Tovala, our favorite meal delivery service, is ready to cook, and we’ve just added family meals

When I first tried Tovala, Meal delivery service and smart oven rangeI was touched. The meals, all designed to be cooked to perfection with a single sweep of the matching smart oven, were easy to prepare and delicious. They were all single plates, so not ideal for families or meal preppers. Now all that has changed.
Tovala has added family meals to its range, with two or four servings, depending on the meal you choose. Like the individual meals, they all follow a similar formula: ultra-light prep work, metal baking tins, and the Tovala smart oven does the heavy lifting.

My experience taste testing the new family meals at Tovala

I tried a few of the family meals, including the crispy sweet and sour chicken with vegetables, white rice, and cauliflower in scallion sauce. The portions were generous, and I was able to cook everything in the Tovala oven at once using two racks. The instructions detail how to place the meals in the oven to cook them evenly.

The breaded chicken was pre-cooked, but for a separate roasted chicken meal, paired with cornbread and creamy macaroni and cheese, the recipe started with raw chicken, which made it taste fresh.

Extra packing is not ideal

Although the flavor remained consistent with most of the Tovala family meals I tried, I noticed something that didn’t stand out in the individual meals: there a lot More packaging. Each serving of sauce, pasta, protein or bread is individually wrapped, and although the metal containers are recyclable, the plastic wrap is not.

I’ve made meatballs and tortellini using broccoli and garlic bread, for example, and was confused as to why each bread had to be individually wrapped. I would have preferred if all the bread, sauce and pasta were in one container and if the metal tins were larger. This way, instead of cooking with four to eight small tins, one or two larger ones will be enough.

More vegetables, please

Another drawback I noticed was that although the meals offered generous portions of meat and carbs, the vegetables were not enough. If you’re serving your family and have picky kids who don’t eat vegetables, the amount of vegetables was probably enough for you and your partner, but it certainly didn’t seem like four full portions to me.

As with the rest of the menu, family meals rotate each week, but despite the addition of family meals, there are still limited vegetarian meals and no vegetarian meals available, so keep that in mind if you don’t eat meat or vegetable eater. All meals start at $10.

My final thoughts

Tovala still delivers flavor, convenience, and now oven Offered free with subscription purchaseWhich makes it a great choice for an easy weeknight dinner. However, I think family meals could be better if packaging was simplified and vegetable servings increased.

With these modifications, Tovala can become a favorite for families of four or fewer who need easy, filling meals without sacrificing flavor.