Green Chef is a weekly meal delivery subscription service that sends ingredients to make dinner that is fresh, sustainable, and organic.
Check out all of our reviews of Meal Delivery Services to see every meal kit subscription box option!
Green Chef has two plan size options, a 2-person plan (3 dinners for 2 people) and a family plan (2 dinners for 4 people). The 2-person plan has options like vegetarian, omnivore, vegan, carnivore, gluten-free, and paleo. The family plan has the option of omnivore or carnivore.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
This is a review of the Green Chef Omnivore Plan, $11.99 per meal.
About Green Chef
The Subscription Box: Green Chef
The Cost:
2-person Plans:
- Vegetarian $10.49 per meal (3 vegetarian dinners)
- Omnivore $11.99 per meal (3 veggie, meat & seafood dinners)
- Vegan $11.99 per meal (3 vegan dinners)
- Carnivore $13.49 per meal (3 meat & seafood dinners)
- Gluten-free $13.49 per meal (3 veggie, meat & seafood dinners)
- Paleo $14.99 per meal (3 paleo-friendly dinners)
- Keto $14.99 per meal (3 low-carb, vegan and non-dairy dinners)
Family Plans:
- Omnivore - $11.99 per meal (2 veggie, meat or seafood dinners for 4 people)
- Carnivore - $12.99 per meal (2 meat or seafood dinners for 4 people)
Learn more here!
New Deal: Save $40 off your first order by using this link!
The Products: Quick, chef-created recipes using organic, sustainable ingredients.
Ships to: Continental U.S. (except for some parts of Louisiana) for $9.99 shipping & handling per box.
Good to know: Green Chef lists the nutrition info for each meal on their website. You have to go under delivery schedule and click on the meal to find the nutrition breakdown. Here’s the catch with the calories listed on the recipe cards: they don’t include the oils you add while cooking which can add another 100-200 calories per serving!
Green Chef Omnivore Meal Plan April 2018 Review
Green Chef makes sourcing sustainable, organic ingredients top priority. They are thorough in the ingredient list and allergy warnings on their recipes. The prices per meal are higher than some other competitors, but like eating high-quality, organic food from the grocery store, it costs more. While I wish there were more menu options, I like knowing I have a box of meals that are healthier than what I usually want to make and don't require a trip to the store.
They also have a page on their site that walks you through how you can recycle all of the packaging.
As for shipping, you get to choose from a delivery day of Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays. The box is well insulated and you don’t have to be at home when it is delivered. Your food will stay fresh and cool. They make it very easy to change your delivery schedule or skip a week anytime. You don’t have the option of switching out meals, but you can see your menus a couple of weeks in advance so you can skip whichever weeks you don’t like.
Let’s see these dinners!
Mandarin Chicken Salad
Rice cakes, red leaf salad with cabbage and almonds.
Calories per serving: 790
Green Chef estimated time: 40 minutes
Actual time: 40 minutes
The recipe cards include the amounts of each ingredient so the meals are easy to recreate if you keep them. There is a short description of the dinner, prep + cook time, calorie count, allergen info, tools you’ll need, and each meal is color-coded to help you organize your ingredients.
On the back, you will find a step-by-step guide with pictures on how to prepare your meal. The checkboxes are a new addition and help a lot if you jump around or split the prep between two people. You’ll also find chef’s tips and helpful bits of info to help if you aren’t a seasoned cook.
This salad was pretty easy to put together-it was a one-pan meal not counting my rice cooker. But wow— this salad is almost 800 calories! That is the highest of the three meals of the week, and by a wide margin (the next dish comes in 150 calories lower). Sometimes calories are worth it if the dish is extra flavorful though… but does this salad make the cut?
First I started the rice in my rice cooker and toasted the almonds in a dry pan. When the almonds had a nice toast I moved them to a cutting board and place the chicken and broth into the pan.
This simmered away for about 15 minutes.
In the meantime I sliced my green onions on the bias. I thought I would have some dead time, but about thirty seconds after I finished with the green onions my rice cooker was done.
Score! Hello fluffy rice.
This rice was mixed with half of the green onions, the mirin and rice wine vinegar mixture, and most of the sesame seeds. I then used a measuring cup to dole out the rice into six mounds on a greased, foil lined baking sheet and pressed the rice mounds flat.
Those went into the oven to broil while my chicken came out of the broth and into a bowl.
I shredded the chicken and then mixed in the mandarin oranges and some of the mango-tamari vinaigrette. I was getting excited— I love the flavors of mango and mandarin oranges.
I then chiffonaded the red leaf lettuce and mixed it with the pre-shredded cabbage.
I pulled out my rice cakes around the 6 minute mark, and half of the rice cakes were starting to move from brown to burned. That is definitely a flaw of my oven, but luckily I caught them before they actually burned.
I then tossed the salad with the dressing, the almonds, and the rest of the green onions and sesame seeds. I served up some salad the plate and topped with the chicken, and placed some of the rice cakes on the side of the plate. I fished with a drizzle of siracha!
This meal's verdict: This salad had a mix of great color and textures, but the flavor fell flat. The included dressing was overwhelming in its tamari flavor, and I couldn't taste the mango at all. The mandarin oranges could have provided that needed sweetness, however a truly skimpy amount of mandarins were included— I think there were a total of 4 orange slices per salad. If I ordered this at a restaurant, I would have requested more oranges. Since that wasn't an option, I grumpily ate my lettuce contemplating sprinkling white sugar on the whole thing. Luckily, the rice cakes were really tasty with the perfect mix of crunch and soft, so that was nice. Considering that this salad was 790 calories, I am bummed that it wasn't a flavor bomb of goodness.
Mole-spiced Steak
Sautéed bell peppers and pinto beans, polenta cakes.
Calories per serving: 630
Green Chef estimated time: 40 minutes
Actual time: 50 minutes
I was excited about the Mexican flavors in this dish. I was born and raised in Arizona, so I have a deep love and healthy appreciation of Mexican cuisine. One thing I have never had was polenta, so I was excited to see some of my favorite flavors mixed with a new ingredient to try!
I started off by boiling some water and then adding in the polenta, corn, and chili seasoning. The directions said to add the chili seasoning “to taste,” so I dumped the entire bag in. Go big or go home, yo.
I then patted dry my steaks before rubbing them in salt, pepper, and the mole rub.
While the polenta was cooking I diced the bell peppers. The instructions called for a medium dice but bell peppers are one of those flavors that should be seen and not heard in my mind. I appreciate the flavor they add but I really don't enjoy biting into them. My solution was a fine dice.
Once the polenta was done I transferred it to the muffin tin and threw it in the fridge to chill. I then used that pot to sweat my onions and peppers. The pinto beans, tomatoes, cilantro, and some of the mole rub all made its way into this pot too.
I then seared my steaks on both sides until I reached an internal temp of 130. I like my steak between medium rare and medium, and it took about ten minutes for my steak to get to get to my desired doneness.
The polenta that was chilling in the fridge then went into a hot pan with oil, and this is where things got messy. I don't know if I used too much oil or the polenta wasn't cold enough (it was in the fridge for longer than the recipe called for), but they didn't stay together. When I went to flip the cakes they fell apart even more. When that was done with I sliced my steak and plated up.
This meal's verdict: This was delicious! The polenta cakes may not have been beautiful, but they were tasty. My steak developed a great crust thanks to the rub and hard sear, and the beans reminded me of beans we would have growing up (usually cooked for 24 hours with a ham hock and served with a tri-tip my dad had grilled). I will be making beans this way again, and definitely will try again with the polenta. Since this meal made two servings and I cook for one, I had some leftovers. However, I couldn't just have plain regular leftovers— oh no, these leftovers went sandwiched between some cheese and tortillas and turned into a delicious quesadilla. I honestly don't know what I liked better— the original meal or the leftovers in the quesadilla. Both were great. And the finely diced bell peppers added great flavor without making me squeamish that I was about to bite into a bell pepper.
Mushroom & Barley Carbonara
Romaine salad with roasted beets and sunflower seeds
Calories per serving: 640
Green Chef estimated time: 45 minutes
Actual time: 45 minutes
Considering this dish is meat free, I was interested to see if it would fill me up and keep me full.
I started by roughly chopping the porcini mushrooms and thyme leaves.
I toasted my barley with onions and thyme until the onions were soft, and then added in the water, vegetable bouillon, and porcini mushrooms. Once that came to a boil it simmered on the stove for about thirty minutes.
Meanwhile my beets were tossed with salt, pepper, olive oil, and the rest of the thyme. They went into a hot oven to roast.
I then went to slice my mushrooms, and noticed the size discrepancies in my mushrooms. There was a big daddy mushroom hanging out with a bunch of mini mushrooms— a sugar daddy mushroom with a bunch of sugar baby mushrooms. Oh well— a mushroom is a mushroom and I love mushrooms. I was a bit affronted, because when I pulled out these mushrooms I noticed they definitely were baby bellas and not cremini. Then I went to Google, where it turns out cremini and baby bellas are two names for the same shroom. Oops.
Into a hot pan and some oil they went.
When the beets were almost done I added the sunflower seeds to the baking sheet to toast.
When my mushrooms had good color I added the peas before dumping the veggies into the barley. A mixture of egg, pea, and ricotta was tempered into the barley, and I stirred it all until it thickened (aka the egg cooked). I then assembled the salad and served it up.
This meal's verdict: This was a good, hearty dish. A little less than half of the mixture was enough to fill me up, and I stayed full without feeling like I gorged on carbs. I do think this dish would have benefited from a squeeze of lemon juice and a toasty piece of garlic bread. This was the lash dish I made, and when I was wanting some garlic bread I realized none of these three dishes included garlic. I was floored! I always cook with garlic! What kind of monster was green chef turning me into? All that aside, this salad was much more successful. The included dressing was balanced and I didn't hate my first time trying beets.
The Verdict: My first box from Green Chef was mostly a success. I loved the steak and beans, the barley carbonara was tasty but not out of this world, and I will never touch Green Chef’s mango-tamari dressing again unless it is hit with a dose of sweetness to balance it. I appreciated the amount of veggies I got in these meals, though, because I sometimes struggle getting enough in my daily diet. Both the steak and the carbonara made great leftovers, which is important since I am cooking for one. This is definitely on the pricier side for meal kits, but considering the amount of fresh organic produce included I can see why it was priced as such.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, this week of meals has passed. But you can sign up for the Omnivore box today and preview the upcoming meals.
Coupon - Save $40 off your first order by using this link!
Value Breakdown: At $11.99 per meal for the 2-person omnivore plan and $9 for shipping, the total cost of this box was $80.94. This averages to about $13.49 per meal.
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