Everyplate vs Dinnerly: Which Is Best? (My Complete Experience)

Has your Facebook been flooded with advertisements for EveryPlate or Dinnerly?

My feeds were overloaded with these ads, and as a subscription box junkie, who has personally tried dozens and dozens of meal delivery services, it was time to give these two boxes a try. 

I’m always down to try a new subscription box.

My husband and I just recently found out that we are expecting our first child. My husband works full-time as a truck driver, and I work from home full-time as a business owner and a freelance writer. I am super busy and since my husband works crazy hours, I’m the one who has to figure out dinner.

While I’m growing our child inside of me, I find that I have zero energy. Before, I would focus on making a lot of low-carb or ketogenic-friendly dinners, but today, I’m just impressed when I get anything on the table for us to eat.

I have become addicted to take-out lately as it gives me a break. I am tired! 

I know this isn’t the best option, so for my baby and family, I thought I’d try some new meal kit subscription options, starting with EveryPlate and Dinnerly.

EveryPlate and Dinnerly are two of the most affordable options when it comes to meal delivery. I’ve tried a ton of meal subscription options that were more expensive such as Hello Fresh, Blue Apron so let’s see if these are as good!

Now, if you can thinking about trying EveryPlate or Dinnerly and haven’t been able to decide between two, I’m here to help you out. I’ve got pictures of my unboxing, as well as my cooked meals, for you to take a look at. Plus, I’m also going to break down shipping time, shipping cost, and my entire experience with both of these companies. 

Bottom Line Up Front: I Choose EveryPlate Every Time!

EveryPlate is my top choice over Dinnerly every time. The meals were better, the shipping was a breeze, and it was easy to cancel as well. While I did enjoy both meal delivery services, I would recommend you try EveryPlate! 

The Main Differences Between Dinnerly vs EveryPlate

  • EveryPlate and Dinnerly charge $4.99 per serving, but Dinnerly’s prices decrease with the more servings you add
  • Dinnerly offers vegetarian-only options, whereas EveryPlate has a variety of options
  • You’ll need to have access to a phone, tablet, or laptop at home to cook the meals you get from Dinnerly

Before You Order

I am really picky about my food subscription boxes. When I fill out my information, I have to mention my food allergies. I have a pork allergy, so that means no pork chops, no bacon, no pork tenderloin, no sausage, and no ground beef that’s been mixed with any type of pork. Also, I would like to keep the meals have a receiving as low-carb as we can get them. Before you order from Dinnerly or Everplate, spend some time looking to see if there are options for your dietary restrictions. Most food delivery services will cater to your special diet needs. 

Dinnerly

Dinnerly describes itself as an affordable meal kit. They claim that their meal kits are fast, easy, and tasty, starting at just 4.69 per person. Let’s see if they can deliver!

 

dinnerly

 

When you go on their website, You’ll see that they advertise 16 different easy recipes for you to choose from every week. They claim that all of the recipes are cooked in 5 simple steps.

I don’t know about you, but slicing and chopping takes a lot of time. Will I be able to get this meal made quickly? 

On the website, you’ll be taken to the option of choosing a meal kit. This will take you to the first step in the signup process, which is to choose your plan.

You will be given the option to choose from a two-person box or a family box that serves four people. For the two-person box, you can choose between three to six meals per week. These are also the same options available for the family box. Where things start to get a little bit different is the pricing.   

For the two-person box, your portions will cost you $5.29. Plus, you also have to pay $8.99 for shipping, leaving you at a grand total of $40.73 per week for three meals. At the bottom of this option, you’ll have the choice to choose to make your box vegetarian. 

As for the family box, the portions cost you $4.99 per portion. With the $8.99 shipping cost, you will be paying a total of $68.87 per week for your family meals for three meals. You will also have the option to choose to have all of the meals in the family box to be vegetarian.

I went with the two-person box and asked to receive meals per week. Then, I had a bunch of different meals to choose from. The meals that I chose were:

  • French onion soup burger with oven fries
  • Cheesy garlic knot ravioli with marinara
  • Skillet steak and garlic sauce with roasted green beans and tomatoes
  • Popcorn shrimp with green bean fries and chipotle ranch dip 

My Dinnerly Experience

When I first ordered my Dinnerly, everything went great. I received a confirmation email saying that my order was going to be delivered. The delivery day came and went, and I didn’t receive a box at my doorstep.

My Dinnerly experience

 

What happened to my Dinnerly box? 

I received an email from the United States CEO of Dinnerly, Julie. She reached out to me via email about the unprecedented weather that was happening across the United States. I live in Maryland, and while we were being affected by a snowstorm, it hasn’t hit us yet, even though it was expected to.  She explained the reason why I didn’t receive my box. However, I would like to clarify that I never received a cancellation email.

I assumed that I was going to be getting my box because I also never received an email warning me about a possible delay with my box, not including this email.  Julie goes on to explain the reason why my box hasn’t shown up at my doorstep. She explains that snowstorms are one of the most difficult challenges Dinnerly faces as a meal Subscription Service. She explains that this is because of the domino effect they create, such as road closures, unsafe driving conditions, and supply chain problems.

Then, she goes on for a while explaining how Dinnerly addresses these problems. She does say that forecasts that determine there’s going to be a storm several days in the future can make it difficult to reorganize the game plan for box delivery.  Next, Julie explains that if you haven’t heard from anybody in Customer Care, there’s been a huge influx of people reaching out via their live chat and phone numbers. However, she reassures me that there will be a response to any phone calls or live chats from me to Dinnerly.  

This is the only notification that I got regarding why I didn’t receive a box.

A few days later, I did get a notification that I was going to be receiving another box, free of charge. But, I would like to clarify that this technically wasn’t free of charge because I never received the first box, and I didn’t receive a refund for it. So, I really just got another box re-sent out to me.

The second box, but technically my first box, included:

  • Kimchi fried rice with blistered green beans
  • Crispy shrimp tacos with slaw
  • Espresso rub steak with garlic potato wedges
  •  honey mustard grilled chicken with charred broccoli slaw

Dinnerly Unboxing

It’s time to get into the unboxing part of this review since I finally received my box. My box came intact, without any dings or punctures in the box. Once I opened up my box, the entire thing was wrapped in a bag, similar to what you find in other meal subscription boxes. At the very bottom of the bag was an ice pack that was still frozen.

Dinnerly unboxing As I pulled out some of the fresh produce, I noticed that some pieces looked unappetizing. One of the potatoes was severely bruised and looked a little sad. Some of my coleslaw mixes were frozen, and you can imagine what defrosted coleslaw tastes like. 

My Dinnerly Cooking Experience

When I first signed up for Dinnerly, I didn’t see anything about the recipe cards. I looked for the recipe cards when I opened my box and there were none! Instead of printed recipe cards, I had to use the digital ones that Dinnerly have on their website, which is a bit of a pain.

I didn’t really love trying to follow the recipe on my phone while I prepped the raw meat, spices and tried to cook. I ended up using my laptop. Dinnerly — please print off some recipe cards! It would make my life so much easier trying to prepare these meals! 


Dinnerly cooking experience

I love getting recipe cards in my subscription boxes! For the meals that I really love, I store them in a binder so I can keep making them again. With this Dinnerly box, I could have printed out the recipe cards (but who uses a printer nowadays?). What a hassle! 

But I managed. 

When it came time to cook my Dinnerly meals, I noticed that there were many ingredients listed that I would need to actually cook these meals, such as oil, salt, pepper, and flour. Dinnerly assumes everyone has these basics in their pantry, but I didn’t. 

A lot of people order food delivery boxes when they move into a new home — not everyone is going to have flour, oil, and I wish Dinnerly thought about this. 

Taste-Testing the Dinnerly Meals 

The first meal that I cooked up was the crispy shrimp tacos with slaw. I love tacos and was excited to taste this! 

I did love that Dinnerly included all the nutritional information in the digital recipe cards. The recipe cards included:

  • calories
  • carbohydrates
  • fats
  • proteins
  • serving size information
  • possible allergens 

The shrimp tacos tasted a lot better than they looked. I do wish that they had a lot more color to them. I’m obsessed with lime crema sauces, and these shrimp tacos had them.

I wouldn’t say I was impressed with the quality because it left both my husband and me hungry afterward. The portion sizes were just not big enough for us. The slaw was a bagged brand I can buy at Walmart. The shrimp didn’t taste outstandingly good, as these also tasted like the Walmart brand. There wasn’t a lot of shrimp, and they were small.

But I definitely would get this again for a light dinner.  Dinnerly: Taste-testing

The next meal we tried was the honey mustard grilled chicken with charred broccoli slaw.

This meal was the best in the entire box, hands down.

The quality of the chicken isn’t anything that I would write home about. However, Dinnerly included a different type of honey mustard than what I was expecting. I receive stone ground mustard with a packet of honey.

This dish was amazing, and it’s on my re-make list.

This was my first time trying broccoli slaw. I’m not a huge fan of cooked broccoli, but the way the instructions had me prepare this side dish changed my mind. While the broccoli wasn’t cooked all the way, it was softened. This is the best way I’ve ever eaten broccoli, and I’ve happily made this several times since I’ve had this dish.

dinnerly: Taste-testing Lastly, we tried the espresso-rubbed steak with garlic potato wedges.

My husband is a huge steak fan. Anytime we’re out, and there’s an option to get steak, he signs himself right up. I also love red meat, but I didn’t like the smell of this steak while it was cooking (maybe the pregnancy hormones, but the strong smell of espresso was overwhelming!). 

The instructions had me rub the espresso powder, along with salt and pepper, on top of the steak. While the steak was cooking, it smelled so bitter.

My husband, who was very excited to have steak for dinner, quickly bit into the steak. But, it didn’t take long to see the massive wave of disappointment spread across his face, and he spits out the steak. I’ve never, ever seen my husband spit out food. However, after taking a bite of the steak, I understood why. The espresso powder was incredibly bitter on the steak and made the entire piece of meat taste burnt. dinnerly: Taste-testing

I was able to salvage the meat by washing off all of the seasonings on top. It still had a faint espresso taste, but it was a lot more manageable.  We didn’t get around to trying the kimchi dish because when I went to cook the green beans, I noticed that they were covered in mold. Like I said, the ingredients that came in the box were not quality. 

As soon as I got my Dinnerly box, I put all the ingredients into the fridge, including the green beans. So, it was a bit of a disappointment to discover that they went bad so quickly. We end up just throwing out the green beans.

Trying to Cancel My Dinnerly Box — How Easy Was It to Cancel?

After I got my first box from Dinnerly, I decided that I wanted to cancel.

I went through my account, and I was able to cancel pretty easily (or so I thought).

I should have known better. Even though I didn’t receive a confirmation email, my card was charged again, and I received another box. I didn’t miss the cancellation deadline, so this was frustrating.

I didn’t want to receive yet another Dinnerly box, so I tried to cancel again — canceling my subscription on a Thursday. My box didn’t ship out till the following Tuesday. I ended up giving the parcel to a friend because I was so disappointed with what I received in my original Dinnerly box. 

Was I able to cancel? 

Yes. But, not before I received and paid for an additional box. 

By this time, I have only paid for two Dinnerly boxes. I didn’t receive the first box, got a ‘free’ box sent, which I did try. Cancelled again, received another box and had to cancel again. So, two boxes came. I paid for two boxes, but I only used one. What a mess! 

What I Liked and Didn’t Like About Dinnerly

Now that you have a complete understanding of my total experience with dinner early, it’s time to go off with what I did and didn’t like about the subscription.

 What I liked:

  • Affordable
  • Ingredients that came from the grocery store so I can replicate the recipes that I wanted by myself at home 

What I didn’t like: 

  • Unreliable communication 
  • Lack of options for allergies/special dietary requirements
  • No meals showed up at my door, even though I was provided with a confirmation
  • The cancellation didn’t indeed cancel until I reached out to customer support via email

EveryPlate

EveryPlate is very similar to Dinnerly in terms of price range. EveryPlate says that all of their meal options can you cooked in the comfort of your own home in 30 minutes or less. Will EveryPlate deliver on this promise? Let’s find out! 

 

EveryPlate  After you place your order, EveryPlate will ship your order to your front door.

EveryPlate claims that their meal delivery kits are an affordable option because you won’t spend as much time or money at the grocery store. They claim that each serving costs $4.99 and that the recipes only take six steps to completely cook. 

When you first sign up, you will have the option to choose how many people you are feeding. You will also get to choose how many meals you’re interested in having delivered each week. 

You are only allowed to choose between two and four people — there are no single-people options, so keep that in mind when ordering here. I don’t think this is as cost-effective as grocery shopping if you are single unless you love eating leftovers, then I can see it making sense. 

If you’ve got a really large family and you’re just looking to take a break for a little bit from meal planning, you’re going to have to buy several meal kits to feed your family. 

EveryPlate 

My Ordering Experience with EveryPlate

For me, the big difference between my EveryPlate and my Dinnerly came down to a snowstorm. 

I didn’t get my first Dinnerly subscription box because there were delivery problems across the country. I ordered both boxes at the same time, under the same circumstances, and waited. 

I received EveryPlate, and I didn’t receive my Dinnerly.  

For me, that makes a huge difference because I plan my meals ahead of time and need to make sure we have the ingredients for the weekly dinners ahead of time. With Dinnerly, I was left high and dry in the middle of a snowstorm without meals to cook, and I couldn’t get to my local grocery store. I was literally snowed in and couldn’t try the Dinnerly meals. 

Thankfully, with EveryPlate, the box came, on time, and I had something to cook me and my husband that week! 

EveryPlate 

 

With EveryPlate, you have the option to choose to get your meal subscription delivered between Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. When you sign up for your subscription with them, you’ll have to choose the first day you want to receive your box. Also, you’re able to outline any delivery instructions you feel are important for the delivery driver to know.

Here’s a bit of the subscription box math for you with my EveryPlate subscription. Since I was only being charged $4.99 a serving, with a mandatory $8.99 shipping fee, it brought the total for 16 total servings, two average of $5.55 a serving.   

The biggest complaint that I have with EveryPlate is that I couldn’t choose a subscription option that came with pork-free meals. So, I had to manually make sure that none of the recipes that were selected had pork in them. Unfortunately, a lot of the meals I was offered in my EveryPlate did have pork products in them, so I did have to choose a recipe that had pork in it (which I’m allergic to). It seemed that many of the options they had for that week also contain pork products, so I really wasn’t left with much choice.

EveryPlate 

My Complete Experience with EveryPlate

When I opened my EveryPlate box, there was a well-packaged container full of ingredients. I’m very grateful to say that all of the recipes that I received in my EveryPlate box contained printed recipe cards. 

I love when subscription meal kits come with printed, easy-to-follow recipe cards. I love to save the meals I enjoyed and recreate them with grocery store ingredients. There was a large ice pack that kept all the ingredients chilly and fresh. The recipe cards also had pictures of all the ingredients and came with allergen warnings. 

The first recipe that I made was a cheesy chicken and green-up pepper fajita with pickled red onion and lime crema. Anything with a lime Crema on it is an absolute win for me.

EveryPlate 

The same problem that I had with my Dinnerly subscription box is the same problem that I had with my EveryPlate. There were a few ingredients that I need to have in my house to make sure that I was able to properly cook the meals that were sent to my EveryPlate. That includes kosher salt, sugar, vegetable oil, and black pepper.  

In addition to the first recipe that I received in my EveryPlate box, I also received:

  •  Tuscan herb chicken linguine with creamy tomato sauce and charred lemon
  •  panko chicken paillard with Dijon Apple slaw and Smoky roasted potatoes
  •  linguine carbonara with peas and bacon 

EveryPlate 

What I Liked vs. Didn’t Like in My EveryPlate Meal Kit:

What I liked: 

  • Super fast shipping
  • Reliable communication and shipping
  • Easy to find ingredients
  • Recipe cards
  • Unique spiced mixes
  • Received chef’s tips on the top of cards to help give the meals extra pizzaz

What I didn’t like: 

  • Vast chunks of information in each step of the recipes so that the recipe was only six steps
  • Lack of special options for unique allergies and dietary needs

Other Alternatives To Consider: My Favorite Meal Subscription Boxes

Are you still not set with either EveryPlate or Dinnerly? Let’s take a closer look at some of the other options available to you so you can find the best meal subscription service to best fit your needs.

Hello Fresh

EveryPlate is owned by Hello Fresh. If you like the concept and delivery of EveryPlate, but looking for something more complex or fancier than EveryPlate, you should take a look at Hello Fresh. You’ll find that their meals average between $8 to $9 a serving. Also, I still haven’t found a subscription box on the market that offers as high-quality meats as the ones I found in my Hello Fresh subscription.

Hello Fresh

Blue Apron

This is another alternative to consider if you’re still looking for a higher-end meal kit that isn’t Hello Fresh. Keep in mind that the cost per serving is expensive, but it’s worth it if you’re looking to save money on high-end restaurants.

Blue Apron

FAQs About EveryPlate and Dinnerly

Do you have some questions about EveryPlate and Dinnerly that still haven’t been answered? We are here to help you. We’ve responded to some of your FAQs below:

Question: What’s the difference between EveryPlate and Hello Fresh?

Answer: EveryPlate offers affordable meal plans options for people who need to stick to a budget. Also, EveryPlate provides meals that are a lot simpler to make. But, if you’re looking for higher-quality ingredients and fancier meals, you should check out Hello Fresh. Keep in mind that Hello Fresh does over EveryPlate.

Question: How healthy is EveryPlate?

Answer: If you’re vegan or vegetarian, there aren’t any options available for you, specifically with EveryPlate. Also, there aren’t many paleo, low carb, or keto-friendly options either. However, if you aren’t interested in following a specific diet and more just interested in eating healthy, many meals offered at EveryPlate are healthy. Plus, their ingredients are fresh.

Question: How easy is it to cancel EveryPlate? 

Answer: It was very easy for me to cancel my EveryPlate. Unlike with Dinnerly, I wasn’t charged for any more boxes after I received my Dinnerly. With EveryPlate, I only had to worry about hitting the cancel button found underneath my account information.

Question: Why does Dinnerly cost less than other meal kits?

Answer: Dinnerly claims that their meal kits cost less than other recipe kits because they use the same high-quality ingredients as other recipe meal kits, but they offer a different approach. Instead of using paper cards, descend the recipes out in, they use digital cards. Also, they say that they use fewer ingredients in a dish, which means that there are less cleaning and shopping for the customers to have to worry about. They say that they offer more plain packaging and don’t spend a lot of money on marketing campaigns.

Question: Who should use Dinnerly?

Answer: Dinnerly says that their company was made for people who enjoy cooking. They also said that their meal company was created for people who don’t want to overpay for things. Moreover, they understand how many people are busy with their lives so they want to make dinner a lot easier. Dinnerly is dedicated in making great recipes with fresh ingredients; all delivered right to your front door.

Question: Does Dinnerly allow you to skip weeks?

Answer: Yes, you can skip weeks using Dinnerly. So, you’ll have the option to choose when you want boxes and when you don’t want crates.

Question: Does Marley Spoon own Dinnerly? 

Answer: Yes, Dinnerly is owned by Marley Spoon.

Question: How healthy is Dinnerly?

Answer: The meals Dinnerly offers aren’t what I would describe as crave-worthy meals. However, the food is okay quality and easy enough to prepare. They are a much healthier option than taking out but be prepared; they don’t offer meals that cater to special diets.

Which one is better:  EveryPlate vs Dinnerly?

While EveryPlate is just a little bit more expensive than Dinnerly, by a few cents, EveryPlate is the much better option to go with. Just putting food quality aside, I was left stranded without four days worth of dinners with Dinnerly. However, EveryPlate took care of me and made sure I got my food, despite the snowstorm.

But, that’s just a personal experience I had with both companies. If you live in Arizona, you likely aren’t worried about snowstorms. I will say that I enjoyed EveryPlate’s food a lot more than I liked Dinnerly. My husband didn’t spit out any dishes from EveryPlate.

Also, I was still charged and received another box after I canceled my Dinnerly box. But, the same thing didn’t happen with my EveryPlate, as I wasn’t charged further after I canceled back. Plus, I never received any email responses back from Dinnerly customer service.

EveryPlate blew Dinnerly out of the water in this comparison. EveryPlate offered consistent shipping, decent meals, and easy cancellation. This is where I felt like Dinnerly truly failed, even though they were the slightly cheaper option.

Who do you feel is the real winner between Dinnerly and EveryPlate? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

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