Hello Fresh review 2023 – get a steak dinner delivered this Father’s Day
HELLO FRESH seems to be everywhere, but does the meal kit delivery service live up to the hype? We tried out a week’s worth of Hello Fresh meals to put the kit to the test.
We love feeling organised at the start of the week, with a fridge full of healthy ingredients and a well-thought-out meal plan.
But unfortunately, we hate the process of achieving this: braving the shops on a Sunday afternoon, using our tired (and possibly hungover) brain to try and come up with a new meal idea before giving up and opting for one of the four meals we have on constant rotation.
We had seen Hello Fresh advertised before but assumed the meal kits would be way out of our price range. We were also under the impression that because we’re single and child-free, subscribing to a meal delivery service was a little lazy.
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The more we thought about it though, we concluded that we’re an adult and if there’s a way we can free up a bit more time there’s nothing wrong with making things a little easier for ourselves.
It’s also a great way of getting back into your daily routine after a holiday when you’ve got no food in. And if you’re looking to whip up something fancy for a date night or celebration, there’s a great selection of impressive meals (including a steak dinner that’s great for Father’s Day).
The first step in receiving a Hello Fresh box is selecting your plan. You can choose a meal plan for two, three, or four people, with three, four, or five recipes per week.
We opted for the five meals a week for two people option, which we liked the idea of because we’re usually cooking for one which meant we’d have leftovers for lunch every day.
The meal-kit options are mostly meat, pescatarian, veggie, family, quick cook, and calorie smart. We opted for pescatarian because we love fish and veggies, and selected the five meals that looked the tastiest.
Your box can be delivered seven days a week, and we chose Monday so we could start off the week with our meals in the fridge ready to go. We really liked how you could get it delivered on the day that best suits your schedule; flexibility is key.
Once the box arrived, our immediate reaction was to be impressed with how organised the whole thing was. All of the food was separated into different bags for each meal, with one bag that housed all the food that needed to be kept cool together.
Now, it was time to start cooking. Inside the box was a small stack of recipe cards that gave us a number that corresponded to a number on one of the bags in the fridge. The card also has the nutritional information and roughly how long it will take to cook.
We adore cooking, so we liked how with Hello Fresh we got to do the parts we enjoy (cooking and eating) and scrap the parts we don’t (shopping and thinking about what to cook).
The instructions on the recipe card are simply laid out in layman’s terms, so even the most inept home chefs would struggle to get it wrong. Over the course of the week, all of our meals turned out perfectly, even on the days we were tired and lacking focus.
Overall, we were very impressed with our Hello Fresh experience.
We’re far from fussy, but dinner is without a doubt the highlight of our day so we have fairly high expectations. Each of the meals from the kit was delicious and unique, so we were always excited to try something new.
We also liked how you get the keep the recipe cards, so if there was a meal we particularly enjoyed we can always refer back and make it again.
If you’re interested in trying Hello Fresh out for yourself, they have an amazing deal where you can get 50 percent off your first box, and 35 percent off the following three boxes. While this does mean you’re signing up for four weeks at once, those are some serious savings.
And to celebrate Father’s Day, Hello Fresh has added a steak dinner to its selection of meals. We tried it out and loved how fancy it felt, even without having to make too much effort.
Is Hello Fresh good?
In our experience, absolutely yes.
Our experience with Hello Fresh was a wholly positive one, and we will definitely be going back for more. While it’s probably not something we would do on a rolling basis, especially in summer when our social schedule gets a bit unpredictable, it is definitely something we can see ourselves doing as and when we need to.
How much is Hello Fresh in the UK?
If you’re living in the UK, Hello Fresh offers some big discounts on your first box.
If you’re a first time shopper, you can snag 60 percent off your first box, and then 25% off for two months.
This means your first box could be as low as £1.62 a serving, before reaching £3.25 at full price.
How much is Hello Fresh in the US?
While Hello Fresh in the US doesn’t currently offer a discount for first time shoppers, the prices are still very reasonable and start from $57.95.
Is Hello Fresh healthy?
‘Healthy’ has a different meaning for different people, and for us it’s eating lots of fresh vegetables and protein as part of a balanced diet, without compromising on taste. We found Hello Fresh offered deliciously healthy options with a variation that kept things interesting.
As we mentioned above, we tend to stick to a rather small rotation of meals which although they are healthy, tend to get a little boring, making Deliveroo all too appealing.
Some of the meals I made with Hello Fresh tasted a little richer than what I’m used to but when I compared the calories they were fairly similar, the Hello Fresh options were just a whole lot tastier.
Is Hello Fresh good for weight loss?
If you’re aiming to lose weight, Hello Fresh offers a calorie-smart option that is full of lean protein and wholesome ingredients that come under 650 calories a pop.
Far from the chicken, broccoli and brown rice blandness bonanza usually associated with diets, these calorie-smart meals include Tandoori chicken, butter bean and mushroom stew, and miso aubergine and sesame mayo, just to name a few.
In our experience, one of the trickiest parts of losing weight is watching our calorie intake without getting bored or even obsessive. Hello Fresh takes the guesswork and stress out of it for you, and gives you the ingredients to make balanced, delicious meals that aren’t calorie-dense.
While we didn’t get a calorie smart box, some of the meals in the box happened to be from the same range, so we did try a couple of them out and can confirm they are super tasty.
How to cancel Hello Fresh
Hello Fresh isn’t a service that locks you in for months at a time. They know circumstances can change so they make it super easy to cancel your subscription.
All you need to do is log in to your Hello Fresh account, click on your name and then head to settings, select the subscription you’re looking to cancel and click ‘cancel my subscription’ in the bottom right-hand corner.
A new screen will pop up that says ‘your subscription is now deactivated, and then you click please close to confirm.
You’ll then be sent an email confirming you’ve cancelled your subscription, and you’re all done.
Is Hello Fresh Halal?
Currently, Hello Fresh does not offer Halal meat.
This means that those who only eat Halal will not be able to opt for a meal box containing meat, but could still go for one of the vegetables or pescatarian boxes on offer if they’re still keen to try.
Can you freeze Hello Fresh meals?
There’s nothing worse than throwing out the ingredients of what would have been a delicious meal just because you ran out of time to eat it. While Hello Fresh makes cooking super simple, sometimes time just gets away from you and you’re left with a bunch of ingredients and no time to eat them.
In this situation, as long as the meal you’re making is freezer friendly, it should be fine to cook them and put them in the freezer for later.
If you’re wondering what kinds of meals turn into a sloppy mess when freezing and reheating; salads, pasta, eggs, and herbs don’t tend to fare well. On the other hand, curries, soups, stews, and a great deal more are perfect for sticking in the freezer and having a tasty dinner to look forward to.