Honest Goodfood Review

Meal preparation kits have been trending for the last couple years now. However, with the current pandemic I have noticed an increase in advertisements for meal preparation kits like Hello Fresh, Chiefs Plate and Goodfood. People are staying out of grocery stores and getting their groceries delivered right to their front doors step.

The idea has always intrigued me. I love to cook and try new recipes but there are a hundred-thousand options available on the internet, and many of them require a tablespoon of some obscure ingredient that you use once then sits in the pantry for the next 4 years. So having a recipe picked out for me with the exact amount of ingredients to go with it, was definitely an option I wanted to try.

So I signed up for a subscription and decided to give it a go.

I purchased the 3 Vegetarian boxes in hopes that I could veganize them. The three meals I received were Sweet Potato Panzanella, Tomato Pesto-Tossed Warm Gemelli Salad and Eggplant & Sweet Basil Stir Fry.

So I'll get right into my thoughts about the service, starting with the pros. My first impression of the website was that the information regarding the meals was clear, and described the meals in detail. I also appreciate the 'skip this week' option provided. If you're away on vacation or simply don't have the funds for that week, it's easy to skip the week so you won't get charged and food won't go to waste. Additionally, I liked that Goodfood informs the buyer of any potential allergens in the meals. This made it very easy to identify which meals were vegan, and which were not. Secondly, the meals at the end tasted delicious! The ingredients were all fresh and delivered in good quality for cooking. The recipes are vegetarian and I do try and follow a vegan diet when possible so one of my goals was to replace some of the ingredients with vegan options. As stated above, it was quite simple to identify which ingredients had animal by-products, and therefore finding their replacement e.g. the stir-fry sauce provided contained oyster sauce so I replaced it with teriyaki sauce. Although the switch was simple in context it also falls into a con which I discuss in the section below. Finally, I must admit I was skeptical looking at the amount ingredients/produce provided thinking it wouldn't be enough food for my husband and I. However, once cooked and assembled, the portions were large and often times left us with leftovers.

So that leads me with the cons, and the reasons why I cancelled the membership - spoiler alert! For starters, the boxes are very expensive, for three meals it came out to 70$ CAD. Now the costs are justified if you take into consideration the recipe, product packaging and convince, however it tips the scales for me. Speaking about product packaging - there is a lot of one time use plastic wrap and bags in this meal box. I wish Goodfood used more compostable or recyclable product packaging in their shipping processes. And finally the meals are not customizable at all. Being plant-based I like to make sure my meals are vegan, and unfortunately there isn't a vegan menu so I had no other choice but to pick the vegetarian one and modify it. Additionally, there are only 3 vegetarian selections available per week so I could only take what was offered. This is different then the other meal menus (i.e. low carb, meat, etc.) that has 7+ options per week to choose from. With that being said, I needed to go to the grocery store to replace some of the non-vegan ingredients with vegan ones - thus omitting the ease and convince of having meals delivered to my home in the first place.

In the end I think meal preparation kits are a great way to add new recipes into someones repertoire and help busy individuals have simple yet delicious meals at home. If you're looking for a meal kit and you don't have any serious diet restrictions Goodfood is a great option for you! If they ever get a vegan line I would definitely be interested in giving them another chance.