Recipe boxes are super popular at the moment- and with good reason. You can have the convenience of ingredients delivered straight to your door- and the best part? It’s super healthy and nutritious too. You can try out new recipes and flavours, and cook a meal from scratch without the hassle of grocery shopping.
Another bonus? You can often receive an introductory offer on these meal delivery kits too. There are many brands of recipe boxes and meal kit delivery services, but how does Mindful Chef measure up? Mindful Chef claim to be the UK’s highest rated recipe box. You may have seen the adverts, and the frozen meals stocked in supermarkets such as Waitrose, but is Mindful Chef worth the money? Is it worth it? And how do the ingredients stack up against the price you pay for the kit?
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Testing out Mindful Chef
We put Mindful Chef to the test to see whether it’s really worth the money. As well as the ingredients themselves, you are also paying for the delivery, the recipes, and the convenience of having the ingredients carefully prepped, weighed and measured, ready for cooking. It’s certainly a time saver.
If you’re feeling in a bit of a rut when it comes to meal planning, recipe boxes can give you some new ideas, and introduce you to new things. The Mindful Chef box comes with recipe cards, so you can recreate your favourites forever more if you wish to. Ever been put off by a recipe with about 6 different spices required? With the Mindful Chef recipe box, you are able to try out new flavour combinations and recipes without needing to buy all those specialist ingredients.
Mindful Chef is rated as the UK’s No.1 recipe box. So let’s dive in to determine if Mindful Chef is really worth the money.
How does Mindful Chef work?
Mindful Chef works on the basis that you receive one delivery box per week on subscription (but don’t worry, you can skip, cancel or pause anytime!). Mindful Chef’s mission is to offer recipe boxes that make healthy eating easy. So far, they’ve delivered over three million meals to households across the UK.
Upon signing up to Mindful Chef, you can choose the number of recipes (meals) you’d like to receive per week, and for how many people. You can select between 2 and 4 recipes, and choose between 1 person, 2 people, or ‘family’ (4 adults or 2 adults with 2-3 children). The website is very user-friendly, and has photographs listed with easy recipe to tantalise your tastebuds.
You can choose from 20 changing recipes per week- you’ll be sure to find something that everyone in the family loves. Mindful Chef caters for healthy eating requirements extremely well- you might even say that it’s their USP. When you choose your recipes, you can filter by ‘all healthy recipes, high-quality meat and fish recipes only, pescetarian recipes only, or healthy vegan recipes only.’
After you’ve made your choices online, Mindful Chef will deliver on a dedicated day, straight to your front door. You’ll receive a text with an estimated delivery time, but don’t worry if you’re not at home. Insulated boxes are provided to keep everything fresh for up to 48 hours, and your box will be left in your designated safe space.
For every meal that you purchase from Mindful Chef, they will donate a school meal to a child living in poverty. They’ve donated more than thirteen million meals so far!
What do you get in a Mindful Chef box?
Inside your Mindful Chef box, you’ll find everything you need to prepare the recipes you’ve selected. That’s every ingredient- even down to herbs, spices, and condiments. It’s all carefully measured out before it gets to your door. The box is set up so that meal prep is kept to a minimum to save you time. There’s also much less waste, and everything is more cost effective. No more lingering jars of once-used ingredients in the fridge!
Inside the meal kit you’ll also find numbered paper bags which contain the corresponding ingredients, which saves any confusion when cooking. Your box will also have the insulation material and ice packs required to keep your food chilled if you’re out when your box gets delivered.
How much does Mindful Chef cost?
Mindful Chef prices are calculated by serving- each serving starts from £6 per portion. For example, if you wish to order 3 meals for 2 people per week, that’s 6 servings, totaling from £36 (vegan and vegetarian recipes are cheapest). Delivery is an additional £4.99. This would make the total for the Mindful Chef box start from £40.99
That said, with their introductory offer you can get your first four Mindful Chef boxes at a discount. You can get your first four boxes for 25% off. If you ordered 3 meals for 2 people, that would make the prices start from £4.50 per serving with the introductory offer, or a total of £27 for 6 servings, for the cheapest vegan and vegetarian meals.
With the introductory offer of 25% off, Mindful Chef is worth it. It’s worth the money when you are getting fresh, healthy meals for a fraction of the cost that you might usually expect to pay if you are buying convenience food or takeaway food.
And if it’s not for you? You can cancel after your first box if you wish. There is no commitment to continue the subscription.
Are Mindful Chef ingredients good quality?
Mindful Chef say that their ingredients are award winning, and appear to be very fresh. The produce is sourced from local, award winning suppliers across the UK. They say that ‘if it isn’t farmed right, it can’t be healthy. We work with British farmers and producers who share our mindful values’. You’ll find notes on the recipes saying ‘grass-fed British beef mince’ and ‘free-range British chicken breast’ which helps to give you a better understanding of where your food is coming from.
The portion sizes are great, and they are good value for money. With everything being pre-portioned, it means there is truly minimal waste. It’s a real plus for the environment.
The ingredients for the recipes have a refrigerated shelf life of around 7 days on average. However, if you opt for recipes using fish or meat, check to make sure that they don’t expire sooner than expected. You may have to prioritise the order in which you cook the meals.
Is Mindful Chef healthy?
Mindful Chef recipes are healthy- with a breakdown of calories, fat, carbs, and protein included in all recipes. The portions are a generous size, and you can be sure that you’ll be preparing meals for yourself and any family members that are tasty, easy, and nutritious. Mindful Chef say that their meals will leave you ‘healthy, not hungry’ and that their recipes are packed with high quality protein and plenty of vegetables.
Mindful Chef also promise no refined carbs, and goodness from natural foods. If you’re looking for a recipe box that helps you eat more healthily, this is it. The recipes are all also gluten and dairy free. With ‘no refined sugars, preservatives or cheap fillers.’
The vegetables arrive freshly wrapped in paper bags, and you’ll have to prepare the actual vegetables for the meals yourself. You won’t find wrinkled pre-cut carrots or other veggies. Although the rest of the ingredients are measured out beforehand, the chopping and preparation will be done by you.
Does Mindful Chef cater to dietary requirements?
Mindful Chef does cater to dietary requirements which makes their recipe box service stand out above the rest. All of their recipes are gluten and dairy free. It’s definitely their USP when it comes to the industry. You can select from a wide range of specific dietary requirements such as Vegan and Diabetes-Friendly.
If you are looking to support dietary requirements related to health goals, you’ll also find meals with premium ingredients such as grass fed beef and sock eye salmon. The ingredients are all sustainably sourced, and Mindful Chef source from regenerative farmers too.
Is Mindful Chef worth the money?
Mindful Chef is certainly worth the money if you are looking for a way to cook healthy meals conveniently and quickly when you’re pushed for time. It certainly beats a takeaway! And starting at £6 per serving, the price is cheaper than a takeaway too.
It’s good value for money when you consider the premium ingredients that are used in the recipes, this outweighs other recipe kit subscription boxes.
If you’re unsure, it’s definitely worth trying out the Mindful Chef trial to get your first four boxes from £27 (based on 3 vegan or vegetarian meals shared between 2 people). A 25% saving on your first box means that the cost starts at £4.50 per serving if you order 3 meals for 2 people. Try the Mindful Chef trial here.
How does Mindful Chef compare to other meal kit delivery services?
Mindful Chef state that 66% of their customers switched to Mindful Chef from another recipe kid delivery service. There are a number of different recipe box delivery services, each offering different recipes, offers and pricing structure. Currently HelloFresh offers the best price per serving, and the best discount introductory offer over 4 boxes.
Mindful Chef is without a doubt the best option if you need meals which cater to specific dietary requirements. However, the introductory discount is less than other options, and the price per serving is a little more expensive.
Check out our reviews of HelloFresh and SimplyCook for more on how Mindful Chef compares!
| Meal delivery service | Introductory offer | Price per serving (3 meals for 2 people) without discount | Other information |
| HelloFresh | 50% off first box, 35% off for next 3 boxes. | £4.75 | 37 different recipes per week. Free delivery for introductory offer. |
| Gousto | 60% off first box, 25% off all other boxes in the first month. | £5.00 | 75 different recipes per week. £1.99 delivery cost. |
| Mindful Chef | 25% off your first 4 boxes. | From £6.00 | 20 different recipes per week. Have the choice of vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and low carbon impact options. |
| SimplyCook | Free trial with first box (just pay £1 delivery) | £0 for free trial | £9.99 per box after the free trial ends, with free delivery. 4 recipes with flavour blends per week. |
How do you cancel Mindful Chef?
If you decide that you’d like to no longer continue with your Mindful Chef recipe boxes, or you just wanted to try out the discount on your first four boxes, you can cancel at no extra cost. Remember that you’ll need to cancel your subscription four days before scheduled delivery, so that it is cancelled with enough notice.
You can cancel by heading to their website, logging into your account, and go to the ‘upcoming orders’ page. Here you can skip or cancel your order.
Is Mindful Chef worth it? Last thoughts
Mindful Chef is certainly worth it when you’re making the most of the introductory offer of 25% off your first 4 boxes. Depending on the meals you select, it’s likely that you’ll be making a saving compared to the cost of buying each individual ingredient from the supermarket. You’ll also be trying out some brand new recipes, which is worth it for the experience too.
The healthy recipes are unrivalled. Dietary requirements are also catered to, and ingredients are freshly, locally, and sustainably sourced where possible. From this perspective, it’s the best recipe box on the market.
- Value time saving and convenience? Mindful Chef is a great option.
- High quality ingredients from £6 per serving (from £4.50 with the introductory offer!)
- You can cancel or skip your subscription whenever you like (just cancel 4 days before delivery is due)
- Choose from over 20 recipes each week
- At 25% off for your first four boxes, it’s worth a go!
- Mindful Chef are likely to be your best option if you need options for specialist diets.
- Mindful Chef are also a carbon neutral company, so if this is on your agenda, it’s a must try.
Try out the Mindful Chef introductory offer now!