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Gousto is a meal delivery service that curates recipes and sends recipe cards with pre-portioned ingredients directly to your door.
Gousto is one of several meal delivery companies who draw upon disruptive technologies to change the way we buy food. It focuses on providing organic ingredients and high-welfare meat in combination with healthier recipes. Here at Vada we trialled a couple of their meal options to see if it would change our eating habits.
How to Gousto?
One Friday we received a food box on the door step from Gousto to find all the ingredients we’d need to cook Asian Fish & Beetroot En Papillote and Crispy Asian Pepper Chicken for two people over the weekend.
Our first impressions of ingredients was actually rather positive – we had some concern that food could have been damaged or bruised in transit, but this was not the case, and everything was as promised – pre-portioned and fresh. What we were really impressed with was the environmentally friendly use of wool as the insulator for the chilled items.
The two recipe cards were easy to follow, with no ambiguities in instructions. They also detail basic ingredients (such as salt, pepper and oil), cooking items (e.g., tin foil) that you will need from your cupboard and basic nutritional information.
We managed to cook each recipe in the time stated (30 & 40 minutes), following the instructions and timings, which, if are typical timings for other Gousto recipes, means meals can easily be prepared midweek even if a little late back from work.
Our professional photographer wasn’t to hand, so we couldn’t get the photos of our food to look exactly like that on the recipe card image, but for home cooked food, the food was appealing in appearance and aroma. The dishes themselves were tasty and nutritious, and the portion sizes meant we felt full afterwards – although there’s always room for dessert, which you have to provide yourself.
We liked the menu variety at Gousto – each week there is a different selection, this variety means there is little chance of getting bored with cooking the same dishes or getting stuck in a routine of cooking the same thing every week. What we would like to see in the future is the option to order different meals for all five weekdays – currently there is a maximum of four recipes within one box order.
How much does Gousto cost?
Gousto offers six pricing options of which we ordered the two recipes for two people (£27.49). The other options are:
- 2 recipes for 4 people – £41.99 per week
- 3 recipes for 2 people – £34.99 per week
- 3 recipes for 4 people – £51.99 per week
- 4 recipes for 2 people – £41.99 per week
- 4 recipes for 4 people – £59.99 per week
To purchase the equivalent ingredients at a supermarket for the two recipes we bought, which would include leftover of the store cupboard jars (as opposed to the small, measured portions provided by Gousto) the cost is approximately £22.
Is Gousto good value?
Overall our impression is that the Gousto meal delivery service does offer value. We think Gousto would be suited to readers who have a relatively small recipe repertoire who are looking to expand this. Readers who want to boost their confidence to cook something more exotic would also be able to take advantage of the Gousto range. Another benefit, for some, will be the time saved planning the recipe and ingredients, then making the trip to the supermarket to actually find, pick and pay for what you need.
For more information and to sign up, visit the Gousto website – there are sign-up offers readily available, which can be found on the website if you search carefully to reduce the price of your first order.
