My husband and I both work busy jobs, and it can be difficult to find the time to plan and cook dinner. So, I decided to try a meal kit service but didn’t know which one would be right for us. After researching the most popular brands, I decided to put Home Chef and HelloFresh to the test.
Here are the results of my not-so-scientific experiment that helped us reconnect and enjoy dinner time again, so you can do the same!
If you're looking to spend the least amount of time cooking... Home Chef
Convenience is king for me in the dinner department. Home Chef offers lots of super quick and easy options like Oven-Ready and Fast & Fresh meals that can be made in the microwave in under 10 minutes and require little to no prep and Express Meal Kits that are ready in under 30 minutes. I don’t know about you, but these are perfect for when we’re running low on time and energy.
The HelloFresh meals, on the other hand, took us longer to make and didn’t have the “convenience” factor we were looking for in a meal kit.
If you're looking for a brand with lots of EASY PREP & NO MESS meal options... Home Chef
I openly admit that I don’t like to cook, and both my husband and I found the Home Chef recipes a lot easier to make. The recipes were simple to follow, easy to put together, and created less mess (You know what I dislike even more than cooking? Cleaning up!).
Home Chef's Oven-Ready meals come with fresh, pre-portioned ingredients, an oven-safe tray and require little to no preparation, so dinner is ready FAST, and clean-up is basically non-existent.
Not only were the meals easy to prepare and cook, but they were also tasty. My husband and I devoured everything on our plates - we were so excited to find a meal kit that was simple yet so good.
HelloFresh, on the other hand, doesn’t have any oven-ready options.
If you're looking for meals made with simple ingredients ... Home Chef
One of the reasons I never tried a meal kit in the past was because I worried they would include too many ingredients making them tedious to make. This isn’t the case with Home Chef. They go out of their way to make sure their meals only require a handful of simple ingredients, while remaining bold, flavorful, and all-around delicious.
My personal favorite is the Salmon with Lemon Piccata Butter — it’s simple to make yet has just the right amount of flavor and kick that I would expect it to have (and my kids approved!). They even have Culinary Collection meals for those looking to up their cooking skills and step out of their comfort zone with flavors.
While HelloFresh tries to be simple, their meals felt like they had too much going on and weren’t quite right given all of the ingredients they called for.
If you're more of an aspiring chef who prefers complex recipes... HelloFresh
I personally love simple-to-make meals, but if you like taking risks and following more complicated and exotic recipes that take more effort and time to prepare, then you’ll probably find HelloFresh to be the better option. I found this Spicy Pork Dan Dan Noodle Ramen recipe a bit challenging, but it did taste pretty good. I don’t aspire to be a chef or step out of my comfort zone too much with food, but I know plenty of people who do, so they might appreciate this factor.
My Overall Favorite… Home Chef
In my opinion, the whole point of a meal kit is that it’s more convenient than planning, shopping, and prepping on your own. And Home Chef was by far the easier one for us to use. Plus, we love that we can easily skip a delivery if we’re traveling, and that the meals are only $9.99-11.99 per serving — talk about a steal! Not to mention, Home Chef offers an incredible deal for new customers - you can get 18 free meals and free shipping AND free dessert for life when you try Home Chef TODAY!
We like HelloFresh, but we love Home Chef, and it’s become a staple in our kitchen.
