Hello Fresh Subscription Box Review + Coupon – October 2016

Hello Fresh is a weekly meal delivery subscription that sends healthy recipes and the pre-measured ingredients you need to make them at home. 

It’s easy to skip deliveries using the Hello Fresh website, and you can skip as many weeks as you like.

Check out all of our reviews of Meal Delivery Services to see every meal kit subscription box option!

My Subscription Addiction pays for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

The Subscription Box: Hello Fresh

The Cost: The Classic Food Box (for omnivores) starts at $9.90 per person per meal. The Veggie Box (for herbivores) starts at $9.08 per person per meal. The Family Box (for families) costs $8.75 per person per meal.

ACTIVE DEAL: Limited Time Only! Free High Protein Item for Life + Up to 10 Free Meals One per box with active subscription. Free meals applied as discount on first box, new subscribers only, varies by plan. No coupon needed - just use this link.

The Products: Healthy recipes and pre-portioned fresh ingredients.

Ships to: The contiguous US

Check out all our Hello Fresh reviews and the Food Subscription Box Directory for more meal boxes!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

The ingredients for each recipe come packed in a brown box.

Hello Fresh includes a booklet that spotlights seasonal ingredients and includes your recipes for the week.

I also received an envelope filled with “curated offers” and free box coupons to share with friends.

Now, on to the food!

Thai Pork Meatballs with Fresh Noodles and Green Beans

Cooking Time: 35 minutes

Calories per Serving: 760

Whether it’s spaghetti, ramen, or spätzle, I simply can not resist fresh noodles. I loved the look of this Thai pork meatball dish (and the fact that it incorporates fresh yakisoba noodles), so it was my first pick for this week’s box.

I was excited to see that there were lots of fun ingredients included for this dish. (Check out that little fish of sesame oil and the teeny tiny red chili pepper!) I minced the garlic, sliced the pepper, chopped the scallions, cut the green beans, and halved the lime.

To begin, I made the meatballs and cooked them in a sauté pan. Next, I cooked the green beans and boiled the noodles. (The recipe only called for half of the included noodles, so I set the other half aside.) When the noodles were done, I drained them and added them to a pan with oil, chili, and garlic and stirred them to make sure there weren’t any clumps.

When everything was ready, I tossed it all together with a soy mixture (made from soy sauce, honey sesame oil, and water) and divided it between two bowls. To finish, I sprinkled scallions on top.

This dish was pretty tasty, and it ended up being my favorite of the week. The noodles had great texture, and I liked the slight snap from the green beans. For me, though, the meatballs were just okay. I think if I recreated this dish, I’d probably skip the meatballs and add in more noodles and veggies.

Chicken Paillard with Chimichurri, Sweet Potato Wedges, and Salad

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 511

My second meal pick was Chicken Paillard, and I was a little disappointed to find that the recipe was more like a quick paillard. (Paillard refers to the technique of pounding meat out flat with a mallet before cooking, and this recipe just called for the chicken to be butterflied.)

To prep for this dish, I butterflied the chicken breasts, cut the sweet potatoes into wedges, chopped some parsley, halved tomatoes, minced garlic, and zested and juiced a lemon.

I tossed the wedges with olive oil, cumin, salt, and pepper and put them in the oven to roast.

While the potatoes roasted, I made a chimichurri sauce by combining parsley, lemon zest, minced garlic, cumin, and olive oil with salt and pepper.

Next, I cooked the chicken in a pan over medium-high heat and prepared the side salad.

When everything was ready, I plated the dish and topped the chicken breasts with chimichurri.

I didn’t love this dish. The chicken was cooked nicely and the salad was fresh, but I didn’t like that both the sauce and potatoes were seasoned with cumin. I like cumin, don’t get me wrong, but I felt it overwhelmed this dish. For me, the cumin overpowered the flavor of the sweet potato, and I felt that also incorporating the cumin into the chimichurri was overkill.

Marble Potato and Brussels Sprout Hash

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 464

I know they’re possibly the most divisive veggie, but I can’t get enough Brussels sprouts. (Perhaps because my mom NEVER made them for me when I was a kid?) I’m also a big fan of hash, so this recipe pick was a no brainer.

I began by shredding some Brussels sprouts, dicing an onion, mincing garlic, and halving potatoes.

Next, I tossed the potatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper and put them in the oven to roast.

While they were baking, I made the hash by cooking onions, red cabbage, garlic, and Brussels sprouts in butter on the stove top.

When everything was ready, I combined the potatoes and Brussels sprout mixture, divided it between two plates, and topped each plate with a couple of fried eggs.

I just couldn’t get into this dish. All of the individual components were fine, but, altogether, I thought the dish lacked flavor. Maybe some sauce would have helped? Sriracha or a little lime creme might have added some much-needed pizazz.

Verdict: This box from Hello Fresh was a bit of a miss for me. I enjoyed the Thai Pork Meatballs, but I wasn’t really that impressed with the other dishes. I’ve had better luck with past boxes, so I’m inclined to think that I just ran into some bad luck this month. Fingers crossed I have better luck with my picks next time.

Value-wise, Hello Fresh is competitively priced in the subscription meal box market. Meals start at $9.90 per serving, which is on par with Blue Apron ($9.99 per serving) and Home Chef ($9.95 per serving) and less than Plated ($12 per serving).

Do you subscribe to Hello Fresh?