I have accepted that I don’t like to cook. It’s not the actual cooking that bothers me, it’s the organization and planning required. So when I saw a blog I follow had a referral link to try HelloFresh, I gave it a shot. At 3 meals for $20, it was worth it to try.
I live alone and am trying to eat more vegetables, so I went with the Vegetarian meal for 2 plan. They also have a Classic meal for 2, and a Classic family sized meal.
A week later, I came home to a 17 pound box on my patio.
Inside, packed with ice and wrapped in reflective wrapping, set three tidy boxes of food.
Here you can see how the meals come. Clearly labeled, compactly readied.
It also includes a booklet listing what you have and the preparation instructions.
It’s on heavy cardstock and is seems to be coated in a waterproof texture so that you can get them a bit messy while you cook (Me messy? No never!) and reuse the recipes in the future.
Everything came perfectly packaged and ready to use.
I followed the instructions, and in under 30 minutes had a delicious meal. I took a picture of it, but I am not a food photographer, nor was it plated beautifully, so let’s say it looked like this:
For pros and cons:
CONS-
There is really only one con, and that is price. At $60 for 3 meals for 2, the argument can be easily made that it is cheaper to simply plan and shop for your meals yourself.
PROS-
To counter the only con, I would say that this product is not geared towards people who enjoy or succeed at meal planning and shopping. It is geared towards people like me- as an alternative to try new recipes, eat at home instead of going out, and have the barriers of cooking at home removed.
The ingredients were totally fresh. The instructions are simple. The recipes encourage me broaden my palette and combine flavors I normally wouldn’t. You can choose your meals each week or easily pause a delivery.
I will definitely continue using HelloFresh. It’s not an every week product for me, but every other week, to jump start my creativity in cooking at home and curb how much I eat out.
I was pleased with my experience, and my tummy looks forward to seeing what’s coming in my next box!
Originally published January 27, 2016
Teresa
Wednesday 27th of January 2016
I tried Hello Fresh for a couple of times because a friend sent me an offer for a free box. The meals were great for the most part and a couple of recipes I might try again. However, the cons I could have are the lack of leftovers. Each meal is pretty much only enough food for a single meal for 2 and we like having leftovers for future lunches. I also didn't like the excessive amount of packaging involved. We recycle as much of the cardboard, paper and glass that we can but if you don't it means a lot of waste.