Plated August 2016 Subscription Box Review + Coupon

Plated is a weekly dinner kit subscription box 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.  Plated seems to have made a concerted effort to offer some familiar comfort food type options each week.  You can swap out your recipes and skip any week you don’t want.

Plated has recently switched up their insulation.  They are currently using a recycled thread material.

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.

On-card information is now streamlined and includes only prep-time, number of servings, and calorie count.  Most of Plated’s meals serve two people.  Unless stated otherwise, the pics of finished dishes show a single serving.

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.

Everything in our box! All the food comes bagged up and separated (mostly) into the recipes — meat and some large or delicate items are bagged separately.

Chocolate Coconut Bites With Peanut Butter and Sea Salt. 35-45 minutes, easy, 390 calories per serving.

This dessert was much different than it sounded on paper.  The peanut butter was really just a binding agent, and it didn’t really shine through.  The chocolate was very delicious, and the salt provided a pleasant accent.  The coconut was also a strong presence, but the coconut flour absorbed more moisture than the recipe anticipated (coconut flour is almost 3x as thirsty as regular wheat flour).   I think these would have benefitted from a liberal drizzle of coconut rum prior to coating!

Caprese Chicken Over Warm Spinach Salad. 25-35 minutes, medium, 800 calories per serving.

Loved this dish.  The recipe included twice as much Parmesan as I would’ve thought would fit on the chicken breast, but I tried to fit it all on!  I did throw the fried breast into the oven for an additional several minutes, as I was sure my extreme breading technique insulated the chicken more than the recipe anticipated.  It was very delicious and had an excellent texture — very tender and juicy, with a crunchy, cheesy coating.  The chicken was so robust that the salad didn’t need any crisp or crunchy texture, and the combo was very satisfying.  The three step breading process was a tiny pain, but the result was well worth it, and the simplicity of the salad portion of the dish balanced it out.

Thai Steak And Noodle Salad With Peanut Dressing. 35-45 minutes, easy, 540 calories per serving.

This dish was a creative hybrid of a noodle dish and a leafy salad.  The frisee held up well in the dressing, and the overall dish had a lovely Thai-inspired flavor.  The steak was tender and loverly, and the flavor was on point.  Mildly spicy, the salad had all the classic Thai flavor notes, from sriracha to lime, mint, basil, and peanuts.  A very easy dish with a wonderful medley of flavors.
We enjoy Plated and order it frequently.  Of the three meal kits we regularly order, Plated shoots for the most upscale image, echoing popular trends in food culture.  Traditionally, they would employ a French sauce with most dishes.  They’ve since incorporated more international flavor and included many simplified and more mainstream offerings.  They seem to have dialed back the pretentiousness and trendiness, appealing to a broader audience while still offering top notch fare.

What do you think of Plated?

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).