Meal kit delivery services are popping up everywhere, they are by far one of the biggest fads of 2018. The lure is tempting, easy to follow instructions, perfect portions, everything you need without the grocery shopping. The most popular new services are Hello Fresh and Home Chef, they are also incredibly similar. After months of testing, I have found one to be clearly superior. Here are the differences, and which one you need to try asap!
PACKAGING
Both Home Chef & Hello Fresh have updated their packaging to entirely recyclable materials, which is nice because there is so much of it. The only thing seperating Hello Fresh would be their miniature name brand condiments such as jams or balsamic jars, much cuter than HC plain bottles. The flavor is the same, but the tiny jars just make each shipment so fun!
Winner: Hello Fresh
PORTIONS
Both Hello Fresh & Home Chef portions are quite generous. In fact, our party of five only orders for four! Home Chef tends to send more fresh produce than their counterpart, putting them at the top of this category.
Winner: Home Chef
PREP
I was most drawn to meal services because they promote easy to follow recipes that anyone could cook. Both services were delicious in the end but ran at different paces. Hello Fresh was a little more difficult, leaving me rushed to finish the meals. Home Chef recipes give me time to check on the children whilst cooking, making mealtime more enjoyable from start to finish.
Winner: Home Chef
RECIPES
I was looking for a variety of meal choices each week, with clever combinations, and a chance to try new things. Home Chef meals had more of a variety of recipes, with flavors from regions all over the world. Hello Fresh is more simple with their recipe types, typically a burger, pork, or chicken as the staple with different sauces or toppings each week. Bonus, my children have yet to refuse any of their meals, making dinner time more joyful for me to say the least.
Winner: TIE
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Reaching both support teams have always been easy enough until one was not. Hello Fresh had a computing error, leaving us with three meals portioned for two people, not our family of five. The kicker, I was told they do not have more food to send to fix the issue. I was offered a measly $20 credit to remedy the situation but decided to cancel the service instead. For what I pay, I expect convenience and reliability. The services are supposed to make my life easier, not the reverse. We have continued to use Home Chef for months without a single issue.
Winner: Home Chef
OVERALL
The time I am saving in shopping and meal prep is fantastic. Enjoying new recipes is costing us less, no need to purchase whole jars for ingredients we use once. The selections are amazing, produce is fresh, and my kids are finishing their plates. While Hello Fresh has cute jars of name brand ingredients, Home Chef has proven to be consistent with quality and reliability. I would love to share these meals with you and hear which recipes you enjoy most! Click HERE to receive $30 off your first order, and be sure to share photos of your first box!
Happy Mealtime,
Chelsey