HelloFresh is a meal delivery service headquartered in Berlin. Don’t be confused though as the German company has grown into the largest meal kit company in the United States. You can expect fresh ingredients delivered on time each week along with great recipes and extras. You will see Jessica Alba promoting the service on television and online. Their plans include signature, veggie, family friendly, and calorie smart. Simply choose whether you want to meals for 2 or 4 people and the number of recipes per week.
Company Info
HelloFresh was started in November 2011 when Dominik Richter, Thomas Griesel, and Jessica Nilsson, came together to pack and hand deliver meal kits to their first 10 customers. In 2012 the company expanded to the US, UK, and Australia. HelloFresh passed 250,000 subscribers in 2015 and has steadily grown to millions of customers around the world. In 2018 they acquired Green Chef which focuses on organic meals.
HelloFresh Menu and Pricing
When you sign up for HelloFresh it will present you with four meal plans to select from. We went with the Signature plan which includes a wide variety of meat, fish, and seasonal produce. The veggie plan will focus on naturally produced vegetables. The family friendly plan includes kid-tested recipes with quick meals. Finally, the calorie smart plan is tailored for those seeking dietician approved meals around 650 calories.
Once you decide on the plan type the next step is to select the number of people you want to feed. HelloFresh supports 2 or 4 people. If you are single or have an odd number of people to feed then you might want to consider other options. Otherwise simply select between 2 and 4 servings per meal. The next step is to choose between 2, 3, or 4 recipes per week. For example, if you select 2 people and 3 meals per week then you will receive a total of 6 servings in your weekly shipment. By default HelloFresh will delivery your meal kit once a week but you can always pause or cancel your subscription anytime.
The price ranges from $8.99 to $10.99 per servings depending on how many recipes you order each week. If you order 2 recipes for 2 people then the price is $10.99 a servings. If you move up to 3 or 4 meals a week the price will lower to $8.99 per serving. Shipping is $6.99 flat fee regardless of the number of meals and servings.
HelloFresh Promo
As with any meal delivery service you try, you will want to make sure to take full advantage of any promotions. The HelloFresh team was offering a nice discount for new customer when we signed up. Specifically, we saved $80 off the first 4 boxes. That amounts to 2 free meals in each of your first 4 boxes.
Along with 2 free meals in our first 4 boxes, we also received free shipping. This made for an even better value. HelloFresh only charges $6.99 a week for shipping but we were happy to receive free shipping on our first 4 orders. As always you can keep an eye on our website for the latest promotions.
Customer Service
The HelloFresh website includes both a help center and FAQ page. You will find answers to the most common questions along with contact information for further inquiries. They offer a contact us form for those who want to get in touch with customer service. We did not need to as our meals were delivered on time without any issues. If all else fails you can call their customer service team directly at 1-646-846-3663 in the United States.
Hands-On Review of HelloFresh
We signed up for HelloFresh on Sunday, September 1st and received our first meal kit on Tuesday, September 10th. Take note of the gap as you may have a similar delay depending on which day of the week you place your first order and the day of the week you set the delivery. You need to select the menu by 11:59 p.m. PST within 5 days prior to your next scheduled delivery. Since we ordered on Sunday it meant that our menu locked in the following Thursday to be shipped out the following Monday.
When signing up for your first meal box you will enter in your billing information. You can choose between credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover) or PayPal. We use PayPal for online purchases but that’s just our preference. The order summary will clearly show your plan along with the meal cost, shipping, and sales tax. As you can see it also shows the discount applied along with free shipping..
After finishing the sign up process you can pick your recipes for the first week. HelloFresh will present you with a list of nearly 20 recipes to choose from. You can click on any of the dishes for more information. You can view the preparation time, difficulty, and number of calories. It also shows you ingredients that may impact allergies like wheat, milk, and eggs. You can also view the full recipe before selecting the meal.
In addition to meals, HelloFresh also offers side items and complements. We added a loaf of garlic bread and it was wonderful. Other items vary each week but we’ve seen them include bacon, chicken breasts, and Annie’s flaky biscuits. You can select the number of items you want to order.
Now on to our favorite part of the meal – dessert! You can add chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudgy brownies, or a season fruit sampler to your order. The dessert and treat options may also vary by week. We ordered the organic chocolate chip cookies and our kids enjoyed them.
We received our first HelloFresh meal kit at just after 11am on the delivery date via Fedex.
Fedex managed to deliver our HelloFresh package right side up and before lunch time. We didn’t expect such an early arrival so we actually noticed it in the mid-afternoon on a very hot (mid 90s day). The ice packs were still all frozen which is the testament to HelloFresh packaging efforts. The meats are on the bottom with more ice packs to keep them good and cold. We were a little concerned that the recipes were missing. At first we thought they might be in the meal bags. They were actually down the side of the box which kept them dry.
The meals are individually packed in recyclable bags. Along with three meals, we also purchased a side item and dessert. We wanted to try their garlic bread and organic chocolate chip cookies. The produce is included in the bags, while the meat is separate to keep in colder in route. We didn’t have any issues at all with the ingredients. The packaging for the meat includes the number of days to “cook or freeze by”.
Meal #1 – Cherry Balsamic Pork Chops with Garlic Herb Couscous and Roasted Broccoli
The cherry balsamic pork chop meal kit included most of the ingredients, but we still needed staples such as sugar, vegetable oil. butter, salt, and pepper. You’ll notice that the provided the garlic herb butter, chicken stock, cherry jam, and balsamic vinegar. These all helped make for a tasty dish. There was a clear “cook by” date on the pork chops. The recipe shows the calories, prep time, and total time for the meal which was around 35 minutes.
We started by washing all the produce and preheating the oven. The broccoli was pre-cut but we went ahead and cut in into smaller pieces. Mince half the shallot and slice the other half. Cook the couscous as directed and set it aside. We noticed that the couscous needed reheated by the time we ate it since it took awhile for the rest of the meal. The recipe said to prepare the broccoli on a baking sheet. We found it to be easier in a bowl. Season and fry the pork chop. Then remove and set it aside. Now make the sauce by combining onion, vinegar, jam, water, and chicken stalk. Be careful as the vinegar has a tendency to splatter. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar. Complete the pork chop with the sauce. Prepare the couscous with garlic herb butter and plate the dish.
Meal #2 – Pork Teriyaki Meatballs with Carrots and Zucchini over Rice
HelloFresh went all out on this dish. They provided everything except the vegetable oil, salt, and pepper. The rest was in the bag except the pork which was in its own package. We appreciated that they provided a lime, ginger, sesame oil, and sriracha. Other ingredients included zucchini, shredded carrots, scallions, teriyaki sauce, breadcrumbs, rice, and sesame seeds. This dish takes approximately 10 minuets to prep and 35 minutes to cook.
The pork teriyaki meatballs were easy to prepare. There really wasn’t a lot of work with this dish. It was east to multi-task and everything was hot at the same time. As always, clean the produce. Prepare the zucchini, ginger, lime, and scallions. Mix the pork, breadcrumbs ginger, scallions, and some teriyaki in a bowl. Form the meat into small balls. They give you tips to help. For example. put a little water on your hands so the meat doesn’t stick to them. Cook the rice and then keep it covered. Fry the zucchini, season with salt and pepper, and transfer to a bowl. Cook the carrots and put them with the zucchini in the bowl. Sear the meatballs and add the remaining teriyaki sauce. Fluff the rice, squeeze some lime juice over it, and plate the dish.
Meal #3 – Garlic Herb Tortelloni with Roasted Tomato and Zucchini
The garlic herb tortelloni with the side of garlic bread was our favorite dish. All of the produce was nice and fresh. It all looked good. HelloFresh included plenty of extra produce. All we needed was vegetable oil, olive oil, butter, salt, and pepper. The ingredients included zucchini, tomato, shallot, garlic, tortellini, parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, and chili flakes. This dish took about 10 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook.
Make sure the produce is washed before cutting the zucchini and tomatoes. This dish was easy as you have plenty of time to cook while the veggies are in the oven. Making the garlic butter is super easy. Soften up the butter in the microwave and add garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and chili flakes. We started boiling the water ahead of time. Otherwise everything may not have finished at the same time. Toast the breadcrumbs. The pasta only takes 3-4 minutes to cook. Please be aware to save some of the cooking water from the pasta to use later. Make the sauce by combining olive oil, shallot, garlic butter, and cooking water. Add the tortellini to the sauce. Then put the tortellini in a bowl and top it with the vegetables, breadcrumbs, and parmesan cheese.
Side Dish and Dessert
The garlic bread and organic chocolate chip cookies are oven ready. Just take them out of the package and bake them. The garlic bread took 12 minutes to bake and was delicious. The outside was crunchy and you could taste the garlic butter on the inside. It was an excellent compliment to the tortelloni dish. The chocolate chip cookies taste a little different from non-organic but our children and friends enjoyed them.
Conclusion
It is easy to see how HelloFresh surpassed Blue Apron as the largest meal delivery service in the United States. While the meals may cost more the ingredients are better quality and the food we received simply tasted better. Whether you want to feed a couple or a family of 4, the service has you covered. Choose between 2, 3, or even 4 meals a week and let HelloFresh do the rest. You can select from a menu of nearly 20 recipes along with side dishes and desserts. We were very impressed with all of the food we received. The recipes were easy to follow. The dishes were plentiful and delicious. We highly recommend HelloFresh. You can sign up during their current promotion to save $80 off your first 4 boxes.
