How many times have you seen an add for Hello Fresh and wondered if it is worth the money? To be honest, I never gave Hello Fresh or any other meal prep delivery service a second thought but recently my husband received a gift card through work giving us the perfect opportunity to try it out. Considering I just returned to work from maternity leave, life with 2 kids just got a WHOLE lot busier. Thus, I figured we had nothing to lose!
After trying it out for a month, I created a detailed analysis of the pros and cons of using Hello Fresh and whether it is worth the money.
Pros of Hello Fresh
The recipes truly are quick and easy:
Each meal came with a recipe card and practically every single ingredient except for things like oil and salt/pepper. All that was left to do was clean, chop and cook according to the recipe card. Thus far, no recipe has involved an excessive number of steps or dishes.
We had zero waste while using Hello Fresh:
Nothing irks me more than throwing out unused food or leftovers. With that said, I have yet to pitch even one item with Hello Fresh. I try hard to be a zero-waste household and this helped my cause.
Excellent to use for portion control:
You can choose between 2 people or 4 people according to family size. I would say portions per person are quite appropriate. Sometimes there were enough for seconds for a family of 4 depending on what was ordered. However, there was always enough to satisfy the family but not too much that one would overeat. This is ideal for those who are trying to monitor daily food intake.
Prep was typically minimal:
Outside of cleaning and chopping food there isn’t many other steps involved. Depending on the recipe I spent maybe 15 minutes max of hands-on time.
Cook time was typically no more than 35 minutes:
This depends on the category you choose when selecting your meal, but actual oven/stove time has yet to be more then 30-35 minutes. Even as I perused through the other menu options none seemed more than that time.
Expiry dates were at least 5-7 days:
This was super helpful because there was only one delivery option (which I do list as a con) which was Thursdays. However, I like to use these meals during the week when life is very crazy. With that said, I was able to save some of the meals for the early part of the next week.
You can change your meal option up to 4 days before the delivery:
My husband is the king of indecisive especially when it comes to his meal choices. So, if you have one of those in your household, then this is a great perk! Further to that, life changes quickly and this plan allows for some flexibility if you need to add more people or less or just simply change the menu option.
You can easily skip a week or cancel the subscription:
One reason I am often reluctant to sign up for any type of subscription is it always seems next to impossible to cancel it or pause it. The cancellation section somehow appears in teeny tiny print and never where you would expect it. At which point I’m forced to reach out to the provider which I have NO time for. Consequently, I end up paying for the service that I am not using, and money is wasted! With Hello Fresh it was very clear how to do so and an easy click of a button. There were no tricks involved!
Hello Fresh meals did NOT disappoint:
Did I mention that the meals were delicious? They certainly were kid approved and my husband loved every dish that was ordered, meat and vegetarian alike. I also loved every dish ordered. The food was without a doubt fresh and high quality. The recipes provided were excellent and certainly something I would reuse.
Cons of Hello Fresh
We couldn’t choose delivery date:
As mentioned above, Thursday was the only option for delivery day of the meals. With that said, this may have been due to the region I live in. However, I personally would much prefer the meals delivered early in the week as this is when I would use them. This way they would be used within days of receiving it.
Packaging wasn’t always ideal as the packages weren’t resealable if wanted to reuse sauces etc.:
Condiments and sauces came in packages like you would receive at a fast-food restaurant making it difficult to store them. Resealable packages would have been much more useful and user friendly.
Vegetarian options were sparse:
Considering I am vegetarian it was at times difficult to find an option for me. I must note that they always had at least 3 vegetarian options, but I found them to be repetitive at times. For example, one of the options would typically involve pasta which I generally try to avoid. Of course, this is strictly preference, but I never found the veg options to jump out at me. On the other hand, I was never disappointed with the meals I did order but more variety would be my recommendation.
Things to Consider…
Savings at the grocery store:
I wasn’t sure if I would see any savings at the grocery store. This was concerning considering the cost was approximately $130 per week for 3 meals to feed a family of 4. I estimated I saved an average of $30-$50 per weekly grocery store run. Considering that, using Hello Fresh at the full price costed me about an extra $80-$100 per week over and above my grocery bill. For many that is a significant extra cost. For us, we rarely eat out or purchase take-out, so it was a significant increase. However, if someone eats out on the regular this would be an extremely affordable and healthier option. For me, the convenience of this was certainly worth it. Not to mention I could guarantee a fresh and healthy meal. I concluded that I would not use it weekly because of the significant cost difference but I would be willing to use it monthly. It took the stress out of meal planning especially with picky eaters.
So…Is Hello Fresh worth the money???
Yes!
I would say this is a service worth using! Because I enjoy cooking and we don’t order out often I wouldn’t use it weekly. However, with its flexible options it allows me to skip weeks and use it as I require. So, if you haven’t tried it out yet, I would suggest doing so. Let me know what you think!
Cheers to a healthier you!
Xo
Tricia