Hello Fresh Review – February 2018
Hello Fresh is a meal kit subscription service that sends pre-portioned ingredients and recipe cards (the cooking is up to you). There are a few of these type of subscriptions out there, but when a coworker offered me a code for a free box, I jumped on the chance.
The regular price for 3 meals (2 portions per meal) is $60. At $10 a portion, I’m not inclined to continue buying this at full price. However, we had good results the last time we tried Hello Fresh, so I wanted to give it another shot.
When I signed up, I was given the option to choose 3 meals from their recipe list for the following week. There are meat, fish, and vegetarian options. The ingredients and recipe cards are delivered on a specific day (that you select) in an insulated box and the meat or fish is packed separately and surrounded by ice packs. Our delivery arrived in the afternoon, so there was plenty of time to use it that evening.
The first meal we tried was Speedy Spinach Ricotta Ravioli. I don’t normally make pasta, so this was a bit of a treat for us.
It only took the allotted 20 minutes to put together, which is a huge improvement over Blue Apron. The pasta, sauce, and sausage were delicious together and made enough for us both to be satisfied. No leftovers from this one.
The second meal was Moo-Shu Pork Tacos. These featured ground pork with seasoning, cabbage, hoison sauce mayo, and radishes for an added crunch. The flavors were phenomenal and this was easily my favorite of the bunch. It is a bit out of the ordinary for us, but it’s certainly a dish I’ll make again. Plus, these also took less than 30 minutes to cook. I actually scarfed mine down before Jay even made it home from work. Oops.
The third meal was Southwestern Stuffed Peppers. Stuffed peppers were a classic for both of us growing up, but for some reason we never make them now. This recipe substituted quinoa for the traditional rice. Our only experience with quinoa is the crappy cold dish United serves on international flights. So, suffice to say we were a little nervous. Luckily, quinoa tastes much better when cooked and added to ground beef and tomatoes. The lime juice is also a delicious addition I wouldn’t have thought to include.
I’m sure I’ll make a version of this recipe again. Even though it took the longest to cook, we were still only looking at 35-40 minutes. My only change would be to add more seasoning, maybe some siracha? I might just have to figure out where to buy quinoa too!
Overall, I’m once again impressed with Hello Fresh. It’s a great option for getting out of a cooking rut and introduces just a few new ingredients without becoming overwhelming. I won’t continue to buy these boxes on a regular basis, but it might turn into a go-to option when we need fresh ideas.
If you’d like to try Hello Fresh for yourself, you can get $40 off your first box with this link.