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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hello Fresh and portion sizes

118 replies

QuestionableMouse · 22/05/2022 15:32

Aibu to think they're small, especially for the price? Had a chicken and mushroom hot pot yesterday and it came with one fist sized baking potato to be shared between two people. Doing burgers tonight and the patties are going to be around 100g each which seems small!

OP posts:
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ClumpingBambooIsALie · 22/05/2022 16:42

purplesequins · 22/05/2022 15:41

I think we have lost sight of sensible portions.
a main meal should be around 500-600 kcal but it's very easy to dish up 1000 or more. especially if a meal is carb heavy with creamy sauces.

If you're aiming for 1800kcal a day for a sedentary woman then sure it's 600kcal per meal, but I'd have thought most people in the UK don't spread that out equally between their meals, and instead have a bigger one for their "main meal" and two smaller ones.

gamerchick · 22/05/2022 16:43

I think maybe more people should get one of those plates that shows what a protion size is. 100g of meat is plenty.

Pandarinio · 22/05/2022 16:52

Maybe it's that your other meals are usually bigger than they "should" be?

Lemoncurd · 22/05/2022 17:09

We are a family of 5 (children all teens) and the vegetarian options tend to feed us all with a portion or two of leftovers for lunch the next day.

Lemoncurd · 22/05/2022 17:10

Sorry, meant to say the options for 4 people feed 5 of us.

Lockheart · 22/05/2022 17:15

I find it depends on the recipe. Some are quite generous, others are on the small side.

ReadyToMoveIt · 22/05/2022 17:16

I think they’re a decent size. Born DH and I have good appetites but a Hello Fresh portion is just right for us. No wastage, no leftovers.
100g of meat is fine for a burger.

LuaDipa · 22/05/2022 17:17

GiltEdges · 22/05/2022 15:47

See I found the opposite, we're a family of 2 adults plus one pre-schooler. With HelloFresh there's always enough to give DS a small portion of what we're having, but with Gousto there was always barely enough to feed DH and I, so if we gave some to DS too I'd have to fill out the meals with extra veg.

If you find HelloFresh portions on the small side, definitely wouldn't recommend GreenChef, which is their "healthier" sister company. Their portions are absolutely tiny!

Show quote history

We found this too. I preferred the Gousto recipes but often found that I had to pop out for extra protein to ensure teenage ds was full. One recipe provided one chicken breast to be cut in half to serve two. I was ordering Gousto to save time mid-week so having to pop to the shops all the time really defeated the object.

HF would often stretch to three if dh was home I expectedly but we found the recipes carb heavy and repetitive. I have gone back to meal planning and batch cooking now.

TibetanTerrah · 22/05/2022 17:21

Out of interest, how much meat would you use if you were making the burgers yourself OP?

Gizacluethen · 22/05/2022 17:22

I never felt like they had enough veg. Like you'd just get a bag of leaves or one carrot between two people. What's the point if I'm buying extra food to go with it?

Thecatwokemeup · 22/05/2022 17:25

This is MN so anything more than a massive salad is pure greed

nc888 · 22/05/2022 17:26

Are you serious?

The hello fresh portions are generally too big for us.

No wonder 2/3 of adults are overweight in this country.

Clymene · 22/05/2022 17:29

On MN anything more than 300 calories a meal makes you a greedy fat bastard.

We really need a bingo card. Off the top of my head, I've got:

We have lost sight of: what normal portions look like/what healthy looks like AND a size 8 today was a size 14 in 1980.

I'm sure there are others

TibetanTerrah · 22/05/2022 17:35

I think its really difficult for HF to get it right as people's activity levels and what else they've eaten that day vary so much.

Its very, very common though to just look at a plate and think "its too small" before you've even eaten it, sometimes you'll be surprised how filling it is, some people are simply a bit greedy, and some could add some extra veg if they "need" more.

BarbaraofSeville · 22/05/2022 17:37

Another one for the MN bingo card is not enough veg.

Because they always need to make sure we all know they get their ten a day.

Plus how they need more protein than the rest of us to keep their special metabolisms going.

hippolyta · 22/05/2022 17:39

Ooh some MN competitive under eating😁.
DS1 recently used hello fresh. He's 25, active and extremely skinny but big appetite. He found a meal for two was just enough for him.

Threeboysandadog · 22/05/2022 17:41

I think it also depends a bit on your eating habits. I eat brunch and an evening meal. I don’t eat dessert and don’t snack so I like a substantial dinner. If you eat 3 meals a day plus snacks dessert and supper then it might seem like a lot. I use the simply cook meals. It’s only the spice pots and you have to buy the actual ingredients but it’s all meal planned for you. I find the portions for two feed dh, myself and ds3 (15). We love them.

PinkSyCo · 22/05/2022 17:41

Ooh the competitive under eaters are gonna love this thread! I agree with you though OP. Half a medium sized jacket potato is not enough, and I needed at least half the amount of food again and my son 2 or 3 times the portions they provided when I gave hello fresh a whirl.

doadeer · 22/05/2022 17:42

I've done hello fresh and gousto for nearly 2 years, never found them small ever. Always a good portion. I think we usually just have too large a portions as a culture

rnsaslkih · 22/05/2022 17:43

I find the portion sizes vary depending on the meal.

We get it for four (2 adults, 2 teens) so no child portions in our house. Usually it is fine and we are all 4 quite big eaters. If we think it is on the stingy side, we do add stuff in. Extra onion, pepper, potato, whatever we think. I find that the rice is almost always oversupplied.

rnsaslkih · 22/05/2022 17:43

The ones that are small are often the calorie conscious ones, can't remember what they are called.

TibetanTerrah · 22/05/2022 17:46

Why do people label "undereaters" instead of accepting them as the normal ones and their own portion sizes are too big? No one is going to starve from a hello fresh meal, and realistically they have done their research about what a portion "should" be calorie wise.

Clymene · 22/05/2022 17:48

TibetanTerrah · 22/05/2022 17:46

Why do people label "undereaters" instead of accepting them as the normal ones and their own portion sizes are too big? No one is going to starve from a hello fresh meal, and realistically they have done their research about what a portion "should" be calorie wise.

No normal person only eats half a jacket potato unless they're either a) on a diet or b) a competitive under eater.

OverByYer · 22/05/2022 17:50

DH and I find the portions about right, but when my adult sons were home they said they were too small.

BlancmanegeBunny · 22/05/2022 17:51

We were able to feed two adults and a teen with a hello fresh box for two. Sometimes needed a bit of extra veg but I thought the portions were fine. A 100gm burger is plenty!