Gousto: a review

So this is my first review. Gousto, a fresh food delivery company, were kind enough to send me a scrumptious box to try out to get some feedback and see what I think. As someone who likes to be 'creative' in the kitchen (no i'm not saying it's always successful) and who gets very specific cravings (bacon), the thought of being told what to cook with exact ingredients was slightly unnerving and seemed a little restrictive. I couldn't have been more wrong.

My delicious Gousto Beef Stroganoff (if I might say so myself)

Gousto have also been kind enough to offer YOU lovely people £20 off your first box by purchasing through this link: Gousto.co.uk/Bacon. 

Every link should have /bacon on the end. Brilliant. 

I got home a bit late on a Friday night and having had my Gousto box placed thoughtfully in front of my bedroom door in a dark corridor by my housemate (obviously not in the kitchen), I tripped over it. Sturdy box, tick. I then excitedly dove in to the box to discover all the cold bits (meat etc) still very cold due to an amazing wool concoction. Good start.

I then staggered the cooking throughout the week and actually reached for the Gousto recipes on those days where I was too busy/lazy to come up with my own recipe ideas or go out and buy ingredients. How handy. 








Taken from the Gousto website: That's just a handful of the recipes, just look at them. It's like a recipe book that comes with exact ingredients.

Here are five reasons that I loved the box.

1. DECISION MADE: For one thing it was just delightful not having to have the conversation, not only with my housemates but also with myself, on supper decisions. I would love to be decisive but unfortunately it takes far too long to extract any useful information from myself let alone those around me.With the Gousto box, the decision was made for me. I had the exact ingredients for 3 meals - which one of those do I most feel like, great. Done.

2. TIME SAVING: I am lucky enough to be in a position where I have time in the evening to shop for food and as I work in the food industry, I am constantly faced with new and delicious ideas to attempt in the kitchen. I know a lot of not such fortunate souls who have slightly less free time *cough lawyers cough* and perhaps less free brain capacity for food exploration on a daily basis. This box, my friends, is for you.

3. NEW RECIPES: I had three recipes provided: Beef stroganoff, breaded chicken with tomato, potato & parsley salad and jerk chicken with cinnamon rice. I have cooked none of these recipes in my kitchen before and I can't say I would have chosen to cook any off the top of my head or even looking through recipe books. However, all were delicious and I'm going to keep my recipe cards to eat them again in the future. Immediately, 3 new recipes in my repertoire.

4. LESS MESS/NO WASTE: Exact measurements of your ingredients - less washing up, no spillage, no waste, no measuring, no searching for spices. All recipes were also 30 mins or under cooking time for me.

5. YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO INTO A SUPERMARKET AND STARE BLANKLY AT ROWS UPON ROWS OF CHOICES. Enough said.

Some other points you should consider: You need a friend, or a huge appetite. The portions are wonderfully generous but they only have boxes for two people or more.

You should have a basic grasp of cooking and read through the recipe before starting, just to make sure you know where to add each ingredient and don't end up missing any in the heat of the moment (pun intended). I missed one ingredient from one recipe and it is still sitting obediently in my kitchen waiting for another recipe that needs 1 tbsp cider vinegar. 

There is very little space for manoeuvre. I added peas to one meal for lack of greens but other than that the exact ingredients mean what you get is what you get. 

Make sure you check the ingredients they expect you to have in your kitchen before beginning - milk, butter etc. 

Don't add the whole Scotch Bonnet Chilli.

Thank you Gousto! Get excited. Gousto.co.uk/Bacon. 

***Please note I am getting no commission for any boxes purchased and all views in this post are totally my own. If I didn't like it, I'd tell you (but I did.)***