Home Chef Subscription Box Review #2 + Coupon – July 2017

Home Chef is a subscription meal delivery service that delivers you a weekly box of the pre-portioned ingredients you need to make two to eight meals that feed two, four, or six people. Home Chef advertises easy recipes that can be made in about 30 minutes. They say their ingredients are fresh (though they don't provide a lot of information about their sourcing practices), and they offer vegetarian, gluten-free, and calorie/carb-conscious recipes.

This is a review of the plan I customized that includes a mix of beef, fish, poultry, and vegetarian options (starting at $9.95 per serving) for two people, three meals a week ($59.70 per week). Delivery is free for orders over $45. Shipping is $10 for orders less than $45.

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

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.

The Products: Fresh ingredients and chef-designed recipes— everything you need to make restaurant-quality meals at home.

Ships to: 90% of the U.S. (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. They ask what you like to eat, as well a what you like to avoid (nuts, shellfish, and bone-in meats are some of those). Based on your answers, Home Chef will choose recipes for you to get each week. As is the case with most meal kit services, you can log in and hand-select the recipes you'd like to receive. Note though, that the more particular you are with your diet, the fewer options you'll have. Lucky for me, I eat almost everything, so I have a crazy amount to choose from. Yay!

Sunday Supper "Pot Roast" Steak with Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Carrots, and Peas

Calories: 814

Time to Table, According to Home Chef:40-50 minutes

Actual Time to Table: About 50 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

This meal is RIGHT up my alley! I love a good ol' meat & potatoes dinner, and I love pot roast. Unfortunately, cooked carrots and peas are my least favorite vegetables, but I know I can't win them all. Mashed potatoes are a big yes though, plus that GRAVY. The ingredients here are very simple, which is great, and I'm glad they included the demi-glace packet already made.

First things first, I prepped all the veggies for roasting and started the water boiling for the potatoes. Nothing too exciting there to photograph, so I'll let you use your imaginations.

Next, the delicious looking steaks were patted dry, and seasoned, then went into the pan to brown (3 minutes each side, I don't like to over-cook my meats).

After those cooked, I made the gravy with the demi-glace and seasoning packets included. It smelled wonderful, I tell ya!

The steaks I had set aside went back into the pan to party with the gravy and finish cooking.

By this time, the veggies were done roasting, and it was already time to finish up!!

As you may know by now, plating is my favorite part of cooking! The directions even include how to do this, by placing the mashed potatoes down first, then the veggies, and leaning that gorgeous cut of meat up against the potatoes. It was finished off by the gravy...Mmmm.

Truly a thing of beauty, no? I pawned the peas and carrots off to my friend Shadrach, because I am a baby, but those potatoes and steak were perfect! The meat wasn't overdone and had a lot of the flavor of a slow cooker meal without the 4-8 hour cook time.

This recipe was super easy, and the potatoes and veggies really were the culprits on why this took so long to make. A lot of the time was just kinda of waitin' on them.

Mozzerella-Stuffed Meatball Sliders with Parmesan Fries 

Calories: 997

Time to Table According to Home Chef: 40-50 minutes

Actual Time to Table: About 50 minutes

Difficulty: Expert

When this week's box arrived, I was deeply saddened by the fact that the buns were smashed under some ice. Shadrach suggested I use my bike pump to fluff them up again, which was NOT helpful. Smashed buns aside, I was really stoked for these meatball sliders! The fact that they are stuffed full of mozzarella just makes them that much more mouth watering to me.

I'm not sure why this recipe is marked as "expert", because it was real easy, but my guess is that some people have a hard time measuring out the meat to make the meatballs, or getting the mozzarella balls inside?

I LOOOOVE making my own fries, which I've done a couple of times with meal kits now. Each time, I think to myself, "Why don't I always make my own fries?! They are sooo gooood!". Do I ever do it when not prompted by a meal kit though? No. I'm too lazy. In a perfect world, you know I would. I'm the only one standing in my way!

Anyhow, these are the fries just before going into the oven. All I did was slice them up, toss with olive oil and salt and pepper, and lay them out in a single layer on the foil-lined baking sheet. They take quite a while to bake, and I like mine on the crispier side, so most of the time is waiting for these bad boys.

While they were cooking, the meatballs went in beneath them and got all bubbly with cheese.

Here they are out of the oven, and waiting for the fries to be done!

Even with the buns being smooshed, they still looked alright and tasted even better! This recipe serves two people, but left my friend a bit hungry still. It all depends on your hunger level, of course. I felt pleasantly full myself.

Again, this meal is well within my comfort zone, and was actually really easy to make. Sometimes the best tasting things don't look all that pretty. I'm glad that they included in the directions to toast the buns. Mmm.

Crispy Onion Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce and Green Beans 

Calories: 618

Time to Table According to Home Chef: 35-45 minutes

Actual Time to Table: About 40 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

I clearly went heavy on the comfort food this week, which I enjoy being able to choose. Home Chef has A LOT of different options, some of which I just noticed while I write this! Many meal kits are improving selections all the time and will send emails with new updates.

Chicken is at the top of my favorite meats list, so I was excited for this recipe, regardless of my arch nemesis (the onion) being a prominent ingredient.

We kicked things off cooking mushrooms that we had sliced up, along with washing and prepping the other veggies. I am a HUGE mushroom fan, and love the way they smell when cooked!

Next, the green beans (one of my favorite veggies) were added with the mushrooms. Salt and pepper seasoned them all as well.

I then mixed the flour and liquid egg together, brushed it only on the top of the chicken, then coated the onions on top as well. They went into the oven for about 12 minutes and came out looking like this.

Making this sauce was probably my favorite part, because I really enjoy a cream sauce, especially with mushroom involved.

Here we have the finished dish. It looks so yummy, don't you think??

This meal was definitely my favorite this week! I have now accepted crispy onions into my life, and just adored the pairing with green beans and mushrooms! The chicken was super moist on the inside and I devoured every last piece, while dipping it into the cream sauce.

Verdict: My first week of Home Chef was fantastic. As I mentioned, I went heavy on the comfort food, which I really needed this week. The healthier, lighter options are also there if I so choose though. I liked all three meals, but was able to choose them, so it's no real surprise. At $9.95 per serving, the price of this meal kit is on par with other heavy hitters like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh (both $9.99 per serving), but cheaper than Green Chef or Plated ($11.99 and $12 per serving, respectively). The only folly was the buns being smashed under an ice pack, but I will let that slide. I look forward to seeing the recipes to choose from next month!

Do you subscribe to Home Chef? What was your favorite recipe this week?