I Tried HelloFresh for a Month: Is It Worth It? An Honest Review

I tried HelloFresh for three weeks and thought I’d share my honest opinions. I’m someone who loves to cook.

I sincerely enjoy going to the store or local farmers market and picking out ingredients, so I wasn’t really sure how I would feel about this meal kit service, but I ended up sincerely liking HelloFresh.

Pin this HelloFresh Review for later

HelloFresh allowed me to experience the joy of cooking, but also cook dinner quickly.

Let’s explore how HelloFresh works, the menu, the sustainability of this meal kit delivery service, and enjoy a promo code for a free HelloFresh box!

This post does contain a referral links which means The Honest Consumer will receive a credit if you decide to purchase, however, at no additional cost to you!

What is HelloFresh?

HelloFresh delivers weekly shipments of recipes with all the ingredients & a step by step instructions to make cooking quick and easy.

HelloFresh is a great solution for people who love to cook, but find grocery shopping tedious or lack time.

How much does HelloFresh cost?

When we first started HelloFresh we had a coupon code which spreads out the discount over your first five boxes.

This was great because it allowed us to try it at a lower cost, so our first box was around $30 for three dinners which included servings for two people.

As of 2024, this box usually costs around $65.94 + shipping. This may vary based on location.

What does the HelloFresh menu look like?

As mentioned above customers can pick a plan such as Meat & Veggies, Veggie, Low Calorie, and Family Friendly. Upon picking a plan HelloFresh will present the customer with about twenty different dinner options.

The customer can then pick their menu for the week from the different options. I’ve included a review of the meals we chose & received below.

HelloFresh Review of Meals Week 1: Tacos & Fish

The first week our meals were One-Pan Portobello & Poblano Fajitas and 2 x Smoky Barramundi with Brown Butter plus Mashed Potatoes & Roasted Broccoli. Jake & I loved both of these meals. We felt that they were easy to cook and everything tasted amazing.

Both of these are recipes we never would have picked out for ourselves, so it was fun to try something adventurous and discovering some new dinner ideas. The recipes were easy, fun, healthy, and the portion sizes were great.

Bonus the box is fun for cats to sniff & explore

HelloFresh Review of Week 2: Gourmet Meals

This week I went all out and upgraded myself to HelloFresh’s gourmet meals….I wanted to try it out and while my discount was still active too!

For our HelloFresh Gourmet Meals we received Beef Tenderloin & Brown Butter Veggies, Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Truffled Chive Tased Potatoes & Lemony Green Beans, and Old Bay Shrimp & Sausage Boil.

Of the three gourmet meals the Beef Tenderloin & Brown Butter Veggies was my favorite and the Shrimp & Sausage Boil was Jake’s favorite. The Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken was our least favorite meal so far.

Are HelloFresh gourmet premium pick meals worth it?

In my opinion no, the gourmet premium meals were not worth the extra money.

Each premium pick meal added $12-$19 per box and we actually liked the regular meals we received the week before better.

HelloFresh Review of Week 3:

During our final week of my trail we received One-Pan Cantina Shrimp Fajitas, Creamy Dill Chicken with roasted potatoes & asparagus, and One Pot Turkey Cannellini Kale Soup.

This week our favorite meal was the One Pot Turkey Cannellini Kale Soup!

We were both surprise as we’re not big vegetable soup people, but the spicy Italian seasoning in the soup was amazing.

We loved that this meal was one pan too! It kept it easy.

The other meals we had this week were good, but a bit more labor intensive and nothing too special.

Is HelloFresh Worth It?

With the coupon code I would say it is absolutely worth it. I’m not sure I can justify the box at full price.

With shipping and three meals every week the cost would be over $70 for the two of us, but I definitely think it’s worth splurging for on a super busy week.

We’re going on vacation soon and I scheduled a box to come the night we get back in town, so that we will have food when we arrive.

As someone who loves cooking I was pleasantly surprised by HelloFresh. The quality of the food was really good. We’ve tried a few other meal kit services that I didn’t like because of the quality of the food, but HelloFresh had quality ingredients.

I felt like the recipes were not to challenging, so I was able to get the joy of cooking, but also cook dinner quickly.

I think you have to weigh your own schedules, the amount of time you spend cooking or going to the store, and the cost. It varies person to person if HelloFresh is worth the money.

What we LOVED About HelloFresh

• We felt full after every meal, so we felt like their portions were done really well.

• We loved that most meals came with an entree and sides because when we cook for ourselves at home we are not always the best at getting our veggies into the meals or cooking sides.

• We didn’t have to go to the grocery store as often.

Will I Order HelloFresh Again?

Yes, I will order HelloFresh again. Probably not every week due to the cost, but definitely for our more hectic weeks.

As of 2024, we continue to purchase occasional HelloFresh boxes for busy weeks!

Pin this pro & con list for later!

Can HelloFresh accommodate dietary restrictions, allergies or intolerances?

Due to some recent health issues I’ve had to follow a grain free diet, so I was curious what kind of options HelloFresh had for those of us on a restricted diet. While HelloFresh offers four basic plans: Meat & Veggies, Veggie, Low Calorie, and Family Friendly, I didn’t see anywhere to specify a certain allergy or intolerance.

However, their recipe cards do typically say if the meal includes wheat, dairy, and a few other common allergens.

So, for my grain intolerance I was able to easily substitute ingredients I had on hand.

For example whenever there were flour tortillas for fajitas or tacos, I used my own almond flour tortillas. For the most part I was able to select meals that were grain free or easily able to be substituted.

Is HelloFresh Sustainable?

HelloFresh definitely has some sustainable elements.

Overall I would say HelloFresh is a more sustainable option in regard to some other meal kits, but I also think there is room for improvement.

Carbon Offsetting

For example, since their ingredients come pre-portioned this reduces overbuying and food waste.

A study by the University of Michigan concluded that HelloFresh and other meal kits have a 25% lower carbon footprint than store-bought groceries partly due to their partnership with TerraPass that enables HelloFresh to offset 100% of their carbon emissions.

They offset all of their operations, offices, corporate travel, and shipping every box to customers doors. This is awesome.

Is HelloFresh Packaging Eco-friendly?

Upon receiving my first box I was surprised that there was quite a bit of plastic packaging.

While I understand the ingredients are pre-packaged and this can cause a demand for plastic, I think it could be really cool to see HelloFresh explore some compostable options for pre-packaging ingredients.

However it is awesome that HelloFresh partners with Plastic Bank.

Plastic Bank is a social enterprise that works in countries like Haiti, the Philippines, and Indonesia encouraging community members to collect plastic from coastal areas in exchange for compensation which allows these individuals to support their families by purchasing groceries, paying for school, and more. 

This is a good way to neutralize plastic use while creating opportunities for other communities.

As far as the packaging of their box, I sincerely appreciate that they have a dedicated page to recycling the different elements. Most of their box based packaging is recyclable or compostable.

Does HelloFresh Use Organic Produce? The Sustainability of HelloFresh Ingredients

As far as the sustainability of ingredients….this one I had to dig in my research for.

While HelloFresh labels their food as sustainably sourced stating, “Our culinary and sourcing teams work tirelessly to ensure the entire recipe development process is as environmentally friendly, sustainable, and delicious as possible. For us, where our food comes from is as important as where it’s going.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant to them. They do list all their suppliers on their website which I think is a great step in transparency and they claim they visit their “supplier facilities in person to ensure they meet our standards” which again, I think is a great step towards transparency, but there’s not really a clear explanation as to what their sustainability standards for ingredients are.

Organic ingredients? Regenerative farming practices? While researching I did find this statement in the FAQs as a response regarding organic ingredients.

Some, but not all, of our ingredients are organic. The focus of HelloFresh is on helping our customers make those first steps towards cooking well-balanced meals at home. While the majority of our product is not organic, what we do concentrate on is what produce looks and tastes best.

We work with trusted, experienced, and sustainable business partners to ensure high quality, seasonal, and farm-sourced produce is delivered to our customers at peak freshness. -HelloFresh FAQs

Overall I definitely think HelloFresh is on the right path with sustainability. I hope to see some more clear guidelines regarding their ingredient standards in the future, but I really do appreciate their sustainable initiatives so far.

I hope as they continue to grow as a company their eco-friendly initiatives evolve too.

Free HelloFresh Box Coupon

If you’re interested in trying HelloFresh be sure to use my referral link to get a free HelloFresh box and try it out!

For more tips & tricks on sustainable living be sure to follow The Honest Consumer on social media, subscribe to our newsletter, & check out the Ethical & Sustainable Brand Directory.