Our review of Hello Fresh

Given that we've tried Hello Fresh for a while now, I thought I'd share my (unsponsored) review. The pandemic changed the way we were eating, and I'll confess to hitting a point where menu planning left me uninspired.

I received a free box from my sister, so gave it a shot. Here are my observations, after making & eating 30+ meals over the past few months.

Pros:

• Most of the recipes we've tried have been really tasty - as good as what we'd make at home, with typically more flavor. As far as I can remember, there's only been one we didn't all really like.
• The servings are quite large, for our family. We order the two person box, and about half the time, we can make a third meal out of the two servings.
• The recipes are clear, easy to follow, and contain nutritional information on the recipe card. Nick (13), makes the majority of the recipes. He rarely/never needs help, so I'd describe these as pretty easy to follow, regardless of cooking skill. He does, however, make quite a mess in the kitchen at times, but that's not likely the fault of Hello Fresh. ;-) 
• Each meal comes with a very nice recipe card, so you can make meals on your own, long after you've had the service. We've done this with some success. 
• Minimal food waste. If you find you buy ingredients & don't end up using all of the veggies or ingredients for a meal, this would solve that problem. However, see below for overall thoughts on cost. 

Cons:

• Environmentally, the small packaging is problematic. Most of it is recyclable, but there's just a lot of very small ingredients (tiny mayo packs, bags with two green onion, etc). 
• The cost. I find that, when compared to take out, these are a bit cheaper than takeout, and definitely cheaper than most restaurants. However, you will be able to make much cheaper meals at home, of course. Eating your own meals, that you've shopped for, followed sales & bought items on sale would be significantly cheaper, always. With our current discount (a "come back" offer), we're paying between $30-40/box. Let's just say $35, on average. We get three meals, with 2.5 servings each (as noted, we often get three servings out of each meal, as the portions are quite large for us). That makes the cost per single serving meal around $4.67. If you have larger appetites, your mileage may vary on getting another serving out of the portions. 
• Food allergies/preferences. M largely eats a Keto diet, so we adapt most of the meals to suit him. He doesn't have serious food allergies, so we work around (for example, we do a lot of tacos, and he just has all of the fillings and toppings on a salad). I'm not sure this would work with any serious food allergy.

On the whole, I'd recommend this if you are looking to spice up your menu planning, you have someone looking to grow their cooking skills, or if you just want a change of pace & easy meal prep. I wouldn't recommend this if you are on a tight budget, or if you are an excellent cook, who is a whiz with using up ingredients in fun & compelling ways all on your own. You can also skip a box, pause your subscription, or cancel altogether. I got a very compelling offer after cancelling, which is why we went back. 

We've made some really fantastic recipes. I thought I'd share our favorites so far. You can definitely get a sense of our preferences from the list below. ;-):

Our favorite recipes:

• Beef bulgogi bowls with carrots, pickled cucumber & sriracha crema
• Sweet soy glazed steak tacos with spicy slaw, marinated cucumber & peanuts
• Banh mi style chicken tacos with pickled cucumber & sriracha mayo (my #1 favorite)
• Zucchini & tomato flatbread with lemon ricotta, basil, honey & chili flakes
• Chicken katsu with roasted green beans & ginger rice
• Bayou style crispy tilapia with remoulade, paprika potato wedges, & mixed greens
• Street cart style chicken shawarma bowls with bell pepper, pistachio rice & creamy cilantro sauce
• Mango tango chicken tacos
• Creamy lemon butter chicken with parmesan zucchini rounds & scallian couscous
• Beef bulgogi meatballs with roasted carros, ginger rice & sriracha crema

If anyone is interested in trying Hello Fresh, here is a referral link. (You get $70 off, and I get a $10 credit if you sign up via the referral.) 

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have, so please ask. If you've used a meal service, please share your thoughts in the comments. We're currently trying Blue Apron, so I'll share thoughts on that, once we've tried a few more recipes.