The Verdict

As you'd probably expect from a low-cost meal kit delivery service, it was pretty easy to actually make the food itself. Even I could easily follow the instructions, and I really appreciate the breakdown of what I would need to provide and what I would use:

Following the recipe itself was easy too - there wasn't the super-easy image-accompanied explanations that I so loved in Green Chef, but what was here was simple enough even for me to make a recipe simply and perfectly.

The prep work took around 5-10 minutes per recipe, and I was eating the food I'd made within 30-40 minutes of starting to prep. I liked that simple, easy approach. After all, some meal kit delivery services (Hello Fresh and Sun Basket) have some pretty complicated steps, and food that can take up to an hour to prepare, so I appreciated this.

I'd say that if you're looking for exotic, international tastes, then Dinnerly isn't for you - you should look at something a little more high-end and complicated like Sun Basket or Marley Spoon.

How it Works

Dinnerly's sign up process is just slightly different to other meal kit delivery services I've come across: for one thing, it asks you first up as to which plan you'd like - and for another, it offers you the choice of 3,4 or 5 meals. This is one of the first times any of the meal delivery services (other than Every Plate) that I've reviewed have given me the option to choose an odd number of meals.

I liked it! Another thing I liked?

That the price per portion went down as I chose a higher number of meals - it's the same approach as other companies like Sun Basket and Blue Apron...although Blue Apron also adds in free delivery once you choose 3 meals or more a week.

Once you've confirmed your address and personal details and your payment method (credit card or PayPal), it's time to choose your meals.

What's in Dinnerly's Box

As a low-cost meal kit delivery service, Dinnerly doesn't like to embellish anything - be that the recipes on offer, or the packaging it's sent in.

I really liked this approach, as it meant there was no more plastic than I would have gotten from a trip to the supermarket. In some cases, I found the produce - tomatoes, garlic and cucumbers - were placed straight into the box (and not separately wrapped in plastic, like Blue Apron did).

I appreciated how easily recyclable most things were - there were a few plastic clamshells (for yoghurts and other liquids), as well as some plastic wrapping (for leaves and other leafy vegetables), which I understood the need for. In some places, these might even be recyclable, but in my area, they weren't.

Still, I appreciated the lack of wastefulness and overuse of plastic in the box.

Customer Support

As a lower-cost meal kit delivery service, I hadn't had the highest of hopes for the customer support options. I figured there wouldn't be the awesome live chat of Hello Fresh, or the Martha Stewart-taped greeting of Marley Spoon, but I was still pleasantly surprised by the range of options to get in touch.