Trying a Gousto Recipe Box

I tend to get stuck in a bit of a rut with my meals, and can often be really lazy come dinner-time, opting for scrambled eggs or something similar, because of the mistaken assumption that cooking healthily is time consuming and complicated. However, when I got to try a Gousto recipe box last week, it reminded me that even simple meals can be given a new twist with some different ingredients, herbs and spices.

One of my favourite batch cooking dishes is chilli, and the Smoky Pork Chilli with Popped Beans was AMAZING! The beans are cooked in the oven which creates a lovely crunchy topping, and the chipotle paste is definitely something I'm going to be looking at adding to my kitchen cupboard - it added an awesome smoky barbecue flavour.

Our second dish was a Chicken, Red Pepper and Lemongrass Curry which was also super tasty. Again, curry is another of my favourites for making in large quantities so as to have leftovers for lunch or later in the week. I will say however, that neither of these creations survived beyond the evening we made them - James and I polished our plates off pretty quick!

Both dishes came with a clearly illustrated recipe card, and all ingredients were measured out and portioned appropriately for that recipe so you literally had everything you needed - right down to the individual garlic cloves and spices. I also loved that the box came with a beautiful wooden spoon for stirring your meals too!

We tried a 2-person box, but Gousto also offer 4-person boxes as well as "kid-friendly" recipes. You can of course also tailor the recipes to your own tastes, making them more spicy, removing any ingredients you don't like or adding extra cheese (always a must!). For example, I didn't top my curry with coriander as there was already some in the sauce and I don't like it to be too overpowering.

You can choose to receive your box on any day of the week between 8am—7pm. They can't specify exact times, but you can decide to have your box left in a safe place if you're out at work, and the packaging contains cool-packs so your food will stay fresh. I managed to lock myself out of the house whilst going to collect our delivery from behind the recycling bin, but that's another story...

James and I cooked both our dishes together, which was good fun and an enjoyable way to spend the evening. I definitely think if you and your partner were looking to explore new culinary horizons and learn some different cooking skills, Gousto would be a great way to go about it as everything is so clearly laid out.

I really like that all the recipes are designed to be healthy, but also to offer variety and not compromise on taste. The majority of ingredients come from the UK, and Gousto aim to tailor their recipes to the seasons, so as to use local producers and suppliers.

If you fancy giving Gousto a try for yourself you can use the code TORNADO for £20 discount on each of your 1st and 2nd Gousto orders - that means it would cost just £7.49 for each box.

Have you tried a recipe box before?