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Original poster

Just tried first Hello Fresh...I don’t get it....

247 replies

GiraffeNecked · 16/10/2020 06:54

So a potato some mince, a carrot, a glove of garlic and some mince arrives. All stuff I have in the house already ..... you still have to chop, cut, cook and it was nice, but no nicer than something I’d have come up with by myself.

OP posts:
earthycarrots · 16/10/2020 08:29

@TeddyIsaHe

I like it, I chose things I wouldn’t usually cook. It saved so much brainpower when I’d been out of the house for 12 hours - didn’t need to think about what to make, just get the pre-portioned bits out and dinner is ready in half an hour.
We used to use it for this reason, however we got sick and tired of missing ingredients and packages of meat split open so we are trying an alternative as we have 30% off for a month at the moment.
Walkaround · 16/10/2020 08:29

I use it about 4 times a year and get my ds to cook it, as he was the one who wanted to try it. Consequently, I think it’s great!

JingleCatJingle · 16/10/2020 08:32

I have some codes for free hello fresh boxes if anyone wants to try it. I don’t receive anything in return.
PM me if you want one.
Just don’t order something you’d normally try! Though their burger recipe with panko breadcrumbs and ketchup is now my children’s favourite.
You can just buy mince, panko breadcrumbs and ketchup though ;)

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General food
SpideryPlants · 16/10/2020 08:33

Gousto is better, more flavour recipes.

Thecobwebsarewinning · 16/10/2020 08:33

I looked into it at the start of lockdown and very quickly came to the same conclusion you have. I was also concerned about the excess packaging.

For an absolutely clueless novice at cooking I can see they serve a purpose but a much cheaper and longer lasting alternative would to be buy Delia Smiths complete cookery course book and start working through it.

perfumeistooexpensive · 16/10/2020 08:33

We like to cook from scratch. HF has taught us more skills and how to use ingredients we would never have thought of. We have weeks off when we use the recipe cards and adapt them to what we have in the house.

Walkaround · 16/10/2020 08:34

Ps having to keep remembering to cancel chunks of weeks is annoying, though. I have reminders in my diary to do it. Not quite annoying enough to have entirely cancelled the whole thing, and we have only been caught out once with a surprise delivery - fortunately over lockdown, before we’d been to the supermarket that week.

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 16/10/2020 08:34

What do the kids say? Bougie? It's super-bougie, which is totally fine of course. There have been times in my life when I've done a week's shop from M&S because I just didn't have the mental strength to do anything else. It's cooking for people who don't like cooking.

But the packaging! A lovely young person came to my door to sell me a sub to one of them, can't remember which one, and he just could not understand my objection to the packaging. Him 'it's recyclable!' Me 'But it's packaging that doesn't need to exist in the first place, the first step should always be reduce...' Blank stare.

ErickBroch · 16/10/2020 08:35

@JingleCatJingle the burger was my favourite so i bought panko breadcrumbs and it wasn't the same! I think the meat they use, beef mince especially, is very good

doadeer · 16/10/2020 08:35

I choose things I've never cooked before I do one week every 5 weeks or so. I'm a nice home cook. I have a toddler, I work, have chronic pain condition and sometimes I like not having additional mental load of what to cook. I never choose "traditional" British type stuff.

Springersrock · 16/10/2020 08:37

We had it for a while and I really liked it

DH and I both work full time, we don’t get home until 7:30pm most nights so I loved just opening the fridge, getting out a bag and cooking dinner

Didn’t have to think about what to cook, didn’t have to meal plan, didn’t have to have the whole “what do you want for dinner”/“don’t mind” conversation, didn’t have to think about getting something out the freezer

We stopped in the end as the use by dates were getting really short and we had too many missing ingredients

AyDeeAitchDee · 16/10/2020 08:38

I did the cheap trial during a period I couldn't be bothered to shop.

And made sure to log on and order meals I have never cooked at home before.

That's where I saw the benefit.

Quite enjoyed all the meals but even with 35% off it's not good value.

loobyloo1234 · 16/10/2020 08:39

I like Hello Fresh, but only when I'm at a bit of a 'Im sick of everything I have cooked lately' - surely if you're choosing recipes you already make or with ingredients you already have, its kind of your fault. There are so many dishes to choose from on there, you should be picking recipes you wouldnt normally do at home

kowari · 16/10/2020 08:41

@GiraffeNecked

Hands up, they cancelled the first box which I had carefully chosen to be stuff that was interesting spicy and used stuff I wouldn’t always have in. Then forgot to pick so got their choice which is chilli on wedges, chicken chow mein and Thai pork.

The packaging, which I know is recyclable, is just ott.

Thanks to the posters who mentioned simply cook that looks interesting.

I was stuck in a rut cooking and planning and while dh cooks it was to get him more involved...I think I just need to open a recipe book or two.

I have a simply cook code to try a box for free if you (or anyone else) are interested (I get a free box too). simplycook
lazylinguist · 16/10/2020 08:46

I don't get it either. Those saying you use it for recipes you wouldn't/couldn't normally cook - how is the actual cooking any easier than just following a normal recipe? Presumably you have to go to the supermarket to get all the rest of your food anyway, so just buy the stuff it says in the recipe? If you're stuck in a rut, why not just browse recipes on e.g. the BBC Good Food site?

I'm not being snarky - I just genuinely don't understand the point? Does the convenience just lie in not having to look for a recipe (presumably you still have to look for and choose one on the Hello Fresh site?)?

Parker231 · 16/10/2020 08:50

www.cookfood.net/

This is my favourite - no prep required.

LilyE1234 · 16/10/2020 08:56

It works for me, I’m out of the house 12 hours a day and I like coming home and knowing I’ve got everything I need ready to cook dinner. I only end up spending £15
In Sainsbury’s local on the way home if I haven’t got anything in.

For me it’s also about cupboard & fridge space. I don’t have the space to store a jar of every single spice, dried herb, jar, tin etc.

I also don’t fancy spending part of my weekend dragging myself round a supermarket with everyone else so it saves me a job there!

Ylfa · 16/10/2020 09:02

@lazylinguist

I don't get it either. Those saying you use it for recipes you wouldn't/couldn't normally cook - how is the actual cooking any easier than just following a normal recipe? Presumably you have to go to the supermarket to get all the rest of your food anyway, so just buy the stuff it says in the recipe? If you're stuck in a rut, why not just browse recipes on e.g. the BBC Good Food site?

I'm not being snarky - I just genuinely don't understand the point? Does the convenience just lie in not having to look for a recipe (presumably you still have to look for and choose one on the Hello Fresh site?)?

I find it’s much much cheaper for one than having weekly grocery deliveries where items are often substituted and anyway the minimum spend each week is too much for me now. I get three lots of two calorie dense meals, so live mostly on one meal per day for six days then back on my stockpile of black or pinto bean chili or eat with a friend or whatever on the 7th day. £5 a day isn’t the cheapest way to live but it’s just about manageable and like lots of other people with chronic conditions it makes a varied diet easier for me.
HyggeTygge · 16/10/2020 09:02

@lazylinguist

I don't get it either. Those saying you use it for recipes you wouldn't/couldn't normally cook - how is the actual cooking any easier than just following a normal recipe? Presumably you have to go to the supermarket to get all the rest of your food anyway, so just buy the stuff it says in the recipe? If you're stuck in a rut, why not just browse recipes on e.g. the BBC Good Food site?

I'm not being snarky - I just genuinely don't understand the point? Does the convenience just lie in not having to look for a recipe (presumably you still have to look for and choose one on the Hello Fresh site?)?

I've not used it but been tempted at times. For me the bonus was no waste and no having to add lots of things to a shopping list to try a dish you might not have cooked before - if I'm getting Ocado delivery for groceries then you can't buy a single pepper, sweet potato, small chunk of ginger etc so I end up not using things up very well. And you don't have to buy several jars of spices/kaffir lime leaves that you might not already have in, just to try.

I don't know what the normal pricing is like though.

Themostwonderfultimeoftheyear · 16/10/2020 09:05

I am a decent cook but use Gousto as I enjoy cooking but hate meal planning. Also as a small family we end up with so much leftover from standard sized amounts in supermarkets that our food waste was too high.

I choose the more interesting meals though, their Indian stuff is amazing.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 16/10/2020 09:07

@lazylinguist

I don't get it either. Those saying you use it for recipes you wouldn't/couldn't normally cook - how is the actual cooking any easier than just following a normal recipe? Presumably you have to go to the supermarket to get all the rest of your food anyway, so just buy the stuff it says in the recipe? If you're stuck in a rut, why not just browse recipes on e.g. the BBC Good Food site?

I'm not being snarky - I just genuinely don't understand the point? Does the convenience just lie in not having to look for a recipe (presumably you still have to look for and choose one on the Hello Fresh site?)?

I don't get it either. I totally understand not having the mental energy to think what to cook at the end of a long day of work, but when I was working full-time and my children were younger I simply made good use of the freezer, microwave and stuff from the cupboard. It was often repetitive but it was tasty, quick, easy, reasonably healthy and affordable. I did proper cooking at the weekends, including batch cooking so we could have some home-cooked stuff during the week, or on the odd night when I was feeling more energetic.

The excessive packaging puts me off. The cost of it sounds huge compared with my online supermarket orders.

The logic of paying a small fortune for a package to be delivered to you so that you don't have a small cheap jar of spices left in your cupboard escapes me too.

Trumpton · 16/10/2020 09:07

@Kowari
Thank you .
I have ordered a trial to give my cooking a nudge.
I bought a M&S fresh box meal as it was reduced and altho not worth £11 it was worth it for £7.42 and I will certainly add the recipe to my repertoire.

AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii · 16/10/2020 09:08

We’ve been getting gousto for over a year now and it’s honestly a life saver. I consider myself a good cook but it just takes the hassle out of trying to decide what to cook each night especially with working, 3 young DC and currently studying for my nursing degree. It will also come in handy for when I’m on placements and DH is in charge of the dinner

lazylinguist · 16/10/2020 09:08

Ah ok. I am cooking for 4 and always go to the supermarket rather than getting deliveries. I am also very much a meal planner anyway, cook mostly from scratch and have a dh who also likes cooking. I guess that's why it didn't make sense to me!

Themostwonderfultimeoftheyear · 16/10/2020 09:08

Quite simply Gasp I got sick of repetitive food and I don't want to spend my weekends batch cooking, much prefer to be out on long walks with my family or just relaxing. For me time is always worth spending money on.