Hello fresh boxes?

[dreamadream1]

Hi everyone

Just wondering if anyone here uses Hello Fresh for food and roughly is it more expensive?

I work 12 hour days, my husband works 7 days a week. We do cook fairly healthy and make our own sauces, use herbs and spices and veg etc but we are both bloody knackered and sometimes don't sit down to eat until gone 8:30pm (we both cook) and I'm wondering if this would make our lives a little easier.

We are not fussy eaters so menus wouldn't be a problem for us, roughly spend £80 a week on food and toiletries for breakfasts lunches and dinners.

Any opinions welcome.

Thank you x

Yes, it would make your life easier, but they are quite pricy for what you get. However, they do often have a lot of little spices, sauces, etc that you would have to buy in larger quantities and may well not use up. I have used them, on and off f, since 2016 and am quite happy. It saves thinking too much and the actual ingredients are, from my deliveries, good quality. You can choose from a good range of meals and can pause weeks to suit you.

Yes, it’s great. I love it. You are still gonna have to do a shop for the other stuff though.

They are pricey but good, although Gousto boxes are much better. I've tried both and much prefer Gousto.

If you're both working they're a lifesaver. I love not having to think too hard about what to make for tea and with the Gousto boxes all of the spices and little bits are bagged up separately for each recipe. We love the 10 minute recipes and tend to go for those a lot.

I second that the Gousto boxes are better. You can get four meals for four days for just a couple of pound more than it cost for three meals from HF. Gousto also have much more choice and healthy options too

It's more expensive than buying the ingredients through normal shopping. You're paying for the convenience, so it's up to you how much that's worth.

I had Hello Fresh for a while but suddenly started getting a lot of missing ingredients so we switched to Gousto. Gousto has a lot more variety (at least for vegetarians) and I haven't had any problems so far. We don't get them every week, just when we fancy trying something new.

At one point we got three meals per week, for two people. Combined with a couple of soups / omelettes etc. this used to get us through the week really well.

Got first Hello Fresh box free after being nominated for a free week's trial by a friend. Has been a life saver for us during lockdown when home delivery slots couldn't be had for love nor money. We order for 4 or 5 days a week now which gives flexibility to do our own thing on the other days. They are dearer than buying own ingredients from scratch, but no waste, everything already weighed and measured and recipe cards straightforward & definitely a time saver. Deliveries have been in the same one hour slot each week. Only had one issue when the meat in one of the boxes was all quite short dated which dictated the order we had to eat things in. Emailed this as feedback rather than a complaint and got a partial refund for that week's box which I was happy with. Good variety of meat and vegetarian meals too.

We tried Hello Fresh but didn't really like it. It's expensive even for us, and my household already spend quite a lot as we shop in small local grocers and organic supermarkets that are good-quality but £££/buy high-welfare meat etc.
There's also an insane amount of non-recyclable soft plastic wrapping. And I felt silly being sent things like one lemon.
I took issue with one of the methods as well; you had to cook the veg in a dish for so long while the meat cooked that it ended up grey and a bit mushy.

Just DP and I. We liked it a lot and I am a fussy eater! If you aren't then it's even better. No problems with delivery every week and really helped us with learning to cook more exciting food. Only had to shop then for milk and lunch bits etc.

We've been using it for years. Stopped for a while to try and save money (still used some of the recipes but bought directly from the supermarket) but started again during first lockdown when getting online supermarket deliveries became difficult. We've kept it up. Just had a look at Gousto since everyone seems to be saying they prefer the food, but not much took my fancy... Seemed to be heavy on aubergine and goat's cheese (for vegetarians) both of which I strongly dislike! So we'll stick with Hello Fresh :)

We get HelloFresh and have been using it for a while now. It takes away the hassle of what you're cooking for dinner, however, if you're both knackered you're still going to have to stand and cook the meals. Some of them aren't quick to cook although you can get a rapid selection.

I use Gousto and love it. Let me know if you would like a referral code. It’s been such a treat during lockdown. I love choosing the box and get excited about delivery day. It’s got my children being much more adventurous with food too.

@IntermittentParps

We tried Hello Fresh but didn't really like it. It's expensive even for us, and my household already spend quite a lot as we shop in small local grocers and organic supermarkets that are good-quality but £££/buy high-welfare meat etc. There's also an insane amount of non-recyclable soft plastic wrapping. And I felt silly being sent things like one lemon. I took issue with one of the methods as well; you had to cook the veg in a dish for so long while the meat cooked that it ended up grey and a bit mushy.

Why did you feel silly being sent one lemon!?

Yes, we get them and love it. I order the 3 meals a week. Usually find the portions quite generous so at times we have leftovers for lunch the next day. I’ve learnt a few new ways to cook that I wouldn’t have otherwise which is great too. Saves loads of time and means there’s no stress thinking what shall we have for dinner 😊. You can get vouchers for a free box to try if you know someone who uses them x

Might give Gousto a try after reading this thread.

They are great, as are Gousto.

You can get introductory offers in both, look for the best one for each and do both and see if you would be willing to pay full price for them.

I use them on and off and only really get them now when they send me offers such as 30% off next box etc.

I always get 4 meals for 4 days (the biggest box I think, makes the cost per meal less) and DH and I just have it for dinner and then lunch the next day. I always choose meals that this works well for.

We've just switched from hellofresh to gousto but would recommend giving the concept ago whichever you choose. We also both work FT, got for 3 people and split one portion between two children. It takes the thinking out of the mundane repetition of catering for a family for half the week and the children ate many things they wouldn't normally choose. They also could prepare and cook using the recipe card under supervision rather than me telling them what to do!

We love Hello Fresh, and rated the recipes much higher than Gousto. We cook each meal from scratch and wanted some inspiration! The reason we stopped was the frequency that ingredients were forgotten. I do genuinely miss getting the boxes and still make some of the recipes on a weekly basis.

queen, Why did you feel silly being sent one lemon!
Hard to precisely say! But I guess I know I can walk to the corner shop and get a handful of them. And it was sort of rolling about in this big box...
Generally with HF I felt not quite grown up. Like I was given all the things and instructions to follow, but had no real agency.

Thanks @Londonista123 just used your link and signed up to Gousto that's a great saving. I have used hello fresh for a while but I have heard good things about Gousto too.

Here's my link if anyone else would like 40% off their first box and 30% off the rest of the months. cook.gousto.co.uk/raf?promo_code=KERRI42147820&utm_source=androidapp

Another one for Gousto, much better & pretty good value for money! Especially when you get the discounts for a few weeks!

If you're used to cooking from scratch then I don't think it will save you much effort. If anything, it might create you work as some of the recipes are quite "labour intensive" and i've had a couple that use nearly every damn utensil in the kitchen! It's nice for a change from your typical meal plan and not having to think about what to eat for a few days but in terms of preparation time you need to watch out and read the instructions before you order. The standard price is £5 per portion for 2 people 3 meals which is expensive for what some of the basic meals are. I prefer Gusto, they have more choice and thus far haven't been missing ingredients like HF used to. Although I've seen reports that Gusto are failing to meet demand this week!

Although I've seen reports that Gusto are failing to meet demand this week!

They're definitely having an issue this week, our box was meant to be delivered Monday and only came yesterday - but they've given a hefty discount on my next box as an apology, their customer service is really good.