Anyone tried "Hello Fresh" meal kits?

[TitaniasTits]

And if so are they any good?

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For the lowdown on the best recipe boxes, take a look at our comparison of the most popular boxes out there and, of course, Musnetters’ reviews of their favourites. MNHQ.

[n0ne]

I live on the Continent but assuming the meals are the same as the UK ones, I would say they're OK, but not brilliant. There is often A LOT of prep, and they always take longer to make than the time they suggest. But I like how nutritionally balanced they are, and some of the combinations are truly delicious and not anything I would have thought of mysef. I often feel you don't get your money's worth, though.

[amprev]

We trialled Hello Fresh and came to the conclusion that it was fun and the produce was of a good to high quality but that we wouldn't pay full price for it. We selected vegetarian meals and at full price it worked out at around £6 per head, per meal, which is more than I would normally spend. Also, I don't know if it was just bad luck but each week we had to have a risotto, which we're not fans of, but this just reflects that as a vegetarian you will have less choice I guess. Maybe the price would be more acceptable for the meals that contain meat and I can't comment on the quality of the meat obviously.

We recently tried Gousto too but they couldn't even get the trial box to us and bizarrely they lied about the attempt to deliver - awful customer service in trying to find where our box was, and ultimately a box containing igriedients for 6 meals will just have been dumped somewhere and wasted, which really bugs me. So, HF definitely a better bet than Gousto.

One down side of either of these meal delivery schemes is the sheer amount of packaging they use. I understand they have to insulate the food to keep it fresh, but I remember thinking it seemed really excessive and another reason why I would only use occasionally. Great to have some new recipe ideas though, that's the main advantage, I wouldn't say they save you any time because making something for the first time always takes longer than knocking out your regular meals.

[TitaniasTits]

Thanks guys, that's really helpful. I'll give it a go to get some new ideas at least - we are a bit stuck in a rut.

[CharlyWooplus2]

We tried it out and agree with the other posters. Some of the meals are delicious, especially some of the Jamie Oliver recipes, but... The protein portions are tiny, often really small pieces of steak & not a great cut (flank) so pretty chewy (maybe our cooking?!). And some of the meals just don't feel like good value when they're say a chicken breast, vegetable portion and potatoes. Sometimes I'm left thinking that we could have done that for half the price, but.... I definitely think it's introduced us to loads of new ideas and flavours. Worth a try and see what you think!

[AveEldon]

We have used it and ended up having a box about once a month
Gave up and have just restarted
They sent me a promo email last week so if you PM your email address I can get them to send you a free box

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

I've heard that the portions are tiny.

But the idea appeals. I've also seen ones that are just the spice kits, so that you can choose your own meat, which appeals to me more as you can do them whenever you feel like rather than having to do it before the ingredients go off, and you can buy your own good quality meat. I was looking at Simply Cook. But what I didn't like was that I would just end up relying on their kits for the spices, and still not really know how to make anything properly, which is my problem now! I never really know what spices and flavours to use. Still, it might inspire me a bit, and at least it would save the hassle of buying endless little ingredients that always seem to come with making recipes.

[AlannaOfTrebond]

I haven't used Hello Fresh but have used Gousto and have had a totally different experience to the poster up thread. Delivery has been excellent, and the variety, quality and quantity of the meals has been great.

It's really encouraged us to try some new things and I would totally recommend giving Gousto a go. I have a promo code if you want to give it a try as well as/instead of Hello Fresh.

[NotAMamaYet]

Agree with PP about the sheer amount of unnecessary packaging they use!!! We were

They are good but take a billion hours longer than they say it will. Nice but not amazing produce

[justjuanmorebeer]

I've been thinking of trying these companies out too. One friend loves HF but another said it was not good and portions too small. If anyone still has a free box code I'd really appreciate it!

[Yika]

I found the HF portions huge but only did a test week and then decided not to continue.

The recipes were great and the concept excellent. However it involved more cooking/prep time than I was prepared to invest on a day to day basis. (Not that much - about half an hour - but I have very little time!) Also it's just for me and my DD aged 5 and the recipes were a bit too adventurous for her. Would be better for a couple or family with older children.

I would definitely give it another go at some point.

[Queenbean]

They're just ok. They seem to use the same stuff over and over though, and are very carb heavy.

Also a nightmare to cancel.

I have some of their recipe cards and can photograph and post them on here if you want some inspiration?

[AveEldon]

I have cooked 2/3 recipes from this week's box
The pork w bulgar wheat was tasty but the instructions were poor and they over complicate things and make more washing up than is necessary imho
The chicken stroganoff - DH liked it, I didn't. It was chicken thighs which I don't like - too fatty

[Floods123]

I work for Riverford. Ours are better sized portions. And organic.

[Floods123]

Pushed send too soon! If do am offer to get you in with them but you can't cancel for three weeks! So you are stuck with it Riverford allow you to order as and when you want.

[Lesley1980]

We used Hello Fresh & I really liked it. At the time we were a couple & a 1/2 year old & picked the normal box for two. The food was too fussy for our toddler but we thought it was delicious & really simple to make. I had to chop some veg but everything was cooked in under 30 minutes. If we were a couple I would probably sign up for it on a regular basis. If the family options were for a family of 3 I'd probably sign up as the box is just too big for us.

[Caprianna]

We use them and I really like it. Takes me out of my meal-rut. Their meals are simple to make and they really show how you get flavour from mixing spices I think. Some weeks we cancel and just re-use their recipes. We have the veggie option.