Hello Fresh Subscription Box Review + Coupon – March 2017

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.

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 $9.99 per person per meal. The Veggie Box (for herbivores) starts at $9.99 per person per meal. The Family Box (for families) costs $8.74 per person per meal. Hello Fresh announced that starting in March, they will offer two plans: Unlimited Meal Choice ($11.50 a meal) or Basic Plan ($9.99 per meal). Learn more here!

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 U.S.

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 boxes also often contain an envelope full of promotional cards.

Tacos with Sole featuring an Avocado Crema and Crispy Cabbage Slaw

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 770

I’m a big fan of fish tacos, but they’re one of those dishes that I often order when I’m out but rarely make at home. When I saw them offered on this week’s menu, I jumped at the opportunity to give it a shot.

The recipe pairs sole with cabbage slaw and avocado crema. Unfortunately, though, the avocado in my box was rock hard. I tried using a trick I heard recently to help soften it, but I got impatient (and hungry!) and ultimately just decided to omit the avocado from the recipe.

I made the crema (sans avocado), followed by the radish and cabbage slaw. Lastly, I warmed up the tortillas and sautéed the blackened, floured sole.

I found these tacos to be a little lacking in the flavor department. Yes, maybe the addition of avocado would have helped, but I’m not sure it would have made that much difference. Even though lime juice was in both the slaw and the crema, I thought this dish could have used some more acid. (Maybe pickled radishes?)

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken over Risotto Primavera

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Calories per Serving: 730

Hello Fresh just launched “premium recipes,” but none of the recipes for this week were labeled as such when I picked out my meals. Still, I can’t help but think that this might be a premium recipe. Both the recipe card and the label on the box of ingredients were printed with gold accents. I checked upcoming “premium” recipe cards, and they all also have the gold accent strip. Plus, doesn’t this recipe seem a bit more luxe than usual? (It also contains two proteins, prosciutto and chicken, which I don’t think I’ve seen before from Hello Fresh.)

I checked back on the Hello Fresh site, and I’m still unable to confirm whether it’s a “premium” or a “basic” recipe. The good news is that the premium recipes seem to be clearly marked from here on out, so there shouldn’t be any confusion moving forward! (And in future reviews I’ll always make sure to point out which recipes are “premium” and which are “basic”!)

I cleaned and prepped my ingredients and then made the stock for the risotto by combining boiling water with the provided packet of stock concentrate. I also seasoned the chicken and wrapped each breast in prosciutto. There was more prosciutto included than was called for in the recipe, so I happily snacked on the extra while cooking.

For the risotto, I sautéed shallot and garlic in a pan and then added the arborio rice. I ladled in the stock, 1/2 cup at a time, and let each addition absorb before adding more. With about 5 minutes to go, I stirred in sliced tomatoes and spinach, and when the risotto was ready I added parmesan and some pieces of prosciutto.

I sautéed the prosciutto-wrapped chicken breasts in olive oil.

When it came time to plate, I placed slices of the chicken on top of a bed of risotto and garnished each plate with fresh sage leaves.

Isn’t this a beautiful dish? I absolutely love how it looks on the plate! The taste was great, too. The risotto was creamy and fresh, and the prosciutto-wrapped chicken was rich and delicious. The fresh sage leaves were a nice touch, but I think If I make this dish again I’ll fry them so they’re nice and crispy.

Butter-basted Sirloin Stead with Parsnip Wedges and Creamed Spinach

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 520

My last meal choice this week was sirloin steak.

When I unpacked the ingredients for this dish from the box, I was surprised and a little disappointed to pull out two of the tiniest parsnips I’ve ever seen! After peeling them, there was almost nothing left, so I decided to supplement with a couple of carrots I had in the fridge.

After roasting the carrots and parsnips with a little olive oil and rosemary, I cooked the steak with butter, garlic, and rosemary.

Lastly, I wilted the spinach in a hot pan with a little olive oil stirred in some sour cream.

This dish was pretty tasty (I enjoyed the steak and the spinach), but I’m really disappointed that I wasn’t sent more parsnips! (I love parsnips!) The photo of this dish on the recipe card shows the plate heaping with roasted parsnip wedges, and I can’t help but feel like I got shorted.

Verdict: Overall, this was just a so-so week for Hello Fresh. I loved the prosciutto-wrapped chicken, but I’m disappointed by the size of the parsnips I was sent and that my avocado was unusable. Despite those issues, though, I was still able to enjoy the tacos and steak. Value-wise, Hello Fresh is competitively priced in the subscription meal box market. Meals start at $9.99 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?