Dinner and Date Night…in a Box!

When a friend introduced me to the company, Plated, I was hesitant to be prematurely impressed. Plated seemed like a great concept and an easy, healthy alternative to a certain boxed macaroni and hamburger meal. My husband basically THINKS he’s a chef, so I thought he’d have fun with this one too.  I decided to turn this into a dinner and date night at home.

Dinner and Date Night in a Box with Plated

In short, Plated compiles chef-designed recipes and delivers all the ingredients necessary to make a home-cooked meal — from the cut meat and chopped produce, right down to details such as a teaspoon of turmeric or a quarter cup of coconut oil — directly to your door.

The company has a cool background as well. You can read about it here.

I looked through Plated’s delicious menu (which changes weekly) and ordered one meal…just to try.

I can’t rave enough about Plated

First of all, let’s talk quality. The food was so fresh. It came in a boxed “freezer” and even the lettuce was crisp! The avocado wasn’t bruised. Every ingredient was perfectly measured out and in individual bottles. It was thrilling for us to be able to try new ingredients! I cooked with fresh ginger! (Okay, maybe this isn’t a big deal to some of you, but it was to me!)

Second, it was easy. The directions Plated sent along were clear and beautifully visual. Everything was labeled and individually packaged. The whole meal took about 25 minutes for us to prepare and cook. Now that’s a quick weeknight meal!

Third, it was so, so, so much fun! Not only did we get to eat delicious food that was a HUGE step up from our usual taco salad/soup/spaghetti routine,  but it was a literal date night in our kitchen. We put the kids to bed a little early and prepared the meal together. We were laughing, tasting, and enjoying the experience. I sincerely feel like this was a dinner and date night in a box. How much do YOU spend on date night? When all is said and done, (babysitters, dinner, activity)  for us, it can be about 4 times one meal from Plated.

YIKES.

Even my husband exclaimed, “THIS IS SO FUN AND the food is actually GOOD!”

And bless his little cattle-ranching-cowboy heart, he’s a tough critic.
Especially when it’s not red meat and potatoes.

A Delicious Dinner and Date Night Courtesy of Plated

Lastly, the food is delicious. We enjoyed Teriyaki Salmon and salad with a carrot-ginger dressing. The dressing was my favorite. A perfect combo of tart ginger with sweet carrot. I could have drunk it! The salmon was restaurant-worthy. We ate together and tried to enjoy each other’s company – but we were really busy shoving food into our faces. YUM!.

So there you have it. Date night in a box. A quick weeknight meal. A fun catered party.

Plated is my new favorite and I think you’ll adore it too!