Have you ever used a meal subscription service, such as Hello Fresh? Experiences?

[supersnoop]

I tend to alternate between Hello Fresh and Home Chef, with one short stint with Every Plate. I like that Home Chef tends to do more of the prep work for you; some things already chopped or somewhat pre-cooked, which makes nicer meals in less time. I've actually been very happy with Hello Fresh's menu and keep going back to them. Every Plate was the cheapest and was "okay," but nothing special.

 

[spiders]

I did Blue Apron for a few months. Some meals were good and others were just average. I thought the produce was a bit poor at times too - at least when taking the cost into consideration. This was about 4 years ago so not the most recent experience.

My biggest complaint was finding 3 meals I wanted. I could usually find two and then ended up with a third that I wasn’t crazy about to begin with and then sometimes lacked the desire to even make it.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Our big problem was the portion sizes. It just wasn't enough food.

 

[cobright]

What have you tried? What was your experience? Was it worth the cost?

We tried Blue Apron and found the quality good but the portion sizes small.

We've tried Hello Fresh several times, each time hoping that leap would be the leap home... We wanted to like them. The portion sizes were good and the meals tasty, but every two or three shipments would get us spoiled food. Even during the winter.

 

[fly girl]

If you have Kroger nearby they sell Home Chef meals and it rotates weekly like their menu online. Granted you will not get all the options, but if you want to try them out before committing (and it is cheaper, especially with e-coupons) it is a nice alternative.

I have had several of them, and the only ones I am not a fan of are the pasta dishes. But I will say their fish is quite tasty.

 

[Toolulu22]

We use Hello Fresh 3 -4 nights per week, and skip a week here and there, but love it for the choices and the simplified meal planning and shopping.

I also use Daily Harvest for smoothies, breakfast, and lunch bowls for work. Their food is delicious and healthy.

I don’t have to purchase as many meals at work or go out for food, and we waste less food. We spend a lot less time at the grocery store, really just going in for staples and produce.

 

[BayouQueen]

We've been using Hello Fresh for about two years. We think the food is good and there's always plenty to choose from. Maybe two or three times there's been a hiccup in it, like an ingredient that is subpar or something, but that has been a very rare occurrence.

Basically I like the system because it gives "structure" to my life. I'm not very organized at meal planning and with the three meals a week for a foundation, I can easily fill in the other days. It's just really nice to have an answer to the question, "What's for dinner?"

We have a three-meal-per-week plan and sometimes if there is a pasta or like shepherd's pie or something that is good a second day, I'll order two of that and then just one of something else to fulfill my three meals. That way I'm doing the prep only one time and have leftovers. I'm lazy! lol

 

[luv2cheer92]

I've been using Hello Fresh for about 2 months now and I absolutely love it!!! I haven't had one bad meal yet. My favorite part is that I get exactly enough ingredients for 2 servings of each. I live alone, and found myself always making enough for 4-5+ servings, and I get sick of it before I finish it all off. Or having to buy so much of an ingredient that I would rarely use and have to waste. I have found that this has been saving me money. It is also very nice to not really have to think about meals each week, what to buy at the store, etc. It's all done for me. The portion sizes are perfect, I have often even found some of the meals are enough for 3 servings.

 

[LovesTimone]

I tried this route with my parents, and it did not work out at all... they are pretty basic, and with dietary restrictions, and their health, they prefer to graze all day, and really are not into cooking all that much... it really wasn't worth it...

 

[Karin1984]

I had a first box to try it out. The box was for free, which really helped. Because I find it too expensive for a one person household. When I look at the recipes, I can get the ingredients myself cheaper, even when I select a box for 2 people and freeze half of the meals. I find it hard to justify the price for the convenience.

What I do like, especially being a one person household, to get all ingredients for 1 person. Supermarkets do not have small portions of all ingredients. Especially with fresh herbs it was a pro.
Also what I do like, it made me more creative, I selected meals I wouldn't normally make. From different cuisines, or vegetarian dishes.

Pro:
- Variety / expanding culinary horizons.
- Portioned ingredients
- Delivered to your home

Con:
- Expensive
- You have to keep an eye on your meals/delivery etc.

 

[slo]

My DD22 and her DH are getting Hello Fresh and they love it.
My DD is not very good in the kitchen yet and therefore they were eating out a lot. Not only is Hello Fresh getting them to eat better, it’s also helping her to get more comfortable in the kitchen when she’s having to cook what is sent.

 

[mousefan73]

I am curious to try but concerned on the additional packaging and waste it causes.

 

[unrequited23]

We tend to use Hello Fresh when I feel like I'm in a meal planning rut about once a year for a couple of weeks. With a discount, it's a fair value for our family. We are two adults, two kids (9,6) and the 2 meals/recipe is perfect for us if we use an extra piece of protein to split between the kids.

The meals seem to take about 10 minutes longer than the recipes state and dirty more dishes/utensils than average. A lot of the meals are a variation on this formula-oven roasted vegetable, sauteed protein, pan sauce. We've discovered that we love oven roasted green beans and despise oven roasted broccoli. Also, they assume a zester is standard kitchen equipment.

 

[aggiedog]

We've been doing some version of this for 4 years now. My goal was to supplement those nights I didn't have ingredients or time. It costs the same or a bit less than takeout but is healthier by far. I'm a good cook, a foodie, and love veggies.

I find the portions really vary. If you want a hunk of meat and a side, they're pretty small. If you get pasta, soup, etc, you get a lot. Unless you're feeding teenage football players, there's usually enough for left overs. Burger type meals usually call for patties so big, I portion them out a bit smaller and just supplement with an extra bun from home.

We loved Plated - so sad it got sold and discontinued!
Marley Spoon has good food, but their shipping to Texas was abysmal in the summer. Spoiled veggies frequently. Made me question the meats. I finally had to quit.
Sun Basket is good. They also have fully prepared meals you just heat that I've ordered on accident before. I do NOT care for them at all. We've gotten a few curries where the cuts of meat in them were just gross. You also have to be careful of the uncharges for fancier meats or "gourmet meals" that take your expensive delivery meal thru the roof.
Hello Fresh is good, great packaging for the heat. Good variety. Also some uncharges possible if I remember. As a cook, I don't like that some of the sauces and such are pre-made, so it's hard to duplicate the recipe, and sometimes things are just bland.
Purple Carrot - my favorite. It's vegan, a bit cheaper than the others, and the meals are really, really good. The portions are huge, and the recipes interesting. Lots of nuts though, which means I can't use it when my nut allergic dd comes home from college.

 

[emily nicole]

We've used Every Plate and had a good experience. The food was delicious, but since they sent ingredients for 3 meals at a time on Wednesdays, I couldn't always coordinate that with our work schedules. (We don't cook on nights we work late). Sometimes the fresh ingredients would go bad before we could cook all the meals.

Now I use eMeals. You still have to shop for your own groceries, but my family and I love the recipes. It is $60/year.

 

[rwdavis2]

Too expensive and we can make better meals than what they provide. We've tried a couple and were not impresses. If one is a decent cook you don't need it.

 

[belle032]

We switch between Hello Fresh & Home Chef depending on what looks good for the week. Had chicken, pork, vegetarian, fish, etc and it's always been a good meal. We tend to skip more weeks in the warmer months due to having other dinner plans and grilling more often. The portions are generally perfect for us and DH never eats leftovers, so I like that there is no waste. And I keep any recipes cards for the meals we really enjoyed in a binder so I can just go back to them.

 

[Chupaca bruh]

We did Hello Fresh for a while and really liked almost everything they sent. My husband even ordered vegetarian meals for a while and it was good. I learned about fried cheese (not mozzarella sticks) and farrow. Loved both. Issues were that sometimes one or two of the ingredients were not available and they would substitute something that you may not like. Also while everything was there to prepare the meal you still had lots of slicing, chopping , simmering, baking etc. to do. It does not save a lot of time.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

We tried Sunbasket last year with pandemic and it was very good, got some deals so worth it. The meat that came with it was very tender and good quality and there were a lot of veggies and was also organic. Most portion sizes were good tho I think a couple were not and I actually added more rice etc to a dish or whatever and we are not that big of eaters, but most were fine. If you do not like a meal you can tell them right away, we did have a pasta and a taco dish we didn't care for. BUT it is not cheap when the coupon deal ran out, think you can actually order out cheaper in our area but I may try again. It was very convenient and I find just with my husband and I that we can waste food when preparing our own meals and having everything we need come is very nice. Prep was easy. Hello Fresh is very popular in my area may try that but I like the organic with Sunbasket.

 

[igrsod]

I have been doing Hello Fresh on and off over the last year. I started initially because there was a good deal and lockdown had just started and I wanted to avoid the grocery stores as much as possible. I have had average to very good experiences. Never bad. I'm vegetarian, so I do find the recipes each week very repetitive. But it's easy to skip a week or more if the recipes aren't to your liking.
It is more expensive than sourcing the ingredients on your own, but the convenience and portioning is what makes it worth it especially if you have a busy family.