CanCulture tried this popular Canadian meal-delivery service so you don't have to!
By: Mariana Schuetze
(Mariana Schuetze/CanCulture)
When we think about the meal-prep services available out there, Germany-based HelloFresh is a popular name that comes to mind. But did you know that there are some made-in-Canada options to explore too, namely Goodfood?
These food delivery subscription services can seem like a great and affordable way to cook fun meals without having to think too much about it. So, with my schoolwork piling up, I put Goodfood to the test to see how good it is!
The choices
As I browsed through the site to customize my box, I can see that Goodfood has a few different categories that I can choose from. Depending on each category, the price for the week can vary. The recipe options include: classic, easy prep, vegetarian, clean and family styles. That seems to be a great variety for all needs and tastes, and they change a bit every week.
For three different classic meals, two servings each, the box came to around $80 for a week. And if you really think about how much food it’s giving you, this seems like fair pricing to me. Goodfood also offers a bunch of coupons from time to time that can give you a lot of money off your subscription. This time I was able to get a discount code from another user of the service that gave me $40 off my first box.
With the classic box, you get prepped ingredients and easy instructions — which saves you the time and money you would traditionally dedicate to grocery shopping or testing new recipes each week. Something I dread every day is coming up with ideas for what to eat, so this definitely helps.
For my first time trying out Goodfood, I chose three of their classic meals with different cooking times to test them out. They are also all meatless because I wanted to test the variety of the vegan and vegetarian options, as someone who struggles with adding protein to their diet. My choices were: toasted coconut, lime and sweet pepper curry with spring greens, fresh cheese-stuffed tortellini in creamy pesto sauce with zucchini and peas and the most complicated one, potato and turnip “tartiflette” with sharp endive and apple salad.
The delivery
As promised before payment, I received my order exactly one week after placing it. Everything got delivered to me in a big refrigerated cardboard box and each meal came with all its ingredients inside a plastic bag. Because I’ve also tried HelloFresh before, I wanted to make a quick comparison here: in its packaging, Goodfood seems to have more plastic than HelloFresh, which had its meals come in paper bags. However, the flyer that came with the Goodfood meals says that everything can be recycled, which is what I’ll be doing. And while I didn’t order any meat products this time, the fact that there might be raw meat in the box is something to keep in mind with meal services, in case you won’t be able to get to your delivery right away.
One thing I really enjoy about Goodfood and meal-kit delivery services in general is that they help me try out different recipes and ingredients that I probably wouldn’t cook or buy on my own. For example, this week I got to try endives and turnips, which were completely foreign territory before this meal.
I also enjoy that everything comes pre-portioned, which helps with food waste, especially if you live by yourself. With services like Goodfood, you wouldn’t need to buy a whole pack of sweet peppers, for example, when you aren’t planning on using them all right away.
Yet, this comes with the added plastic packaging that all these smaller portions of food, like, say, heavy cream, come in. But I would imagine that Goodfood is trying to figure out a more sustainable way to deliver these products, and I know I’ll be doing my part in recycling and composting what I can.
The execution
Now, onto the cooking.
Every meal comes with a recipe card that lays out all the spices, ingredients and condiments — like salt and butter, for example — that you’ll need. It also tells you the cooking time and the number of calories per serving. On the other side of the card, there is the recipe.
What I enjoy about these cards is how simply the instructions are written, and they even come with pictures! For someone who isn’t a very great cook, this is an amazing way for me to work on my cooking skills without burning down the kitchen. So, what I did for each meal was read everything before cooking and take out all the things I would need from my kitchen. This allowed me to have the oven preheating or water boiling when needed.
The overall cooking process was quite easy and it didn’t take me too long to prepare everything, especially because it all comes pre-packaged. The “tartiflette” took me the longest, mostly because it required some time in the oven.
The meals tasted quite good, which is a little surprising coming from a picky eater like me! I liked how the meals also come with the seasonings pre-packaged, which makes everything really flavourful in the right amounts. And for someone who wouldn't know where to start seasoning something, this was a major plus.
I also had my mom try the meals and she approved of them — another point for Goodfood (and the chef in me!).
The verdict
An unexpected part of all of this: cooking was quite fun! Having every item ready and the step-by-step instructions made everything super easy and the whole experience a lot more enjoyable, relaxing even. I found out that I actually really enjoyed cooking more elaborate meals for myself — and I certainly enjoyed eating them.
The cleanup after cooking was fine. The recipes didn’t require me to use a bunch of different pots and pans, so I was able to wash and clean everything up quite fast — I think it took me about 10 minutes for every meal.
As for the actual cooking time, I went a little over what was said in all the recipe cards. For the tortellini meal that was supposed to take 15 minutes, it took me about 20 minutes without the cleanup, and the other two dishes took about 40 to 50 minutes overall.
Goodfood’s toasted coconut, lime and sweet pepper curry with spring greens (Mariana Schuetze/CanCulture).
Goodfood’s fresh cheese-stuffed tortellini in creamy pesto sauce with zucchini and peas (Mariana Schuetze/CanCulture).
Goodfood’s potato and turnip “tartiflette” with sharp endive and apple salad (Mariana Schuetze/CanCulture).
For me, the biggest downside of meal delivery services is the plastic waste that they generate. While it’s not extremely abundant, it’s certainly larger than buying things in bulk. Yet, on the other hand, precise portioning does help with food waste, and the recipe variety can provide us with more diverse food options.
Another point to consider is the price. I would say it’s fair, given what’s provided, but it’s not the most affordable food option out there (because come on, there’s always cheap and delicious fast-food options next door). But I’d say it’s more nutritionally-dense and certainly a lot more fun to make yourself.
And, finally, cooking and cleaning up does take some time, which can be another negative point for this service. But as I said, it can be fun and quite relaxing too.
So, in the end, it’s up to you to consider. My conclusion though: Goodfood can get a little pricey, but for someone who lives by themselves and isn’t a very creative cook — and can afford the service — it can be a great and quite easy option to switch things up in the kitchen.