Food has always been a source of comfort and joy for us, but as busy professionals, finding time to prepare nutritious and delicious meals can indeed be a challenge. That’s why Tovala intrigued us — an oven that cooks with steam and pairs with meal delivery services? Sign us up! Tovala meal plans are ideal for frequent travelers with busy home lives, who have barely expiring veggies in the fridge and no time to cook at all. And if the thought of reheated, rubbery microwaved frozen dinners makes your stomach churn, then it’s Tovala to the rescue.
Not only are Tovala’s meals fresh and nutritious, but they’re quick to make and require minimal cleanup. What makes them different from other meal delivery services is their specialized smart oven, which allows us to scan our recipe cards to make sure that cooking conditions are just right. Plus, the oven even notifies us through an app as well as plays a memorable and delightful jingle to remind us that our meals are ready! So, is Tovala right for you? Let’s do a deep dive into Tovala’s plans and see if their smart oven is a smart choice indeed.
Also read: Best camping foods.
What is Tovala?
Tovala was launched in 2017 with the intention of making home cooking as simple as scanning a QR code. Part meal kit delivery, part smart oven service, its objective is to make fresh and homemade meals much more convenient and accessible for busy professionals and frequent travelers. Basically, the service combines a countertop smart oven with food crafted and put together by chefs, resulting in fresh and high-quality meals that can be cooked in less than 20 minutes.
Over the years, Tovala’s tech has stayed ahead of the game, thanks to new models, new smart features, and frequent software updates. In 2023, they even introduced the more affordably priced Tovala Smart Oven, aside from their extremely popular Smart Oven Pro (the Gen 2 Tovala Smart Oven earlier).
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How Tovala Works
Signing Up And Choosing Meal Plans
Tovala‘s sign-up process is just like most other meal delivery services. Next, you need to choose the number of meals you want every week. You could choose from 4 meals priced at USD 51.96/week all the way up to 16 meals priced at USD 207.84/week. No matter which option you choose, the cost works out to exactly USD 12.99/meal. While Tovala does advertise that their meals begin at USD 9.99, we found USD 12.99 to be the common price point for every meal.
Payment and Choosing Meals
After entering your credit card info and shipping address, you will only be charged for the oven’s discounted price upfront. That’s because not only do they ship the oven for free, but they will also not charge you for the meals until they actually ship them later in the week. Please note that you need access to a smartphone and a Wi-Fi connection, as the Tovala app needs to be connected to the oven’s Wi-Fi, since Tovala changes and updates meals and cooking instructions regularly.
Next up, the website gives you a menu listing all of its meals, which is an impressive 30+ options every week. What’s more, you can filter the list with specific types of meals too, such as Vegetarian, Mediterranean Diet, Gluten-Friendly, Calorie-Smart, High-Protein, GLP-1 Balanced, and more. Please note that there were no vegan options that we found, and even some of the vegetarian dishes came with cheese. Next, you need to finalize the menu before the cut-off date, which is usually every Wednesday evening. Post the cut-off date, Tovala charges you for the meals and ships them out. If you’re starting your meal cycle after Wednesday, you need to wait for a few days before placing your meal orders. In the meantime, why don’t you order the oven?
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Tovala’s Smart Oven
After you’ve chosen the meal plan that you like, it’s time to start the actual cooking, which means it’s time to buy Tovala‘s USP, the Smart Oven. It’s the centerpiece of Tovala’s service, and they introduce it to you right away on the homepage. In fact, you’ll see a high-quality, looping video that shows you how easy it is to prep and cook Tovala’s meals with the oven. From hereon, we recommend you check out the menu first before you click on the “Get Started” button. That’s because you get to pick the meals only after you’ve signed up, bought, and paid for the oven. So, to ensure that the meals match your taste buds, the best thing to do is to check out the weekly menu prior to signing up.
Basically, Tovala has two kinds of ovens, the Smart Oven and the Smart Oven Pro, with the difference being that the regular Smart Oven comes in stone gray, is a pound lighter than the other one, and doesn’t come with a steam add-on. On the other hand, the Pro also comes in charcoal black and allows for steam cooking. However, what’s particularly interesting is that despite the price and color differences, both have the same dimensions. Additionally, while the Pro costs USD 50 more than the regular one (USD 350 vs USD 299), the prices drop to USD 119 for the Pro and USD 69 for the base model if you place 6 meal delivery orders in 6 months! If that wasn’t enough, Tovala even has a guaranteed 100-night trial, allowing people to return the oven for free if they’re not happy with it.
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Meal Plans
Tovala‘s meal delivery service is unique because it offers between 4 and 16 meals every week, with all plans designed so that they can serve a single individual. In fact, Tovala is one of the few meal kit services with plans ideal for single-person households, which is what frequent travelers will appreciate. However, it doesn’t offer plans for specific dietary preferences, such as vegan, paleo, or keto.
Meal Variety
Tovala does fantastically when it comes to meal variety, though, featuring 30+ different meals to choose from every week. What’s more, it splits its meal types in many different ways, besides the regular categories we mentioned above. These include:
- Carb Conscious: These are meals lower in carbs for those who are keeping tabs on their carb intake.
- Gluten-Friendly: While Tovala doesn’t have gluten-free meals, it does have meals with low amounts of gluten.
- Calorie Smart: For those who want to maintain a healthier lifestyle, these meals are lower in calories.
- +2 Minute Prep: If you don’t mind a bit of prep work, which is under two minutes, then these meals are ideal.
- Premium: These meals, which might cost an additional price, use premium ingredients, such as truffles, lobster, or steak.
- Chef’s Picks: Tovala’s chefs curate these meals as their top picks, and they usually feature special or new menu items.
If that wasn’t enough, Tovala even features a diverse cuisine selection, from Indian-inspired dishes such as chicken tikka masala to Mediterranean-inspired ones like almond-crusted salmon. That being said, we found more variety for lunch and dinner options, rather than breakfast items.
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QR Code Scanner and App Compatibility
What sets Tovala‘s service apart from the rest is the fact that it tells you how to cook meals in its oven. Imagine getting a wonderful, chef-curated recipe by just scanning a QR code that sits right on top of your oven! That’s what makes Tovala’s meals so wonderful, as every meal comes with a recipe card with a QR code, complete with temperature and time settings for that specific recipe. Whether you’re cooking rice, chicken, or anything else, these settings are impressively reliable. Add to that the inclusion of the steam cooking feature, and it’s no surprise that you get chef-grade results with every meal.
What’s more, the built-in scanner is functional even beyond just Tovala’s meals. For instance, it can recognize more than 1,000 grocery item barcodes — from fresh bagels to frozen pizzas and much more — allowing us to automatically adjust temperature and time settings for the best results. So, this also results in a whole lot less trial and error, especially when people come home from a long day of work or a work travel stint.
Helpful App Compatibility
Last but not least, we loved how easy using the Tovala app was and how useful it was. Basically, using the Tovala oven requires you to connect it to the accompanying Tovala app during its setup. This not only makes the process hassle-free and smooth, but there’s also helpful step-by-step guidance for completing the initial process and even attaching the accessories.
Once your oven is up and running, the Tovala app offers tons of helpful features, such as sending notifications when the meal is cooked. What’s more, you can even browse through and adjust any meal selections that you want to for the coming weeks on the app. If that wasn’t enough, the app also has a variety of recipes — right from roasted branzino to air-fried Brussels sprouts. In fact, every recipe includes not only helpful step-by-step directions but also nutritional information. Did we mention that you can launch the oven (along with the recipe’s accompanying settings) directly from the app? Yes!
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Do I need to buy the Tovala Smart Oven to order meals from Tovala?
No, you needn’t necessarily buy the smart oven; you can order Tovala meals without buying the Smart Oven via the meals-only page on Tovala’s website.
Also read: The best Dutch ovens for camping.
How many people does a Tovala meal serve?
Every Tovala meal is personalized and customized to a single individual. However, the website also has a few two-serving meals every week.
Besides their pre-made meals, can I cook other food in the Tovala Smart Oven?
Yes, you can manually set the cooking timer and temperature on the Tovala oven to cook other meals too. In fact, the timer will indicate that the meal has been cooked, even for non-Tovala meals.
Some images on this article are copyrighted by Tovala.
