Now for something completely new for me…..a review…about food! 🙂

If you’re like me, I rarely usually end up getting in a bit of a what’s-for-dinner rut a few nights a week.  We have a basic “menu” of the things everyone likes, and we seldom get too far removed from that list.  When we get bored with that, we end up eating out or ordering pizza.  So the very idea of having produce, meat, spices and the accompanying recipes delivered to my door each week, makes me smile!

Hello Fresh is an innovative subscription service that delivers fresh ingredients right to your front door!  No last minute runs to the local grocery because you’re missing one ingredient needed for the recipe you planned to make for dinner.

According to the website, here’s how it works: 

The chefs at Hello Fresh create healthy recipes, you choose the three you’d like, they deliver all the ingredients to you, and you cook a great meal in 30 minutes or less.**

Each week you choose from Classic Box or Veggie Box.  With the Classic Box there are five entrees available, from which you choose three.  For the Veggie Box, just three delicious entrees are available. (If you forget to log in and select your choices by Wednesday of the preceding week, no worries, the chefs at Hello Fresh will select three entrees for you.)

If you’re going out of town or want to skip a week or two for other reasons, simply log into your account and pause your subscription.

So now, let’s put their claims to the test.  Below in bold are the claims from the website… 

Convenient and Easy – check

I love the convenience of having recipes and the food necessary for preparation delivered right to my door.  At least three nights a week, I won’t have to worry about what’s for dinner.

The website is easy to navigate, so setting up my account was a breeze!  Because I wan’t to try it out before I committed to anything, I chose to pause future deliveries until after we tried the recipes for the first week. If I was giving out a score of 1 – 10, I would award Hello Fresh a 10 for Convenient and Easy!

(While I have not cancelled my subscription yet, it appears to be just as simple.  Just make sure you email Hello Fresh your intention before the deadline for your next order.  See the Terms and Conditions for more information.)

Fresh Ingredients – check

All the produce, meat, and spices/herbs were incredibly fresh! I was a little concerned about that since it has been icy cold here in the north.  I was worried some of my produce might get a little frost bite.  But everything was perfect.

Exciting Recipes – check

This is one of my favorite things about Hello Fresh; trying new recipes that I probably would not have taken the time to look up and shop for. By dinner time, I just don’t have the energy left to figure it all out. Admittedly, if you’re the type of person who loves to plan out intricate meal plans in advance and shop accordingly, with great discipline, each week, this might take some of the fun out of it for you. But if you’re like me, and grow weary of figuring out whats for dinner every night, you might just love the ease of this!

Here are the three recipes I chose for our review week:

Classic Beef Stew with Chickpeas & Green Beans

I love the bright color of fresh veggies and meat. Here are the ingredients for our Classic Beef Stew:

We got just what we needed for the recipe and no extra. **The recipe was easy to follow, but it definitely took me longer than the 30 minutes stated above.  That could be partially due to my relative inexperience, but for me it was really closer to 1 hour.  (If you are an avid chef, you may be much faster than I am at prepping.) One mistake I made, was that I didn’t think to cut the meat into smaller pieces.  It was clearly visible in the picture on the recipe card, but I didn’t notice it. So the meat, while flavorful and fresh was a bit tough. Not the fault of the fine folks at Hello Fresh!

We absolutely loved the flavor of this stew! (Next time, I’ll remember to cut the meat into bite sized pieces and I probably would cut the green beans into one inch pieces as well.)

This is a recipe we would definitely make again.  It really hit the spot on this 24 degree day! 🙂

(As a side note: This was a recipe for two servings…there was easily enough for at least three and possibly four.)

Sautéed Chicken with Ginger Parsnips & Carrots

This one was a bit of a surprise for me.  Who would have thought that my picky eater would just love the carrots and parsnips!  Cooked carrots, in his world, are only meant for babies and people with no teeth!  He loved this!

Not great photo quality, the chicken does not looked browned enough and my toasted almonds don’t look quite toasty enough. In real life they were. We all really enjoyed the flavor of the vegetables.  As for the chicken, we would have preferred white meat, but it was still good.

Yogurt Marinated Shrimp over Arugula Salad

This was our only real exotic recipe in the bunch. I’m not sure I have ever used Turmeric and Cardamom.  Oops! Forgot to include the greek yogurt in the picture, but here are the rest of the ingredients we used:

Again, a surprise from the pickiest eater. This was his favorite recipe! When prepping the marinade, I did a little taste test and thought…oh no! I don’t think this is right.  But in the end, the shrimp were fabulous and paired with the arugla salad with fresh lime juice and olive oil and rice…Perfect!

The final claim that Hello Fresh makes is that you will….

Eliminate Waste – check

This is a big one for me.  How often do we purchase meat thinking we will have it tonight, then change our mind about what’s for dinner.  Days later is it still sitting in the refrigerator and I’m not sure if I should still use it?  Same thing with produce.  Seems like almost every week when I get ready to go grocery shopping, I first clean out the produce bin and find something that is no longer fresh and usable.  Ever need to by herbs or spices for a recipe, to never use them again?

Using Hello Fresh solves this problem perfectly by pre-measuring the ingredients to fit the recipe.  No more wasted spices in the drawer, no more thrown away produce.

Bottom line, we loved Hello Fresh and do not plan to cancel our subscription anytime soon. While we will probably not use the service every week, I love that I can control what weeks we choose to use Hello Fresh to add a few more exciting recipes to our table.  For our family of four, this is a great option and will prevent us from eating out so much. (Let’s face it, last time our family of four drove through Wendy’s it was $32.00 +, so not only are we getting a far healthier option, but we’re not using the gas to get there….and do not have to go out in the COLD!!)

Where to Order:

Click for more information

Subscription Pricing (as of this writing):

Classic Box – 3 Meals for 2 $69.00, 3 Meals for 4 $129.00 (delivery included)

Veggie Box – 3 Meals for 2 $59.00, 3 Meals for 4 $109.00 (delivery included)

E-Giftcards available

See Hello Fresh website for most current pricing and options.  Delivery is not yet available in all areas of the country, so please check the HelloFresh website.

Exclusively for our readers:  

Please enjoy $20 off your first order with this Referral Code: W5VNCS

As with any subscription purchase, please be sure you understand the Cancellation Policy and Terms of Use. Must cancel by email before Wednesday, 11:59 pm the week before your scheduled delivery.

Members of the Mosaic Reviews team received their choice of a Classic Box or Veggie Box in exchange for their honest reviews.  No other compensation of any kind has been received. Opinions may vary, so please feel free to click the Mosaic Review icon to read other reviews of Hello Fresh.