Cooking Dinner with a Gousto Recipe Box (REVIEW)

***REVIEW***

When I was invited to review a Gousto Recipe Box I knew it would be a challenge. Not because I don’t like cooking. Not because I find cooking difficult, In fact, cooking is one of my favourite past-times / necessities in life. But because I find it difficult to stick to a recipe. I love to experiment, put my own twist on things and adapt recipes to fit me and my family's tastes.

However, I was also intrigued to discover how good a Gousto Recipe Box would be and therefore I would have to stick to the rules!

Choice of Meals

I chose two vegetarian dishes, which also happen to be vegan, which were a Crispy Mushroom Dal with Coriander Chutney and a Japanese Aubergine Katsu Curry. Both are variations on a curry dish. The Dal is more similar to something I’d usually cook but the crispy mushroom and pest etc was a great twist that I’ve already repeated. I know aubergines are good for me but I'm often unsure of how to cook them without them becoming too soft and that’s a texture I really don’t like so I had great hopes for the Katsu curry, both in terms of taste and teaching me something new.

Crispy Mushroom Dal and Coriander Chutney

The ingredients are as follows: Mushrooms, onion, garlic, fresh root ginger, fresh coriander, stock cube, rice vinegar, chilli flakes, creamed coconut, curry powder, red lentils and green lentils.

This was the first dish I attempted to make and I'm pleased to say I found the whole process simple, the instructions easy to follow and the time allocated was pretty much exact. I don't have a pestle and mortar but I found it just as easy to chop the garlic and ginger and just crush with the same effect. I did think when serving that the dish was missing either rice or bread, but do you know what once we'd eaten it there was absolutely enough food for two hungry people. Additional bread or rice would be a great accompaniment but not actually necessary. 

As you can see the dish actually looks like it is meant to.

Japanese Aubergine Katsu Curry

The ingredients are as follows: Aubergine, Basmati Rice, Fresh Coriander, Curry Powder, Mang Chutney, Breadcrumbs, Rice Vinegar, Mixed Salad, Soy Sauce, Spring Onions, Carrots, Fresh root ginger and shallots.

This was delicious. So tasty. The amount of food was easily sufficient – could easily have had less salad on the plate but I thought we’d try and be extra healthy. The instructions were easy to follow, took slightly longer than the 45 minutes stated, however as a tip I’d say to prepare the vegetables first, rather as you go along and then the cooking will be so much easier. 

Again I'm pleased to say that the dish looked like it was meant to. Both myself, and hubby were impressed.

Online Ordering

It was really easy to order. The only thing that made it difficult was the choice. I’d decided I was going to pick vegetarian meals for me and hubby, but I’m not used to so much choice in comparison to supermarket meal deals or eating out in mainstream restaurants.

Delivery

I selected a date and my order arrived. Be sure to choose a date first as the meals available do vary according to the date.

Contents

Everything arrived perfectly and on time. There were no broken or damaged ingredients. Each ingredient is measured out to the amount the recipe requires. This maybe creates more waste from unnecessary packaging however overall it does make the cooking process a lot simpler. Some additional ingredients are required but these are store cupboard items such as flour, oil and sugar.

Cost

Now to my only negative thoughts about of the whole experience. To order a box at full price is from £27.40 for two meals for two people. For the quality of food, this is cheaper than eating out or ordering a takeaway, but it is a lot more expensive than buying the ingredients yourself. The first dish was so tasty that in fact I have already done this and the equivalent items were less than a third of the price.

However, you are buying convenience and a new experience. There are often deals making a recipe box much cheaper than the standard price and I think this would especially be a great idea for someone who is unsure of cooking and wants to impress on a special occasion.

Overall I had a lof of fun both cooking and eating these dishes. The recipe cards ask you to rate the recipes. They would both get 5/5 from me.

Have you tried a recipe box?

Deb x

Disclosure: We were sent a Gousto Recipe Box free of charge in exchange for an honest review.