Are you thinking about trying Hello Fresh? Read My Hello Fresh Review to find out about cost, prep and cook time, menu selection, packaging, ingredients, portion size, and taste!

This is not a sponsored post. This is my honest opinion and I received no compensation from Hello Fresh.

Other posts in this series include Meal Plan Like A Boss, Meal Prep Like A Boss, My Blue Apron Review, Easy Slow Cooker Whole Chicken.

As part of my Back to School Meal Planning and Meal Prep Series, I am reviewing several meal kit delivery services that I recently tried. Some of my readers have found them to be helpful with meal planning. This week I am reviewing Hello Fresh.

Hello Fresh was the second meal kit delivery service that I tried. It is a subscription-based service that you can cancel at any time. Like other meal kit services, you are able to skip weeks and first-time subscribers receive a discount.

The meal kits come with everything you need for your meal except for salt, pepper, and oil. The ingredients are pre-portioned so there is no measuring or waste.

My Hello Fresh Review

Cost

Hello Fresh has several plans to choose from. There is a classic plan, veggie plan, and a family plan. I ordered  2 meals for 2 people from the classic plan. After the first time subscriber discount was applied, my total was $24.96.

Classic Plan

• $8.99 per serving + $5.99 Shipping
• 2 Person – 2 Meals = $41.95   2 Person – 3 Meals = $59.93  2 Person – 4 Meals = $77.91
• 4 Person – 2 Meals =  $77.91  4 Person – 3 Meals = $113.87  4 Person – 4 Meals = $149.83

Veggie Plan

• . 8.99 per serving + 5.99 Shipping (This plan only allows you to order 3 meals per week.)
• 2 Person – 3 Meals = $59.93
• 4 Person – 3 Meals = $113.87

Family Plan

• $7.87 per serving + $5.99 Shipping  (This plan allows you to order 2 or 3 meals per week for 4 people.)
• 4 Person – 2 Meals = $68.95  4 Person – 3 Meals = $100.43

This is definitely more than I  pay per serving to cook our meals at home, but less than it would cost to go out to dinner. 

Menu Selection

Hello Fresh has 15 new recipes on their menu each week. Hello Fresh will pick meals based on your preferences or you can select the meals yourself.

The Classic Plan offers the most variety with 10-15 recipes to choose from. The recipes include vegetarian meals and a variety of meat and fish dishes.

The Veggie Plan only has 3 recipes on the menu. Since you have to order 3 meals with this plan you do not get to choose your meals. The Classic Plan has the same vegetarian meals on its menu so I’m confused by The Veggie Plan option altogether. Must be a marketing thing! (Disclaimer: The vegetarian meals have been on both menus every time I have been to the website. I’m not sure that is always the case.)

The Family Plan has 6 recipes on the menu.  According to Hello Fresh, they are quick and easy recipes the whole family will love.

For some reason, I thought I chose a plan that had a 3 person option. I picked meals that I thought my son would like. I chose Sesame Beef Tacos and Banh Mi Burgers. If I had been ordering for just my husband and myself, I probably would not have made that selection. I realized after I received my order confirmation, that I had ordered 2 meals and that there was not a 3 person plan. 

Packaging

I don’t know why I get so excited when the meal kits get delivered, but I do!

 The Hello Fresh box contained insulation and a few ice packs. The ice packs were still frozen and everything in the box was cold. 

There were 2 paper bags that were labeled with the name of each meal. The bags contained all of the ingredients for each meal with the exception of the meat. It was nice not to have to sort through all of the items and separate them.

Some of the produce in the bags was loose and some of it was packaged.  The meat was in vacuum sealed packages just like you would receive from the grocery store. 

The box also contained 2 beautiful recipe cards and 1 nutritional info card. The nutritional info card included the nutrition facts for all of the classic menu meals. I wish the nutritional information was on the recipe card itself. 

There is a lot of packaging, but I don’t know any other way you could get meal kits delivered to your front door. The Hello Fresh website has detailed instructions for recycling. I kept the ice packs and recycled everything else.

Ingredients

According to Hello Fresh, their meat is carefully selected with the highest quality standards and the sustainable fish is wild caught. “The entire recipe development process is as environmentally friendly, sustainable, and delicious as possible.” You can read more about the source of the ingredients here.

The produce I received was all fresh. None of the ingredients were marked organic but I wasn’t expecting them to be because I did not see the word organic anywhere on the website. All of the ingredients were clearly marked and measured with the exact amount needed. 

The nutrition facts were included for all of the packaged ingredients. There were several highly processed ingredients in out kit. Flour tortillas, brioche buns, sriracha sauce, mayonnaise, and even the sour cream.

I used my own sriracha, mayo, and sour cream because I had much cleaner versions in my fridge. (I rarely buy mayo but recently found some made with avocado oil.) I also eliminated the sugar that was called for in the pickled veggies.

My son and husband ate the flour tortillas provided and I used some corn tortillas that we had on hand. My son was not home when we at the burgers. My husband did eat the brioche bun, but I skipped the bun and added some lettuce instead.

To be honest, I really do not know what I was doing the day I placed this order. I must have been multitasking or in a hurry. I know I had my son in mind, but I honestly never looked at the ingredients in the meals I chose, which is completely out of character for me. I guess my only criteria that day was how the food looked in the pic and if my son would eat it. 

Recipe Directions

The recipe cards had beautiful pictures with step-by-step directions. The directions were easy to follow and the prep was super simple.

Both meals only required about 10 minutes of prep. The burgers were on the table in 40 minutes and the tacos were less than 30. This was right in line with what the recipe card stated. Perfect for a busy weeknight.

Portion Size

The Banh Mi Burgers with Carrots were portioned perfectly. The Sesame Beef Tacos with Quick-Pickled Veggies made 6 tacos but had no side dish. I made some beans for a side dish and we were each able to each eat 2 tacos. (Max was home.)

If Max would not have been home, we would have had leftovers because I would not have eaten 3 tacos. I probably would have still made the beans for a side dish. 

Hello Fresh does offer some Dinner to Lunch options on their menu. You are able to transform dinner into lunch for the next day. I’m not sure if there is an extra charge if you choose one of those meals. I could not find any pricing info when I looked on the website.

Taste

The meals looked delicious, but unfortunately, we were not fans. The burgers and the tacos were both lacking in the flavor department. We did like the carrots and the pickled vegetables. 

I would not make the burger or the tacos again. We make roasted carrots quite often but I have never cut them like fries before. I would do that again. We make pickled vegetables regularly as well but have never used radishes. I usually do not care for radish but I did like it pickled! So we will definitely add them in more often. 

My Overall Impression

Ordering from Hello Fresh made our meal planning and meal prep easier. The ingredients for the meals were divided into individual bags which was helpful. The meals came together quickly and the directions were very easy to follow. A definite plus on a busy weeknight!

I was disappointed in the number of highly processed ingredients. I realize that I did not choose carefully, so I did look back at the other options available on the menu the week we ordered. Most of the meals contained some highly processed ingredients. 

I also looked at a few other weeks of menus and found that those also contained quite a number of meals with highly processed ingredients. 

I most likely would not order from Hello Fresh again but not because we did not like the way the food tasted. I’m sure there are some delicious meals on the menu. The highly processed ingredients are a deal breaker for me. The menu selection would be very limited and subbing ingredients would defeat the purpose of paying for the convenience of the service.

Have you tried Hello Fresh? What has your experience been? Have you found that the kits contain too many processed ingredients? Please let me know in the comments.