Each week, there are 36 meals to choose from, including about 10 weekly vegetarian options (I skipped my veganism for the week since EveryPlate’s vegetarian choices rely heavily on butter and cheese). You can look through the next three future weeks of selections, and each meal is labeled with things like “calorie-,” “sodium-,” or “carb-smart,” “quick prep,” “25 minutes or less,” and “veggie.” Although recipes repeat over time, there are always new meals on rotation each week.
You’ll need to choose whether you want three, four, or five meals a week, or servings for two, four, or six people. (As previously mentioned, my two-person meals often stretched into three or four meals for me as a single person.) You can also do a CustomPlate, which allows for adding or swapping ingredients, like adding chicken breast or ground beef to a vegetarian pasta or rice dish.
Once you set your meal preferences, you’ll create an account, fill out your shipping information, and choose a delivery date. The earliest available delivery date was four days later, and delivery was possible every day for the first 15 days after, between 8 am and 8 pm daily. You’ll have to input payment details to reserve your first box, and you’ll be charged four days before the delivery. EveryPlate, like most meal kits, is an auto-renewing subscription service model, but you can skip, cancel, or pause in advance without penalty by 11:59 pm Pacific five days prior to your next scheduled order.
Let ’em Cook
Although I was happy to see less single-use plastic separating meals, EveryPlate ingredients arrive together in one refrigerated box, with a one-sheet page for each recipe included inside. You’ll need to parcel out ingredients and match them to each recipe yourself.
The recipe cards don’t hold your hand too much either, with one side for ingredients and the other for prep and cooking directions. Under each ingredient picture, parentheses show two amounts that indicate how much you’ll need for each serving size. In many cases, you’ll need a certain amount of a spice for the recipe, but it comes in a sachet with no amount information. For this, you’ll need to measure it out yourself. Every recipe required you to provide pantry staples yourself, like S&P, sugar, flour, butter, oil, mayo, and eggs. This is also where you can see why EveryPlate has a cheaper price point.
Photograph: Molly Higgins
