PlateJoy Review 2025: Effortless Meal Planning

Overview

PlateJoy is a versatile meal-planning service designed to simplify healthy eating. It offers customizable meal plans, curated grocery lists, and diverse recipes. Recipes are designed by nutritionists, emphasizing balanced meals that cater to 14 diets, including vegan, keto, paleo, and gluten-free. You can personalize your plan based on preferences, allergies, and available kitchen equipment.

PlateJoy creates grocery lists to help reduce food waste and integrates with services like Instacart or Amazon Fresh for ingredient delivery, though you’ll have to manage the shopping part yourself. This limits its convenience compared to traditional meal kit services that provide portioned ingredients as well as recipes.

There are sections for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts. For busy weeks, I really like the batch meal recipes that serve 5. Recipes take between 10 minutes to an hour, with clear instructions suitable for all skill levels.

Subscription plans range from $12.99 monthly to $99 annually, with an 11-day free trial. You can easily manage subscriptions and your meal preferences through the website. Customer support is accessible via email and phone, and canceling is easy (although if you signed up via the app you’ll need to cancel via your phone’s app store). 

PlateJoy is ideal for those seeking a tailored, health-conscious meal planning experience but who don’t mind sourcing all the ingredients themselves. I was impressed with PlateJoy’s customization and flexibility, but pre-portioned meal kits like HelloFresh go a step further, so I find them more convenient overall. 

PlateJoy’s Offer: It’s a Time-Saving Meal Planning Service

Platejoy is a convenient meal planning service. It generates a customized grocery list according to your selected recipes. You have the flexibility to either personally handle the grocery shopping or utilize the seamless integration with Instacart or Amazon Fresh through the Platejoy website.

PlateJoy offers a diverse and enticing list of recipes that cater to various dietary needs and preferences. From different cuisines to a variety of proteins and vegetables, a wide range of meal ideas ensures you’ll never run out of delicious choices.

I like the flexibility of choosing from a selection of recipes each week. There are distinct sections for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and you can also browse through a snack and dessert page.

I found the PlateJoy Path to be a clever approach to healthy eating. The plan is rooted in nutrition profiling and leverages the expertise of nutrition professionals. Foods get evaluated based on their nutrient content, resulting in recipes that receive a nutritional quality score.

Recipe Options: PlateJoy Caters to 14 Diets

PlateJoy stands out by offering fresh ideas. You can discover new ways to eat staple foods. For example, try peanut butter on apple slices. It’s a great, healthy snack that you can make in under 5 minutes with the ingredients you likely already have.

PlateJoy supports a range of diets, making it a versatile option for many people. It currently caters to 14 diets, which can be combined. This way, you can make a plan that fits all your individual needs.

My favorite is the collection of batch recipes that are enough for 5 servings. Whether you’re having guests over and need a hearty meal or have no time to cook each night, these recipes are a miracle solution. You can make a batch whenever you want and freeze some portions for a quick meal when life gets extra busy.

The Whole Foods plan offers nourishing meal plans that prioritize fresh, natural ingredients over processed alternatives. Low Carb encourages you to take charge of your weight and blood sugar, while the Mediterranean plan is rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, and whole grains for meals centered around plant-based foods, proteins, and healthy fats.

The Dairy-free plan allows you to embrace allergy-free and delicious cooking without compromising on taste, and the Paleo plan emphasizes nourishing ingredients like meats and vegetables.

Additionally, you can opt for Vegetarian, Vegan, Pescatarian, and Gluten-free diets. I found PlateJoy to allow for a lot of freedom to tailor your menus based on specific preferences.

Prepping and cooking PlateJoy meals can take from 10 minutes to an hour, depending on the complexity of the dish, the prep needed, and your skills. All the recipes list the time it takes to recreate them, so you can plan accordingly.

Customization: PlateJoy Offers an Unparalleled Level of Personalization

PlateJoy starts you off by asking some basic questions to learn more about your preferences. You’ll get to choose how much – if any – meat you’d like to include in your plan, as well as whether you’re vegan or vegetarian.

You’ll then be guided through the dietary requirements. You can make additional choices, such as low-sodium, dairy- or gluten-free. I found the option to check if you’re pregnant or nursing a nice addition that I’d like to see more often. Similarly, there’s a Kosher option that excludes pork, shellfish, and dairy from any other meat recipes.

The personalization doesn’t stop there, and you’ll move on to your disliked ingredients. While this section includes some common allergens such as seafood and shellfish, the list is filled with things like raw onion, cilantro, and spicy foods, among others.

It’s truly one of the most specific filters I’ve seen, and it’s ideal if you have kids, too. You can simply check for whatever they won’t eat this week and get recipes free of that ingredient and hassle.

The next page takes stock of your kitchen appliances. You’ll see some regular cooking equipment pictured, like a food processor, instant pot, or stovetop. Selecting what you have available will further narrow down the recipes you’ll get through your subscription.

All done? Great! You can now sneak a peek at your recommended recipes, further organized into Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks and desserts, and Batch meals. I filled out the questionnaire with some preferences of my own, like low sodium and no added sugar, and only selected the stovetop and blender as available appliances.

This still left me with ample, delicious-looking recipes like Asian salmon salad, Eggplant “meatballs”, and BBQ mac and cheese.

PlateJoy’s Recipes at a Glance

Cooking Meals With PlateJoy: Meal Prep Simplified

PlateJoy will take you on a culinary journey through breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks that exemplify the mastery of its meal plans. 

Shortlist of My Favorite Meals

Platejoy’s herbed chicken and quinoa salad takes only 10 minutes to assemble. Even with limited kitchen appliances, you can make this quick lunch work for you.

The recipe, like many others developed by PlateJoy, has only 2 steps. It calls for walnuts, rotisserie chicken, pre-cooked quinoa, mixed greens, and seasonings. I like how clear the instructions are, as they ensure you can produce a meal regardless of your cooking expertise.