EveryPlate was launched in 2018 by the team at HelloFresh. Why start a new meal kit service rather than just add more menu items? The reason is simple. EveryPlate allows HelloFresh to target a segment of the market that is primarily focused on value. You will find it hard to match EveryPlate on value. There is a trade off though and we’ll cover it in our review. For now just know that EveryPlate is a good choice for those who are on a tighter budget. They offer quick, tasty meals for a low price.
Company Info
EveryPlate is one of the newer entrants into the food delivery space. The HelloFresh team wanted to cover the budget conscious sector of the market and starrting EveryPlate in 2018 was the answer. Since they launched, EveryPlate has expanded their menu options from 5 up to 8 meal choices per week. The mix of ingredients and value will likely help the company grow rapidly in the years to come.
EveryPlate Menu and Pricing
How many people are you feeding and how many dinners would you like to cook each week? Those are the questions you will want to know the answers to when signing up for any meal delivery service. EveryPlate supports 3-5 dinners per week for 2 or 4 people per meal. Technically they offer 3-5 meals for 2 people. If you want to feed a family of 4 the only option is 3 meals a week which is a popular choice.
Pricing for EveryPlate is simple. Regardless of how many meals you are ordering and the number of people you are feeding. The price is always $4.99 per serving plus $8.99 shipping each week. That means 3 meals a week for 2 people costs $29.94 plus $8.99 for shipping. That price is much lower than the competition. You can skip weeks, pause, or cancel your account anytime.
EveryPlate Promo
Everyone should seek promotions before signing up for meal delivery services as most companies offer a discount to new customers. With that said, you can’t just look at the amount you save when deciding on a meal kit company. EveryPlate is a good example. You might not save as much but the meals are half the price of other services. With a retail price of just $4.99 a serving, EveruPlate doesn’t have a lot of room to discount.
When we signed up for EveryPlate they were offering a coupon code for 20% off your first meal kit. This brought our price down to $4.16 per serving plus $8.99 for shipping. You will clearly see the discount applied. Future orders are $4.99 a serving which is still a great value.
Customer Service
If you have questions related to recipe or ingredients, shipping & delivery, or billing inquiries then the FAQ page on the EveryPlate website is the best place to start. From there you can also speak to a support agent 24/7 via live chat. Those who prefer phone support can call 1-973-210-4915 from 9am and 6:30pm EST Monday-Friday.
Hands-On Review of EveryPlate
We signed up for EveryPlate on Sunday, September 15th and received our first meal kit on Friday, September 20th. When you order from any food delivery service you should take note of the gap between the order and delivery date. It normally depends on which day of the week you place your first order and the day of the week you set the delivery. You need to select the menu by 11:59 p.m. PST within 5 days prior to your next scheduled delivery. Since we ordered on Sunday it meant that our menu locked in that night to be delivered on Friday. This was much faster than the first deliveries for most the meal kit services we tested.
After applying our coupon code we saved $5 off our first order. That brought the total down to $33.93 for 3 meals to serve 2 people plus shipping. You can pay with credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover) or PayPal. We chose PayPal since we like to manage our online subscription through the site.
Next we made our recipe selections for the first week.
We wanted to mix our recipe selection so we went with one premium option and two regular meals. You can select from 8 recipes each week. Some will repeat every so often.
Here’s a sample of some of the other meals we had to select from.
We received our first EveryPlate meal kit around 4:30 in the afternoon on the delivery date via UPS.
The first thing you will notice when opening the EveryPlate box is an envelope with perks (advertising and discounts) and the recipe cards. Below that is the packing to insulate the food. When you lift the top of the packing you will see most of the ingredients. They are in a smaller box to keep them from getting damaged. The meat is towards the bottom of the box and is held between ice packs to keep it nice and cold. The box could have used an ice pack on top of the other items since they included milk and cream cheese.
All of the bagged ingredients (except for the meat) had use by dates on them. We were unable to find a date on the meats, either on the packaging or the recipe cards. We’re happy to share that all of the food was fresh. Most of the other meal delivery services we’ve tested have had some spoiled vegetables but all of the EveryPlate produce was fresh. Note that some ingredients may be used for multiple meals.
Meal Kit #1 – Garlicky White Sauce Flatbreads
The meal kit for the garlicky flatbread included more than enough for two servings. This is where we were talking about using an item for multiple recipes. In our case the garlic was used in all of our meals. In addition to the ingredients included in the kit, you will also need olive oil, butter, and flour. This is clearly shown on the recipe card. The recipe also lets you know how long it takes to prep and cook. In this case the meal takes 35 minutes to prep and cook. They also provide tips to spice up the dish.
This could not have been any easier to make. Simply slice up the tomatoes and zucchini. Set the tomatoes aside in a bowl to marinate. Add salt, pepper, oil, and Italian seasoning to the zucchini on a baking pan. The garlic gets a little bit of oil and wrapped up in a piece of foil. Place it on the baking pan with the zucchini. Bake for 15 minutes. Combine the zucchini with the tomato. Leave the garlic on the pan and add the flatbread to bake for 7 minutes. During the time you will make the sauce in a skillet. The sauce should be done by the time the the flatbread comes out of the oven. Remove the garlic from the foil and roughly chop. Top the flatbread with the white sauce, garlic, veggies, and mozzarella. Finish by broiling the flatbread until the cheese is melted.
Meal Kit #2 – Peppercorn Steak
This meal kit contained enough for two servings but we would have liked more meat since this was a premium meal. The steaks were only 5 ounces each. Otherwise we had plenty of ingredients to complete the dish. It helps to have a meat clever and a freezer bag to crush the peppercorn. This part can get a little messy. You will use the garlic clove once again. They even include the red wine vinegar. All you will need is butter and vegetable oil. This meal takes 5 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook.
The meat lacked a cook by date so we went ahead and made the dish within a day of receiving our package. As you can tell from the picture below there wasn’t much to preparing this dish. To complete the green beans you simply drizzle them with oil, salt, and pepper, and put them in the oven. You will combine the fresh garlic along with butter and melt it in the microwave. Spread it on the baguette which will also be baked. Cook the steak to your desired temperature and season it with salt, pepper, and the peppercorn. Finally cook the sauce and drizzle it on top of the steak. This was not our favorite meal as the steak was a bit tough.
Meal Kit #3 – Pork Sausage and Mushroom Linguine
Our final meal kit was for the pork sausage and mushroom linguine dish. The ingredients included parmesan, mushrooms, milk, garlic (once again), sausage, and linguine noodles. You will need a few staples from your pantry including oil, butter, and flour. The recipe card clearly shows the time to complete the dish. In this case the meal takes 5 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook. The same was true for all 3 of our meals.
Start out by boiling water in preparation for the noodles so they will be done when the remainder of the dish is ready. As always you will wash the produce. Place the sausage on a large baking sheet to share with the mushrooms and place it in the oven for 20 minutes. The noodles take just over 10 minutes to cook. Save half a cup of the water to use for the sauce. prepare the sauce by melting butter, adding garlic and flour. Then slowly add the milk while whisking until it thickens. By that time your mushrooms and sausage should be ready to slice. Add the noodles to the sauce and mix it with butter, salt, and pepper. Then plate the noodles, sausage, and mushrooms. Finally top with parmesan to finish the dish.
Conclusion
We enjoyed trying EveryPlate and would recommend them to anyone looking for a budget-friendly meal kit service. The HelloFresh spin off does a good job of targeting the value end of the market. You will be hard pressed to find many meal delivery services that offer meals for under $5 a serving. We found the food quality to be in line with the price. The ingredients weren’t quite the quality of some other companies we tested but they were still tasty. Some of the portion sizes were smaller as well but still a good value. Remember to check for any promotions when you sign up for EveryPlate.