Our resident home economist and kitchen expert Fiona Mair orders and cooks meals from Dinnerly, Everyplate, HelloFresh, Make-out meals, Marley Spoon, Pepperleaf and QuiteLike. She also orders prepared meals from Chefgood, Gourmet Dinner Service, Nourish'd, Providoor, Soulara, THR1VE, The Dinner Ladies and YouFoodz to find out which meal delivery service comes out on top.
When reviewing these services, we rate them on ease of ordering, taste and presentation, temperature on delivery, ingredient freshness, recipe accuracy and more.
Each meal delivery service receives a CHOICE Expert Rating made up of:
- performance (50%)
- meal ratings (which includes taste and presentation) (30%)
- ease of ordering and delivery (20%).
Performance
Fiona reviews each food box delivery service by assessing:
- the presentation of the box on arrival, including how the prepared meals are packed, and for food boxes, whether the ingredients are grouped together by recipe or if you need to sort them out yourself
- whether the recipes are easy to follow/ We ask questions like: are recipe cards provided in the box? Is the method in easy-to-follow steps? What kind of cooking skills are required? Is there adequate allergen and ingredient information provided? Are adequate heating instructions provided for prepared meal services?
- whether the ingredients provided are fresh and if there are any leftover items or portions
- whether the recipe times provided are accurate, and for prepared meal services, whether the heating times provided are accurate.
Meal rating
As each meal is cooked, Fiona assesses the presentation and taste.
Ease of ordering and delivery
Fiona also looks at:
- how easy it is to subscribe to the service and importantly, how easy it is to deactivate or pause the subscription
- how easy it is to select meals and place an order
- whether the box is delivered in the specified timeframe
- the order accuracy (once arrived) to make sure all meals and ingredients are accounted for
- food temperatures. We take the temperature inside the box, inside the cooler bag and check the internal temperature of any protein and dairy ingredients themselves.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
