Plated Review

As I have stated before in this blog, I feel overwhelmed by work, chores, and obligations.  I am constantly on the hunt for ways to save time and/or make my life easier.  Meals are one area that I find very, very time consuming.  I am currently exploring options on how to make lunch and dinner preparations easier.  One of the things I recently tried was the meal delivery service called Plated.  I ultimately decided it was not the right option for me, but I wanted to give it a fair review in my blog.

Plated is one of several services out there that sends ingredients for dinner to your door.  The consumer still has to cook and assemble the meal.  You get the preparations for two to seven meals each week for two people for $12 per meal per person.  Larger families can be accommodated by picking more than one of a meal and multiplying the recipe.  Each week, there are seven regular meals from which to choose included in the weekly price.  Plus, there are two upgraded meals (pricier cuts of meat) that can be chosen and two desserts that can be added for extra fees.  Each recipe takes approximately 30-45 minutes to make.  Each meal is in the 500-700 calorie range.  There are usually several vegetarian and dietary-needs-friendly options.

I actually really liked the service.  It just is not a good fit for my current needs.  Although I was saving time on the actual meal planning, it was not saving me much time in grocery shopping or meal preparation.  I still had to go shopping for other household needs (lunch, snacks, etc.).  While it might have shaved a few minutes off the grocery store trips, I still had to go every week or two anyway.  Meal preparation took as long as, or sometimes even longer than, I was doing already.  The meals still required a fair amount of prep work:  rinsing, chopping, mixing, etc.  Then, most had several items to actually be cooked in some fashion.  Plus, I had to keep stopping to read the recipe to make sure I was doing things right, which I do not do with more familiar options.  The food itself was good, so I would be open to trying the service again if my evenings are ever freer.  For now, I am going to look into other options, either more freezer options or meal delivery for prepared food.

Finally, here are a couple fun fact exercises just to add a little more detail to the mix to aid in decision-making for anyone considering Plated or similar services.

Five things I liked about Plated:  1) Ordering from a menu every week instead of having to come up with ideas on my own, 2) New recipes which I get to keep and make again if I want, 3) Increased vegetable intake, 4) Easy to use website, and 5) Good food.

Five things I did not like about Plated:  1) A little expensive, 2) A lot of packaging, which while necessary for safe shipping, just felt wasteful, 3) Inconsistent portions (most were a good size, but a couple meals left me hungry while others provided leftovers), 4) Variety – Options are good, but sometimes it seemed like there were too many vegetarian options, too many Asian choices, too many things with mushrooms, etc. in a given week, and 5) Locked into meal options a week in advance with no room to wiggle as weekday plans changed.

Five favorite recipes (in no particular order):   1) Beef Noodle Bowls with Dinosaur Kale and Mushrooms, 2) Chicken Meatballs with Curry Tomato Sauce and Greens, 3) Crispy Calamari with Greens and Miso Vinaigrette, 4) Pizza Dough Tostadas with Italian Street Corn, and 5) Chicken Marsala with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes.

If you were considering using Plated or another service like it, I hope you found this review helpful.

See you next week!