Plated February 2016 Subscription Box Review + Coupon

This week Plated had something so cool we had to get it.   Plated sends weekly dinner kits with high quality ingredients and chef-created recipes. Each week you’ll choose from a variety of quick gourmet meals that range from meats, chicken, seafood, and purely vegetarian options. There’s enough selection to please all palates, and the recipes are seasonally focused. We love the way each meal incorporates only a couple key herbs or spices; the flavors shine through, and the recipes remain easy to follow. We love getting boxes most week to try new recipes, and we save the must make again recipes – although they’re also available in your account.

Important to note: whereas Plated has been a subscription, you could previously turn off auto-shipments. You can no longer do that. No big deal for us, because we like to go in and select what recipes we’re receiving anyways. You can skip at the click of a button.

The jute packaging is here again!

Boxes are always packed with the meat on the bottom, underneath a few big ice packs — the rest of the food is set on top with more ice.

Plated sends a weekly email — it doesn’t tell you much about your meals, other than what you need from home. There’s now no reminder of the ease of preparation and all the other subscriptions provide some version of that.

We get asked a lot – Sometimes we order Plated and sometimes Hello Fresh. It just depends on what meals we’re interested in. [Hello Fresh: Take $40 off your first box with coupon code 7UT7K8] We have also started ordering Home Chef ($30 off with link). We love all of these boxes – try them out and pick your favorite.

Plated has new branding – but we’re still bummed they don’t put the ease of preparation on the recipe card.  They could put it right there where it says serves 2 people – because all of Plated’s meals serve two people!

Plated’s recipes rely on mise en place and then cook – we often mix up the steps from how the recipe is written, but we’re both experienced cooks and know what can be accomplished while something else cooks. So, read your cards if you need the step by steps.

All the food comes bagged up and separated (mostly) into the recipes.
 

Spaghetti and Meatballs with Ricotta, Pecorino, and Marinara Sauce

Difficulty easy

Time 35-45 Minutes

Calories 690 per serving

We knew the kids would love this dish, so we actually doubled up on this dish, ordering two meals.  Pictured above is one (two-serving) meal, served family-style.  I minced the shallot, garlic and parsley very fine before adding them to the meatballs, so the kids gobbled them up happily!  This was a flavorful and straightforward spaghetti and meatballs.

Fried Green Tomato Po’ Boys with Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Difficulty challenging

Time 35-45 Minutes

Calories 830 per serving

We thought this dish was really interesting.  We love fried green tomatoes as a great change of pace dish.  You can find Po’ boys made with everything from fried seafood to roast beef, but this is the first I’d seen this variation.  This recipe is served on the traditional French bread and classically dressed with remoulade, mustard, and shredded lettuce.  Obviously, putting tomato on would’ve been a bit excessive.  These were hearty and tasty, and it was an exceedingly simple dish to put together, the three stage battering being the only painful part.  

Apple-Cherry Cobbler with Flaky Biscuit

Difficulty easy

Time 30-40 Minutes

Calories 440 per serving

What a great dessert!  This was very simple to throw together, and it cooked at the same temp as the sweet potatoes that went with the Po’ Boys, so I made them together.  The cherries added a delightful, plump burst of flavor to the dish, and we were very happy that it was lightly sweetened instead of super-syrupy.  This made it great for both dessert and as a quick bit in the morning.

This was another good week for Plated.  I like that they’ve been offering both middle-of-the road and very creative options each week, so we nearly always find a few things that suit our tastes.

We are enjoying the new Plated interface and like that I have direct access to a Plated “concierge” when we want to change our order for the week (for example, to add double of one dish, or an extra dish than my subscription). We have certainly been using this feature.

Visit Plated to find or more or to subscribe. Currently you can get 2 free plates when you buy 4 when you sign up with this link (no coupon code required).