Hello fresh / Gousto....talk to me!

[Decafflatteplease]

Hi I'm thinking about getting one of these meal kits can anyone who gets them answer a couple of questions?

I'm a busy mum (aren't we all!) And due to complex needs of my DC I'm currently cooking 2-3 meals a night and it's taking up so much headspace. I can't avoid this due to aforementioned complex needs but I was thinking if at least DH myself and 1 dc had one of these kits it would possibly take off some of the mental load? Maybe??!!

When I've looked online it seems that with Gousto you can look at the menu just by putting your post code in but with hello fresh you need to book first is that right?

How long do they last eg if I wanted it 3 days a week and say It got delivered on a Sunday ready for the week, would they have to be eaten Mon Tues weds or can they last all week if that makes sense

Do either / both/ none come in bags ready to go eg a bag with all the items for Monday then a bag with all the items for Tues or is it just loose in a box? Looking for something my teens can make a start on for dinner so the simpler the better.

How long do they take to cook? It is easy or am I need every pan and utensil we own 😂

How big are the portion sizes? Looking for 2 adults 1 teen so would that be a 2 portion or a 4 portion eg if they are small portion I'll need a 4 person one won't I? Also hoping for leftovers for lunches.

Can anyone recommend one over the other if you have tried both?

Lastly is it worth the money?

We've had gousto for at least 3 years now. For me it is cheaper than going to source the ingredients at the shop as I have a tendency to add random stuff to my basket and I almost always forget an important ingredient!
I prefer the meat quality and choice of meals that gousto offer (compared to hello fresh) Some recipes might be a bit 'faffy' but I think it's pretty obvious which ones they are. My DH can follow the recipe cards, which is saying a lot!
If you want a discount code then I'm happy to share, I think it's 55% off your first box.

I've only tried Hello Fresh once when on a big discount, which meant we broke even compared with my usual average supermarket cost.
The stuff lasted fine and we had the 5 day box. They were bagged per meal, but I don't have the cupboard space to store them like that, so unpacked anyway. One worry before I bought was portion size but IMO they were pretty decent, although the main:veg ratio was a little skewed, so a couple of times I chucked some extra veg in.

My main disappointment was the naively I expected more stuff to come chopped and ready, and I thought that's what people were paying a premium for. I'm a confident cook with a well stocked cupboard, and I'm cooking for two adults and two DC, so there wasn't much convenience or waste saving. And I do think it's a bit of a con that lots of recipes have a hefty supplement which really adds up if there are four of you, so the headline price is a bit inaccurate.

Still, of the five recipes we tried two are now on regular rotation on my menu plans so it was a worthwhile exercise

We have just started with Hello Fresh. Had our first box on Sunday. Annoyingly they use DPD who are the worst courier service in our area.
We have enjoyed every meal this week though I feel some of the veg were not very fresh. The cut cauliflower was pretty brown which was not appealing so I used some frozen instead.
I love that it takes the strain off me in terms of planning. I am usually home before dh so end up cooking most weekdays.
I will give it a month. Then will try Gousto as there are so many good reviews here.

We have just started with Hello Fresh. Had our first box on Sunday. Annoyingly they use DPD who are the worst courier service in our area.
We have enjoyed every meal this week though I feel some of the veg were not very fresh. The cut cauliflower was pretty brown which was not appealing so I used some frozen instead.
I love that it takes the strain off me in terms of planning. I am usually home before dh so end up cooking most weekdays.
I will give it a month. Then will try Gousto as there are so many good reviews here.

We have just started with Hello Fresh. Had our first box on Sunday. Annoyingly they use DPD who are the worst courier service in our area.
We have enjoyed every meal this week though I feel some of the veg were not very fresh. The cut cauliflower was pretty brown which was not appealing so I used some frozen instead.
I love that it takes the strain off me in terms of planning. I am usually home before dh so end up cooking most weekdays.
I will give it a month. Then will try Gousto as there are so many good reviews here.

Sorry the app kept showing it couldn't post so I kept trying again!

Hello fresh sent the box I just received (the chickenless box) via yodel.

I've used Gousto for over 2 years now, only taking breaks when we go away etc. And I've found it AMAZING. Yes expensive if you compare to buying ingredients separately but it saves so much thinking time. Some recipes are but it's clear before you buy which require more effort/time/equipment so if I know I have a busy day, I'll be choosing a 10 minute dish.
There are veggie options (lots) and they would last longer than the meat which you might need to eat in a few days. Again it says on the app when food needs to be eaten by so you can plan. I've never really had Missing items and definitely no big ones.

Yes I've noticed this. And it seems every single Hello Fresh recipe contains a sachet of vegetable stock.

Yes I've noticed this. And it seems every single Hello Fresh recipe contains a sachet of vegetable stock

That immediately makes me immediately think that perhaps they should offer an introductory 'starter pack' with first orders of a pack of Marigold vegetable stock, and a few other commonly used basics, instead of sending it to people a tablespoon at a time, but that will probably make people realise that it's all a bit 'emperor's new clothes' and offers little more than just buying food from the supermarket/getting a delivery unless you're part of a quite niche sector of society that is cash rich, time poor but living in such small accommodation that they can't find room in their kitchen for a small storecupboard of oil, stock, sauces etc.

Thanks for all the replies, sounds like there's pros and cons to both. I like the idea of having the bags ready for each day which hello fresh do and I can just pop them in the fridge. We will try both and see how we get on. Will report back!

I have a good appetite and I find the Gusto portions are big enough. It's a lot more cost effective to buy meals to serve 4 people than 2 people if you choose things that would reheat or freeze ok.
My main piece of advise would be to read the recipe instructions before you order as some require just about every utensil in the kitchen!
I wasn't impressed with Hello Fresh, there's less choice and it usually arrived with missing ingredients.

Don't eat meat and thoroughly disappointed with gousto. Would recommend hello fresh and make their recipes myself after delivery.

Delivery was generally fine with hello fresh then had two weeks where didn't arrive so was put off. But would go for them again and wouldn't at all with gousto.

Hello fresh also gives you everything you need - we had a gousto that needed 30g of butter. It wasn't included and it also wasn't included in the calorie count for the meal which I thought was a bit crap.

We get hello fresh every week . 4 meals x 2 and it feeds 3 of us .

It costs me £35.99 for that which I think is very good value .
I then do a top up shop and we have snack food for other days or eat out / don't have dinner the rest of the days . So it doesn't cost us more , just a different way to eat ..

I've not tried hello fresh but I've used Gousto on and off for 3 or 4 years - currently on!

I'm not an adventurous/creative cook but I like all kinds of food so it takes the annoyance of meal planning and shopping away

It is expensive but it's much cheaper than takeaway, you can pick quick meals or things that are a bit more involved. I've never had missing ingredients.

There's only 2 of us in the household and I buy the 4 person meals so we have leftovers for next day/lunch etc. Portions are very generous ime.

I'm really happy with it. DH is a much better cook than me but he's super busy at work currently and doesn't have time. Gousto takes the heavy lifting off me so I can make nice dinners.

I tried it with the 60% discount - 3 meals for two. I’ve so far cooked one.

It came in mixed bags rather than separated by meal and like @TheTurn0fTheScrew, I was surprised that nothing came prepared ingredients wise. I’m a reasonably competent cook with a decent store cupboard. If I want to chop a potato and toss it in oil and spices to do chips, I can do that without being sent one potato plus a little sachet of spices. Similarly, I know how to season chicken. I assumed it would be done for me, which it wasn’t.

The result tasted OK but I didn’t think there was much time saving - maybe the 5 minutes at the start where you measure out ingredients. I suppose it also prevents waste to some extent.

It probably didn’t help that the meal I cooked required two baking trays, a frying pan, a chopping board and two mixing bowls plus multiple utensils so clean up took a while.

A lot of my issue with it is my own fault - I made assumptions about what was being offered that were wrong. I was only cooking for 2 as well - it might be better for a family. It’s not for me but their business model obviously works for a lot of people.

And I’ve just checked based on other comments on this thread and for harissa chicken and cauliflower, they’ve left out the harissa paste. Not impressed.

My son and his girlfriend who live with me got a hello fresh box to try.

I had a look when they unpacked it, it didn’t look like a lot of food for five meals for two people.

They cooked the beef rogan josh and rice last night. The portion is supposedly for two people. My god, as an Indian person, the portion size of that curry and rice offended me!

They have a risotto to cook tonight and there is a tiny amount of food to make it.

When people say that one of the meals for two feeds three or feeds two adults and two children - HOW?!

They have both already decided that it’s cheaper to buy the ingredients for their own meals, and that’s one meal in.

I like them every now and then when there's a discount. Otherwise I find them really expensive

It’s really annoying, isn’t it?

They will probably give you credit when you tell them it’s missing. Which doesn’t help with the fact that you need to go out and buy harissa to make harissa chicken and cauliflower. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I’d already cancelled after the first box so I’m not even going to bother.

Since none of the prep is done and it’s more expensive than just buying the ingredients (at least without the discount), I’m going back to just following a normal recipe if I want to cook something new. It’s not like I don’t have loads of cookbooks.

I already batch cook standard meals for the freezer (e.g. cottage pie, butter chicken, lasagna, beef stew with cheese scones, chicken stew with dumplings) plus I like Cook food (good quality frozen meals) for something different but quick and easy.

For me, Hello Fresh is too complicated for everyday and too expensive/limited in choice for a special meal. It’s obviously very marmite - people either love it or can’t be doing with it and I’m the latter.

I have been using Gousto for a couple of months after getting a referral code. I've actually been really impressed. Ingredients are good quality and there is a big choice of recipes to choose from each week. I honestly thought I'd cancel after the discount but I've continued as it takes the pressure off deciding what to eat and we're eating a much greater variety of meals.
I hope this is allowed but if anyone wants to sign up using my referral code they get 55% off their first box and then 25% off all boxes in first 2 months. You are able to cancel anytime too. I will receive a discount if people use my code just to make you aware.
cook.gousto.co.uk/raf/?promo_code=ADRIA43627451

@Talia99 The appeal for me would be not having to meal plan, produce a shopping list and then go to the supermarket and remember to get everything on that list. Frankly, I can manage to forget the harissa myself!

My other reflection on trying it again is that there are far fewer vegetables than I think there should be. I made a lamb pasta last night, but it was just lamb, mushrooms, garlic, tomato purée, (unnecessary) chicken stock and (too much) crème fresh. So I decided to add my own soffrito (since I had onions, celery and carrot) to it. And I had some leek and pepper in the fridge too, so I added that too.

I’ve found that ‘why isn’t there any onion?’ is a really common thought I have when I start making a hello fresh recipe.

The stock in everything feature someone noted upthread is also weird. I did enchiladas (which didn’t have any sauce to put on the top, so weren’t actually enchiladas) earlier in the week and the (unnecessary) red wine beef stock completely overpowered the taste of everything. Why so much stock?

I tried them just for inspiration.
I have a well stocked larder and freezer so there's always plenty to cook I just wanted some new ideas.
My feeling is that if you can cook properly already don't bother as they were an immense faff and poor quality meat. Also the little sauces were very,very salty.

Even though this thread is old I read it as just signed up to HF and really not massively impressed with the recipes and wondered what other people had thought. My main issue with them after trying for a few weeks is exactly as @onyttig has said...lack of vegetables and herbs/extras, every meal seems to just be meat, garlic, stock cubes and creme fraiche and I'm having to adjust quantities when cooking for 4 as it just doesn't equate and ends up tasting too strongly of the paste or garlic!

Tried Gousto before and it was better on the recipe front just noticed much shorter use by dates on meat which was annoying to not have the freedom for food to last the whole week, when I complained they just said to freeze it - sort of defeating the object..so gave up with them.

Have now downloaded lollipop but can't see much difference to just doing it via the sainsburys or various supermarket websites yet as they all have recipes but will give it a go for few weeks as frankly meal planning and shopping etc is a massive drag!!