I Tried a 15 Minute Meal Kit Delivery Service—Here Are My Thoughts

Gobble only offers two or four servings meal kits so if you live alone and don’t like leftovers, this brand might not be the best fit. But if you don’t mind doubling up on the same dish throughout the week, this shouldn’t be a huge issue.

Clicking through the site is surprisingly easy; there’s a menu page that lists all of the recipes for the upcoming week broken into different categories, with some having more choices than others. For example, for dinner, it was a breeze to choose a bunch from a variety of options for the week without feeling constrained. They also had a personalized button that allows you to swap different proteins; for example, if you don’t eat pork but still want their noodle stir fry, you can swap it for shrimp or chicken. (Keep in mind, this may cost extra).

Affordability

Gobble ranges from $12-$15 per dinner serving, $4-$10 for breakfast, and $6-8 for makeshift lunch options. All and all, I spent about $163 for five days worth of two-serving meals, and that price point includes a $54 first-time buyer promo code. So, every week, for two people, that would calculate to about $21-25 a day each for a suite of meals. In my opinion, that’s a bit steep. As early-to-mid-career professionals, my partner and I have mastered spending about $17 a day each for fares that include a great balance of seasonal vegetables and creative grains, proteins, and baked goods.

I typically prefer less expensive breakfast options too, like fruit, yogurt, or cereal. While eating dishes like red pesto omelets and biscuits with sausage gravy was great, I can deal with more no-frills breakfast (especially if it’s going to be less costly). Gobble’s “lunch” options were cheaper, but their soups and salads lacked protein, which didn’t make them as filling. We had one of their tomato soups for lunch, and while the flavor was on point, we weren’t truly satisfied.

Order and Delivery Process

Ordering the Gobble meal kit was seamless. Their interface shows you available recipes, along with the expected delivery date. (For your first order, allow at least a one-week buffer time to receive your box). I really liked that as soon as you sign up, a video tutorial pops up before you select your meals to give you detailed instructions on how to choose them.

While the ordering was pretty easy, the delivery process was not ideal. The meals come all at once for the week packed in ziplock bags in refrigerated, thinly-insulated cardboard boxes with only a few ice packs. When the order arrived, some food felt room temperature to the touch, which concerned me. There were also no instructions on how to store everything, so I just put the bags of food into the fridge and then placed some of the meat in the freezer. It would have been great if the boxes had instructions to ensure I knew how to keep everything at its optimal temperature for the best quality.

Ease of Use

Gobble meal kits live up to the promise that their recipes only take 15 minutes to cook. For me, this is what really made this brand shine compared to others I’ve tried. Each ziplock bag contains pre-portioned ingredients that require little prep time and very detailed recipe cards. During the week, I typically only needed to wash a small amount of produce, like scallions, and then give them a quick chop. Some other examples of how they made cooking quicker: Providing packets of pre-made sauce for recipes like mac and cheese so that all you need to do is boil the pasta and seasoning packs to make flavoring proteins like steak painless.