Gousto – Recipe Box Review

2016-09-10-19-32-54As I mentioned, the other day, this week I am trying a recipe box from Gousto. The box I am reviewing contains 3 different meals, each with two portions; it sells for £34.99, but I am taking advantage of a £25 discount, giving it to me for 9.99.

The idea of these boxes appeals to me – for giving me ideas for new things to cook, and supplying just the right amount of food for the dish – no waste. At £6.00 a meal, it is not cheap, but neither is it that terrible – you could spend more money living off precooked ready-meals that are a lot less healthy.

2016-09-10-19-33-16

Opening the box, it was split in two. In one compartment, the veg, herbs and canned/dried products, in the other a wool-wrapped cool-bag containing anything need refrigeration. I unpacked the package a couple of hours after it arrived, as I had a busy houseful of people today; however, I wasn’t concerned as they claim that the box will stay chilled for several hours – for many people, they deliver to their offices, to take home in the evening. When I finally opened it, everything was find, and the ice-pack was still pretty solid.

Anyway, here is a picture of the contents of the box.

2016-09-10-19-35-49

And here are the contents of the cool-bag – haddock, chorizo, mozzarella, olives and capers

2016-09-10-19-37-14

Plus the recipe cards themselves, including ingredients, method, and nutritional information.

2016-09-10-19-37-56
On the reverse side of each card is a step by step photo sequence – useful for inexperienced cooks.

2016-09-10-20-13-20

Of course, having cooked the dish once, there is nothing stopping me shopping for ingredients next time I want to cook it.

All in all, I was impressed with the range of ingredients, and the quality. I was a bit taken aback by the quantity of ingredients – the haddock, for example, I wouldn’t have thought twice of cooking both portions of fish for a single portion meal.

Having said that, one of the reasons for my looking into recipe boxes is a fear that I have lost sight of what a decent portion is. I’m trying hard to lose weight, and I believe that I eat fairly healthily, but I think my portions have got out of control. I don’t think I am alone in this – I think it is part of the country’s obesity issue.

Of course, buying a scheme that offers me two portions of everything isn’t ideal, but as I work from home, I am planning to make each meal stretch to lunch the next day. Anyway, the aim is to try working from someone else’s idea of portion size for a while, and see where it takes me.

I’ll write more next week, as I try the meals.

2 Comments

  1. Note the link used in the above article will give you the same £25 first order discount as I enjoyed. In the interest of full disclosure, it will also give me a £15 credit on future orders.

  2. A word of caution. I had three phone calls in 24 hours from a number I didn’t recognise, and no attempt to leave a message on my answerphone. Googling the number I discovered it was Gousto. The majority of people commenting on the number said that – like me – they had put their box on hold (as Gousto allows them to do), but then started receiving phone calls to persuade them to take another box.

    In my view, this is not good customer service. In fact, it is the reverse, as I had very good thoughts about the company, and now this has jaded me somewhat.

    I have written to them, repeating the reason why my account is on hold, until I can assess this first box (as explained to them at the tine), and requesting that any communication is done by email, not phone.

    Let’s see if they listen.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.