Home Chef is a subscription meal delivery service that sends a weekly box of “perfectly portioned, premium ingredients, spices & sauces, and easy, step-by-step recipes.”
Boxes contain “fresh ingredients” and “chef-designed, restaurant-quality” recipes.
Check out all of our reviews of Meal Delivery Services to see every meal kit subscription box option!
You can skip a week whenever you like.
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: Home Chef
The Cost: Meals start at $9.95 per serving, and delivery is free for orders over $40.
COUPON: Get $30 off your first box from Home Chef. No coupon required, just use this link.
The Products: Fresh ingredients and chef-designed recipes— everything you need to make restaurant-quality meals at home.
Ships to: 60% of the US and expanding. (You can check to see if Home Chef delivers to your zip code here.)
Check out all of our Home Chef reviews and find other meal boxes in the Meal Subscription Box Directory!
Keep Track of your subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
When you first sign up for Home Chef, you take a short quiz about your meal preferences and dietary restrictions.
Based on this quiz, the Home Chef algorithm selects meals for you each week. If you’d rather receive different meals, it’s easy to swap them.
I found the website very user-friendly, and I was thrilled with the meal options. Home Chef had 10 dinner options available, 1 breakfast, a smoothie, and a fruit basket!
When my box shipped, I received an email with tracking information.
Home Chef sends ingredients bundled by recipe.
A few larger items were sent unbundled. Meats were also packed separately (in the bottom of the box surrounded by cold packs).
Meal #1- Beef-and-Sherry “Steak Diane”
Calories: 891 per serving
Prep Time: 40-50 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
I must have been craving home-style cooking when I ordered my box for this week because every single one of the recipes I picked is a “meat & two veg” kind of meal!
The first recipe I cooked up from this box was Home Chef’s take on the classic Steak Diane.
I prepped for this meal by cleaning all of my produce and chopping mushrooms, shallot, and potatoes.
I boiled the potatoes in salted water until they softened and then strained them. I mixed in butter, heavy cream, salt, and pepper and mashed and stirred them until they were fluffy. (Home Chef recommended peeling the potatoes before cooking them, but I left the skin on. For some reason, I’ve always preferred skin-on mashed potatoes!)
Next, I roasted the asparagus on a foil-lined baking tray.
While the asparagus roasted, I cooked the steaks with a little Worcestershire sauce in a pan on the stove top. As per the instructions, I cooked them for approximately 4 minutes on each side, and I then transferred them to a plate to rest.
In the steak pan, I added butter, shallot, and mushrooms and cooked them together for about 4 minutes. I then added beef broth, Dijon mustard, sherry, and heavy cream to form the sauce- cooking it until it started to thicken.
When the sauce was ready, I plated the dish.
Altogether, this was really tasty! I don’t often cook steak and potatoes, so I think my husband was especially impressed with this dinner. The sauce and potatoes were both very rich. Frankly, if I’d made this dish without Home Chef’s recipe, I probably would have cut back a bit on the butter and/or cream.
Meal #2- Crispy Dijon Chicken with Parmesan Cauliflower Mash
Calories: 612 per serving
Prep Time: 45-55 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Next up, I made Crispy Dijon Chicken!
I began by cutting the cauliflower florets, halving garlic cloves, and cleaning and trimming green beans.
I boiled the cauliflower and garlic in salted water until they softened, and then strained them and added parmesan, butter, and evaporated milk before mashing.
Next, I breaded the chicken breasts with panko and Dijon and seared them in a pan over medium heat. I then transferred the chicken to a baking tray alongside the green beans, and transferred them to the oven.
While they baked, I made a sauce from evaporated milk, Dijon mustard, butter, salt, and pepper.
When everything was ready, I transferred it to a plate.
This dish was delicious! I’ve never made cauliflower mash before, and it was really tasty. I also loved the crispy chicken with the creamy sauce.
Meal #3- Jerk Chicken and Brown Sugar Plantains
Calories: 996 per serving
Prep Time: 40-50 minutes
Difficulty: Expert
Last up was Jerk Chicken with Brown Sugar Plantains!
I began by mincing chives, slicing a plantain, and chopping kale.
Next, I made the coconut rice and seared the chicken breasts.
After the chicken was seared, I transferred it to the oven and roasted it for 10 minutes. I then removed it from the oven, basted the chicken with jerk sauce, and added the plantains (mixed with brown sugar, salt, and olive oil) to the pan before returning it to the oven.
While the chicken and plantains were in the oven, I sautéed the kale on the stove top.
When everything was ready, I plated the dish.
This dish was good, but it didn’t really wow me. The coconut rice was tasty, and I liked Home Chef’s jerk sauce, but there was no discernible heat to it. (I prefer my jerk sauce to have a bit of a kick.)
Verdict: Overall, this box from Home Chef was a hit! All of the dishes were tasty, and I especially enjoyed the Dijon Chicken and Steak Diane. The ingredients for my meals arrived in good condition, and I found the recipe cards very easy to follow. This is my second box from Home Chef, and I absolutely love their large selection of meals. With over 10 options every week, It’s easy for me to find meals that I’m excited to receive! In terms of value, Home Chef is very competitively priced in the meal box subscription market. Their meals start at $9.95 per serving, which is cheaper than Plated ($12 per serving) and on par with Blue Apron ($9.99 per serving) and Hello Fresh ($9.90 per serving).
Have you tried Home Chef?
Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.