast to dessert. For a sweet treat after dinner, there's the Lemon Loaf Cake or Vanilla Delight Cheesecake; breakfast on-the-go might be a Spinach & Feta Egg Bite. Still, we found the add-ons came most in handy as either sides or toppings, like the impossible-to-resist Garlic Bread or the side servings of proteins like Chicken Breast or Ranch Steak. Even when we were eating non-EveryPlate Meals, like say a workday lunch, being able to add pre-cooked chicken to a salad was an easy, rewarding hack.
Peeking ahead to future menus, we saw little to no overlap in menu items for weeks at a time. It was so easy to toggle from a meat-heavy week to a veggie-focused one, from Crispy Bleu Cheese Chicken to Sweet Potato & Bell Pepper Curry. Cooking at home felt approachable even after the most hectic workday, and the savings reaped by all those non-existent takeout orders were… humbling, to say the least.
A PLAN THAT WORKS FOR YOU
As time went on, EveryPlate proved incredibly flexible to the ups and downs of real-life demands. When work trips called and we wouldn't be home to receive shipments, EveryPlate gave the option to pause deliveries weeks in advance. Each box was also well-insulated with cold packs, meaning there was no need to race home to get things in the fridge before they spoiled. And while they don't offer a true solo meal plan for those who live alone, the Dinner For 2 plan makes meal-prepping lunch an absolute no-brainer.
With that in mind, and having sampled quite a bit of their roster, it's still mind-blowing that EveryPlate can be this good and this affordable. They may not add every bell and whistle to their culinary creations, but their Premium meals (available for a small surcharge) can go toe-to-toe with plenty of date night recipes. Even with the convenience that so many other meal delivery services offer, the weekly line item meant that we often canceled them once they started to lose their novelty. With EveryFresh, staying subscribed feels like plain good financial sense.
Balancing the checkbook and eating well at the same time? How do you like that for a win-win?
