If you're searching for a good Every Plate review, I'm guessing you've seen the ads that show slathering a piece of chicken in some sauce, slapping it in a frying pan, and turning around with an impressive, perfectly plated meal. It probably comes as no shock that cooking with Every Plate isn't quite as easy as they make it seem, but it's still a great option and I'll tell you why! 

Hi there, I'm Tasha! And if we haven't met, just know that one of my love languages is food. Cooking for other people is one of my favorite things to do! Now listen, there are A LOT of meal planning, meal delivery, grocery-shopping-robot services out there. And Google has figured out that I love cooking so I get ads for them all the time. I was stoked to have an excuse to try one out for this Every Plate review, but I wanted an option that was on the affordable side and provided portions for just one person.

Every Plate Review – The Price

I ended up going with Every Plate which offered an introductory deal of free shipping and $10 off your first box. I got the ingredients for three meals (two servings per meal) for $20 which I found to be a steal. The free shipping offer is only good on the first box and the $10 off lasts for the first three boxes, so if I were to order again right now it would be just shy of $40. (Side note, if you’re looking to try this out, you can click right here and get $20 off your first box!)

Every Plate Review – Choosing Your Meals

Choosing which meals you want to eat is a very, very simple process. You'll be given the option to select 2 or 4 servings, and 3, 4 or 5 meals per week. At the time of this review, Every Plate offers 14 options a week and you get to pick which ones you want (based on how many meals you selected for your plan.) There are usually one or two “premium” meal options containing fancier meat like steak or fish – these will be an additional charge per serving. You can skip any week that you would like, so you’re not locked into getting food when you’re vacationing in the Bahamas. I learned when I went to skip my first box that it will offer you different meals if you try to skip. So if you don’t love the meals you’ve been offered, try skipping that week and see if it gives you some options you like better. Every week tends to have some taco/fajita option. Most of the meals also include potatoes…although I love potatoes so I could just be choosing all the options that include those delicious spuds!

I will throw in a quick note of caution here: this meal plan would NOT be good for anyone who has specific dietary needs. The options are too limited to accommodate allergies and intolerances to whole food groups, so if that’s you, I’d suggest going ahead and skipping this one.

Every Plate Review – The Delivery

I have to hand it to Every Plate when it comes to delivery. I was very impressed with how things were packaged and how cold everything was when it arrived. Your order comes in a cardboard box that is lined with an insulated bubble wrap. The non-perishable items are towards the top: produce, spices, noodles, and tortillas. Every box I have received comes with three giant ice packs and the meat is sandwiched between two of them at the bottom so it is very cold when it arrives. It was really comforting not to have any doubts about food spoilage because everything in the box was cold – there was one box I didn’t unpack until 8 hours after it arrived and everything was still plenty cool.

One of my favorite things about Every Plate is how they give you the correct portion sizes. I personally found the little packages of meat to be kinda cute, and I loved how condiments like jam and BBQ sauce came in itty-bitty packaging.

For those of you concerned about having your food delivered to you in a box, I will admit that on two occasions one piece of produce came a bit smushed. One week it was a tomato that seemed to have gotten pinched to the side of the box and another week a chunk had come out of a potato. But other than that, the produce that I have received is very good quality. I certainly never felt like I was getting the supermarket leftovers.

Every Plate Review – Preparing the Food

Every Plate sends you a recipe card for each meal and spells out very clearly what ingredients you will be using and what you should do with them. Each recipe Every Plate has sent me has “worked” so to speak, and other than having to dice up an inordinate amount of garlic, I haven’t had to do anything too weird to make any of the meals. (I have since invested in a garlic press, so my woes of chopping garlic by hand have passed!) 

However, these meals take a lot more time to make than the meals I normally plan for myself. I LOVE cooking for a crowd, but spending 45 minutes in the kitchen just to feed myself is not my cup of tea. Every meal I have seen so far is some sort of skillet/oven meal, and I’ve gotta say that my crockpot is getting a little jealous of all the time I’ve been spending with my other kitchen appliances. I would not call these meals “quick and easy”. You will be chopping up a lot of vegetables, making homemade meatballs, and mixing seasoning into your sour cream. The meals have taken me anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to make plus clean up time.

While the time that every single meal took to prep was starting to get on my nerves, I enjoyed trying my hand at new things. I’d never made homemade meatballs but will probably be trying it again someday, and I learned how to make homemade gravy.

Every Plate Review – The Taste

Arguably the most important part of a meal delivery service review is how all the meals taste! Every Plate does a really good job of picking delicious flavors, and often they're things I wouldn't have tried by myself! Dozens of meals later, not every single one has been a home run, but the Brown Sugar & Fig grilled cheese and Ponzu Meatballs definitely deserve an honorable mention here in this post! 

The portion sizes are generous. It obviously depends a bit on the meal. I had stuffed pork burgers one week and that only came with 2 buns, but the fajitas came with 5 or 6 tortillas which was plenty to have some leftovers after two people got full (especially if you’re going to supplement with chips and guac!).

Every Plate does offer different meals from week to week, but you will find that they tend to have the same base ingredients. After three weeks, I was ready to move on from yellow potatoes, but they do a good job of mixing up the flavors and seasoning.

Every Plate Review – In Summary…

Every Plate offers a very affordable introductory rate if you’re looking to give one of these meal delivery services a whirl. You can get $20 off your first box by clicking here. The process is very straightforward and simple, but you will have to set aside time to prepare the meals. The portions are hearty and the food is tasty. Considering the great value of the first box, I would definitely recommend at least giving it a one week trial to see how you like it. You can cancel at any time and you are only charged for the food you order, so there’s very little to lose!

Loved this Every Plate Review? Check out these other posts!

Imperfect Foods Review – If you like getting food delivered to your door, then you'll definitely want to check out Imperfect Foods! While it won't replace your weekly grocery shopping, you can get a selection of produce and snacks (that may not have made it to the grocery store) every week!

Eat at Home Meal Plans Review – this service is a little different. You won't be getting any food mailed to your door, but you will get a thorough meal plan made for you every week! This would be a great tool to pair with an Imperfect Foods subscription so you can easily add what you need to your Imperfect Foods order.

Small Kitchen Organization – all this food (plus kitchen tools!) can be hard to organize, especially if you're working with a small space. Check out this post on small kitchen organization, and be sure to watch the video if you want to come along in the kitchen to really see how these tips work.