EveryPlate’s Meal Kit Offers Affordable Vegetarian Options

As a vegan, my choices for plant-centric meal kits are, let's say, limited, compared to the extremely omnivorous WIRED reviewer Matthew Korfhage, who has tested nearly two dozen meal kits with everything from spicy shrimp to garlic filet mignon and plum pork loin.

I've tested several plant-based meal kits, which, unlike normal meal kits, are often much more expensive than my usual produce-heavy weekly grocery haul, and also seriously limited in their rotating plant-based or vegetarian options.

All this to say, I was pleasantly surprised when I tried EveryPlate's vegetarian fare for a week. Each meal came to $7 per serving for two people for four meals, but oftentimes the leftovers ended up stretching over several meals. (There's a discount running at the time of writing, with each serving going for $3—which is almost ramen pricing these days.) In total, my first box of four meals ended up being $56 without discount and $24 with the first-time discount (not including shipping cost of $11), and fed me for almost the entire week. That's cheaper than my usual weekly grocery bill at Trader Joe's in NYC.

Although EveryPlate meals could be boring, with a pasta or rice base and lots of cheese, each was tasty enough that I actually looked forward to eating the leftovers. I was actually excited to make (and eat) the next planned meal—a rarity in my time testing meal kits, to be honest.

Plan, Preferences, and Picking Process

After testing many meal kits, one thing I've grown to appreciate is transparency when it comes to meal choices and price. EveryPlate has both. At a regular price of $7 a serving plus shipping, HelloFresh's budget offering, EveryPlate, is still the lowest-cost meal kit either Korfhage or I have tested; it's cheaper than other budget choices, and even meal kits for toddlers.

EveryPlate is much like parent HelloFresh, but stays cheaper by relying more on simple, grain-heavy dishes, like pasta or rice with a hero flavor. EveryPlate's choices leaned more safe and appealing to the masses; no meal was as adventurous as Purple Carrot, or as health-conscious as Thistle. Each meal I tested took about one hour to prep and cook, although the directions said it would take only 20 to 30 minutes (except for the pizzas I made). And each meal was listed in the 500- to 1,200-calorie range. Because there was limited information on the recipe card (more on that below), it was unclear if the calorie count was total or per serving.

When you order, you start out selecting meal type preferences, like Smart & Fit (calorie-conscious meals), Quick & Easy, Family Faves, and Veggie, so that EveryPlate shows you the most relevant recipes first. You can also see EveryPlate's weekly menu to get a better idea of future meal selections and weekly choices. I appreciated EveryPlate's transparency, considering about half of the meal kits I've tested don't allow you to see selections until after you sign up and input payment information. If you don't like their choices after you've paid, you're SOL.