Hello fresh/ Gousto

[HedgeHogFoxBadger]

Hi has anyone used hello fresh or gousto before?
I just received my first hello fresh box (only cos it was half price)
I struggle cooking meals, it’s just me and my 3 children. It’s always such a chore and thought this would give me a bit of motivation.
Does anyone else use these?

[PPopsicle]

Used HelloFresh since DS was born. Had Gousto for a few weeks but didn’t like it as much. I would never go back to ‘normal’ cooking now

[raspberryjamlove]

We love gousto but aren't so keen on hello fresh (and they have less choice). We get a box delivered every Monday 4x evening meals done. We've done it for about 2 years and eat much better because of it, portion sizes are spot on (we were over eating before) l, we eat more veggies and way more variety. Enjoy!

[noblegiraffe]

I hate cooking and we were having the same meals all the time.

Signed up to Hello Fresh nearly a year ago. It has been brilliant, most things are really tasty and even though I’m crap at cooking it has been pretty straightforward.

[ElluesPichulobu]

I used hellofresh only while the introductory half price deal lasted. at full price it is really poor value for money. however, all their recipes are free to download on their web site and it is very easy to pick some recipes and pop the ingredients into a supermarket online shop and save most of that unnecessary overcharging.

[GoBackToPartyCity]

We’ve been using Gousto for a few weeks and I would recommend it. The boxes have definitely opened my eyes to how out of control our portion sizes were. I used an offer where it was £14.99 for the first box then £25 for the next 3 boxes.

[HedgeHogFoxBadger]

Thanks everyone.
I’m just wondering on portion size as it’s me and 17,13 and 5 yr old. 5 yr old eats main meal at school but will sometimes have cooked at home too.
Thinking if I went with 2 person box and could add extra chicken/ mince pasta etc?
I’ve done half price with hello fresh this week and next week doing 4 meals with gousto for £17!

[noblegiraffe]

I find they’re quite generous with the meat so you could easily bulk out recipes with a bit more pasta/potato/veg. The only issue would be if it’s something like sausages or burgers because they give you two sausages per person, one bun per person etc. But you could just avoid those!

[PPopsicle]

As others have said, the meals that burgers etc are hard to bulk, but the rest I bulk out and it feeds 4

[trilbydoll]

We like Gousto but found Hello Fresh rubbish choices if you don't eat meat and the meal I did cook was revolting.

[SashayThatWay]

We have had four days of hello fresh for a couple of years, and found it great for both potion size and variety. Also, when DSD14 joined the household it got her into cooking and she had a go at prepping most evening meals with me.

However. We were given three weeks worth of simply cook boxes last month - they've been great. You only get three little pots of rub/stock/seasoning, and have to buy the fresh produce yourself, but they go through the letterbox and are a MILLION times easier to prepare.

Our main issue with hello fresh was always having to be in to receive the box (varied working hours, so not always at home) so letterbox is easier from that respect. I do a supermarket run every week anyway to do lunches/breakfasts/other meals etc, so picking up the bits you need is no hardship, all ingredients are clearly listed, so you have a simple, lazy shopping list. Financially they seem a better bet too.

Didn't think we would budge from hello fresh, but think we have been converted.

Handy not to have to get rid of the frigging massive box too... although the dogs are disappointed, it was their favourite weekly toy.

[noblegiraffe]

hello fresh was always having to be in to receive the box

You don’t need to be in to get the box - the meat is insulated with massive ice blocks that keep it cold for probably a day. Our delivery is hidden behind our bin if we’re not in and once it was outside for 7 hours and the ice packs hadn’t melted much at all.

[PPopsicle]

Yeah. I’ve never been in when my HelloFresh is delivered, they are really good at leaving it in your ‘designated safe place’

[SashayThatWay]

Unfortunately packages can only be left on our doorstep, on the main road.

It's not generally an issue, I can usually be in (work from home) but on occasion I'm hoicked out for meetings and it's a pain. I don't want £60-odd of food sat in full view.

Used to have Saturday delivery, which obviously knocked that issue out, but did make making plans tricky!

I love hello fresh, if you can work around the deliveries (appreciate my situation is possibly unusual!) it's great.

[Spindle85]

We love Gousto it’s so easy and good choice. Also lots of quick options for week nights. Started it after I had my first child who had bad colic and I was not in good state either. Really helped to get back into cooking rather than toast, soup, takeaways or whatever my husband managed (not a natural chef!). We’ve used it on and off since then. I’m a good cook but love not having to think about shopping with work and toddler. I used to like the food shop lol when I didn’t have an impatient tiny person alongside. Also no wastage and much more space in our small fridge. We usually get way more than 2 servings out of each meal - feeds us, toddler and often pack lunch too.
I really like the Asian recipes which I don’t know how to cook myself or wouldn’t usually do - tend to cook more Italian/greek/israeli left to my own devices. Last week I made a pad Thai which tasted as good as any I’ve had out. Also this year they seem to have way more veggie recipes which is very welcome. My main critique is that There aren’t enough vegetables in their dishes - I usually add more and often cut down the rice portion which can be enormous! They have loads of more traditional english recipes too I just don’t tend to get these as already know how to do them.
Some of the recipes we regularly use for meal plans when just doing our own cooking. I find they really late back but still deliver on flavour - if left to my own devices I’d be adding lots more ingredients and using more pans, this has really helped me with ideas for ‘short cuts’ that still taste nice.
Here is a code for 60% first box and 30% off first month code to try your first box - it gives me money in my account too so thx in advance!
cook.gousto.co.uk/raf?promo_code=SAMAN11556862&utm_source=iosapp

[Spindle85]

Oh and I’m never in when they deliver - they leave it in porch and it has massive cold packs and this sort of felt insulation bag - everything is still fine!

[handbagsatdawn33]

A friend has used both.
I costed the ingredients & was gobsmacked at how much these companies were charging - even allowing for delivery costs etc.

There are a lot of easy-cook recipes out there; fresh meat & veg (or frozen) + maybe a bottled sauce is a far cheaper option.

[DownstairsMixUp]

Gousto is great but too expensive without the offers.

[Sweetbabycheezits]

We used and liked the recipes with both, Gousto was our firm favourite though. We were getting deliveries for weekends, because takeaway is expensive where we live, so we found that even though a box of 3 meals was £42, one takeaway was about £35! It meant that we were eating a little better at weekends, and the dcs (12&13) each had a go at least one of those meals.
I second a pp who said Simply Cook...they are so simple! No strange ingredients to buy, just normal stuff that you might have anyway, and only a few bits that you might have to get in (ie., cream, plain yogurt).

[SweetPeaPods]

Just looking at Gousto now but surprised how much it says I need from the cupboard- oil, flour, butter etc. I don’t remember needing loads of store cupboard ingredients when we tried hello fresh last year.

[byvirtue]

We’ve used both and I find Hello Fresh has bigger portions so only need a 2 person box for 3 of us, but Gousto had more recipe choice and recipes seem quicker to make. We are always getting offers to rejoin hello fresh but not gousto.

[Theroigne]

We use Gousto and I’m an absolute convert; meal times were so dull and uninspired before (and I’m a pretty good cook!) but now I really look forward to the ritual of cooking and then eating a delicious meal every night. We have HF on trial next week but I’ve a feeling I won’t like it as much - less choice and more expensive than Gousto.

[sallievp]

We really like simply cook...no subscription can cancel at any time. If you want a £1 trial box with 4 recipes of your choice you can use this code

simplycook.com/invite/SV8153
I get s free box too!
You can get a free box fir every friend that does a trial.
No tie in can cancel after you get the box.
It has really loved up our dinners!
Jambalaya and naso goerang are the BEST!

[SweetPeaPods]

I’ve just signed up to try my first gousto box after reading this thread.
If anyone else wants to try, my referral code is JENNI39399316 to get 50% off your first box.

[Spam88]

@sallievp is there anyway to see what ingredients you need to provide yourself for a simply cook recipe before ordering?