Recently, I had the opportunity to delve out of my comfort zone of cooking (I’ve been cooking & prepping primarily the same handful of meal ideas during the past few months) and take advantage of some Meal Kit trials.
I was given a free one-week trial for the popular service HelloFresh (the price was right at $6) as well as a 4-week trial from Home Chef, a service that was new to me. With Home Chef, I had a 50% employee discount through my company for the month, so for between $50-60/week I decided the price was right and to give it a try.
Normally, my weekly budget for groceries ranges significantly: from $90-$200 depending on factors like:
- Ordering any pantry items/staples I may have run out of
- Ordering some “nice to have” items I’m excited to prepare that week
- Sometimes I pickle vegetables like onions and mushrooms
- I also occasionally make homemade potato gnocchi instead of buying boxes of pasta
- I LOVE me some TRUFF Hot Sauce but it’s expensive
- Splurging on proteins (Swordfish, Grass-fed Ribeye’s, etc.)
Here are my thoughts on each Meal Kit service vs. my standard grocery order.
HELLOFRESH
PROS
- The 1-week trial is completely worth it for a mere $6 (you only pay shipping)
- There is a good variety of meals you can order from quick lunch ideas to hearty dinners and anything in-between
- I made an chicken curry (Indian-style) for the first time, which has been intimidating for me to try and attempt. I was thrilled with the results and ease of recipes/directions
- The website and recipe cards sent to me were fairly easy to follow
- The delivery was fast, and I received an image of exactly where my box was left (exactly where I requested it to be dropped off every time)
- They made it very clear that anything in the box would be fine overnight/for 24-hours after drop-off which is helpful to know if I’m having a busy day at my office
- Packaging isn’t wasteful and easy to recycle/reuse
CONS
- The cost goes way up after the first week, getting as high as $80/week
- I needed some extra spices and fats (mostly my own butter/olive oil) to put meals together and it wasn’t clear from the website or recipe cards
- Portions were small for the cost… the 2-person portions were tiny and for the post-trial cost, it was not a lot of food for the “3 meal plan” I subscribed to… less than a week of meals (3-4 days of food, tops)
- The recipe cards were a bit disorganized/not organized consistently by size and dish
- One delivery was mishandled and one of my condiments popped/broke all over the box, so I didn’t get to marinate a protein like I wanted to. However, it did not affect the quality of the meal much
HOME CHEF
PROS
- The 4-week trial was worth it for me compared to my normal grocery run ($60 vs. $100+)
- There was a heavy focus on Mexican fare/tacos, “oven ready meals”, and pasta dishes which worked out well for me during the trial
- I made a cauliflower coconut curry for the first time and although it was a bit sweet for me, it was an easy to make and satisfying dish and made for great leftovers
- They had options to “elevate your meals” with truffle options, nicer proteins, and accompanying herbed butters to add in sauces & on proteins (a foodie win, for sure)
- I loved the organization of the Home Chef kits
- The recipe cards were 3-hole punched and came with its own binder which I loved: empowering us as customers to organize and revisit the meals that we enjoy making
- I appreciated how they sorted/bagged the meals separately and clearly in their branded packaging.
- Portions were great/more than sufficient and I sometimes managed to get 3-4 meals out of each dish option
CONS
- The delivery was generally good, but I remember that I was missing ingredients a couple of times, or I was sent alternate ingredients that I didn’t enjoy as much
- Some weeks lacked the variety of meals I was looking for. I found myself saying things like, “Trout again?” or “Can’t I get next week’s options for this week instead?”, or “Only soups for meal options this week???”
- Some dish options are limited in the fact that I would have preferred to have an available dish as an “oven ready meal” but the dish I wanted wasn’t available in that option… or vice versa
- They really try to hit you over the head with their “breakfast options” which were essentially pre-packaged coffees, smoothies and sandwiches you can get at 711
- I do recall feeling restricted by some options. For example, getting a salad where it’s “mostly cabbage” or I don’t like the dressing/type of cheese crumble that comes with it but still wanting the rest of the dish. Those restrictions ruined a side dish a couple of times for me
WINNER… HOME CHEF! HERE’S WHY
Some things I liked about each and why I preferred Home Chef to HelloFresh: HelloFresh had better salads and my favorite “quick dishes” to make (Tortellini Caesar Salad & Curry Chicken) but overall quality and portions were better for Home Chef (Tortellini in Truffle Cream Sauce & Grass-fed Steakhouse Sirloin with Truffle Butter). I also liked the option of having Home Chef’s oven-ready meals for busy days and they came out great… most of the time, I just had to throw the ingredients a tin and then in the oven for about 20 minutes.
I normally don’t seek out pearled couscous, but I really enjoyed it during the trial period with Home Chef. However, and to be fair, they had a LOT of pearled couscous for the side dish options, almost too often as a side.
IMHO, Home Chef was better branded, packaged, and organized than HelloFresh. HelloFresh had recipe cards that were sized at least 3 different ways and not previously 3-hole punched for a binder, (unlike Home Chef’s or Green Chef’s) so I had to take care of that on my own.
My favorite “quick dishes” in the HelloFresh kits do speak measures though since those are the meals I want to re-make all the time now. The birria tacos and the curry dish were both great, and I’m excited to make them again sooner than later. The Tortellini Caesar Pasta Salad is one of my new favorite summery lunches ever. Healthy and delicious.
Home Chef’s protein options were generally better than HelloFresh (besides seafood). Home Chef often provided fats/butters with dishes so I had to use less of my pantry items than I did with HelloFresh (again, paying more for less with HelloFresh).
So if you want mostly quick/light meals for lunches, go with HelloFresh. If you want more elevated options with bigger portions, better quality, and meal flexibility go with Home Chef.
