I don't get 'hello fresh'

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Some friends of ours raved about hello fresh, do when they offered us a free box we jumped at the chance. But I just don't get it! I've had my 4 meals delivered and other than it bring pre-portioned out I don't see how it's easier than just making Ng your. Own stuff. I assumed that the meat and veg would come pre-prepped, peeled, chopped etc. But they don't! I'm still chopping peeling and mashing stuff. And I still have to do the weekly shop as it's only 4 evening meals.

Is it just that I'm not their target market? We cook from scratch anyway and I know how to cook. Is this aimed at ready meal/ take away/ freezer food every night people?

I don’t either but admit I haven’t tried it

We never buy ready meals but I love Hello Fresh, Gousto etc. I LOVE cooking but I find meal planning hard work and always feel stuck in a rut making the same 6 meals on a loop. I like having more variety.

I like it for the fact that I'm stuck in a rut when it comes to food, I'm eating more variety now. Plus as its just me the box feeds me for a whole week. Their portion sizes are very generous!

Hello fresh didn’t impress us at all. Guosto is much better!

I thought the same op. I really thought it would all come pre chopped etc also.

I like it as a way of expanding my range and trying out new recipes. In particular we tend to go for the vegetarian meals. My husband is a veggie and tends to just have quorn versions of our meals. Hello Fresh has helped us to be more experimental with our veggie cooking. We tend to get a box about once a month.

I thought Gousto was ok but i get what you mean. To be honest some of the ingredients weren't the best quality and I cancelled after a few times and just remade the recipes I liked. I use Simply Cook now which is much cheaper and is just herbs, spices, pastes, marinades etc. Very tasty and saves having to buy loads of random stuff that only gets used once. I prefer to be able to choose my own meat/veg etc.

I’ve got mindful chef, it’s useful as I work very long shifts and live alone so buying stuff at the supermarket is always too much or too little.

I love the idea but can't cope with the expense. Gousto put recipes on their website so I just buy my own ingredients and follow their recipes sometimes. I don't believe Hello Fresh do which is a shame but I can understand why as I'm sure there are loads more like me who don't pay for the service but use some of the recipes!

I use Gousto.

I like the quality, I like I don't have to faff about finding ingredients and I like that I don't have to plan those meals. I mostly like that I expands what we eat and we try new things.

I gave up on hello fresh when I was required to chop a butternut squash! TBf the meal was delicious. I also got fed up with the cost and the packaging and the ore packed portions.

We chose meals like we'd normally make so I think that's where we went wrong!

It’s aimed at people like me who can’t cook without simple instructions and who need more varied recipe ideas.

Otherwise I buy ingredients for spag bog and some ready meals from Tesco every week.

You can get six meals with hello fresh, it's Gousto who just do four.

We started with Hello Fresh after Christmas to help my 12-year old learn to cook and have had a really positive experience. It has been much easier for him to learn cooking skills as it’s all set out for him, before when we had tried to teach him it was reliant on su sitting with what we had in and many of the things I cook are all in my head. As a family we’ve eaten much more variety and the kids have tried stuff that would normally not even be considered. I have thought the quality of the meat was ok (supermarket rather than butcher standard) and the veg has always been good. Overall it has really been a great way to teach cooking skills and I intend to do the same again when my youngest gets to the same age.

We’ve just started using them/ Gousto mainly for new ideas because I was fed up of cooking the same meals week in week out. We’ve definitely gone for things we wouldn’t usually have and we’ve been eating much more vegetables etc. I find it really difficult to select all the ingredients for multiple meals in the supermarket, I always forget something crucial or end up going round and round in circles trying to get everything. I like that I just have to select the meals I like the look of and everything turns up for it. We have been using offers so far though so it’s not too expensive.

Oh and my DS (11) has been cooking with me too!

We tried Hello Fresh and found it very convenient as everything was the right size portion wise, so no half used ingredients in the fridge or spices which didn’t get used up. Also meant we only needed to go to the refillable shop and the co-op once a week. We stopped as the quality of the fresh veg wasn’t always great.

Currently doing Mindful Chef for the same reasons. It also makes us try new dishes - discovered I don’t like tempeh. It’s all very healthy though, which is good as I’d probably just live on pizza and cheese on toast

I agree OP. If I want to cook something new I just look up a recipe online then add the ingredients to the weekly shop. If I don't want to cook we get a takeaway! Don't really see the point in hello fresh.

We have tried it (got the free box offer) we found it so salty. Not much veg in the meals, when I cook I always add lots of vegetables in large quantities. Also being 3 people we ended up with half of things left over. Had a few things missing as well.

We use both hello fresh and simply cook now and again, just takes some of the effect out of deciding what to have. Tend to choose things we wouldn't normally cook and the ones we like we adapt and cook again.

We only get a box when we have 40% off otherwise it’s quite expensive.

I am a good cook , cook from scratch, wide range of cuisines etc but it gets very wearing having to meal plan, sort shopping list, etc and we then get into a rut of same meals etc

The pros for us are:
Can just pick the 5 meals we want from a list of pictures and all ingredients are delivered in a box - means don’t have to spend more than 5 minutes thinking about the weeks meals.
The 12 year old and 14 year old can pick a recipe card, disappear into the kitchen and cook a meal by themselves.
Makes us try things we wouldn’t always think of cooking or it’s things we do but with a twist.

Cons are:
Expensive if not a deal (but then we don’t buy full price boxes)
Lots more packaging waste
DD is a veggie so still have to adapt a portion for her if we haven’t chosen a veggie meal.

Main benefit we find (gusto twice a week) is not having to plan x2 meals a week, which breaks the monotony of meals. Reduced spend on take aways, as it feels a bit more like a treat. Reduced waste from the general shop as we are only family of 3 so don't get thru food that quickly. It's also helped to improve DHs cooking knowledge and skills.

I am like you OP, it doesn't really add any value for me.

But I suppose it depends which part of the meal provision process you find onerous.

I quite like meal planning, and have no difficulty picking up what I need at the supermarket.

I enjoy reading cookery books and magazines for ideas of different things to cook.

I don't worry about ending up with extra portions/ leftover ingredients - I just incorporate them into the plan for the next days' meals, or I just cook what I have rather than caring about following a recipe too slavishly.

On the other hand, I find the actual cooking part a bit of a drag sometimes - and these box schemes don't help with that part.

When I can't be bothered, I buy something I can just stick in the oven, or I buy a Scratch meal kit (stir fries etc with everything pre-chopped)

I can see that if the bit you don't enjoy is the planning or shopping, these boxes must be totally worth it.

Completely agree OP. We also got a free box from a friend referral, I was really excited and found myself thoroughly underwhelmed. Why do I need one spring onion delivered when I can buy a bunch in the shops? I had half the spices they sent round in the cupboard anyway and the portions were TINY imo!