Anyone Tried Hello Fresh or Similar?

[SunshineLollipopsAndRainbows]

I keep seeing ads pop up for Hello Fresh & one was claiming you can save on supermarket prices plus have less waste. We waste an awful lot of food which we can’t really afford to do. Anyone tried & been happy with the results?

We've just done 4 weeks of Hello Fresh with a discount code to cover while I was recovering from an op. Mixed results, some recipes more successful than others, the state of the delivery was mixed too, recipe cards missing, one box arrived wet, the freezer packs had melted and split. Overall, not overly impressed but it did help cover the weeks I couldn't stand and cook, DH and DS took over.

Mixed.
The chicken/meat often needs eating asap. So you have to factor in your delivery date and make sure you cook the meals on the days following this (rather than leaving it a few days in the fridge)

I've used Gousto since the pandemic started - I love it. The main benefit is that meals are planned for Friday, Mon, Tues and Wed so add a take away Sat and a roast Sunday and I have no decisions to make about 'what to eat' - the meals are balanced and portion controlled. It also abstracts the meal from me, in a way, so no complaints about what "I" chose for dinner. And it has taught DH and DS to cook.
If you want my discount code - I think you get a 60% discount for 3 weeks - in box me.

Definitely recommend gousto over hello fresh!

I’ve tried Hello Fresh and Gousto.

Gousto is miles better and the one we’ve stuck with. We get our delivery on a Monday and use it for our meals Mon/Tue/Weds.

Yes it’s more expensive than going to the supermarket and buying all of the ingredients myself but I love the convenience, DS does the cooking one night a week because you can’t really go wrong following the recipe cards, and I like not having to meal plan for the start of the week.

I tried Hello Fresh on a discounted deal and was very underwhelmed.
The amount of packaging was ridiculous and I didn't find the recipes inspiring. Was left thinking it would be better value and less hassle to look up a few good recipes, buy the ingredients and make them (which is what I was doing anyway)!

I would not do it if you have a decent store cupboard stock. I see them as being for people who don't usually cook or meal plan.

Because i cook regularly, i do tend to have the majority of herbs, spices, vinegars and oils that is needed, so if i'm making a recipe, I usually only need to buy the fresh things. Of course, if i was buying all the jars of herbs and spices from scratch, that would be very expensive, and so a Hello Fresh style delivery of 1TBSP of this and that might be cheaper.

You can simply do your own version by writing a menu and just buying exactly what you need. Start by making use of what you already have in the fridge or freezer to reduce cost and waste.

We have hello fresh - pros and cons:

Really good taste, lovely meals.
Pre measured ingredients - cooking is quicker
Good instructions - even if you aren’t a great cook (I’m crap)
DPD deliveries excelllent

Frequently supply mouldy/manky items, although if this is just a couple of peppers or whatever, I can replace the stuff fairly cheaply and easily (shop round corner). We have got to the stage where we make sure in advance that the stuff is usable.
Frequent supply of wrong/missing ingredients. Both in our favour and ours. I was supplied several pieces of sea bass in error - hadn’t even ordered anything fishy.
So bearing this in mind, food waste is not necessarily reduced. As they often supply things needing to go straight in the waste.

We are trying Gusto. I’m disappointed with this week’s box. I don’t think it’s cheaper but it’s helping us out of a rut and is encouraging the kids the try more meals.

Yes I forgot to add that if you are a good cook and have plenty of ideas, it won’t be for you.

I’ve tried them both but Gousto is much better, the quality, choice of food and portion size is far superior! I have a discount code for 65% off your first box if you want to give them a go? 😊

cook.gousto.co.uk/raf/?promo_code=NATAS42811069

We much prefer gousto. Much bigger range of fish and meat free meals.
I found with Hello Fresh there were so many that you’d need to pay significantly more for.

Have tried Hello Fresh and Gousto.

True, Gousto does have more choice.
But… we love the flavour of Hello Fresh.

My friend who eats meat recommended Gousto due to the Plant Based meals which they choose over the meat ones.

She was so right! Really delicious meat free meals. Love Gousto.

I think if you’re a good cook who can get your own inspiration from recipe books etc and don’t have any trouble meal planning and shopping at the moment the they’re probably not worth it. For me Gousto has made a massive difference though as whilst I am a good cook, mental health/life stress/exhaustion meant I couldn’t manage to meal plan and shop right now, so was surviving on takeaway and freezer food. Gousto has meant I’m cooking at least four proper meals a week now which is brilliant. I hope to start reducing the Gousto and start doing more myself but recognise that baby steps are needed!

We have a Gousto chat thread on here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/4458983-New-thread-for-sharing-Gousto-recipes?msgid=115983255#115983255

Ive only tried Hello Fresh and only when I get a code with a good discount otherwise it's very expensive. I've always been really impressed. Simple recipes but always have a really interesting twist

We did HF with discount codes. Without I find it really pricey. The quality was mostly ok but we had one awful delivery with slimy spinach and missing bits. I also found for some meals the amount of veg was quite stingy. But it's given me some now favourite meals that I can recreate at less cost from the shops.

I've ordered a trial box of Simply Cook this month as I've liked the couple of ones I've had from the supermarket.

Way prefer Gousto over Hello Fresh - made the change about 6 months ago after I got sick of always having something wrong with our HF delivery.

We have upped ours to 4 meals a week for 4 people - me, DH and DSD16 and 10 take a meal each to cook a week, which I'm a big fan of!

Not tried Hello Fresh but Gousto was really good. I would recommend it.

We have it every week , doesn't work out any more expensive and no waste !

I’m playing hard to get with Hello Fresh and only use it when it’s heavily discounted. Then it fits into my €150/week budget with cheaper meals the rest of the week.

I get 3 meals x 4 portions and they sometimes double their ingredients unnecessarily (2 whole lemons when I needed 2 halves) or give larger meat portions than I want. Which is fine, that extra food goes into a recipe of my choice. The food is all good quality, and the packaging is mostly recyclable. Tiny plastic sachets of soy sauce (x2) not so good.

It takes me out of my routine with new recipes and gives the other less “foodie” people in the family a chance to follow a new dish with most of the prep done for them.

But at full price I wouldn’t use it.

I’ve got free hello fresh box offers that are about to expire so if you pm me your email I’ll send you the link

We use hello fresh. Not tried gousto so can’t compare but we’ve not had any issues.

We get it for four dinners for 3 people and it’s about £50 delivered.

I get it on a Monday for that week’s dinners.

Only issue I had was the box was wet once, hadn’t ruined anything inside though so it wasn’t particularly an issue. Never had short dated meat or anything mouldy either, must just be luck of the draw.

We usually meal plan but tbh this is so easy, no thinking, literally just pick four dinners and off you go. We’ve got a lot of other stuff going on at the moment so it’s easing the mental load.

I got hello fresh on a discount a while back, and I’ve just been emailed another discount, so I’m going to get it for the next four weeks.

I liked it, despite the fact I like cooking and have loads of recipe books. I’m busy and not great at meal planning properly and was getting stuck in a rut. I’m also trying to encourage the kids to choose meals and eat a more varied diet, as I’m terrible at making myself a curry or stir fry or something they won’t eat and then binging nuggets in the oven for them. I’m hoping to spend four weeks building a wider repertoire of stuff we’ll all eat, and then just buying the ingredients for those dishes in the supermarket.

My only complaint from last time is that it’s only the cheapest cuts of meat that are included in the price. If you want anything other than sausages, chicken thighs, or veggie/pasta type dishes, you usually have to pay a supplement.