No matter how much you love eating and cooking, it takes a fair amount of thought, planning and shopping to start whipping up an exciting meal. From checking the fridge and cupboards, to writing a list, doing the shop and then carrying it home – that’s all before you’ve even sliced an onion or flicked on the oven.
Recipe boxes are the answer to all of this, when you don’t have time to go to the shop but you want a proper home-cooked meal.
Easing much more of the burden than an online food shop ever could, these clever kits come with all the ingredients in the exact amount you need – meaning there’s very little, if any, food waste – along with very easy-to-follow recipe cards you can keep and reuse. There’s not really much more you can ask for, bar someone else cooking it for you.
You can choose from a huge range of recipes, and most brands cover a range of diets and cuisines, so whether you fancy Mexican or Indian, or want something vegan or just meat-free, you can get it.
Some companies only use organic food, and some use produce from family-run farms, but all are inspiring and will get you cooking great meals at home with ease.
How we tested
We’ve tested some of these boxes over years, and some we go back to time and time again, with some of the recipes becoming stalwarts in our repertoire. We’ve cooked and eaten meals from every box, looking for how easy the recipes were to follow, eco-credentials such as packaging, the range of recipes on offer and the delivery.
Everything we tested was to feed two people, but where there’s an option for boxes to feed more, we’ve specified. These are the ones sure to make your stomach rumble.
The best recipe boxes for 2023 are:
- Best overall – Gousto: £24.99 for two recipes per week, Gousto.co.uk
- Best for organic produce – Riverford: From £13.45 for a meal for two, Riverford.co.uk
- Best for reducing carbon footprint – Abel & Cole: From £33 for three dishes, Abelandcole.co.uk
- Best for pasta – Pasta Evangelists: From £13 for two recipes per week, Pastaevangelists.com
- Best for a range of cuisines – Cookaway: From £26, depending on added extras, Thecookaway.com
- Best for Vietnamese recipes – Phomo: From £19.90, Phomouk.com
- Best for game meat – Wild & Game: £49.99 for about seven cuts of meat, Wildandgame.co.uk
- Best for tofu lovers – Mindful Chef: From £25.88 for two pieces per week, Mindfulchef.com
- Best for local produce – Hello Fresh: From £14.24 for three recipes per week, Hellofresh.co.uk
- Best for vegans – Grubby: From £21 for two recipes per week, Grubby.co.uk