Get Plated and Make Your Own Gourmet Meals at Home

By Nancy Johnson Horn, Editor

I don’t always have time, but I do love to cook. I’ll be inspired to make a great dinner and end up substituting ingredients (because I won’t have something and didn’t think about running to the store first). Plated can change all that. Basically, you pick a recipe and they send you ALL the food to make it, plus the recipe (with easy- to-follow pictures).

I got the opportunity to meet the Plated Team in person in NYC.

Check out my video from the Plated Event!

Here’s how it works:
You’ve got two options 1) Sign up and become a member (you pay a monthly free, which is pretty low) and then each plate costs $12. If you do it as a non member, your cost is $15.

Each week, you pick how many plates you want to order (minimum is 4) and you finalize your order by Sunday night. Tuesday you get a chilled box with everything you need to make that dish. If the dish calls for a pat of butter or a certain spice — Plated includes that. While the price may seem a little high —  figure in that you don’t have to go buy a whole bottle of something like rice wine vinegar or stick of butter. They put in just enough for the recipe. They sent little recyclable bottles, so you don’t have to go hunting in your pantry for that obscure ingredient. Each plate’s supplies are bundled together (if your recipes calls for carrots, potatoes, spices, herbs and a steak – it’s ALL included).

Will you feel full? Absolutely, but I recommend making a salad with some of the Plated meals. For example, they sent amazing cuts of steak for a dish, but they weren’t huge pieces. So I made a salad to make sure my husband was full.

I really liked the meats that they sent. My philosophy on meat is that I’d rather have a better, smaller, grass fed cut of meat than a bigger, fattier, cut of meat (that I’m not sure was ethically raised). The chicken and beef were antibiotic free and from smaller butchers.

What I wasn’t thrilled about: If you don’t pick your plates, they automatically pick 4 plates for you and mail them to you. You have to manually cancel if you are going to be away or busy for dinner that Tuesday night. Also, I tend to want to cook more on a Sunday or Monday and you just can’t get your order until Tuesdays.

I have successfully received the plates and stored them in the fridge for a couple of days before cooking, but you should cook the plates as soon as you get them for optimal freshness. Also, make sure you look at the time commitment for each dish. Some dishes took almost no time to make, but some (like the chicken wrapped in lettuce leaves) took longer. My husband and I have been ordering the 4 plates (which gives us two nights of dinners), so I know Tuesdays and Wednesdays are covered. But if you have children who actually eat the same food you do, Plated probably isn’t for you. I love what Plated offers, but it would get expensive if my children wanted to eat what we do (we’d end up buying more plates a week).

Here’s my #PlatedPics of their Red, White and Bleu Burger.

And boy, was it delicious! I rarely eat beef burgers, but the beef was grass fed and local (and really good). Note: I am newly dairy free, so I left off the bleu cheese on my burger.

These are chef created recipes and I loved the week’s menu (they offer 4-5 plate choices a week and you choose what you want).

Now, here’s your chance to try Plated. Does Plated send plates to your area? Check here.

We’re giving away a gift card with 4 plates and one month membership. Enter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to Plated for a fun evening and for supplying the gift card. No compensation was received.