This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

Hungryroot Pros & Cons

Hungryroot Pros

• Hungryroot is a delivery service that sends you all the groceries you need to make meals that are quick and easy.
• Need snacks, breakfasts, or lunches, too? No problem. You can add additional grocery items onto your order.
• Since you can add individual items to your order, the price is variable. The cost depends on the grocery items you order, not the number of meals.
• Hungryroot offers endless customization. You can build meals from any grocery items you choose.
• Recipes are ingredient-driven and easy as pie. They only contain 3-4 different ingredients.
• Looking for kid-friendly meals? Hungryroot allows you to create meals around ingredients your kids will love.
• Signing up for a Hungryroot subscription helps you save time on meal planning, cuts down on food waste, and helps ease mealtime stress.
• It's easy to pause or cancel your subscription online.

Hungryroot Cons

• Hungryroot isn't your typical meal kit delivery service, which can take a little getting used to.
• The online ordering portal can be confusing to navigate.
• Want to try a single box? You're unable to cancel your subscription until after your first box has arrived, making it more likely you'll forget to do it.

All About Hungryroot

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How does Hungryroot work?

In this Hungryroot review, we'll go over all the things you need to know about this grocery and meal delivery service, but in case you're new to meal subscriptions, let's start with a quick overview of how Hungryroot works. The first thing to know is that Hungryroot is a recurring subscription. When you sign up, you're agreeing to receive groceries on an ongoing basis. You'll enter your credit card information when you join, and you'll continue to be charged until you decide to cancel. Here are the steps you can expect to follow when you sign up for Hungryroot:

• Choose your plan and personalize it: when you join Hungryroot, you'll set up the details of your subscription. How many people do you need to feed? Do you eat vegetarian? Do you want dinners? Breakfasts? Extras? You're invited to personalize your plan to make sure it works for you.
• Set your weekly delivery day: most subscribers will have several different delivery days to choose from. Some people prefer to receive meals at the very start of the week, while others like to receive deliveries mid-week. You can select your preferred weekly delivery day when you join.
• Pick your groceries for the upcoming week: after you enter your dining preferences, Hungryroot will automatically pick groceries for you each week. However, you can always log in, override your auto-picks, and hand-select your own items.
• Check back regularly to skip weeks or set your menu for upcoming deliveries: don't want to receive a box every single week? No problem. Log into your account to manage your upcoming deliveries. In your account portal, you'll be able to skip shipments, pick out what meals you'd like to receive, or cancel your subscription.

How much does Hungryroot cost?

When you sign up for a subscription to Hungryroot, you'll first need to decide how many people you want to serve with each meal and how many meals you'd like to receive each week. The basic plan starts at $59.94 and consists of three 2-person meals. You can add on breakfasts, lunches, additional dinners, snacks, and grocery items for an additional cost. If your order is under $70, shipping costs $6.99. Orders over $70 ship for free.

Does Hungryroot have different plans available?

With Hungryroot, plans can be customized to work for families of different sizes with varying dining preferences. The smallest plan costs $59.94 and consists of three 2-person meals, but you can add additional servings, meals, and grocery items.

Where and how does Hungryroot ship?

Hungryroot delivers to most of the contiguous U.S. You can check to see if Hungryroot delivers to your zip code while signing up.

Good to know:

• Delivery days vary by area, but most subscribers will have several options to choose from. You can change your preferred delivery day at any time.
• A signature is not required, and you don't have to be home to accept the box.
• Food is kept cold in transit with insulated liners and frozen gel packs.

How is a Hungryroot delivery packaged?

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Hungryroot's box, paper cooler, and food protector are recyclable. The cool packs can be opened and the gel can be discarded down the sink or diluted and used as plant food. As for the ingredients and groceries, Hungryroot recommends checking individual packaging for recycling details.

What recipes does Hungryroot offer?

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Hungryroot is not your average meal kit delivery service. The recipes are ingredient-driven, and meals typically contain between 3-4 different components. As such, the recipes are easy to make and usually on the table quickly; however, don't expect to learn complicated cooking techniques or prepare meals with a wide variety of fresh ingredients. The good news is that recipes are highly customizable. Interested in a recommended beet and goat cheese salad but not into beets? You can change up the dish by swapping out ingredients or tweaking the recommended ingredients.

Here are some recent meals we've spotted at Hungryroot:

• Roasted Salmon + Asparagus over Rice
• Chile Limon Chicken n' Guac Tacos
• Cheesy BBQ Chicken Stuffed Peppers
• All American Cheeseburger with Baked Beans
• Nothing Beets It Veggie Sandwich

Are Hungryroot recipes hard?

Hungryroot takes a simple and straightforward approach to recipes, and they're very easy to make. Because the meals are ingredient-driven and only contain a handful of ingredients, there aren't typically a lot of steps involved in the cooking process. This streamlined approach to cooking means dinner is quick and easy.

What ingredients and tools does Hungryroot NOT provide?

When you sign up for a Hungryroot subscription, you'll receive only the ingredients that you add to your cart. You may need to provide salt, pepper, water, and oil, and we recommend checking recipes after ordering to check for additional items you may need to provide yourself. In addition to these basic ingredients, you'll also be expected to have essential kitchen tools available like cutting boards, knives, bowls, baking trays, vegetable peelers, zesters, measuring cups, and pots and pans.

Does Hungryroot accommodate dietary restrictions like allergies?

If you have allergies, you can indicate which foods you'd like to avoid in your online profile. Hungryroot will be sure to take this into consideration and only show you recipes and groceries that align with your dietary preferences.

Is Hungryroot's food tasty?

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Hungryroot sends high-quality grocery items, and their meals are very tasty. Since the recipes tend to be on the simple side, the flavor profiles aren't always as complex as you may find in other kits. This sometimes results in meals that seem overly simplified, but it's always possible to add a side dish, additional ingredients, or fresh herbs to jazz things up. The prepared items like sauces and dressings tend to be big on flavor and very tasty. If you don't mind meals that are a little simple, Hungryroot is likely to make your belly happy.

Is Hungryroot convenient?

Hungryroot is definitely convenient. When you receive groceries from Hungryroot, you'll save time meal planning and grocery shopping, and picking meals from an online selection helps streamline the weeknight dinner process. If you ever struggle to plan a menu for the week, feel like you need new recipe inspiration, or don't feel like hitting up the grocery store, Hungryroot will most certainly add convenience to your routine.

What do MSA reviewers say about Hungryroot?

We've had a couple different writers try Hungryroot. Curious about what they have to say?

Rachel's Hungryroot Review

• Review expertise: Rachel is a writer who's penned a lot of lifestyle reviews for MSA, but she's also something of a foodie. She's a health conscious diner who reviewed Hungryroot in early 2020.
• Eating profile: Rachel prefers to limit gluten and soy, and she tends to reach for vegan meals.
• Thoughts on Hungryroot meals: For her Hungryroot review, Rachel subscribed to the service for a full month. Let's take a look at what she had to say about a few of the meals she ate during that time.
  • “Cheesy” Lentil Salad & Pasta- Rachel enjoyed a few pasta dishes during her month with Hungryroot, but this one was a standout. She writes, "The smoky green lentil salad added texture, visual appeal, and the vegetable component I like to have with my dinner. This meal was beyond perfect on a chilly, rainy evening. The ultimate comfort meal!"
  • Veggie Noodles with Beyond Bolognese- This meal was another winner for Rachel. She says, "I don’t consider myself a “foodie” per se, but I suppose it would be hard to deny that I’m a little snobby about what I eat. Some days though, a girl just wants to feel like her belly is being hugged—this meal was exactly the hug I was craving! It had a nostalgic, Hamburger-Helper-esque vibe to it, despite having fresh, healthy ingredients that are, in fact, quite sophisticated."
  • Sesame Ginger Stir Fry - Last up, Rachel went with stir fry, and she liked it but found the sauce a little unnecessary. "This meal was definitely most along the lines of what I’d normally eat, sans the sauce. I did add a bit of it, but certainly could have done without and been just as happy (maybe even more), especially since it had a lot of sugars and a surprisingly high fat content."
• Verdict: Rachel tried Hungryroot for a full month, and she enjoyed it. She found many of the sauces to be a bit much, and she also supplemented quite a few of the meals with items from her own pantry. But, overall, it was a good experience. She says, "The food has all been largely fresh and contained natural ingredients—a big plus in my book. On their own, the dishes are somewhat neutral in flavor, but there is lots of room for additional seasonings and/or embellishment."

My Hungryroot Review

• Review expertise: I've been writing food reviews for My Subscription Addiction since 2014, and I know my way around the kitchen. I've tried a lot of meal kits over the years, and I tend to approach meal kits with a critical eye.
• Eating profile: I eat anything and everything, though my favorite meals tend to feature global flavors and interesting techniques. I'm also a sucker for comfort foods like pizza and tacos.
• Thoughts on Hungryroot meals: I can safely say that Hungryroot is unlike any meal delivery service I've tried before. The approach to building a menu by choosing different grocery items took a little getting used to, but I was able to build some tasty recipes. Spicy Vegan Chorizo + Potato Tacos and Blackened Shrimp Summer Tacos were both tasty, but I found the recipes a little too simplistic. I would have appreciated something fresh in the tacos (cilantro? salsa? guacamole?) and the salad could have used some additional veggies or croutons. The flavors were nice, and everything was easy to prepare, but I couldn't help feeling like I could have made something better with my own recipe.
• Verdict: I like the concept of Hungryroot, but I don't think it's a great fit for my lifestyle. I enjoy cooking, I like working with fresh ingredients, and I don't mind extra steps if it means bigger flavor. Hungryroot is just a little too simple for me. I like that they allow subscribers to pick up more than just dinner (I certainly enjoyed having my weekly groceries delivered to my door along with my recipe ingredients), and I think this subscription is a great choice for those who enjoy simple dishes and straightforward recipes. It's just a little too simple for me.

What do MSA readers say about HungryRoot in their reviews?

At MSA, we don't just publish our own in-house reviews. We also invite our readers to rate and review the meal kits they've tried. Here's what Zack had to say about his experience with Hungryroot:

"Hungryroot is great when it works, but quality and inventory control are significantly off, and the typical delivery will have a missing/wrong/expired/damaged item. Their customer service is lacking, and I and friends have emailed them with no response. If an item is wrong, there is an option on the site to get an automatic credit on your next delivery -- it's just a bit disheartening to need to use this on nearly every delivery. Once you get in the habit of logging in to edit your meals each week before the cutoff time, and navigate the particular oddities of the site, it's much simpler than grocery shopping. For a person like me who wanted to ease in to cooking regularly for myself, it's a healthy, customizable, and mostly easy solution -- but with serious quality/inventory control issues and a pretty hefty price, I don't know that I'd recommend it." -Zack

Mary made a point of sharing how she's had trouble navigating the Hungryroot site:

"I've been using HungryRoot for a month. Love the food. But their site is difficult to negotiate. They occasionally send things I didn't order and leave out ingredients I need. "But we were out of such and such and substituted-" is not acceptable without communication. I recently stopped ordering tofu based meals because of household preferences. I put tofu on the "never eat" list and deleted the meal that contained that ingredient. I then added a different meal. I received both the meal that I deleted and the meal I added. Also, extras I didn't order at all--bringing my total which should have been 135.00 to 220.00. Their competitors all show the total as you make choices. It's at the top and it's visible at all times. HungryRoot provides a link at the bottom that says, "Order and pay" an amount that is not a reflection of the total and without seeing the rest of the charges, you really don't know. The 85.00 overage could have been corrected had I known." -Mary

If you'd like to learn more about Hungryroot and read even more reader reviews, you can visit our Hungryroot brand page here.

Are there alternatives to Hungryroot?

If you like the idea of a meal kit delivery service, but you're not sure Hungryroot is the right subscription for you, there are a few competitors that might be a better fit.

Hungryroot vs. HelloFresh

HelloFresh is a meal kit delivery subscription that provides delicious, crowd-pleasing meal kits to cook at home. It's one of the most popular meal subscription services out there, and the weekly menu is huge. Let's outline some of the key differences between these two subscriptions:

• What you get: Hungryroot sends grocery items and recipes that are designed around them. HelloFresh is a traditional meal kit that sends the individually portioned ingredients you need to make chef-designed recipes.
• The food: Both companies send tasty meals, but the "vibe" is a little bit different. Hungryroot sends simple recipes with few ingredients, while HelloFresh is more likely to feature international dishes and global flavors.
• Price: HelloFresh is priced competitively, with meals that average $8.99 per serving. The cost of Hungryroot varies depending on how many meals and additional grocery items you add to your cart.

Hungryroot vs. Home Chef

Like Hungryroot, Home Chef offers a fair amount of recipe customization, but these meal solutions differ quite a lot. Let's take a closer look at the differences between these subscriptions:

• Customization: If you'd like to have the flexibility to swap out proteins or add additional meats to your meals, Home Chef has you covered. If you want to have control over every single ingredient, Hungryroot might be the better choice for you.
• Recipe complexity: Home Chef's recipes aren't expert-level by any means, but compared to Hungryroot, they can sometimes be a bit more challenging. (Check out the difficulty rating on Home Chef's meals if you want to keep things beginner level.)
• Price: Most Home Chef meals cost $9.95 per serving.

Hungryroot vs. Dinnerly

If affordability is a must-have, check out Dinnerly, a wallet-friendly meal kit delivery service with crowd-pleasing meal options and kid-friendly entrees. Dinnerly cuts out unnecessary expenses to keep their per-meal price low, and it's a great choice for those on a budget. Let's see how these two subscriptions stack up:

• Price: Dinnerly starts at $4.69 per serving.
• Subscription style: Dinnerly is a traditional meal kit delivery service, whereas Hungryroot is designed around grocery items.
• Meals: Both Dinnerly and Hungryroot send simple straightforward meals that are easy to make. Dinnerly may skew slightly more kid-friendly, but they're both great for picky eaters and families.

Is Hungryroot worth it?

We've covered a lot of info in this Hungryroot review, but one big question remains: is Hungryroot worth it?

If you're looking for a grocery delivery service that will help streamline your dinner prep, Hungryroot is a great choice. The recipes are easy to make, contain a limited number of ingredients, and taste great. The customization options make it easy to omit ingredients, avoid certain foods, and tailor shipment to suit your particular tastes and dietary requirement. If you like simple meals and want to receive groceries along with your dinner recipes, you'll probably really like Hungryroot.

The recipes can sometimes feel a little basic or overly simplistic, and navigating the website takes a little getting used to, but these are issues that are easily overlooked by many happy subscribers. There are Hungryroot fans on both the MSA review team and in the larger community of readers, and many have given Hungryroot's flexibility, customization, and pricing a giant thumbs up. Given how easy it is to choose your own recipes, this is a subscription that works for vegans, picky eaters, and gluten-free diners alike. If you're ready to sign up, just make sure you understand that you're signing up for a subscription. You'll be charged every week (unless you skip) until you decide to cancel.

Ready to subscribe? Make sure to sign up using our coupon below to ensure you get the best deal.

You can try Hungryroot for yourself here:

Have you tried Hungryroot? Head to the comments section and let us know!