Hello Fresh vs Gousto vs Mindful Chef – tasty recipe boxes rated by you

Recipe boxes and meal-delivery kits promise convenience, variety and fresh ideas for dinner. Whether you want to save time, cut down on supermarket trips or simply spice up your plate, we’ve rounded up the best services worth trying.

There’s no shortage of services to pick from, each designed with different audiences in mind. Some kits emphasise healthy eating, while others specialise in organic produce or low-carb meals. You can even get restaurant-style dishes delivered to your door as an alternative to a takeaway.

To separate the best from the rest, we surveyed thousands of people who’ve tried these kits, asking about everything from recipe variety and ingredient quality to overall value for money. A few brands clearly came out on top. 

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Best recipe boxes and meal kits: Hello Fresh vs Gousto, Mindful Chef and more

The two highest-performing companies in our survey achieved a customer score of 70%, while a well-known brand ranked last with a disappointing 55%.

Which? members can log in now to find out how customers rate different companies and find out which one is a Which? Recommended Provider.

If you're not a member, you'll see an alphabetically ordered list of the companies reviewed with insights on pricing and what they offer. Join Which? today to see the full results.

Below, you'll find an overview of what the different brands offer. Prices are based on a meal for two to four people unless stated.

Abel & Cole

Price: from £14 for a recipe kit (one meal, serves four)

Delivery: £3.50

Abel & Cole is known for its organic fruit and veg boxes, but it also offers a range of organic recipe kits for delivery. As well as regulars such as the pasta recipe kit and the 'one pot wonder' recipe kit for £14; it also offers seasonal boxes such as a big 'Christmas feast' range.

Prices depend on the kit you choose, but each one contains all the ingredients needed to feed up to four people, as well as step-by-step instructions. You can order kits as and when you need them.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Abel & Cole in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Abel & Cole.

Chefs For Foodies

Price: £35 for a Pizza Night Kit (serves  four)

Delivery: £5.49 (standard delivery to UK mainland) or free with orders over £60

Chefs For Foodies partners with 'real chefs' to provide curated recipe kits that use premium, restaurant-quality ingredients – for example, Italian food from chef Ricardo Arias of Yard Sale Pizza. 

A Pizza Night kit for four people includes four dough balls and all the ingredients needed to create two margherita and two pepperoni pizzas.

Orders are one-off rather than subscription.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Chefs For Foodies in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Chefs For Foodies.

Cookaway

Price: from around £40 for a recipe box meal (serves two-three)

Delivery: Free (standard delivery)

Cookaway 'world cuisine' recipe boxes range from one-dish meals such as authentic tofu katsu curry (as pictured, £62, serves four-five) and chicken paella (£68, serves four-five) to 'experiences' that offer multi-dish feasts (such as a Scottish menu of wild venison and whisky sauce with celeriac gratin, £128, serves four-five).

Choose from 55 menus and eight world cuisines, including Greek, Indian, Japanese and Scottish, with options from categories including vegan, gluten-free and halal.

No need to sign up for a subscription, simply order as you wish. 

Join Which? to see how customers rated Cookaway in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Cookaway.

Côte at Home

Price: from £26.95 for set menu kit (serves two)

Delivery: Free (UK mainland) for orders over £39.99, otherwise £8 for standard delivery (minimum order £10)

Restaurant chain Côte provides a range of meal boxes, allowing you to rustle up one of its signature dishes in the comfort of your own home.

As well as a barbecue range (for example, a burger box for four, £36.95), Côte at Home's meal boxes include options such as date night, seafood, breakfast and some of the Côte classic dishes.

Orders are one-off rather than a subscription service.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Côte at Home in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Côte at Home.

Dishpatch

Price: from around £55 for meal box (serves two)

Delivery: £6, or free if you sign up for the Supper Club (£69 per year)

Dishpatch (which was acquired by Waitrose in 2024) partners with famous names, including Michel Roux and Angela Hartnett's Cafe Murano, to create more than 30 imaginative, ever-changing restaurant menus from across the globe.

While other services provide just the ingredients, Dishpatch dishes come pre-prepared with 'only a few easy steps to finish and serve'. To take a break from cooking from scratch – whether you're after a menu for two or four, for a dinner party or celebration meal (such as Rick Stein's luxurious lobster thermidor, £136) – the complex cooking and prep is done for you. You simply heat your menu, plate it and add any garnish.

Order as needed.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Dishpatch in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Dishpatch.

Frive

Price: £49.80 for a box of six meals (each meal serves two people)

Delivery: £6

Frive offers nutritionally balanced, 100% whole-food meals that are fully cooked and ready to be heated up and eaten in three minutes.

A step-by-step tool guides you through the selection process, helping you choose meals based on the number of people you're feeding and the frequency of meals, as well as meal types such as high protein and low carb. 

There are 40+ portion-controlled meals of between 400-650kcal to choose from, including grilled rib-eye steak and red Thai salmon. 

Frive is a subscription service and plans renew weekly unless paused or cancelled.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Frive in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Frive.

Gousto

Price: £44.75 for a box of five meals (each meal serves two people)

Delivery: £3.99 (next day if you order by 12pm)

Gousto offers a choice of more than 500 recipes a month, including 10-minute meals, everyday favourites and family meals. Plus you can filter according to nutritional needs, such as gluten-free, high protein or calorie-controlled.

Pricing is straightforward with an online tool where you select the number of people (up to five) and the number of recipes needed. New customers get money off their first eight recipe boxes (including 50% off the first box plus free delivery).

Although it's a subscription service, Gousto says there's no lock-in, which means you can skip or cancel anytime.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Gousto in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Gousto.

Green Chef

Price: £38.50 for three meals (serves four people)

Delivery: £4.99

Green Chef, which is owned by Hello Fresh, focuses on using sustainable produce and minimising waste, delivering fresh, pre-portioned ingredients to your door based on your meal selections.

There are 45+ nutritionist-approved weekly changing recipes to choose from, based on a range of dietary needs, including keto, low carb and flexitarian diets.

Customers can order meals for two or four people, with two to five meals per box, plus the brand offers discounts for students.

It’s a fully flexible subscription, and you can cancel, skip or pause a delivery with five days’ notice.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Green Chef in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Green Chef.

Grubby

Price: £59.99 for a five-meal box (serves two) or a three-meal box (serves four)

Delivery: £4.99

Grubby sells plant-based recipe kits, bringing fresh ingredients and step-by-step recipes straight to your kitchen plate. 

Meals take around 30 minutes to cook, and the brand says it has created more than 200 dishes to date, with 20+ new options available to choose from each week. On average, each recipe includes at least six different types of fresh veg.

Current menu highlights include battered tofu ‘fish’ and chips with tartare sauce, veg-packed cottage pie with buttery peas, and a crispy teriyaki chick’n burger.

Grubby runs on a subscription service with automatic weekly renewal and payment. However, you can skip deliveries (up to six weeks ahead), or pause or cancel your plan at any time.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Grubby.

Hello Fresh

Price: £31.49 for a box of three recipes (serves two people) 

Delivery: around £4.99

One of the most well-known options, Hello Fresh, says it offers more than 100 recipe choices each month, with a fuss-free subscription you can easily cancel or change as needed.

You can filter meals to suit your needs, whether you're after protein-rich dishes, calorie-smart options, quick-cook recipes, family favourites, veggie meals or 'mostly meat'.

Boxes can be ordered for two, three or four people. The minimum order is three meals per box for two people, or two meals per box if you're ordering for three or four.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Hello Fresh in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Hello Fresh.

Jane Plan

Price: £409 for one month (all meals and snacks, serves one)

Delivery: £7.94 (weekday delivery) or £11.94 (weekday delivery)

Jane Plan sends out ready-made, portion-controlled meals aimed at simplifying weight loss. It delivers a full 28-day supply of preservative-free breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks in a single box to be stored in your kitchen cupboard. 

Dinner examples include classics such as beef bourguignon and cottage pie, with choices to suit several dietary needs, including vegetarian, vegan, halal, or dairy or gluten-free.

It's on a rolling subscription that automatically renews each month, but there's a five-day trial included. Once you're signed up, your plan can be paused or cancelled at any time.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Jane Plan in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Jane Plan.

Mindful Chef

Price: £95.40 for a five-meal box (serves two) 

Delivery: £5.99 per order

Mindful Chef says it aims to balance nutritious meals with great taste, to make healthy eating easy and delicious. It never sends 'stodgy' refined carbs such as white pasta or rice, and says its chicken is 100% British and free range.

It also collaborates with well-known restaurants and food brands to offer customers unique recipes, such as its partnership with Côte Brasserie.

Customers can choose from 24 recipes each week and can add frozen ready meals, soups, breakfasts and desserts to boxes, too. 

You can order meals for one, two, or a family (the minimum order is two meals per box). And although it's a subscription service, you can skip or pause at any time.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Mindful Chef in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Mindful Chef.

Nonna Tonda

Price: £16.50 (serves two) or £27 (serves four)

Delivery: £1.50

Nonna Tonda is run by a husband-and-wife duo who make fresh pasta each day for the dishes they send out. 

Each week, there's a choice of two meat and seafood-based pastas and two vegetarian pastas, as well as a dessert. Choices when we looked included tagliatelle with Ligurian sausage and rainbow chard and trofie with rocket pesto.

Customers can order two, four or six portions a week. And, although it's a weekly subscription service, you can skip deliveries, change the frequency (for example, from weekly to fortnightly) or cancel at any time without penalty.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Nonna Tonda in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Nonna Tonda.

Pasta Evangelists

Price: £12.35 for a double portion recipe kit (serves two)

Delivery: From £2.99, free over £25

Pasta Evangelists brings fresh, restaurant-quality pasta to your kitchen, with more than 40 recipe kit dishes to choose from each week. Menus include weekly specials and family favourites such as beef and Chianti lasagne or truffle mac and cheese, plus a wide choice of vegan and vegetarian options.

Meals come in single or double portions (kids’ portions are also available). Double portions are around 10% cheaper, and there are bundle deals too, such as a starters-and-desserts package or an artisan meat sauce selection.

Alongside its recipe kits, Pasta Evangelists offers a subscription service, one-off orders and even hot food delivery near its restaurant locations. 

Join Which? to see how customers rated Pasta Evangelists in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Pasta Evangelists.

Pizza Pilgrims (Pizza in the Post)

Price: from £24 for a DIY margherita pizza kit (two pizzas)

Delivery: Free delivery for pizza in the post

This restaurant chain is largely London-based but with outposts in cities including Brighton, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Leeds – and it also delivers pizza kits in the post.

Become a Pizza Club member to have a pizza delivered weekly, fortnightly or monthly – each kit contains the ingredients to make two or four pizzas (gluten-free bases are available). You can also pay a little bit more (£25 rather than £24) to choose from margherita, double pepperoni and spicy honey, plus a chef's special that changes every four weeks.

There are 'no spooky T&Cs' with this company, which says you can make changes to your subscription up to midnight three days before your next scheduled delivery, including skipping a delivery or cancelling. You can also try out a kit before signing up and get £5 off a subscription if you then take one out.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Pizza In The Post in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Pizza In The Post.

Riverford

Price: £15 for recipe box (serves two) 

Delivery: Free (minimum spend is £15)

Organic farm and delivery company Riverford offers recipe boxes containing all the ingredients needed to cook a full meal, along with simple instructions. 

There are around 13 recipes to choose from each week, including Easy Evening recipes for busy families, along with offerings from Guest Chef collaborations. 

The meals are organic, and many are also vegetarian or plant-based, so they're good for you and for the environment. 

Most boxes contain two portions, but there are a couple that serve four.  

Join Which? to see how customers rated Riverford in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Riverford.

SimplyCook

Price: £9.99 for  four recipe kits (each for to-four people)

Delivery: £1.79 per box

SimplyCook offers recipe kits with a difference: you provide the fresh ingredients, and it supplies the flavour. 

Each box contains four recipes, chosen from a selection of around 100. For every recipe, you’ll receive a step-by-step card, plus three chef-crafted ‘flavour pots’ that form the base of the meal. You’ll then need to add four-five fresh ingredients of your own – such as meat, vegetables, rice or noodles – to complete each dish, as the price only covers the sauce kits.

It’s a good option if you have an unpredictable schedule. The pots are vacuum-sealed, giving them a naturally long shelf life of up to six months, so you can buy fresh ingredients when it suits you.

SimplyCook works as a subscription service, with deliveries available weekly, fortnightly or monthly. There’s no fixed contract, and you can skip, cancel or change the frequency of your box at any time.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Simply Cook in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Simply Cook.

Slimming World Kitchen

Price: from £10 per dish (serves two)

Delivery: £4.99 per box

Slimming World Kitchen delivers kits of pre-measured fresh ingredients and recipe cards to make meals made from 100% 'Free Food' to be incorporated into Slimming World's healthy eating plan.

There are up to 18 different dishes available each week, catering to various dietary preferences, including vegan and vegetarian options, and you can choose between two or four portions.

It's a subscription service offering weekly, fortnightly, or every three to four weeks, with flexibility to change frequency, skip boxes, or add one-off orders.

Join Which? to see how customers rated Slimming World Kitchen in our survey.

Want to order without reading our full results? Visit Slimming World Kitchen.

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What's the difference between recipe boxes and meal kits?

Recipe boxes such as Hello Fresh, Gousto and Mindful Chef send you the ingredients and instructions to cook a meal from scratch – typically in around 20-40 minutes.

Often the ingredients are pre-measured and sometimes also peeled and chopped, which cuts out the hassle but still provides you with the cooking experience.

Meal kits require even less work and are more akin to ready meals (albeit fresh).

For example,  you might just have to cook pasta or heat the ready-prepared dish – and this may take as little as 5-10 minutes.

However, we found that the terms are often used interchangeably, so read up on what you're going to get (including how much prep is required and how much time it will take) before you order.

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Other meal-kit options include:

• Stocked – offers 'flexible food for your freezer' in the form of conveniently portioned blocks. You can choose between a subscription package (which unlocks limited-edition blocks voted in by customers) or a one-off order.
• Dishoom Store – a selection of meal kits inspired by the brand's physical stores. Options include naan roll kits and vegan options. 
• Detox Kitchen – choose between daily deliveries or Resets, which are short three-to-five-meal plans delivered all at once.
• Planthood – all sauces are cooked from scratch using 100% natural ingredients, and the meals are designed with gut health in mind – they contain high-fibre fresh vegetables, fermented foods and polyphenols.

How to choose the best recipe box or meal kit for you

They can be helpful for people learning to cook or who struggle to get to the shops, such as people who work long hours or are less mobile. There's something for everyone out there when it comes to recipe boxes and meal kits. Here are some tips on how to choose:

• Take advantage of trial offers. Most providers offer generous introductory offers on your first and sometimes subsequent boxes, so be sure to take advantage of these. They're particularly helpful if you're undecided as to which provider to go for – or just to help you try out various cuisines more cheaply. For example, Hello Fresh is currently offering 60% off your first box and 20% off for two months, while SimplyCook has a month's free trial, and makes it relatively easy to pause or cancel your subscription. You can take advantage of trial offers to get a flavour of the different options.
• Do they cater to your needs? This could be to do with how many people you're ordering for (Mindful Chef and Gousto have one-person options, for example) and whether you have any specific dietary requirements. For example, do they offer gluten-free or keto/low-carb options, or perhaps they focus on simplifying eating for weight loss/weight maintenance? If you're looking for plant-based, there are also companies focusing on this offering, such as Grubby.
• How sustainable and 'green' are they? Factors such as organic veg, higher-welfare meat or the company having B-corp certification may be important to you, but not all of them have these eco-credentials. FAQ or 'about us' sections often reveal a lot about a company's values and how those are reflected in the products they sell.

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How we tested recipe kits and meal boxes

The results are based on an online survey of 3,059 adults – members of the Which? Connect panel and members of the public – in June 2025, who had used recipe boxes or meal kits in the past two years. 

We asked them to rate the companies they'd tried on a range of factors, including value for money, range/variety of recipes available, quality of food included in the boxes, portion sizes of meals, ease of placing and adjusting orders, and ease of pausing a subscription/skipping a box without having to cancel.

Our analysis is based on 5,652 different customer experiences, as some people had tried multiple companies.

The overall customer score is based on satisfaction and the likelihood of recommending the company to others. To give a company a rating, we needed a minimum of 30 responses. The sample sizes for each company are in brackets in the tables.

Prices and availability last checked: 1 September 2025