Youfoodz (often misspelt ‘Youfoods’) has been delivering prepared meals across Australia since 2012, growing to become one of the largest meal delivery providers in the country.
Their offering centres around fresh, healthy microwaveable meals alongside a variety of snacks and drinks.
Positioning themselves at the budget end of the market, I wanted to see if Youfoodz can deliver a great ‘prepared meals’ experience.
Youfoodz Prepared Meals Review
Youfoodz Review Summary
Youfoodz provides great value prepared meals, perfect for anyone short on time or cooking skills. They offer a wide range of snacks & drinks along with the meals, though there isn’t much available for anyone with a restricted or plant-based diet.
Youfoodz features on our lists of best meal delivery services, and best keto meal subscriptions.
Overall
-
Ordering - Website - 9.5/10
9.5/10
-
Food - Quality - 7/10
7/10
-
Ordering - Meal Choice - 6.5/10
6.5/10
-
Food - Taste - 8/10
8/10
-
Ordering - Delivery - 9/10
9/10
-
Value For Money - 8/10
8/10
Pros
- Incredibly affordable meals – great value for money.
- Simple, easy to use website for managing your subscription.
- Convenient delivery options across Australia.
Cons
- Menu is dominated by chicken-based meals.
- Limited range of meals at a standard price.
- Very limited vegetarian options.
- Meals have quite a high concentration of sodium.
2024 Update
Youfoodz was bought by HelloFresh in 2022, which resulted in quite a few changes to the Youfoodz experience. The most obvious was a switch to a purely subscription model and a new website design that’s very similar to HelloFresh.
In 2024, Youfoodz have switched to offering a minimum of 6 meals instead of 5 per order. This comes alongside a change to the smaller box sizes offered. You’ll find 6/8/10 meals on web but any option between 5-10 on mobile. They also now offer up to 45 meals delivered per week.
My review has been updated to reflect these changes over time, with a pleasant surprise as the meal quality has improved substantially!
If you’ve never tried a prepared meals service before, they can be truly liberating! Your lunches and dinners are cooked within 2 minutes, saving you loads of time every day.
The main concern I hear from people is that their prepared meals won’t taste very nice. So, I cover this in detail throughout this Youfoodz review. Read ahead to see how the Youfoodz experience stacks up and whether I think you should put an order in.
Page Contents
Getting started with Youfoodz
There’s no rocket science involved with starting Youfoodz, I have always found their website incredibly intuitive to use.
In 2022, Youfoodz transitioned to a subscription model instead of their previous one-off ordering system. You can still order an individual box but this now requires actively cancelling your subscription after your order. This is Youfoodz moving towards the traditional HelloFresh model (now their parent company).
When signing up, you have access to the full Youfoodz catalogue and on a web browser you can choose between 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 18 meals a week. If signing up on mobile, you’ll have access to more options.
After your first week, they allow you to pick any amount of meals between 5 and a crazy 45 meals per week.
Starting your subscription couldn’t be simpler and takes no more than 5 minutes, including picking all the meals for your first order. The preferences are only there to help pre-select relevant meals, you’ll always have access to the full menu.
If you want to try a Youfoodz meal without making a large order or commitment, their meals are also available at various supermarkets across Australia. I’ve found most success in Coles and ALDI but you can see a map of stockists to find out your local options.
Meal variety and options
Youfoodz has a very extensive menu that centres around their ‘Ready Made Meals’ with 40+ different meals available. Example meals include:
- Beef Lasagne
- Garlic Chicken Kyiv
- BBQ Beef Meatballs
- Creamy Chicken Carbonara
- Karaage Chicken Poke Bowl
Looking at the variety available, there’s a heavy leaning towards chicken dishes. I counted 45% of their dishes with Chicken as the main protein at the time of writing this review. Taking away the limited number of vegetarian dishes, this makes over 50% of the meat protein meals chicken-based. I find that this is often one of the trade-offs with a relatively budget meal delivery service as chicken is one of the cheapest sources of protein.
The menu is actually split into 3 parts:
- Standard Meals – The core range with 25 meals available each week.
- Premium Protein Meals – A couple of meals that contain more premium cuts of meat and have an extra charge.
- FUEL’D Range – A range of around 15 meals that all have larger portion sizes and 30g+ of protein for a small extra cost.
In addition to the ready-made meals, Youfoodz also offer a wide variety of juices, bites, cookies, and crisps. These can be added on after you’ve selected your meals for each week.
Special diets and food intolerance
I don’t find Youfoodz particularly well catered towards any special diets. Particularly as this is their current stance on the matter:
Our chefs take the highest care to keep allergy-prone ingredients out of certain meals. However, they may still be present, as all of our products are produced in the same kitchen.
Youfoodz
Therefore, I advise that anyone with serious allergies exercise extreme caution.
There were only 3 vegetarian options available at the time I was reviewing their menu, which really isn’t enough to make Youfoodz a realistic option for anyone on a plant-based diet. They used to offer at least 6 different vegetarian meals, so I hope they improve their product range again in the future.
One area where Youfoodz does excel is with weight loss. Their meals are naturally low in calories (between 300 – 500) which is perfect portion sizes for anyone trying to lose weight. It makes them one of the best meal delivery services for weight loss.
If you’re planning to use Youfoodz for your weight loss, I highly recommend using this calorie calculator and using it to understand what you should be eating each day.
Delivery options
Youfoodz has a great delivery network, which has only improved since they were bought by HelloFresh.
You can pick your delivery from most days of the week. One of the downsides of a subscription offering is that Youfoodz need at least 7 days notice to set/change your delivery day, so most people will need to wait around a week before you get your first subscription box. Depending on where you live, this can come down to as little as 3 days in major metro areas.
In more rural areas, you’ll be limited slightly to 2-3 days each week. To see if they deliver to your area and which days are available, you can use the delivery area checker.
Whilst Youfoodz used to offer free delivery, this is no longer the case. They now charge a standard fee of $9.99 per delivery, plus an additional fee for some regional areas.
There is a quite extensive delivery network that covers these areas and more:
- Adelaide
- Brisbane Metro & Rural
- Cairns
- Canberra
- Darwin
- Gold Coast
- Melbourne Metro, Provincial & Rural
- Newcastle
- Perth
- Sydney Metro, Rural & Blue Mountains
- Tasmania
How much does Youfoodz cost?
Youfoodz really shines when it comes to their price. They’re able to offer meals at a cost point that not many other companies can compete against.
| Meals | Price | Cost Per Meal |
| 6 | $71.94 | $11.99 |
| 8 | $87.92 | $10.99 |
| 10 | $104.90 | $10.49 |
| 12 | $119.88 | $9.99 |
| 14 | $132.86 | $9.49 |
| 16 | $143.84 | $8.99 |
| 18 | $152.82 | $8.49 |
With Youfoodz, it really pays to purchase in bulk. Meals are nearly half the price when buying 18 meals compared to just 5 meals.
However, you might need to consider the cost of the premium menu items like Youfoodz FUEL’D. These cost an additional $1.99 per meal which can add up to be quite expensive if you order a few of them.
Sometimes it’s also the snacks or drinks where it really starts to get expensive, so here are the cost ranges for the different options:
- Bites: $2.99 – $5.50
- Cookies and Crisps: $3.95
- Boosta Shots: $2.95
- Smoothies: $4.95
All of these are very reasonable costs and are around the same cost as in the supermarket.
Featured Service
My Youfoodz Review Deliveries
The first box I received arrived right in the middle of the delivery timeframe, whilst the second delivery arrived at around 11:30pm for a delivery timeframe that started at midnight. It’s important to be careful with the delivery slot you choose as they are likely to just leave the box outside your house.
Youfoodz deliveries come packaged up in a large cardboard box with an insulated lining. The insulation will definitely allow the food to stay cold for another 8 – 12 hours depending on the weather. You could definitely get these delivered during the day and pick the box up when you get home.
Unpacking the box took no more than 30 seconds as I chucked them straight into the fridge. Checking the dates on each meal, I’ve always had at least 6 days to eat the ‘shortest’ meal whilst others lasted 12 days or more.
Meals can also be frozen if you need them to last longer, though this isn’t recommended as it does have an impact on taste and texture.
Recycling the contents
It’s really important to me that all of the packaging is fully recyclable. Even then, I really want to see as little packaging as possible. Youfoodz now has a box that specifically fits their meals, in order to reduce excess packaging wastage.
However, all the material is fully recyclable including the plastic meal containers and the ice packs (drain the ice into the sink).
Check out my blog on the environmental impact of food boxes for more information.
Are Youfoodz Meals Good?
Microwaving your meals to reheat them is always going to come with its limitations, so I want to tackle that upfront.
Getting crispy textures is very hard. This is why I struggle to understand why companies insist on creating meals like fried chicken. Since my original order, this dish has thankfully been removed from the menu been put on the rotating menu so it’s only available every few weeks. Fried chicken without a crispy coating? Apparently some people love it! Not for me.
Youfoodz have clearly spent a lot of time perfecting their recipes over the last few years, likely with the chefs at HelloFresh helping with their expertise. That means meals are now much more flavourful and enjoyable. Even the textures have improved, with meals properly partially cooked so they still retain crunch and vibrancy after coming out of the microwave.
One of the weird aspects of Youfoodz meals is that their meat often comes in large chunks instead of being sliced up. My theory is that this keeps the meat from drying out. If that’s true, then it’s mission accomplished as I found most of the meats to be juicy and perfectly cooked.
Youfoodz will never win any prizes for how their meals are presented, especially when trying to plate them up outside the plastic packaging. I’m not proud of this attempt at photographing the otherwise delicious chicken with mushroom sauce. Importantly, the cauliflower retained some crunch and the mushroom sauce packed a punch on flavour.
I’d recommend that you spend a few weeks trying all the different meals before zeroing in on your favourites. You’ll definitely find quite a few meals you’ll love (slow cooked BBQ beef every day for me!).
The snacks were actually very delicious. In particular, I loved the protein choc chip cookie. I don’t think you can go far wrong with these at the prices if you find yourself getting hungry regularly throughout the day.
One massive limitation for me was on portion size. If you generally eat smaller dinners, you’ll be more than happy with Youfoodz meals. For me, my recommended maintenance calorie intake is 2,500. Getting ~300 – 400 from dinner was never going to leave me personally satiated.
If you’re like me, I highly recommend going for the larger FUEL’D portions!
Cooking the prepared meals
Cooking was the simplest process ever, just 3 – 3.5 minutes in the microwave. I found that any more than 3 minutes in my microwave blasted the meals to being overcooked/mushy, so I would recommend experimenting with your microwave.
Whilst I didn’t try it myself, you can definitely heat up Youfoodz food in other ways, including pan, air fryer, and oven.
Hot Tip: If you want to get your food in the oven (good for crisping things up) then the plastic containers are not oven safe. Use a separate dish.
Expectations vs Reality
There’s no hiding from this fact: none of the Youfoodz meals looked anything like the marketing pictures. In fact, some of them looked quite unappetising really. Thankfully this has no impact on their taste, but it’s important to set your expectations.
It’s clear that the plating/lighting has quite an incredible impact on the way these dishes look!
Dishes I loved
- Chicken & Potato Salad
- Fish Curry
- Lamb Curry
- Slow Cooked Beef & Mash
- FUEL’s BBQ Chicken & Cheesy Mac
- Portuguese Chicken
Dishes I wouldn’t recommend
- American Style Fried Chicken & Chips
- Spaghetti Bolognese
The Youfoodz App
Youfoodz have an app that has gained a 4.5 rating from over 2k reviews. Having tested it out, I can understand why.
The app is incredibly intuitive and simple to use for managing your weekly subscription. It’s really easy to:
- Skip a week.
- Reschedule or change a delivery date.
- Select your meals.
- Change the size of your box.
- Change your delivery address or payment details.
The only downside of the app is that they won’t let you cancel your subscription from the app itself. You need to log in to their website to access the cancellation option.
Is Youfoodz Worth It?
Youfoodz excels on price and convenience. Their delivery network is one of the best in the country, which makes it very easy for most Aussies to order from Youfoodz. Whilst you won’t find yourself saving money compared to making your own meals, I think there’s massive value in 2-minute microwave meals. If you’re looking for simple, healthy meals that save you hours of cooking each week, then Youfoodz is for you.
The meals available vary in how good they taste, though there are definitely some fantastic options available. With a clear focus on chicken-based meals, you would need to opt for a more premium delivery service to get a wider variety of other meats.
It’s also disappointing that Youfoodz hasn’t made any real attempt to meet any dietary needs or expanded its vegetarian offering.
If you want to give Youfoodz a try, click the button below for a special offer on your first order.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you freeze Youfoodz?
Whilst it’s safe to freeze YouFoodz, it’s not recommended due to the negative impact on flavour and texture. If you do need to freeze meals, it’s recommended that you don’t cook the meals directly from frozen. Instead, thaw meals in a fridge for at least 12 hours before placing in the microwave to reheat.
Is Youfoodz healthy?
Whilst most Youfoodz meals are fairly low in calories, that doesn’t mean they are healthy. The average Youfoodz meal contains over 1,000mg of sodium and 7 grams of saturated fat, making Youfoodz relatively unhealthy (Are Australian Ready Meals Healthy?).
Not all Youfoodz meals are unhealthy though, so it’s recommended to look at the nutritional values of any meals you add to your subscription.
How long can Youfoodz stay outside?
Youfoodz is delivered in insulated cardboard boxes, so the meals are able to stay cool for around 8 hours after delivery. However, this timeline does depend on the outside temperature and whether the box was placed directly in the sun.
On a warm summers day, we don’t recommend leaving a Youfoodz box out for longer than 4 hours.
Who owns Youfoodz Australia?
In 2021, HelloFresh acquired Youfoodz for $125 million. Previously, Youfoodz has been listed in the ASX stock exchange and operated as independent listed company. Since acquiring Youfoodz, HelloFresh have made significant changes that include moving Youfoodz to a subscription-only model.
Who founded Youfoodz?
Youfoodz was founded by Lance Giles in 2012. Based in Brisbane at the time, Lance grew the company to serve over 850,000 people in Australia before selling the company to HelloFresh in 2021. He’s no longer involved in running Youfoodz.
I hope you enjoyed this Youfoodz review. Let me know in the comments below if you’ve tried them before, or if you have any questions!
