Have you been considering trying a meal subscription box such as Gousto? We’ve been using Gousto for the last few months and this post covers all of your burning questions including, “Is Gousto worth it?”

There are many benefits to trying a meal subscription box, especially if you feel stuck in a rut when cooking dinner. Having a meal subscription box can also help you with portion control, eating more vegetables and avoiding the takeaway if you have a particularly busy lifestyle.

What Is A Meal Subscription Box?

A meal subscription box is a way of having groceries delivered where the ingredients for your chosen meals are already portioned.

Everything you need for each meal is included in your box, such as meat, vegetables, rice and ingredients to make sauces. This can really help with meal planning and help families try new meals without needing to buy lots of herbs or spices they might never use again.

You can have meals delivered weekly, fortnightly or monthly and can stop your subscription at any time. Typically you would select your recipes a week or two in advance and then these are delivered to your door on your chosen delivery day.

There are several different meal subscription services including Hello Fresh, Green Chef, Gousto and Pasta Evangelists.

I’ll share some of our favourite things about Gousto, as well as a few of the negatives later on in the post, but first, let’s take a look at the cost.

How Much Is Gousto Per Week? Gousto Box Prices

The cost of your Gousto box will depend on several factors, including how many people you are ordering for, how many meals you are ordering each week, whether you’ve ordered anything with a premium mark up and whether you’d like any extras such as desserts or bread.

The more portions of food you order, the cheaper it is. There is also a minimum order of two meals for two and a delivery charge of £1.99.

Cost of Gousto boxes based on two servings (meal for two)

• 2 meals cost £6.25 per serving or £24.99 per week
• 3 meals cost £5.00 per serving or £29.99 per week
• 4 meals cost £4.37 per serving or £34.99 per week
• 5 meals cost £4.30 per serving or £42.99 per week

Cost of Gousto boxes based on four servings (meal for four)

• 2 meals cost £3.97 per serving or £31.75 per week
• 3 meals cost £3.56 per serving or £42.45 per week
• 4 meals cost £3.14 per serving  or £52.24 per week

Prices are correct at the time of publishing (Sept 2022) but could be subject to change.

If you order a meal for four, you are given double quantities of the two-person recipe eg, two packs of chicken rather than one larger pack. This means if you want to make Gousto as cost-effective as possible, you can order a four-person meal and easily split it down into two meals for two, freezing ingredients if needed.

This is something we have been doing we’ve found it works really well.

Some meals have an additional cost, usually due to premium ingredients such as steak or king prawns and can be anything from £1 per meal up to £4.50 per meal.

Gousto usually has quite good new customer offers. If you would like to try Gousto for the first time you can currently get 65% off your first box and 25% off* any subsequent boxes you decide to try. This means your first box could cost as little as £15 (please note this offer is subject to change at any time).

Remember that it is a subscription service so you’ll need to cancel if you don’t want to continue after your first box. This is really easy to do on the Gousto website.

Can You Get Gousto For One Person?

Unfortunately, you cannot order Gousto for one person. However, if it is something you’d really like to try, I would recommend ordering the meal for two and then freezing half after cooking to eat another day.

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Is Gousto Worth It: What Are Gousto Portion Sizes Like?

Overall we’ve found Gousto portion sizes to be pretty reasonable.

My husband has a big appetite so we do occasionally add some extra roti to go with a curry or I might serve an extra portion of vegetables alongside those provided, but he is very active in his job so needs to eat plenty.

For my appetite, I find the meals are just right. I would say some of the meat portions (particularly the chicken which is one large breast split between two people) are probably smaller than what I would typically cook, but once the meal is put together, it’s not really noticeable.

It’s actually been a great way to reduce our meat consumption and I like recipes that replace half of the meat we’d usually use with vegetables, for example, the sweet potato and chicken chilli. If I made the recipe without the Gousto box I’d only use one chicken breast.

We’ve found the meat sauce for the spaghetti bolognese to be a very generous portion, the same with the meat in the lamb sausage rolls.

Is Gousto Healthy?

Yes, Gousto can be healthy and there are several lighter options on the weekly menus including around ten calorie-controlled options (less than 600 calories) and twenty healthy options. You can also swap out meat for fish or vegetables in some dishes.

A meal subscription box such as Gousto* can be a great place to start if you’re unsure about how to cook healthier meals.

Is Gousto Good For Weight Loss?

Everyone’s weight loss journey is different but there are lots of reasons Gousto could be really helpful for anyone trying to lose weight.

Portion Control – As Gousto meals come ready to cook, everything has already been weighed out and measured for you, so you can’t accidentally cook too much food.

Fewer Supermarket Trips – If you find impulse buying at the supermarket can be an issue, having a meal subscription box delivered can help eliminate the need for trips to the store.

Stress-Free Dinners – A change in diet can be stressful, but having everything you need ready to go can make eating a calorie-controlled diet much easier.

How Long Does A Gousto Box Stay Fresh?

When a Gousto box arrives at your house it should stay fresh for up to twelve hours. This means you can have it delivered and left inside a porch, shed or with a neighbour if you’re not going to be home when it arrives.

The box comes with several large ice packs and is well insulated to ensure that the food remains cold, especially perishables such as raw meat.

Is Gousto Worth The Money?

If you’re using the initial offer of 65% off your first box* then Gousto probably works out at less than what you pay in the supermarket so it is good value for money.

After that, it’s up to you to decide whether it provides good value for you and your circumstances.

Many people love the convenience of Gousto and are happy to pay a premium for that.

Gouso makes meal planning and cooking very easy and those with a busy lifestyle may find that it works out cheaper and healthier than constant takeaways or other convenience foods such as ready meals.

It can also help to eliminate food waste and is an easy way to stay on a calorie-controlled diet. As all ingredients are provided it can help stop last-minute dashes to the supermarket for things needed to complete recipes.

If you’re looking to get the absolute best value for money on the food that you buy or the best price per portion/meal then Gousto probably isn’t right for you.

What Are The Best Things About Gousto Boxes?

We’ve really enjoyed having Gousto over the last few months so I wanted to share some of the positives. 

• The Gousto website is really easy to use. It’s easy to change or pause your subscription at any time and if you cancel several upcoming deliveries they actually offer to pause your subscription for you.
•  Gousto has a huge range of recipes, around 75 each week which is much more than most other meal subscription services. It’s never hard to find something we want to try!
• There are family classics which are always on the menu every week such as spaghetti bolognese and beef burgers as well as meals for those who want to be a bit more adventurous.
• Some meals let you swap out the main ingredient if you’d prefer, for example, to change to fish instead of chicken.
• You can order a free folder to keep your recipe cards in – we love going back and using the recipes as an inspiration even when you’re not using the service.
• Some extras, if you want to bulk up a meal, are very reasonably priced such as extra potatoes for 50p and Naan bread for 95p.
• You can try new meals without the need to purchase lots of herbs and spices that you might not use again.
• Convenient – having meals and ingredients ready to go can stop the lure of the takeaway on busy nights.
• Great if you’re not an experienced cook and would like to learn to cook some meals.
• No waste – meals are always the right portion size if you tend to have a lot of food waste, using Gousto can really reduce this.
• Tasty meals – so far we’ve had maybe two dishes we wouldn’t make again.

What Are The Worst Things About Gousto Boxes?

While we do enjoy using Gousto, there are some negatives.

• Gousto boxes are expensive and you are absolutely paying for convenience. While the introductory offer of 65% off* does make them reasonable value, they are not something I would order every week due to the cost. We’ve been having one box a month just to give us a change from our normal weeknight dinners.
• Missing ingredients can be an issue with Goutso – so far I’ve been lucky that it’s mostly been small packets of herbs or spices which I already had in the cupboard so were easily replaced – however, I can see that it would be really frustrating if you needed to go and buy a main part of your meal after ordering Gousto for convenience.
• I find some of the recipes are either over-complicated or the instructions are in a weird order. Maybe that’s just me though!
• Plastic. While Gousto is doing a lot to reduce its carbon footprint in other ways, the majority of its recipes come with lots and lots of little plastic packets and for me, these are often ingredients I already have in glass jars in my cupboard. I’m not sure what the solution is to this – maybe paper packets for dried herbs and spices would be a good start.

Is Gusto Worth It Overall?

‘Is Gousto worth it?’

This one is tough to answer as I think it’s so dependent on your individual circumstances.

For us, Gousto isn’t something we would order every week due to the cost.

We enjoy ordering a one-off box when we like rather than being subscribed, and this means we don’t accidentally forget to cancel and then end up with meals we can’t afford or don’t like (Gousto chooses meals for you if you don’t pick your own before your next box is due to be delivered).

However, I can absolutely see how the convenience of a weekly Gousto box would be perfect for some people, especially those with a hectic lifestyle or anyone who would like to learn to cook new dishes.

The dishes are tasty and varied and can cater to most dietary requirements. The easy-to-follow instructions make Gousto a great way to get children, especially teenagers, more involved in the kitchen. If you’re stuck in a rut with what you cook then my suggestion would be to try a box now and then to see how you get on!

You can get 65% off your first box and 25% off* any subsequent boxes you decide to try using my link. Happy cooking and if you do give Gousto a try I’d love to hear about it in the comments!