I tried Hello Fresh

The only review posts I've seen about Hello Fresh have been sponsored ads. No one I knew personally (that had shared with me) had tried Hello Fresh. I found a coupon code and was feeling in a dinner slump so I tried it out.

Hello Fresh is a meal delivery subscription. You choose your plan, what meals you want and then a refrigerated box shows up at your door with all the ingredients, recipes and nutritional info. I chose the Classic Plan of 3 meals a week for two people. I used my coupon code for $40 off, received my 3 recipes then cancelled the subscription. I should note it's a weekly subscription but you can skip weeks. Here is my experience.

Meal 1: Pork and Thai Basil Stir Fry

Ground pork, baby bok choy, shallot, thai basil, basmati rice, lime, fish sauce, soy sauce and sriracha

Overall I'd say this was my favorite meal because I enjoyed all the elements of it. All the ingredients were great except for the bok choy. You can tell in the picture it is very wilted and sad looking. I wouldn't have picked those if I was out buying bok choy. However for the recipe it was cooked in the stir fry so it didn't matter a lot. If it was a salad that would have been a different story.

The recipe was easy to make, the instructions made sense and the basmati rice in a bag was pretty cool and quick. I liked that it had ingredients that I haven't used before and a recipe that I wouldn't normally make. Dan, Brooks and I all enjoyed it.

Meal 2: Crispy Chicken Milanese

Chicken, panko bread crumbs, yellow squash, baby heirloom tomatoes, arugula, shallot, lemon, sour cream and Italian seasoning

This recipe was just so-so for me and would rank my least favorite out of these three. All the ingredients were good and fresh. The chicken was good, I'd make that again. It crisped up nicely, had good flavor and Brooks ate it too. The squash was good, we eat squash frequently at home so it was nothing special. I didn't enjoy the arugula salad. The dressing was just lemon and olive oil. You have the peppery and kind of bitter arugula, with the acidic lemon and tomatoes and the whole salad was just bitter and sour.

Meal 3: Crushed Peppercorn Steak

Sirloin steak, yukon gold potatoes, kale, shallot, sour cream, black peppercorns and beef bouillon flavoring

This recipe ranked 2nd only because of the kale. I've never had kale before this and granted it probably made it taste AS GOOD AS kale can get... but it was still kale, bleh! The steak and potatoes were great! The ingredients were good and fresh but I couldn't help but laugh at the size of the potatoes. The picture on the recipe made the potatoes and the steak look much bigger. Yukons in general are smaller but one was barely bigger than a quarter! However, that doesn't affect the taste so no points off for that. 

Overall I enjoyed my experience with Hello Fresh. I love cooking already and it was fun to make new recipes with new ingredients that got me out of my comfort zone. The meals had a good variety to choose from and all seemed health minded without being bland or boring. I can see why this convenience could appeal to people who are busy with work, or busy parents or students.

However like I said in my intro, as soon as that box showed up on my doorstep I cancelled my subscription. 

WHY?!

For me there is one big issue, PRICING. Now it doesn't sound too bad until I ran the numbers on what I roughly spend per month. For me it's hard to justify spending that much on food regularly. Honestly the only reason I tried it out is because I had a $40 off coupon code.

You truly are paying for the convenience which is ok if that's what you want to do. However I'm in a time in my life where I don't need to pay for that convenience. I can buy the same ingredients (and use Walmart pick up if I need to make it easier) for much less. If you have an extra $60 a week I can see why busy or tired students, parents, workers or just regular people who want to be healthier, who want to be a better cook or even who wants to get out a dinner slump would enjoy this.

For me it's a great gift, it's a cool sometimes or maybe something I'd save up for busy times but as a constant weekly subscription (and being a super frugal person) it's not for me.

Hope that was a fair review for anyone who has been curious about Hello Fresh!