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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Jane Hoskyn

‘Fresher than anything in a shop’: the best recipe boxes and meal kits for time-poor foodies, tested

Riverford recipe box filled with fresh vegetables and ingredients on wooden deck.
Meals on wheels? Not quite, but you can have everything you need to make delicious dinners delivered to your door. Photograph: Jane Hoskyn/The Guardian

Recipe box services are the best thing to happen to time-poor foodies since, well, sliced bread. They’re cheaper than a takeaway, often less processed than a ready meal, and much more culinarily adventurous than beans on toast.

You have to do the actual cooking, but not the shopping. Recipe boxes contain every ingredient you need (well, most do), often in the exact measurements required. “Meal kits” cut hassle even further by including preprepared stocks, sauces and other flavour bombs, plus ready-chopped veg. All you have to do is put them together following the steps in the recipe, which can take less time than queueing at a supermarket checkout.

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