Dinnerly: A Ready to Prepare Budget Dinner Option

Mummy Review: Dinnerly is among the newcomers to the ready to prepare dinner options for Aussie families. It is meant to be a more budget friendly meal kit. 

Disclosure: I was provided these meals in exchange for my honest opinion and experience. All opinions are my own. 

I’ve seen a few advertisements for Dinnerly lately, and because I had done a post reviewing the various options for easy dinner options for Aussie families, I figured it would be a perfect addition!

Dinnerly is a more budget friendly option for busy families, offering ready-to-cook ingredient boxes delivered to your door! It is less expensive than the alternatives because there are no paper recipe cards (they’re digitally mailed to you), less packaging involved, and less ingredients per recipe. It’s a great option to check out if you are running short on ideas, but don’t have the funds to spend on the more expensive meal kits. They are actually run by the same group as Marley Spoon (another tasty option!)

For Dinnerly, please feel free to use the affiliate links (or not) to try your box today!

Where to buy: Dinnerly Website (click “Get Started”)

How it arrives: In an insulated cardboard box with ice packs. Food is packaged minimally and recipe cards are emailed to you rather than included in the pack. Meat is in a cooler section pack.

What you need: Refrigerator & Pantry space. A tablet or computer/email to download the recipes.

What is in the box? Ingredients for each recipe in your meal plan. Each packaged/pre-measured ingredient is labeled. Meat and other items to be refrigerated are in insulated bag with ice packs. Recipe cards are emailed to you.

How long it is good for? Up to 4 days

Sizes Available? 2 Person and Family (4 portions) Boxes available

Delivery Area: Most of NSW, VIC, QLD, and ACT

How far in advance to order: At least 6 days prior to your delivery day.

Pickup delivery available? No, delivery only.

Specific dietary plans available? There are 3 vegetarian options available every week.

Cost? Price Per Serve? There are only two options with Dinnerly currently which are
2 person/3 meals for $47.95/week ($6.50/portion) and Family Box (4 portions)/3 meals for $77.95/week ($5.75/portion) including shipping costs.

Plans available? Subscription only. Two Person and Family (4 Portion) Boxes.

Frequency? Weekly.

Self-renewing or manual? Self-renewing until you postpone, skip weeks, or opt out.

Delivery days range? Big or small? See website for details. You select a delivery date and time from their availble choices for your area. There were two choices/weekly for my area.

Variety of food?  Each week the customer has the option to view the menu of 6 recipes, 3 of which are vegetarian and select which 3 they would like delivered. They can plan up to 5 weeks of recipe selection in advance. Recipes are only auto-selected based on their taste preference profile (i.e.. “chicken”, “beef”, “vegetarian”, etc ) if they do not manually go in and choose themselves.

Groceries/Fruit available as well? No.

Coupons available? Dinnerly often has deals going for first time orders

Need to be home for delivery? No. You select the delivery date and time, but can leave instructions for where to leave the parcel. Boxes are ok for 6-8 hours.

Dinnerly Website//Facebook//Instagram

My Experience

Price (5/5)

Dinnerly is the most affordable ready-to-prepare meal subscription service which I have tried. The price is meant to be below the average meal plan boxes with much simpler meals to cook. The ingredients were fresh and not less than the other meal plans because of the affordability. It is a more budget friendly plan.

Delivery: (5/5)

It was delivered in the early morning hours and I received a text message when it was delivered. It was left for a few hours as I was asleep, and the ingredients were still fine, as they packed it with ice packs which are reusable and recyclable, and the meat was inside cool pack as well. I received the email with the recipes along with the box, so I was ready to prepare them whenever suited me best. A few ingredients were canned and packaged goods, which have a little longer life than the fresh vegetables as well.

Storage: (5/5)

Everything came loose or packed in pre-measured ingredients, so very easy to arrange within your fridge or pantry. The only issue with this is you will need to remember not to use the ingredients should you have the same within your fridge or pantry (obviously this isn’t a problem, but just something to be aware of). Less packaging means a lot less fuss unpacking and putting the things away for meals.

Preparation: (4/5)

These meals were a bit easier to prepare, as there were less ingredients and less preparation needed (I found). The only thing that I would like to see different is possibly some pictures along with the “how to” on the recipe cards as I am a very visual person. It took me a little longer than I expected because I overanalyse and re-read things to make sure I’ve done everything correctly. Some vegetables I wasn’t as used to cooking with, so seeing how they were cut would be a big help for me. (I know, I know, I should have cooked eggplant in my thirty something years of life, but I hadn’t before this point.)

Portion/Size: (4/5)

We received the family box (4 portions), and my picky eaters didn’t really want to eat it, so we had more than enough. I would recommend the family box for those with 2 bigger adult eaters, or younger families (with little kids who don’t eat a whole lot). The meals are meant to be better suited to picky eaters (though mine still may be pickier than most).

Taste: (4/5)

These meals were slightly different to what I’m used to, but very good. Not overly seasoned and simple tasting. Very good for picky eaters and you can always add some salt or pepper to taste if needed.

Leftovers: (4/5)

We did have leftovers of the pasta sauce because the kids weren’t huge fans of the lentils, but it makes a great things to have for the week as a snack or other meal! The other meals didn’t have too much left over, and the ingredients were useable for other recipes should you not quite stick to the meal plan.

Disposal/Removal of Packaging: (5/5)

All packaging (even ice packs) are easily recycled and disposed of. The ice packs are non-toxic, and the packaging can be recycled in the RedCycle program or your recycle bin if labeled so. Very easy to dispose.

Overall: (4/5)

Overall, I’ve loved this option for a more budget option for weekly meal boxes. The delivery was prompt and text message alert means you won’t miss when it arrives. The kids and I enjoyed unboxing it (click here see it here on Facebook), and naming all of the vegetables and ingredients inside. It’s great for pantry and fridge space, as all items are loose and there are fewer products to pack away. The meals also seem to be more “familiar” which makes them a bit of a better choice for picky eaters (which I have one and I am one myself). I loved that the recipe cards were emailed, so I could find them whenever I needed them, and I can easily screen shot and keep it for later (and the kids can’t draw on it).
One drawback to this option is that you can ONLY do three meals a week, not more or less. This seems like a good number, though, because it gives you the option to do other meals for the alternate days. Overall, I would recommend this to families trying to find inspiration for the week, or trying a meal box that isn’t as pricey.

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