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!)
Check out all of our reviews of Meal Delivery Services to see every meal kit subscription box option!
This review is for the 2 recipes for 2 people (4 plates) plan, + an $8.00 dessert which cost $55.80 per week (+ $6.00 shipping). I chose to have chicken, beef, shellfish, and fish as options to include in my recipes.
This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Plated
The Subscription Box: Plated
The Cost: 2 recipes (4 plates) = $47.80 per week + 6.00 shipping. Dessert costs $8.00 per serving (available after your first order). Shipping is free for plans over $60.
Check out all of Plated's plans here!
ACTIVE DEAL: Get 25% off your first four weeks (up to $159 in savings). No coupon needed - just use this link.
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.
Our Review
The ingredients from the recipes that come are all individually wrapped and labeled with the name of the dish except for smaller items that are all together in a bag (and also labeled).
Below the produce and other ingredients, you'll find a divider.
Under that is where your meats will be, against the ice packs keeping everything cold.
Salmon Burgers with Chive Aioli and Watercress
Calories per Serving: 740
Total Prep and Cook Time (listed): 25-35 minutes
Actual Time to Cook: 30 minutes
Cooking Skill Level: Easy
In addition to the larger ingredients, there are the contents of the bag containing all of the smaller parts so they don't get lost.
The recipe card has a beautiful photo of the meal completed and plated, as well as a description, cook time, and caloric intake.
On the back, you'll find details instructions on what to do when. The left side lists the ingredients, what you are expected to provide (usually basics like salt, pepper, and olive oil), and some recipe tips. They always ask you to read the entire recipe card through once before you begin.
I started by combining the green parts of the scallions I had sliced with roughly chopped capers, horseradish, breadcrumbs, and mustard.
I then added the salmon and mixed everything together with my hands, adding some salt.
I then formed two patties, about an inch thick.
The recipe called for me to slice and toast the buns first, about three minutes.
I then added oil to the pan and the salmon patties. They cooked for five minutes on each side. Looking rather handsome, if I do say so myself.
While the salmon patties cooked, I mixed olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt + pepper together for the dressing.
Then the watercress and spring mix was tossed with it for a lightly dressed salad.
I then made the chive aioli by combing mayonnaise, chives, lemon juice, and salt + pepper. It was a bit thinner than I thought it should be, so I added it to the fridge for a bit.
Once the salmon was done, it was time to plate! This was really simple and all I needed to do was slather the burger in the chive aioli and add the salad on the side.
This meal was WONDERFUL. I have never made salmon burgers before and it was really easy to do. The salad was perfectly dressed and this was a great portion size for a dinner. I'm so proud of myself for cooking the salmon patties so well!
Soy-Glazed Chicken with Long Life Noodles, Sriracha Cashews, and Pea Shoots
Calories per Serving: 710
Total Prep and Cook Time (listed): 25-35 minutes
Actual Time to Cook: 30 minutes
Cooking Skill Level: Easy
Earlier this month I botched some noodles, so this is my time for REDEMPTION!!
It seemed silly to put such a small amount of food on a large baking sheet, but I'll be darned if I'm going to question it. I tossed the cashews in the sriracha powder and some oil in a small bowl to get them coated before placing them on the sheet and into the oven at 325 for 10 minutes.
The chicken was simply seasoned with salt + pepper before going into the pan with some oil for 6 minutes per side.
I was instructed to separate the long life noodles so they weren't all stuck together before putting them in a pot of salted boiling water.
When they were done, I remembered to run cold water over them to stop the cooking! Yay! I didn't ruin the noodles. I even remembered to save some of the water for future use.
The cashews came out of the oven nice n toasty.
I cubed the chicken on a cutting board into bite-sized pieces.
The soy glaze was then made with soy sauce, hoisin, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, scallion whites and light greens, pickled ginger, and reserved noodle cooking water.
Everyone went back into the large pan to commingle and get acquainted.
After a couple of minutes, the plating (or should I say bowl-ing) commenced! The dish was garnished with pea shoots, green scallions, cilantro, and of course, the sriracha cashews.
I don't know why, but I was so surprised at how much I loved this. I think it was a great summer dinner and everything went together so well! The cashews brought a little heat but the pea shoots cooled it down. Lovely!
Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches with Maple Buttercream
Calories per Serving: 640
Total Prep and Cook Time (listed): 40-50 minutes
Actual Time to Cook: 35 minutes
Cooking Skill Level: Easy
I'll be honest, when I heard that desserts were an option, my ears perked up, but it didn't occur to me that I'd be baking them from scratch. I envisioned cookies coming and maybe making the filling and assembling them.
Note here that an egg is something you will need to provide. Plated doesn't send them with the rest of the ingredients.
First, I whisked half the butter with brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Kinda gross looking, but also kind of pretty?
Then, the dry ingredients (oats, flour, baking soda, spice mix, and salt) were mixed.
And then they were mixed together! Again, I was really pleased with the consistency here. I am really bad at baking and feel like things never come out how they should.
I formed eight dough balls and placed them on a baking sheet. I was impressed that Plated included the parchment paper.
After 10 minutes, the cookies didn't seem quite ready, so I put them in for another 2, and then another 3. Here they are, out of the oven and ready to cool.
Making the maple buttercream was shockingly easy. I took the other half of the butter, the cream cheese, and used half of the supplied maple syrup to whisk together into this gorgeous filling you see before you. I thought it wouldn't be enough at first, but it was.
This recipe made four nice sized cookies sandwiches. Once the cookies were cooled, I just added some buttercream and smooshed them together.
These were so freaking delicious! The recipe said it'd take 40-50 minutes but I feel like it took a fraction of that time, or at least it didn't feel like it took that long. Co-workers agree: these ruled! I don't love maple flavor, but these were subtle and not overly sweet. YUMMMMM.
Verdict: It had been a while since I cooked Plated, but it just took one box to remind me how much I love it. It's a little pricier than some other meal kits but I think the recipes stand apart and are just wonderful. It also has to be one of the few (if not only) meal kits that offer a dessert. What a grand idea. I really enjoyed everything this time around and am missing it more than I knew!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? The Plated menus change weekly and you need to lock in orders before shipments go out, so these recipes are gone for now.
Coupon - Save 25% off your first 4 weeks of Plated with any subscription plan (up to a $159.20 value)
Value Breakdown: This box cost $47.80 + $6.00 shipping, which is $13.45 per meal, with an additional 4 sandwich cookies that break down to be $2.00 each.
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