Love to Hear Your Meal Subscription Box Experiences!

[jsmla]

Our daughter is getting married in July and I thought a meal delivery service might make a nice gift. Both she and her fiancé love to cook and eat in but have very demanding jobs (new pediatrician and radiology resident) which make shopping a time consuming chore. They have fairly broad palates. The fiancé is a major carnivore.

I'm looking at Hello Fresh, Blue Apron and Home Chef. My plan is to try out each with the discounts before selecting one for DD. I'd love to hear from any of you who have experience with any of these services!

 

[KalamityJane]

I have tried Hello Fresh and Home Chef, and have Blue Apron on the way. I also tried Green Chef. Hello Fresh was not that great. They underseason and their veggies were meh. Home Chef was really good. It's been one of my favorites. Green Chef was also very good but too adventurous for my husband, though I liked them a lot.

 

[jsmla]

Thanks, I didn't know about Green Chef, off to research!

 

[2Monkeys]

We tried Hello Fresh last week, and thought it was pretty good. I did add salt to everything. We have Blue Apron on the way for next week, and their menus seem a little more appealing to us (family of four). It does seem like Blue Apron is a little less expensive as well.

 

[KalamityJane]

Thanks, I didn't know about Green Chef, off to research!

On Green Chef, add in your email but don't check out. They will start sending you emails with progressively better deals and about a week after when you input your email, you will get an offer for a completely free box. I did like them a lot.

 

[KalamityJane]

Sunbasket is another that I am wanting to try and have heard good things about. Munchery did not work well for my friend at ALL. Another thing on Hello Fresh, their CS was not that great.

 

[Eastern]

Friends of ours tried one (either Blue Apron or Hello Fresh) and they said it was very good but the portions were small and they had to eat snacks afterward...

 

[LadyD]

I've tried Home Chef and Munchery. Home Chef was really good. I thought the portion sizes were huge and what was supposed to be a single meal for two actually turned into 2-3 meals for two when combined with a side dish. Munchery is overpriced and not worth it.

The other thing I really liked about Home Chef is they send you a binder to put the recipe cards in so you can easily make them again in the future if you find a dish you really like.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I am actually going to set up the trial delivery for 4 different ones for next month: Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Home Chef and Plated. Might have to add Green Chef in there too.

 

[wilkeliza]

I've tried Plated and Blue Apron. They are okay but never took the 30 minutes they claim and it got tired after awhile. The veggies are seasonal so I ended up getting the same kale and radishes for several weeks.

 

[jsmla]

I am actually going to set up the trial delivery for 4 different ones for next month: Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Home Chef and Plated. Might have to add Green Chef in there too.

I think I'm going to do the same! My problem is that DH is very much a meat and potatoes guy while the kids have much more varied tastes.

I've tried Home Chef and Munchery. Home Chef was really good. I thought the portion sizes were huge and what was supposed to be a single meal for two actually turned into 2-3 meals for two when combined with a side dish. Munchery is overpriced and not worth it.

The other thing I really liked about Home Chef is they send you a binder to put the recipe cards in so you can easily make them again in the future if you find a dish you really like.

I'm leaning toward Home Chef, just from looking at the menus. My main doubt was that Home Chef doesn't have the TV/social media presence that Hello Fresh and Blue Apron do so it's a little harder to research. (I've watched literally dozens of YouTube videos on both HF and BA). Thanks for sharing!

 

[mom2my3kids]

Just didn't think their was much food...

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I've done hello fresh and blue apron. Both were good. The recipes do take a lot longer to make than they claim.

 

[jsmla]

I'm not too worried about the time, at least not for myself. I don't work and have all day. I'm also as old as dirt and have acquired a fairly sound set of cooking skills. DD's fiancé enjoys cooking fairly involved dishes. The idea for them was to save the planning and shopping.

The small portions could be a problem. The fiancé is huge (as in tall and very muscular) and works out-he can eat a lot!

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I have tried Hello, Fresh, Blue Apron & Plated. They all did what they promised, but I found the ingredients in the Hello, Fresh boxes to be repetitive and the recipes a little too easy. Blue Apron is a good balance of ingredients and varying levels of standard/new recipes. Plated was the best quality for the $$ in my experience, though, because at the time I used them they allowed the greatest ease when selecting recipes for coming deliveries. I think all of the services offer better options in that department now.

The customer service of Blue Apron was the best with Plated being second.

All of the portion sizes were small in my opinion, BUT once I'd made the dish I was full enough. You could easily add a mixed green salad to many of them to complement the rest of the dinner.

One thing I'd point out is that if either person is a veggie lover, make sure to have some extra veggies on hand to supplement what is sent in the box. I remember several recipes which used half a carrot for two people's servings, and we love veggies in our meals. It's not a major point for many people, but it was one thing that stood out for us.

It's a lovely idea for a young couple! Best wishes to your daughter and her spouse!

 

[hj0519]

I'm trying some different ones out right now, and so far I've gotten Blue Apron. One thing about them that I didn't know about before I ordered (and hated!) is that while there are six meal choices on the menu, you can't necessarily pick the three you want - there are certain meal combinations that can't be ordered together, and it's disappointing to be excitedly about three things on the menu, and then go to select the first one and then be unable to select another one that you wanted because they can't be ordered together.

I've cooked one meal so far and the prep/cooking took much longer than it estimated and I've honestly put off making the second one because there are a lot of Facebook comments about how people followed the instructions exactly and ended up with burned garlic and chicken. I set off the smoke detectors in my house with meal #1 and I'm not looking forward to it happening again! The meal itself, once it was finally cooked, was delicious and I thought the portions were right on for two servings. The other disappointment I had was that the pepper for one recipe came soft and going bad, and I'm not comfortable using it, but Blue Apron out a five dollar credit on my account when I emailed about it.

Next week I'm trying out Plated, and then I think I'm going to try Home Chef - the meals look a little simpler to make and a little more appealing to me. I get home at 8 most nights, so complicated recipes on weeknights are tough for me. I'm an okay cook but not a great cook, and not experienced with a lot of different cooking methods, so simpler is better for me personally.

I'm guessing some of the recipes would be easier with two people cooking together - technically there are steps where you prep while something cooks, but I'm so worried that I won't prep fast enough during the cooking and then something will burn if I'm not paying attention, so I do all my prep ahead of time, which lengthens the time involved.

 

[wilkeliza]

I'm trying some different ones out right now, and so far I've gotten Blue Apron. One thing about them that I didn't know about before I ordered (and hated!) is that while there are six meal choices on the menu, you can't necessarily pick the three you want - there are certain meal combinations that can't be ordered together, and it's disappointing to be excitedly about three things on the menu, and then go to select the first one and then be unable to select another one that you wanted because they can't be ordered together.


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I agree on that with blue apron. I would gladly spend more (which i think plated let us do) to get the meals I want. It was disappointing to see 3 I really wanted and not get those 3.

I also set off the fire alarm a lot wih blue apron. Mostly because they want you to do 5 things at once and I'd follow their timing exactly and it would still burn.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

We tried Home Chef. DH really liked the entire concept, mostly because he likes to cook and try new things. I thought all of the meals were very good though the portion size for one of the meals (salmon patties) seemed a bit small. I added a side dish to it to supplement. One of the recipes we loved so much that it has been taken up into regular circulation in our normal meals rotation. Generally the box was a lot more expensive than what we spend on groceries, so we didn't continue the subscription beyond the first promotional order. We also have a few more dietary restrictions than most families (I don't eat pork and DH doesn't eat beef), so it cuts down on the meals that appeal to us.

But since we really liked the idea of trying new recipes, I have started visiting a few of the meal prep sites every few weeks and just downloading recipes that appeal to us. Almost all of them allow you to download a PDF version of the upcoming or previous menus. I find more recipes that I like on Home Chef generally. We then aim to try one new recipe each week. For the most part, this has allowed us to expand our cooking repertoire by learning some new cooking techniques and trying more varied meals while still saving money on the grocery side. For us, the grocery shopping takes 1 hour a week- nothing so intense that we can't handle it even though we are both working professionals.

 

[jsmla]

Thanks, everyone! I went ahead and ordered from Home Chef first. This one felt the most user-friendly and DH is okay with the menu. It was $29 for three meals for two and is scheduled to arrive Friday, 4/21

 

[la79al]

We tried Hello Fresh and found portion size to be good but the meals just weren't our style. Plus they took awhile to make and customer service was not very good (we had a box delivered a day late, no notification that it was going to happen, CS got an attitude, like I should know it was coming late). What about just doing gift cards to a grocery store that delivers?