Plated Subscription Box Review + Coupon – February 2018

Plated is a weekly meal kit delivery subscription that delivers you pre-portioned ingredients and recipes to help you make chef-designed recipes at home. They offer different weekly menus and randomly pick recipes for you based on preferences you submit when you sign up. If you'd rather pick your own recipes from the weekly menu, it's easy to hop in and change your order on their website or their handy-dandy app.

Plated is committed to using sustainably sourced seafood, seasonal produce, and meat that’s free from antibiotics and added hormones. Like most meal kits, Plated won't include standard pantry items (think salt, pepper, olive oil). They will, however, email you to let you know what pantry items you should have on hand for that week's box. Prep time and dietary details are listed in each recipe. And if you love a recipe, you can rate it and download a digital recipe card via your online account. (Highly rated recipes sometimes come back as "Encore" recipes for you to order again, so don't forget to leave your star rating each week!)

My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

This review is for the 2 recipes (4 plates) plan, which cost $48.00 per week (+ $6.00 shipping). I chose to have chicken, beef, shellfish, and fish as options to include in my recipes.

About Plated

The Subscription Box: Plated

The Cost: Recipes begin at $12.00 per plate:

• 2 recipes (4 plates)= $48.00 per week (+ $6.00 shipping)
• 3 recipes (6 plates)= $72.00 per week (with free shipping)
• 4 recipes (8 total plates)= $96.00 per week (with free shipping)
• Dessert costs $4.00 per serving (available after your first order)

LIMITED TIME DEAL: Now through 3/31, save 25% off your first 4 weeks of Plated with any subscription plan (up to a $159.20 value)

The Products: All of the pre-portioned fresh and seasonal ingredients you need to make chef-designed recipes at home in your own kitchen.

Ships to: 95% of the U.S. (Currently, Plated does not ship to Hawaii and Alaska, and there are also a few cities in Texas, including San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Laredo, and Midland, where they don’t yet ship.)

Good to know: Plated was recently purchased by Albertsons.

Plated February 2018 Review

Plated sends each meal mostly packaged together in a plastic bag, except for meat and any larger produce that may not fit. Each individually wrapped item is marked with the meal it belongs to so you can organize them in your refrigerator upon unpacking. I really appreciate this extra step to keep things organized and easy for me when unpacking!

Chicken Pot Pie with Parsnip and Thyme 

Calories per Serving: 770

Total Prep and Cook Time (listed): 45-55 minutes

Actual Time to Cook: 50 minutes

Plated recipe cards come with a short description on the front and include the estimated prep and cook time and the calories per serving. On the other side, you'll see a list of ingredients, what you'll need from your kitchen (ingredients as well as tools), recipe tips, and step-by-step directions with photos. This meal was more about letting everything simmer and bake and a good amount of chopping to prep.

I started by chopping all of my ingredients. Here I have carrots, parsnip, celery, potato, thyme, parsley, and onion.

Next, I added the onion, carrots, parsnip, thyme, and celery to my Dutch oven with a little olive oil. I let this all cook down really well, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Now for the potatoes. You are going to want to let these cook for about 8 minutes, and be sure to really stir everything together because it can burn easily.

Once my veggies were cooked perfectly, I added the chicken stock and three tablespoons of heavy cream. I stirred this all together and let it come to a boil.

While this was all cooking I had my chicken breasts baking in the oven on 425 for about 20 minutes. Once my chicken was ready and I was waiting for that broth to boil, I shredded my perfectly cooked chicken.

In went my butter, flour, and shredded chicken. Stir this all really well and let it warm through.

Next, I topped my mixture with pieces of dough. I just broke this apart with my hands to give it a more rustic look, but you can absolutely slice it into two-inch squares as well. You want to make sure you are leaving space to give everything room to breathe when it goes into the oven. Then, into the oven it goes for about 15 minutes depending on how brown you want the top to be.

Then it was time to plate! I topped each bowl with the fresh parsley to give it a nice fresh flavor. This meal was filling and delicious, the perfect cold weather comfort food. I really love pot pie, but it can be pretty daunting to make. What is so great about this recipe is that it was really easy and can be done in one Dutch oven. The vegetables were soft, the chicken mixed with the rich broth was so filling, and the dough on the top was the perfect way to make this really feel like a rustic pot pie. I will be making this again for my family!

Tomato-Braised Chicken with Mashed Cauliflower and Parmesan 

Calories per Serving: 740

Total Prep and Cook Time (listed): 30-40 minutes

Actual Time to Cook: 40 minutes

Here is our second recipe card, I love reading through the recipe tips that are listed on the back of each card.

I started off chopping my broccolini, cauliflower, onion, and garlic. This was pretty easy in terms of prep, which I always appreciate!

Next, I added my broccolini and cauliflower to a pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I popped this all into the oven for about 15 minutes. Another super easy step!

So there were a few steps on how to prepare the chicken. I started off by very lightly searing each side in a pan with olive oil for about two minutes. Then, I popped the chicken into the oven on 425 for about 15 minutes.

Once everything is in the oven, I started on my sauce. I started by adding my onion and garlic to the olive oil to cook through. Next, I added crushed red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, salt, tomato puree, and about a half cup of water. I let this all come to a simmer.

Once my sauce and chicken were cooked, I added my chicken to the sauce. That's not it though! You then want to add this pan into the oven to let this all cook together for about 10 minutes.

Look at that crispy broccolini! Once the cauliflower was done, I transferred it all to my blender along with butter, parmesan cheese, and heavy cream. Blend this all together until smooth or a little chunky if you prefer!

Here you have it! Mashed cauliflower topped with crispy broccolini and braised chicken in a yummy tomato sauce. The cauliflower was my favorite part, super creamy and I made mine a little chunky. The broccolini was fantastic, I love a crispy green, but it really didn't make very much so I was left wanting more. The chicken didn't really blow me away like other meals have in the past. It felt like something was missing, maybe a breading or something extra to really make it stand out. All in all, I liked this meal, but it wasn't anything that made me think I needed to make it again.

Verdict: What I have come to find over my past few experiences with Plated is that it really is a great way to get you and your significant other or friends cooking together! Normally when I am cooking dinner it is a recipe that I have in my head so my husband stays out of my way. With Plated, I enjoy having his help while we each pick which step we want to focus on. Food really does bring people together! This month, I absolutely loved the rustic chicken pot pie and will be making it again. The braised chicken left me wanting more, and while it isn't something I will make again, I still enjoyed the process and really loved the sides!

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No. The Plated menus change weekly and you need to lock in orders before shipments go out.

Coupon - Now through 3/31, save 25% off your first 4 weeks of Plated with any subscription plan (up to a $159.20 value)

Value Breakdown: This box cost $48.00 + $6.00 shipping, which is $13.50 per meal.

Check out all of our Plated Reviews and discover more meal boxes in the Meal Subscription Box Directory!

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Would you eat the meals I cooked from Plated this week?