If you’re here then the chances are you’re researching meal kit delivery services. Worry not as you just landed on the right place. In this article, we’ll tell you what meal delivery service (in case you’re meeting these terms for the first time) is. Other questions that we’ll be answering include what HelloFresh is? How does HelloFresh work? How much does it cost? Also, we outline the available meals and recipes.
We go the extra mile and make a comparison between HelloFresh and Blue Apron meal kit delivery services. So, HelloFresh vs Blue Apron, which one is better? We’ll let you know. We wrap up our review by letting you know whether or not there are promo codes and coupons on offer. Let’s cut the chase and dive straight in, shall we?
Try HelloFresh Now!Table of Content
1. What is a meal delivery service?
2. What is HelloFresh?
3. How does HelloFresh work?
4. HelloFresh Meals and Recipes
5. HelloFresh Wine Club
6. How much does the HelloFresh meal delivery service cost?
7. HelloFresh Deliveries
8. HelloFresh vs Blue Apron
9. HelloFresh Pros and Cons
10. HelloFresh promo codes and coupons
11. Bottom Line
12. FAQs
What is a meal delivery service?
A meal delivery service prepares, and package pre-portioned meals then deliver to customers’ homes. These meals can either be fresh (straight from the farm) or frozen (semi-cooked). With these services, you’re sure to eat a balanced and healthy meal. Foods come with easy-to-follow recipes and often take between 20 to 45 minutes to prepare. The service provider packs each lunch individually and labels them with nutritional benefits. Unlike other online food delivery such as pizza, these companies operate their businesses in a subscription setting.
What is HelloFresh?
HelloFresh is a meal delivery service company with its headquarters in Germany. The company has been operating in the US since 2012. Being among the first meal delivery service providers, HelloFresh ensures that its customers enjoy every bit of what they have to offer. With HelloFresh as your meal kit service, you get to prepare your favorite home dishes without having to go through the hectic traditional meal preparation process. No more going to the stores to collect a bunch of ingredients, not forgetting the task that comes with first deciding what to cook.
Since its inception, HelloFresh has strived to improve its services. It’s a company that’s trusted by hundreds of thousands of US citizens. First, it delivers high-quality ingredients. Second, their deliveries are never late, and the quality of their customer service is pretty cool. The company also allows maximum flexibility of its subscriptions – you can skip weeks or cancel your subscription whenever you like. HelloFresh brings simplicity into the cooking experience. The level of your cooking experience doesn’t matter.
From a 20-minute meal to taste tours – whether you want some gourmet, veggie, one-pot wonder or some craft burgers, make your order from the wide variety and HelloFresh will make it happen. Apart from having a wide range of recipes on its plans, the company ensures that these recipes keep changing to give its customers great experiences ever. Other than the average weekly menus, the introduction of wines, lunch add-ons together with more allergy-friendly options has seen the company remain on top of the game. Delivering chef-crafted meals yet fresh and affordable makes HelloFresh one of the best meal kit delivery services we’ve seen so far.
How does HelloFresh work?
You won’t believe how easy it is to get started with HelloFresh. The first thing you’ll have to do is sign up either on the website or via their app. These platforms are easy to navigate and use. But before you create your account, you must first select a plan. To build your meal plan, choose from the four available options. You can either select Meat and Veggies, Veggie, Family Friendly, or Low-Calorie Plans. Then select the number of people you’d like to cook for, that is 2 or 4, and the recipes per week – 2, 3, or 4. After signing up, you’ll be three steps away from enjoying your homemade meal. Here is what follows after you create your account – navigate to ‘My Menu tab’ to customize your meals accordingly.
So, as you can see, it’s pretty easy to set the ball rolling. Just three simple steps and you’re done. First, pick a plan, second, you get your delivery, and finally, you cook, eat, and enjoy. Note that all the programs are flexible and you’re free to switch between them and the most exciting part, you can skip a week without any worries. And that’s not all. If by any reasons you feel like you do not want to continue with your subscription, then you’re free to cancel it.
Canceling or skipping is done directly via your account, at the comfort of your couch or whatever place you’re. No explanation whatsoever is needed when terminating your subscription. The only thing you should be sound of is when to do it. Ideally, skipping or cancelation of your meal plan should be done in advance. That is, five days before your next scheduled delivery.
What makes HelloFresh even more convenient is how you get to decide on the number of meals every week, how many servings per recipe, and when your food should be delivered.
HelloFresh Meals and Recipes
Here comes the fun part. As we mentioned earlier, you get to choose from the four unique meal plans that HelloFresh offers. The Meat and Veggies, Veggie, Family Friendly, and the Low-Calorie plan. Sometimes these plans are referred to as Classic, Veggie, Family, and Calorie Smart. HelloFresh recipes are ideal for families, singles, vegetarian, and even for those to prefer gluten-free food. Every plan comes with its ordering options. It’s good to mention that HelloFresh has culinary and sourcing teams that work behind the curtains to ensure their recipe development is sustainable, delicious, and environmentally friendly.
Before we forget, you can always check the cookbook category for over 2500 delicious and quick recipes – which are easy-to-cook meals. Understand that these can be overwhelming. But that should not scare you away. If you find it demanding to go through this category with recipes for quick meals, hall of fame, world cuisines, and the most popular methods among others; there’s always an alternative under ‘Our Menu’ tab. There, you’ll find enough weekly recipes to pick from, and maybe be spoiled for choice.
There is a total of 17 hellofresh recipes to choose from every week. However, there is only one plan that can allow you to explore all the 17 recipes. Read on to know which plan it is and what to expect from each of the other remaining plans. In the low-calorie plan, you’ll get a vast selection of dietitian-approved meals.
HelloFresh meal plans explained
Understanding what each meal plan has to offer in any meal delivery service not only make you familiar with what you’re about to get yourself into; but also helps you distinguish between an average meal kit delivery service and the best meal kit delivery service. You want to ensure that the ingredients in the meals you order are best for your health. Let’s have a more in-depth look at what the four distinct plans have to bring on the table.
The Classic Plan or Meat & Veggies
With this plan, you have all the freedom to select what you want. It’s the only plan that allows you to explore all the 17 recipes available per week. Order two, three, or four recipes per week for two people or two or three recipes for four people every week.
The Classic plan is ideal for folks who like getting out of their way to get that extra touch. It is where you get your hands on some global recipes with traditional tweaks that are incredible. Also, the classic plan recipes have nutritional and allergen info, the cooking time and the hard level all labeled. You can always check this plan for the 20-minutes meal recipe.
The Veggie Plan
Here, you’ll have to order two or three recipes per week for two or four people. Every week lets you order three veggie recipes. This plan contains handpicked vegetarian-friendly proteins, seasonal produce, and healthy grains. Typical recipes include pasta, flatbreads, and cheese which seems to dominate.
Note that once you settle for this plan, there’s no option to tweak your recipes selection. HelloFresh always makes the final selection for you. We think the main reason behind that is because this plan targets vegetarian and allowing you to make some tweaks might be disastrous, maybe.
The Family Friendly Plan
The Family plan is perfect for feeding a family of four. You are free to choose up to nine recipes per week. What we like most about this plan is that the recipes are good enough not to scare the kids away and still meet the expectations of a delicious meal for everyone. The main dishes include risottos, pork chops, and tacos. You require to use two pots and the meals will be ready within 30 minutes or less.
The Low-Calorie Plan
There are three calorie-smart recipes in this plan. If you decide to choose this plan, then you can determine if you want to cook for two or four people. There are two, three, or four recipes available for this plan. These recipes often include mustard chicken, roasted veggies, stuffed poblanos from the southwest. No matter what recipe you pick or the number of people, you’ll always receive a vast selection of dietician meals with each having about 650 calories.
Whether you’re interested in the Classic Plan or the Calorie-Smart Plan, you can view all the weekly menus in advance and plan. All orders are delivered with pre-portioned ingredients along with easy-to-follow recipes. You’ll even find the best cooking tips included. Please note that components such as butter, salt, cooking oil, sugar, and pepper are not inclusive.
Unfortunately, HelloFresh is not ideal for persons with dietary restrictions. If you’re vegan or looking for something Paleo or Keto, maybe you should try Green Chef, or look elsewhere. Finally, HelloFresh meals take between twenty and forty minutes to prepare.
HelloFresh Wine Club
Things have never been this interesting with meal delivery service. You can now get cozy by joining the HelloFresh Wine Club. You don’t have to be a subscriber of their other meal delivery services for you to benefit with this option. If all you need is wine, excellent. Head to the wine page and choose your preference. You can then register with either Facebook, Google or Email. Once done, you’ll fill in your address information then proceed to checkout. It’s that easy.
There are three wine plans available: The Mixed Wine Plan, the Red Wine Plan, and the White Wine Plan. You get to enjoy six bottles of these top-quality wines delivered to your doorstep each month. Just like the meal plans, you can skip, change, or cancel your plan whenever you feel like. If you’d like to pair your wine with meals, then HelloFresh has your back. You can learn all you need to know from their meal pairings and tasting notes.
But learning the tricks behind wine pairing is not necessary. HelloFresh has their sommelier who hand-sips each wine bottle, then carefully pairs them with your meals. All you have to do is match the icon next to your wine bottle with the one on your recipe card; the rest is a mystery. Whether you’d like to enjoy the creamy, light, fruity, bold, smooth, bubbly, or earthy wine, you know what to do.
How about making your next dinner or dessert amazing with a splash of the wine of your choice? You don’t have to finish the whole bottle. Save some for later by storing the opened wines on their side to keep them fresh.
How much does HelloFresh Wine cost?
The cost of wine is straightforward. A bottle (750ml) cost $14.83, that is $89.00 per month for the six bottles. The price cuts across all the three plans. With a 100% satisfaction guarantee, you can return your wine if you change your mind. Note that the wine can only be delivered to adults aged 21 years and above. You can also change your delivery date and address. However, for account changes to take effect, you need to do the changes by 12 p.m. EST, nine days before your next scheduled delivery.
How Much Does HelloFresh Cost?
The amount you pay depends on the number of persons you wish to feed and recipes per week. The prices range between $7.49 and $10.99 per serving. We’ll breakdown the costs for all the plans with a different number of people and recipes per week for easy understanding.
The Meat and Veggies Plan cost $10.99 per serving for two people and two recipes per week. If you select two people and three recipes per week, you’ll pay $8.99 per serving. Two people and four recipes per week cost $8.99 per serving. Now, if you’d like to cook for four people with two recipes per week, you’ll pay $8.99 per serving. For four people with three or four recipes per week, you’ll pay $7.49 per serving.
The Veggie Plan costs $10.99 for two people with two recipes every week. If you’d like to feed two people with three or four recipes every week, then you’ll pay $8.99 per serving. A plan to feed four people with two recipes per week cost $8.99 per serving. For four people with either three or four recipes per week, the price drops to $7.49 per serving.
For the Family-Friendly Plan, to feed two people with two recipes every week, you’ll pay $10.99 per serving. Feeding the same two people with three or four recipes per week cost $8.99 per serving. To feed four people with two recipes per week, you pay $8.99 per serving. For four people with three or four recipes every week, you pay $7.49 per serving.
The Low-Calorie Plan costs $10.99 for two people with two recipes per week. To cook for two persons with three or four recipes per week, you pay $8.99 per serving. If you’d like to cook for four people with two recipes per week, then you’ll pay $8.99 per serving. Cooking for four people with three or four recipes every week will cost you $7.49 per serving.
Shipping fee is constant – $6.99 for all the plans regardless of the number of people and the recipes per week. If you’re keen, you’ve realized that there’s no difference in the pricing for all the four plans.
HelloFresh Meal Delivery
HelloFresh meals are currently available throughout the continental US except for Hawaii and Alaska. Deliveries arrive in well packed and in insulated boxes which are recyclable or reusable. All ingredients are always intact and fresh. You get to decide on the days to receive your shipment which makes the service flexible and convenient.
HelloFresh vs Blue Apron
HelloFresh vs Blue Apron – which is better? We’ve put together a few comparison points to see their similarities and differences. Let’s have a look below.
Hellofresh Pricing
Well, both HelloFresh and Blue Apron have prices that range from $7.49 to $10.00 per serving.
Options for those with special dietary needs
HelloFresh does not have menus that are set explicitly for customers with nutritional challenges. However, they have a vegetarian plan so that customers who have some restrictions can opt to choose. Blue Apron, on the other hand, offers a vegetarian plan and provide options for those who don’t eat red meat or chicken.
However, the meal delivery service does not have special menus for people with allergies. Here both companies are not straightforward when it comes to options for people with dietary challenges. But Blue Apron seems to offer better opportunities for these people.
Food Quality, Variety and Selection
There’s no doubt that HelloFresh has high-quality food. The reason is straightforward – there is a team of culinary chefs and dietitians who work tirelessly to ensure that their customers receive new and unique recipes every week. You can also browse through their different varieties and check through the ‘Hall of Fame section what many customers liked most.
Blue Apron on the other side also does pretty well. They have different meal options for their customers to choose from every week. Besides, their customers can access nutritional info for every meal. We feel like HelloFresh is better than Blue Apron when it comes to quality but Blue Apron outshines HelloFresh on variety.
Hellofresh Delivery
HelloFresh pre-measures the ingredients and packs them in eco-friendly boxes. The boxes are well insulated, which makes them safe for food deliveries. Every meal is delivered with a recipe that is easy-to-follow and nutritional info. All the ingredients are correctly labeled. Blue Apron on the other hand, also packs their components in insulated thermal liners. The ingredients are supplied with a comprehensive recipe, nutritional information and step-by-step instructions.
Both companies assume that the consumer has things such as salt, pepper, butter, and cooking oil, and therefore do not include those ingredients. Generally, the packaging done by HelloFresh is better than that of Blue Apron in terms of ingredient labeling and insulation.
Hellofresh Meals Preparation
Preparation for both take between 30 and 45 minutes to complete. There’s no significant difference in the preparation time, although HelloFresh seems to be quite better.
Our Verdict
Just like beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, different people will have different opinions about these two meal delivery services. As you can see, each has a place that it does better, although HelloFresh seems to surpass Blue Apron. In our opinion, though, HelloFresh wins when it comes to simplicity, quality, and packaging and Blue Apron wins when it comes to shipping (free for large meals), and tastes great.
HelloFresh Pros and Cons
Pros
- Perfect packaging
- Food tastes good
- Healthy plans
- Excellent customer service
- Easy to cancel or skip plans
- Vast recipes
- Wine club
Cons
- No free shipping
- Meal plans lack options for people with dietary restrictions
HelloFresh Promo Codes and Coupons
HelloFresh coupons are exciting. There is a whopping 20% off first four orders. You save approx. $80.00. It is also possible to get some HelloFresh promo codes that can save you some cool bucks. When you visit the HelloFresh website and signup for a subscription, you can also navigate to the top right side and hit the gift card button. While there, you’ll be able to gift your loved ones through the available amounts of $60.93, $78.91, $96.87, and $126.83.
Bottom Line
Try HelloFresh Now!If you’re looking for simplicity with class, then HelloFresh is an ideal meal kit delivery service for you. You get to enjoy from a variety of plans with simple recipes. Meals are ready within the shortest time possible. Meaning you’ll not spend hours in the kitchen and therefore have enough time to handle other essential things. Everything is simplified for you, from HelloFresh recipes to high-quality fresh ingredients. Never settle for those junkie fast foods again when you can have your homemade meals ready in less than an hour.
FAQs
Is HelloFresh worth it?
Yes. HelloFresh is an excellent meal delivery service that offers high-quality and fresh meals to its customers’ doorstep. It’s flexible and convenient. Has perfect customer service and you can terminate your subscription whenever you want. Above all, it delivers what it promises.
Can you cancel HelloFresh after free box?
Absolutely. There are no commitments with HelloFresh. Be sure to cancel your subscription by 11.59 p.m. PST five days before your next scheduled delivery.
How much does HelloFresh cost?
HelloFresh pricing is transparent. It costs between $7.49 and $10.99 per serving. The more people you cook for and the more recipes you choose per week, the little you pay per serving.
Can I choose my recipes?
Yes. You’re free to choose your recipes with the Classic Plan or the Family-Friendly plan.