"I'm in my late 20s, absolutely hate cooking, and Youfoodz just changed my life."

Hi there.

My name is Jessie Stephens. I’m 29 next month and have a lot of hobbies that include reading, Pilates and stalking people I do not like very much on Instagram.

Oh.

And I don’t cook. Under any circumstance. The reasons are as follows:

I don’t want to.

I don’t know how to. (I could learn but see point above).

Furthermore, I don’t want to.

Food as a concept is great. I like how it allows me to live and often I find it tastes quite good, but none of that is enough of an incentive to get out pans and strainers and wooden spoons and oven trays and spend an hour making a meal that inevitably tastes like I made it.

Perhaps the hardest thing about not being able to/having no interest whatsoever in cooking, is eating healthily. Takeaway is inevitably full of sodium and sugar and other unnecessary additions that I can’t see.

Since moving out of home five years ago, I’ve been desperate to find a solution to the whole ‘I-need-to-eat-three-times-a-day’ conundrum with three specific criteria.

The first is I need to be able to afford it. Spending $20 on takeaway just isn’t sustainable.

The second is health. I don’t want a bunch of frozen meals that lack nutritional value.

And the third is wastage. I. Hate. Food. Wastage. As a woman who only really has to worry about my own meals, you can’t buy a loaf of bread or a bunch of fruit and veg, because it tends to go off before I get the chance to use it all.

For a while I’d been hearing friends talk about Youfoodz.

I’ve wanted to try it for months, because it literally ticks every box. At $9.95 a meal, it’s absurdly affordable.  The clean meals range in particular is seriously healthy, and all their food is fresh, not frozen. With each meal delivered cold to your door (they go in the fridge) there’s no wastage. Your meals for an entire week are just instantly set.

But there was one additional criteria that probably mattered more than all the others:

It had to taste good.

So, I decided to trial and review a week of Youfoodz. Here’s how it went.

Friday

You can get Youfoodz delivered any day of the week you prefer, but I opted with Friday.

The box is insulated which keeps the food cool.

It was a hot day so the first thing I couldn’t help but open was a green juice I’d ordered with green apple, pineapple, broccoli, cucumber, zucchini, kale, mint and spinach and holy moley I could have smashed six of them.

Drink: Youjuice Getcha Greens

It was super refreshing and tasty and I often find juices can be very hit and miss. So far, I was impressed.

But the real test came at dinner time, when I sat down for my first meal.

Dinner: Beef Lasagne

It took two minutes to put together.

Two.

Well, maybe two and a half when factoring in grabbing a plate as well as a knife and fork.

And it was everything. The portion size was generous, which was one thing I was a bit worried about, and it was ridiculously tasty.

Within an hour I was on the phone to my mum describing the whole Youfoodz decision and she was on board.

Snack: Choc Protein Brownie

I then... might have eaten one of the brownies and... yes, to the brownie, is my assessment.

Saturday

Breakfast: Loaded Brekky Pie

So, I have a confession.

Usually on Saturdays I go to a cafe with a few friends and treat myself to brunch. Depending on what I get, the average cost of a meal would be approximately $15.

This brekky pie was... $4.95. Around the same cost as a cup of coffee at a fancy cafe.

It wasn't like a meat pie - which had me a bit panicked at first - but was a pastry full of veg.

 

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Drink: Youjuice Thanks A Melon

WHY ARE THESE JUICES SO GOOD? This morning's juice had watermelon, green apple, strawberry, mint and beetroot and was deliciously sweet.

Lunch: Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad

I'm not sure if this has come across yet, but I am a, ah, very simple person when it comes to food. And I would eat this for lunch every day of the week. Like most of the meals - as I was coming to discover - it took two minutes to heat up.

Dinner: Tasty Turkey Rissoles

Turkey isn't something I eat very often but I really enjoyed this meal. It came with chips which I certainly did not complain about, and I read on the box that popping them in the oven for a few minutes would make them even crispier. It worked.

Sunday

Breakfast: Bangin' Brekky Wrap

I toasted the wrap first thing and was very impressed with how crunchy and fresh it tasted.

Drink: Youjuice Black Magic, with apple, cucumber, lemon, ginger, kale, and activated charcoal.

I read that activated charcoal is good for your TEETH so felt like I was pretty much doing a beauty treatment while guzzling down this juice. At this stage, I realised that the juices had been the most pleasant surprise of this entire experience. I was not expecting them to be this good.

Lunch: Summer Coconut Curry and Brown Rice

Hot, but not too hot. What I was realising was that these meals actually tasted homemade (like... in the home of someone who could actually cook), with lots of flavour and warmth to them. I really liked the offering of vegetarian options as well.

Snack: Fruit & Nut Yoghurt Protein Bar

Dinner: Portuguese Chicken

It was at this point that my roommates (my sister and her boyfriend) noticed that something was up and asked how the hell this meal ended up in our home.

I lied and said I made it because mum had sent me a recipe, and we all had a good laugh because mum can't cook either. 

When I said, "nah, nah it's Youfoodz", I had to field a lot of questions about cost/if they had vego options etc. and honestly, I might as well be a Youfoodz ambassador.

Monday

Breakfast: Berry Toasty Granola

Lunch: Mexi Beans and Quinoa Brown Rice

I liked how light this meal was, which was perfect for a quick lunch. If I'd grabbed this from the Mexican place up the road it would have easily been $5 more, which, as I've learned the hard way, really adds up.

Drink: Youjuice Sweet Relief, with apple, carrot, orange, ginger, yellow and, pawpaw.

Loved it. Again.

Dinner: YF Fried Chicken and Gravy

This is, according to my very thorough research, one of the highest-rated meals on Youfoodz and I could definitely tell why. The mashed potato was next level and the gravy just topped it off. It's also part of the 'clean meals' range - highly, highly recommend.

Tuesday

Breakfast: Coco-Berry Protein Oats

Filling, quick and easy.

Lunch: Satay Chicken and Veg

This meal is a Youfoodz classic that I'd heard a lot of my friends talk about. It honestly tasted like something you'd order at a Thai restaurant, except for a fraction of the price. Even after five days, everything tasted super fresh.

Dinner: Clean Roast Chicken and Veg

This was a serious dinner and potentially one of my favourites of the whole week, even though it was the second time I'd had chicken today. The roast cauliflower, pumpkin, and green beans really rounded out the whole meal and the chicken was very juicy.

Snack: Coconut Protein Ball

Verdict?

I can't believe it took me this long to actually try Youfoodz.

It's the perfect solution to my years-long predicament. I felt fantastic after the five days because the meals were healthy and filled me up, meaning I wasn't (always) reaching for chocolate between meals.

There wasn't one meal I didn't finish. They were all legitimately yummy and satisfying.

It made me think; there's never been a better time in history to be a woman who hates cooking. Youfoodz has changed the game, by making home-delivered meals not only great quality, but seriously affordable.

Now, excuse me.

I'm very busy ordering my Youfoodz for next week, and the Pad Thai is looking particularly appealing...

See what else is new in Youfoodz' clean meals range, and check out their different pack offers here.

The writer received product from Youfoodz in return for an honest review.

Have you tried Youfoodz? Tell us what you think below.