As Australia’s newest budget meal kit service, EveryPlate caught my attention with their promise of fresh ingredients at lower prices.
I’ve tested their service multiple times since their 2020 launch, cooking everything from simple pasta dishes to more adventurous global recipes.
Backed by HelloFresh (one of Australia’s largest meal kit companies), EveryPlate takes a streamlined approach to meal delivery that helps keep costs down.
In this review, I’ll share my firsthand experience with their service, including the quality of ingredients, portion sizes, and whether the savings are worth the simpler format. If you’re looking for affordable weeknight dinners without the hassle of meal planning, you’ll find out if EveryPlate fits your needs.
EveryPlate Meal Kit Review
EveryPlate Review Summary
EveryPlate delivers surprisingly tasty, well-balanced meals at budget-friendly prices, making it perfect for cost-conscious households who don’t mind spending a few extra minutes sorting ingredients. While portion sizes run small and vegetarian options are limited, the quality of ingredients and reliable delivery make it a solid choice for anyone looking to save money without sacrificing the convenience of meal kits.
Overall
-
Ordering - Website - 9/10
9/10
-
Food - Quality - 8/10
8/10
-
Ordering - Meal Choice - 6.5/10
6.5/10
-
Food - Taste - 6/10
6/10
-
Ordering - Delivery - 7/10
7/10
-
Value For Money - 10/10
10/10
Pros
- The cheapest meal kit in Australia.
- Flexible customization options like protein upgrades and portion doubles (though at extra cost)
- Large selection of 30+ weekly recipes with frequent rotation
- Reliable delivery service with helpful text updates
Cons
- Portion sizes run small, especially for bigger appetites
- Ingredients come loose in the box, making meal sorting more time-consuming
- Limited vegetarian options (around 6 per week)
- Can’t cancel subscription through the mobile app
EveryPlate has been launched as a very clear and direct competitor to Dinnerly, who themselves are owned by Marley Spoon. Taking aim at the ‘budget’ end of the meal kit market, both companies deliver a simplified service at a low cost. The differences? Check out our EveryPlate vs Dinnerly comparison.
EveryPlate initially delivered only to major metropolitan areas across the East Coast, however this has expanded in recent years to include a vast majority of:
- New South Wales
- Victoria
- Australian Capital Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Western Australia
HelloFresh actually delivers to NT as well, so hopefully EveryPlate will continue to expand their delivery network in the coming months (although it has been a few years of waiting!).
Page Contents
Getting Started with EveryPlate
As you’d expect from a polished international outfit, the EveryPlate website is slick and seamless. This makes it really easy to “get started”.
Just like every other meal kit, you are signing up for a weekly delivery, but this has no long-term commitment. You’re able to cancel the weekly boxes easily, online, at any time. However, keep in mind you need to do this at least a week before your delivery. To make things easier, the EveryPlate website makes the deadline clear on your order.
One issue I have is when they ask for your personal details before showing you that week’s menu. Fortunately, I have a workaround for you! You can view the menu up to 4 weeks in advance on their website.
Meal Options Available
When I first reviewed EveryPlate, they were only offering 8 meal choices each week. Now, you’ll find a vastly improved 30+ recipes every week. Whilst that’s significantly fewer than their budget meal kit competitors Dinnerly, it’s plenty to keep you entertained with recipes you enjoy every week.
Each week, there are also a few premium meal options that come with a $2.99 surcharge per serving. So, if saving money is your primary objective then you’ll be limited by a few recipes.
There tend to be around 6 different vegetarian meals each week, which means that EveryPlate is suitable for anyone on a plant-based diet. It’s still a relatively small selection, so if you want 4 or 5 meals you won’t get a lot of choice.
One thing to note: recipes rotate every 4-5 weeks, which means you’ll see familiar meals return regularly. While this might seem limiting, I’ve noticed EveryPlate steadily expanding their recipe catalogue. They’ve struck a good balance between introducing new dishes while keeping popular favorites in rotation.
To give you a sense of the type of meals EveryPlate has on their menu, some of the options available when I’ve ordered in the past included:
- Sweet Chilli Chicken Stir Fry
- Mexican Beef Tacos
- Cheesy Bacon Penne
- Creamy Lentil Dhal
EveryPlate are one of the few meal kit companies to offer a 6-person meal kit as well as offering 6 meals per week on all their different plans. That means EveryPlate is a really great option for large families or people who depend on deliveries for every meal.
Customise your recipes
One of EveryPlate’s standout features is their recipe customization system. For a small additional cost, you can personalize your meals with options like:
- Doubling protein portions
- Upgrading proteins (e.g., beef mince to beef rump)
- Swapping ingredients (like sweet potato for white potato)
- Adding meat to vegetarian dishes
- Including extra vegetables
This flexible approach keeps the base price low while letting you upgrade when desired. Most weekly recipes now offer some form of customization, and I’ve found it particularly useful for adapting meals to different dietary preferences or portion needs.
Delivery Options
EveryPlate offers flexible delivery windows across Saturday to Wednesday, with two main time slots:
- Overnight (12:00 – 07:00)
- Daytime (09:00 – 18:00)
For anyone worried about those overnight slots, they can actually be super handy. The box is designed to keep your food chilled for up to 8 hours, so there’s no worries about your food spoiling. I’d always advise overnight delivery to any house where you can get a box delivered “out of sight”.
Available delivery slots vary by location, so I’d recommend checking options for your postcode during signup. In my experience ordering to Sydney, the delivery windows have been consistently reliable.
How much does EveryPlate Cost?
EveryPlate are competing as a low-cost meal kit, so no EveryPlate review is complete without analysing the price you’ll need to pay.
I’ve talked about EveryPlate competing directly with Dinnerly, which means battling over providing the cheapest meal kit. To make it easier for you, here’s how the two companies compare on price for various boxes:
People | Meals | EveryPlate | Dinnerly |
---|---|---|---|
2 | 3 | $45.00 | $50.94 |
2 | 4 | $57.00 | $63.92 |
2 | 5 | $67.00 | $74.90 |
4 | 3 | $75.00 | $83.88 |
4 | 4 | $95.00 | $107.04 |
4 | 5 | $113.00 | $129.80 |
EveryPlate comes in a couple of dollars cheaper than Dinnerly across all options, easily making them the best value meal kit in Australia. This is after they reduced their prices considerably, making it the perfect time to start a new EveryPlate subscription.
Unfortunately, shipping/delivery isn’t free and you’ll be charged a flat rate of $9.99 each box. This isn’t impacted by how many meals you order, so it can be more economical to order as many meals as possible.
EveryPlate also have their ‘larger box’ offerings that Dinnerly don’t offer, so here are your costs for those:
People | Meals | Cost |
---|---|---|
2 | 6 | $77.00 |
4 | 6 | $130.00 |
6 | 3 | $105.00 |
6 | 4 | $130.00 |
6 | 5 | $150.00 |
6 | 6 | $160.00 |
EveryPlate recently fixed a gap in their pricing where the same amount of ‘portions’ cost different prices, as well as standardising their pricing with rounded numbers that are easier to understand.
When trying to make meal kits last for 5-6 nights, it’s definitely worth following my tips and tricks for making your ingredients last longer.
My EveryPlate Review Box
After multiple deliveries with EveryPlate, I can confidently say their delivery service is reliable. They send text updates about delivery timing, which helps ensure boxes aren’t left outside for long periods.
The box itself features subtle branding and a clean design. While the packaging is understated, it’s what’s inside that matters most.
For this review, I ordered a 2 person, 5 meal box to thoroughly test their ingredient quality, portion sizes, and recipe variety. The box arrived packed with ingredients, with meat and dairy items properly separated in a temperature-controlled container.
One of the first things you’ll notice is that all the ingredients are simply thrown together in the box. This is part of their cost-saving measures, although it does make it somewhat challenging to find the right ingredients (and quantities) out of so many to dig through.
My initial inspection of the ingredients was very promising, with all the leaves / herbs / vegetables in good condition. All the onions, carrots and zucchinis were a good size. None of the products had super urgent ‘use by’ dates.
I found it super interesting that EveryPlate have decided to offer recipe cards, instead of opting for the cheaper digital recipe cards route.
How’s The Food?
To properly evaluate EveryPlate’s meals, I’ve tested a diverse range of recipes with different proteins and cooking styles. My assessment focused on three key areas: Cooking Experience, Taste, and Portion Size.
Cooking
When you’re relying on a recipe card, you really want the instructions to be as clear as possible. In general, I did find the EveryPlate instructions quite easy to follow.
The recipe cards are quite small, so unfortunately there are some times where they’ve clearly cut down on instructions to fit on the page. I did mess up the Middle Eastern Beef Meatballs, but I put that more down to user error (rushing) instead of any issues with instructions.
Taste
Every meal I tested delivered on flavor, with well-balanced seasonings and thoughtful combinations of herbs and spices.
Like their parent company HelloFresh, EveryPlate excels at introducing home cooks to new ingredients and techniques while keeping recipes approachable. Even simple dishes like their Cheesy Penne Pasta impressed me – managing to be satisfying without becoming too heavy or bland.
Portion Sizes
Full disclaimer that I’m a guy who’s heavily into fitness and sports, so my natural portion sizes do tend to be on the larger side. With that in mind, I found EveryPlate to be consistently on the smaller side.
For each ‘2 person’ meal I was eating 75% of the food, which does slightly erode the cash savings you make. Even the remaining food was only enough for a small lunch the next day. If you’re used to smaller portion sizes, or you have younger children then you won’t have any problems.
Standout Dishes
The quality was consistently high across all meals, but several stood out:
- Mexican Beef Tacos for their bold flavors
- Creamy Lentil Dahl’s perfect spice balance
- Middle Eastern Beef Meatballs, especially paired with their carrot-infused couscous (a surprising highlight!)
Notably, I didn’t encounter any disappointing meals during my testing period.
What isn’t included?
As is standard with all meal kit delivery services, EveryPlate ask that you provide some standard ‘pantry‘ ingredients alongside their provided kits. These are the ingredients that they might ask you to have:
Sauces & Condiments
- Soy Sauce
- Honey
- Mayonnaise
Other Ingredients
- Plain Flour
- Brown Sugar
- Salt & Pepper
- Egg
- Butter
- Milk
Oils & Vinegars
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Red Wine Vinegar
- White Wine Vinegar
- Olive Oil
Pro tip: I always review my selected recipes a few days before delivery to ensure I have the necessary pantry items. Most recipes only require a few basic ingredients from this list, but it’s worth checking to avoid any last-minute grocery runs.
EveryPlate Ingredients
The EveryPlate website has a fantastic feature that provides ‘country of origin’ information for every ingredient used in their recipes. It’s heartening to review that a vast majority of ingredients are sourced from Australia, including all the meat. You can check out all the information on their Food Info page.
EveryPlate Mobile App
When they first launched EveryPlate, there wasn’t a mobile app available, so you needed to manage your subscription on the website.
Thankfully, that has now changed as EveryPlate made their app available in Australia. This has some great features, including:
- Selecting your meals each week.
- Adjusting or skipping deliveries.
- Accessing all your past/current/future recipes.
- Changing delivery or payment methods.
The only thing missing is canceling your subscription. You’ll need to do this on EveryPlate’s website, which is quite frustrating.
My Overall Thoughts
After months of testing, I can confidently say EveryPlate delivers exceptional value for money. With their current FBM Reader discount, they’re not just competing with Dinnerly – they’re setting the standard for affordable meal kits in Australia.
The service particularly shines in its recipe execution. While the dishes tend toward simpler, classic meals, they consistently deliver on flavor. The step-by-step instructions make cooking approachable enough that even the most inexperienced cooks will be able to follow an EveryPlate recipe.
There are some trade-offs for the lower price point. Portion sizes run slightly small for bigger appetites, and you’ll need to sort through ingredients yourself rather than having them pre-sorted by recipe. However, these are minor considerations given the quality and value you receive.
For anyone looking to reduce their weekly food costs without sacrificing quality, EveryPlate offers an impressive solution. Whether you’re new to meal kits or switching from a more expensive service, their combination of fresh ingredients, reliable delivery, and tasty recipes makes them easy to recommend.
Competing Services
The most similar service available currently would be Dinnerly. They’re both competing at a ‘budget’ price with simple meals cooked with 6-7 ingredients. Dinnerly does have one major advantage over EveryPlate and that’s their focus on providing a really wide range of recipes each week. If variety is really important to you, it’s worth checking out Dinnerly.
I’d love to hear about other people’s experiences with EveryPlate – were they similar to mine? Did you find my EveryPlate review useful? Let me know in the comments section below!
Hi
I chose to try EveryPlate after using HelloFresh intermittently for a couple of years. The definite bonus for me was simply the smaller cost. The meals, as you say, do not have as much variety as HelloFresh, but are nonetheless nutritious and tasty.
I simply kept some of the HelloFresh bags and numbered them. I then numbered the recipe cards and sorted out the ingredients into these bags as soon as the box arrived. This served two purposes. I could check that everything was there (never a problem, by the way) and it saved a hectic sort-out during the meal cycle when time was short.
Great taste, great value! I’m a fan.
cheers
Peter