The best recipe box you can buy

Score: 91/100

With backing from sports stars Sir Andy Murray and Victoria Pendleton, Mindful Chef’s emphasis is on fresh, healthy food. It’s also the only box that caters for solo diners. Thanks to well-prepared ingredients, we found the meals timesaving, delicious and substantial.

Price: £42 for a two-person box with three meals/£27 for a one-person box with three meals

BUY NOW Mindful Chef

Score: 87/100

Generous portion sizes, high quality food and attractive packaging meant Gousto came joint runner-up. We loved the choice of appetising recipes on the slick website. The recipe cards are easy to follow, but testers often found it took longer to cook their meals than they expected.

Price: £34.99 a for two-person box with three meals

BUY NOW Gousto

Score: 87/100

Friendly delivery drivers, fresh food and personal touches made this box stand out. We loved the wide choice of boxes and recipes that created delicious meals. Our testers found the boxes to be good value, with little wastage, but didn't like that you can't choose specific or weekend delivery slots.

Price: £39.95 for a two-person box with three meals

BUY NOW Riverford

Score: 84/100

This monthly box comes from a Yorkshire-based family-run company that specialises in sustainable and organic produce from the county. It’s easy to order and there’s plenty of choice. Our testers found the recipes to be good quality and tasty. However, the recipe cards are not easy to follow if you’re an inexperienced cook.

Price: £39 for a two-person box with three meals

BUY NOW Snap Recipe Box

Score: 84/100

An organic box with quality ingredients. Well wrapped, with delicious recipes – our testers loved it. The recipe cards are easy to follow and ingredients are fresh. Our testers particularly liked the focus on healthy vegetable-filled options. However, it is costly, our testers said they could get their supermarket shop for much less.

Price: From £36 for a two-person box with three meals

BUY NOW Abel & Cole

Score: 82/100

Hello Fresh is a well-established, popular brand that already makes up the majority of the recipe box market. The food is great quality, with easy to follow recipes. But some testers wanted to know more about where the ingredients came from.

Price: £34.99 for a two-person box with three meals

BUY NOW Hello Fresh

Score: 76/100

Designed for anyone following the Weight Watchers diet, this recipe box has already calculated the SmartPoints for you. The ingredients are high quality and the recipe cards are easy to follow. Most food came out looking like the photos, but testers thought some of the recipes had been styled. We enjoyed the recipes, but they could taste a bit bland.

Price: £33 for a two-person box with three meals

BUY NOW Weight Watchers

Score: 65/100

This box offers a great introduction to the world of Japanese cooking, but you don’t get to choose your recipes, which worried some testers. The recipes can be complicated to follow, with complex methods. Some of the ingredients weren’t well labelled, which meant our testers struggled to work out what they were – with mixed results.

With such fresh and exotic ingredients, testers felt it would be more successful as a Japanese produce delivery service rather than a recipe box service.

Price: From £20.95 for a two-person box with one recipe.

BUY NOW Japan Centre

Our panel of more than 30 testers across the country sampled eight brands at home. Each box was also inspected and tested by the GHI food experts.

Our team of testers were scrutinising the delivery service, customer service and ease of ordering. We were looking for accurate delivery times and a box that arrives in good condition.

We assessed the quality of the ingredients, how fresh they were and how well packaged they came.

When testers tried the recipes they marked them for ease, taste and time taken.

We also asked the testers whether they thought it was good value for money and whether they'd order again.

The overall score is based on the testers' feedback and scores they gave.

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