Plated

Introduction

Plated is a weekly meal delivery kit service which puts the power back in the hands of the customer. Each week there are 20 original and delicious chef-designed meals entirely at your beck and call. What makes Plated different to other meal kit delivery providers is their flexibility and the power to personalize plans to fit you and your schedule. Enjoy your stress-free dishes delivered to your door in a long-lasting and reliably-fresh box containing meals in two, three, or four servings – you have the flexibility to choose any combination of recipes with no limitations. Maybe you are sad and want tasty brownies for dinner every night? – it’s entirely up to you with the personalized plans of the Plated meal kit delivery service.

Pros

• Globally inspired, chef-designed menu with 20 alternating recipes each week
• Flexibility to mix and match your meals in any combination
• Organic proteins on selected recipes
• Meal suggestions made with the use of an algorithm
• Ingredients are packaged together as per recipe
• Easy to use Plated app available on the App Store and Google play

Cons

• Lack of a strict-menu means some might have difficulty knowing what they should be ordering for a healthy balance

Plated is Perfect For

• People that enjoy global cuisines and value flexibility and choice to design a personalized meal kit
• Anyone that wants to be able to choose meals that feature organic ingredients
• Everyone that thought they were unable to enjoy tasty meals with high-quality ingredients because they lacked time to prepare
• Just about all types of people, from singles to couples, and even families

Plated is Not For

• Anyone that has difficulty planning meals or knowing what they can and can’t eat. The flexibility of Plated means that there are no strict set-menus which can be opposite to what some people need

Plated Bonus Offer

• Save up to $143 with 25% off your first four weeks!

Plated Meal Plan Menu Examples

The Plated meal plan menu is seasonal and features 20 original chef-designed recipes to choose from each week. These meals are all prepared using responsibly sourced meats and sustainable seafood, with an overall emphasis on high-quality ingredients. Check out some of our favorite meals from the Plated menu.

Baharat Chicken with Couscous, Chickpeas, and Roasted Beets

If you love trying the various spices and seasoning from around the world, then you need to taste Baharat and its warm and aromatic but not spicy blend. Pan-roasted with Baharat and served on a bed of Israeli couscous, crispy chickpeas for texture and a drizzle of lemony herbed tahini. 

• 35 – 45 minutes preparation time
• Cooking skill – easy
• 2 servings

Nutritional Information:

• Calories 810
• Total Fats 33g
• Total Carbohydrates 73g
• Protein 59g

Gochujang Pork with Brown Rice, Peanuts, and Watermelon Radish

Add some much needed Seoul to your weeknight meals with Plated’s take on pork chops glazed in a sauce spiked with gochujang, soy, garlic, and mirin (a Japanese rice wine) plated on a bed of watermelon radish slaw dressed with a flavor-packed punch of rice wine vinegar.

• 35 – 45 minutes preparation time
• Cooking skill – easy
• 2 servings

Nutritional Information:

• Calories 870
• Total Fats 43g
• Total Carbohydrates 78g
• Protein 39g

Three-Cheese Calzone with Pesto and Garlic-Roasted Tomatoes

An Italian masterpiece, the giant calzone. Creamy ricotta with pesto stuffed inside pizza dough with provolone cheese and mozzarella served with a simple arugula salad for a pizzeria meal at home. 

• 40 – 50 minutes preparation time
• Cooking skill – easy
• 2 servings

Nutritional Information:

• Calories 1020
• Total Fats 57g
• Total Carbohydrates 100g
• Protein 31g

Steak and Cheddar Grits with Roasted Peppers and Onions

The cheesy, creamy, fast-cooking grits are loved by Plated customers so always take note and add them to your weekly menu when featured. This take of their grits (yes, they have a few recipes!) is whisked with a classic cheddar for a salty flavor and topped with roasted peppers, onions and seared steak.

• 30 – 40 minutes preparation time
• Cooking skill – medium
• 2 servings

Nutritional Information:

• Calories 620
• Total Fats 27g
• Total Carbohydrates 50g
• Protein 44g

Hasselback Apples with Pecan Streusel and Whipped Mascarpone

I love hasselback anything, and these hasselback apples are delicious. If you didn’t already know, the hasselback technique involves the top half of the apples being sliced thinly with the bottoms left intact to create a slinky or accordion-like effect. Splash the layers with a combination of brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon for a tender bake and top with pecan streusel for the added crunch. Finish it off with a reasonable amount of honey mascarpone for a dessert you will love.

• 45 – 55 minutes preparation time
• Cooking skill – medium
• 4 servings

Nutritional Information:

• Calories 380
• Total Fats 28g
• Total Carbohydrates 33g
• Protein 4g

What’s unique about Plated?

The unique thing about the Plated meal kit delivery service is that there really are no rules when it comes to your meals.

When you sign up to Plated, you let them know how often you want to cook and what you like to eat, and while they make recommendations to you for great meal combinations – the decision is entirely yours.

As I mentioned, there are no pre-determined menus or strict diet menus. Each week you can choose from 20 new recipes, with desserts optional on top of that!

You get your choice of delivery dates either Wednesday, Friday or Saturday and you won’t need to stress about the delivery because everything is packaged by the recipe and carefully packed into an insulated box that will keep your ingredients fresh until midnight that day of delivery.

Plus, no signature required by you either!

Once your pre-portioned Plated box arrives, you will have everything you need to create a high-quality meal, with not an ounce under or over so nothing to go in the garbage.

It has to be said though, while this freedom and flexibility is fantastic for most – there will be some people that Plated is not the best meal kit delivery service to go with. What I mean by this is, with high power comes great responsibility and while the menus are not strict or set for essential weight-loss diets – this means you will need to put in more effort when it comes to knowing and deciding what it is you can or can’t eat.

How to Get Started with Plated

1. Signup for an account

The first thing to do when getting started with Plated is to sign up and enter your name, email address and zip code to open your customer account.

2. Complete survey information

Complete the survey information which includes your food preferences so that they know what recommendations to make, how much you would like to cook and how many servings, and finally what day would you prefer to receive your Plated meal boxes (either Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday).

3. Delivery and payment details

You are close to being finished, just enter your delivery address details, check that your subscription or servings details are correct, and finalize your payment details.

4. Choose your meals

Hooray, now the fun part! Choose your meals for your first week from a selection of 20 plus as well as tasty dessert and sides options!

Meal options & Specialty diets

Plated provides a tremendous new seasonal menu every week with 20 original chef-designed recipes that are great for every cooking level (I especially love this as I still dislike cooking so quick and easy is my friend!). Meal options can take from 20-minutes for quick-prep recipes through to culinary adventures in less than an hour!

When I say Plated offers real value and flexibility, I mean it, there are no set menus so pick and change all your like. Plus, choosing your meals is easy thanks to their very customer-friendly menu filters – just click the categories you want to filter by and up come to the recipes linked to them! Check out the available categories for meals from Plated below:

• Brunch
• Family-friendly
• Meat
• Seafood
• Vegetarian
• Dessert
• Appetizer
• Side
• Weekly Recipe
• Popular Recipe
• Low-calorie
• Low-carb
• No Gluten Ingredients
• Stovetop-only
• Spicy

How much does Plated cost?

Plated meal plans are reasonable, with the pricing structure dependent on the number of servings per week. Check out the breakdown of how the Plated menus are priced in the table below.

Plated delivers to over 95% of the United States, but you won’t have to worry about any issues with delivery as your zip code is checked when you create your customer account at the start.

Shipping costs just $7.95 across all servings per night/nights per week offerings – which is reasonable considering the quality of packaging and protection inside each Plated box. However, I was a little disappointed not to see the shipping costs waived on the more substantial meal plans.

How Long Do Plated Meals Last?

Each of your selected meals from Plated will have their own estimated timeframe for cooking, but for the most part, you will not have any worries as the meals and servings being delivered each week will last the duration provided they are kept refrigerated where necessary and not left out in the elements.

What Comes in the Plated Box?

Now, a word of caution, especially if you have tried other meal kit delivery services – the Plated box is carefully put together and packed in compactly. Don’t freak out if your first impression is that you were getting smaller portions or lesser bang for your buck – I had these fears but when it came to the prep and eating time the meals were standard.

Inside the Plated box is all the pre-portioned ingredients which are packed by recipe, so if you are prone to brain snaps like me and don’t remember all the ingredients at times, you will appreciate the organization.

Your meals are shipped via FedEx or local couriers and will generally arrive between 8 am and 8 pm. Don’t worry if you are not home though because there is no signature required for your delivery and the fully insulated box will keep your Plated box cool and your ingredients fresh up to about midnight on the day of delivery!

How is that for peace of mind?

Plated Customer Support

The Plated website is very customer-friendly, and their help center is where you will find answers to their frequently asked questions. While there are not as many articles here as we have come to expect from meal kit delivery services – Plated has 16 items about cooking, ingredients, subscription and delivery, and 6 items about billing and packaging.

This is nothing too dramatic, though, and maybe it is because their website is that great and is packed full of information that customers don’t ask many questions?

If you are itching to ask a question or simply want to get in contact with the customer service team at Plated, you can contact them on (855) 525-2399 or via email at [email protected].

Alternatively, they keep a significant presence on social media, and you can reach out to their support team via the online chat function on their website or message their team directly on social media at:

• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• Instagram

Plated Conclusion

In an age where so much is done for us, Plated has taken the opposite approach and kept a slither of the structure while providing customers with an excellent offering of quality, fresh ingredients combined with tasty recipes for all cooking skill levels. Plated does all the work and lets you go with only what you want.

Their website is a little finicky at times, but the mobile app works a charm, and while you can be flexible in your meal choices and adding or removing options is quickly done – you can’t necessarily do this on the fly, for example, if you had visitors coming over the weekend. This is because Plated does need 6-days notice before cancelling a shipment.

Overall, the quality of meals is excellent and the convenience of ordering fresh to your door is the icing on the cake – which you can order from Plated too! But jokes aside, if you are looking for a little help in life and you love the thought of taste-testing your way around the world then Plated would be an ideal choice to make for a meal kit delivery service.