With an array of companies offering meal delivery services, to take the stress out of weekly meal planning and preparation, we thought we’d give Hello Fresh a go and see if this is meal kit is a superior contender….
Hello Fresh at a glance
Hello Fresh is a well-established meal kit company that allows you to have a rolling weekly meal kit delivery service with no minimum term or commitment. You choose what goes in your box and when you want it and they will deliver all the fresh ingredients to your door. It is flexible in that if you want to skip a week, cancel or change anything, it can be done at the touch of a button.
Price: From £26.99 + p&p for x2 people
For more information, visit www.hellofresh.co.uk
Hello Fresh Meal Kit tested
The cost for this meal kit cost £36.99 for x3 evening meals and one brunch for x2 people. We were trying to see if we could cook some meals out of our ‘comfort zone’ and so our box contained:
• Mango Glazed Duck with Paradise Rice – Premium recipe
• Herby Crusted Salmon with Cheesy Dauphinoise and Sugar Snaps - Premium recipe
• Zahtar Crusted Lamb Loin, with Aubergine Puree, Roast Potatoes, Garlicky Chard and Lemon Chive Dressing - Premium recipe
• Ultimate Brunch Sarnie, with Breakfast Potatoes
Using Hello Fresh
First and foremost, when the box arrived, we were so impressed by how little packaging is wasted. The meals came ready portioned (saving 21% in wastage with that alone!) in one recyclable paper bag. This was helpful as not only is most of the packing recyclable, you don’t have to rummage around in the box for the correct ingredients – we just put the recipe card to one side and put each meal kit straight in the fridge (our meal were only for x2 people).
As for preparation, although the recipe card writing is a little small, they are logically and clearly set out, with handy ‘Before you start’ Cooking Tools needed, Ingredients, Nutrition and Allergen lists, as well as contact information to the left and then the step-by-step preparation and cooking guide (including helpful images).
I was sceptical in whether I could a) prepare and cook everything in the timing given and b) make the finished meal to look like the cover…. How over the moon I was when I achieved both! The pre-portioned ingredients and step-by-step guide made the whole process so easy, with each meal closely resembling the recipe cover!
What are the Pros?
The pre-portioned packing means less packing and food wastage, which eases your conscience from the get-go and most of the packaging is recyclable.
If you are not a good cook or consider yourself an okay cook, the meal options are as much an education as a necessity. The meal choices too can help you broaden your taste buds (there are 37 of them including Veggie, quick cook, calorie smart and family favourites).
We like fact the recipe selection changes from time-to-time and there is the flexibility to increase meal size (for example if you know you are having guests one week and need to add extra portions), skip weeks, change address (e.g. have it delivered to where you are staying on a UK break) or stop at any time.
At a time where some people prefer not to eat out as regularly as they once did but miss the excitement of tastier meals at budget friendly prices (the meals in our kit cost £.3.37 per person, without the p&p cost), Hello Fresh delivers a perfect service to fill this need.
What are the Cons?
To be fair, there are not many we can think of. This is not a day/weekly kit of complete meals and snacks, so you will still need to do some food shopping.
Is it worth the money?
Yes, definitely! We loved the fact you can make restaurant style meals for under a third of the price compared to eating out. When we made the Mango Duck (I must stress, we are not usually fans of Duck and yet this was by far our favourite meal of the whole kit!), we reasoned we’d be paying at least £14 each in a restaurant for that level of quality and freshness – Hello Fresh delivered if for under £4!!
Would you recommend Hello Fresh?
Yes, yes and yes again. Each time we had a meal, we genuinely kept commenting “well that’s the FRESHest, and tastiest meal we’ve had in ages” – enough said!
Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this page, we never allow this to influence product selections.
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