If you’ve ever Googled meal delivery services, you’ve likely been suggested HelloFresh. Its meals have been around since 2012, arguably making it the most well-known meal kit around.
While I don’t mind going to the grocery store, it’s not my favorite after-work or weekend activity. Food subscription services make it easy to eat well on a budget without having to worry about food waste or the hour trip to the grocery store.
HelloFresh is currently offering a delicious deal. Use the promo code NYPFREEMEAL when ordering and enjoy *free Ready Made Meals for Life, plus up to 10 free meals.
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(*Editor’s Note: One free Ready Made Meal per box while supplies last with an active subscription, so don’t delay.)
I have tried my fair share of meal delivery kits over the years, including HelloFresh, and there’s a reason I keep coming back to it.
How does HelloFresh work?
HelloFresh is one of the easiest meal kit delivery services to navigate. It offers flexible plans, which means you can switch meals, pause or cancel a subscription whenever you need.
To select your plan, you’ll have to enter your zip code to know if HelloFresh delivers to your area. It probably does, FYI, provided that you’re not located in Hawaii or Alaska.
There are six meal plans to choose from:
- Meat & Veggies
- Family Friendly
- Under 20 Minutes
- Veggies
- Fit & Wholesome
- Pescatarian
In the land of HelloFresh, ‘plans’ are how the HelloFresh team knows what type of recipes to suggest to you. Multiple plans can be selected at once, so if you’re a flexitarian, such as myself, you won’t be locked into any one way of eating.
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After you have selected your plan, the next step will be customization, where you select the number of people you wish to feed and the number of times per week. The maximum for both is six, so even if you have a large household, the meal kit delivery service has you covered.
Once you’ve selected the number of meals you want, you’re ready to pick your recipes and have them shipped to your door. Easy, right?
There is a Marketplace of add-ons, and seasonal menu items to look out for, and those are also simple to navigate and add to your order. HelloFresh will show the recipes it thinks you’ll like the best first, but you always have the option of perusing the entire week’s menu, which has over 100 recipes.
What does HelloFresh cost?
From the years I’ve spent testing meal kits, I can tell you that they all typically fall between $7 and $15, excluding special promotions. Typically, HelloFresh meals cost between $8.99 and $11.49 per serving, which is significantly less than what I spend when I’m ordering takeout.
Are there cheaper meal kits on the market? Yes, but I’ve found that the variety of the meals offered by HelloFresh makes it worth the minimal extra spend. True to its name, the ingredients always arrive fresh, and the ingredients span from comforting to globally-inspired to traditional favorites that keep the cooking exciting.
HelloFresh Meals
As I previously mentioned, HelloFresh offers more than 100 recipes weekly. Each recipe on the site includes labels such as ‘Protein Smart,’ ‘Veggie’ or ‘Quick’ to give a bird’s-eye view of nutrition, time, and other important things to consider. To inspect a specific recipe even further, click on its photo and you’ll see all its details.
I’ve retested HelloFresh multiple times and these have been some of my favorite meals — thus far:
- Apricot Ponzu Chicken
- Creamy Dreamy Chicken Cavatappi
- Steak with Mushroom and Cream Sauce
- One-Pot Hoisin Pork Meatball Ramen
- Chicken Shawarma Pita Bar
Our HelloFresh Review
Pros:
- Easy to customize meals and skip weeks
- Easy-to-follow recipes aesthetically photos
- Accurate estimates for prep and cook time
- Creates 31% less carbon emissions than a traditional supermarket
- One of the first meal kit brands to market and stays very consistent week over week; great quality control
- Each meal comes wrapped up individually for ease of storage and cooking
Cons:
- Basic condiments, such as salt and pepper are not included
Since I’ve tried almost everything I could think of from the brand, this time around I scoured the site for something new and found it! Not only did I discover a delish recipe for ramen from scratch, but I found out that HelloFresh offers seasonal boxes and I timed this year’s review just right for my annual Thanksgiving gathering.
I host 10 in my apartment made for one, so having my turkey and fixings delivered to my door was an incredible time-saver. I could add the items to my existing order, and they arrived in regular HelloFresh packaging. I will now make sure to keep an eye out for other seasonal offerings, like Buddy the Elf pasta and other fun, festive bites.
I would recommend HelloFresh to anyone, really; new to cooking or seasoned pros who want a meal kit to have (and to hold, for richer and for poorer…) as they may just fall in love with how nice it is to be catered to and having fun recipes delivered weekly — exactly what a meal kit promises.
Camryn La Sala, commerce editor, who has also reviewed HelloFresh, has positive things to say about the meal delivery service. “I’ve tried a three recipe plan and a four recipe plan over the years but find that three recipes is the perfect amount for me,” she shared. “It allows me to save money on groceries and have fun in the kitchen but still grab dinner with friends or order in my favorite restaurants in the city as well…Overall, HelloFresh is by far my personal favorite meal delivery company. The meals are interesting enough without being too intricate and challenging after a long day of work, plus the meals are budget-friendly, too!”
The final verdict
Overall, HelloFresh remains a tried and true meal kit that hasn’t let me down. The portions are typically large enough that if you’re single, you can bet on leftovers, which I never mind. It’s also a good meal kit for couples or roommates, as well as families of six or fewer.
For those dipping their toe into the world of meal delivery services, it’s a quality choice as the recipes are very straightforward. You will need to have the basics ready, such as salt, pepper and sugar. But the fancier condiments HelloFresh includes. “I still can’t get enough of the adorable mini sour cream packets and tiny vinegar bottles,” wrote in the initial review of the service.
How We Tested
- Ease of ordering: HelloFresh has expanded to offer way more than just traditional meal kits, so keep an eye out for its pre-made meals, faster-timed meals, marketplace and other add-ons for your box, plus seasonal meals like Thanksgiving.
- Prep, cook and cleanup time: HelloFresh takes between 15 and 60 minutes per meal, sticking very closely to what the recipe estimates.
- Flavor and fullness: The meal kits are very easy to use and come with all the flavors you will need, except salt and pepper (which I added to most meals). They always yielded more than enough for leftovers and the meals themselves were hearty and filling.
- Sustainability: HelloFresh does use packaging to separate meals and most ingredients, including plastic. You can recycle the box and the ice, but not everything.
- Price: Meal kits typically run between $7 and $15 per serving, and so HelloFresh sits in the middle, between $8.99 and $11.49 per serving
FAQ: What to look for when choosing a meal kit
Diet: Pay attention to the dietary options each service caters to, from vegetarian and vegan to Keto and paleo.
Household Size: Count the number of people in your family and then account for how much they eat to best calculate how many servings you need to feed everyone. Some kits detailed above have larger portions, while others are single-serve only.
Budget: Meal kits and services have a wide range of prices. Some offer free shipping, while others have a minimum spend. Specialty or health-related plans may cost more.
Time: Think about how long you want to cook each night. Some meals require 30 or more minutes to cook, not including cleaning up. Others are microwavable, requiring no clean-up time after.
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