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Which Meal Kit Is Better, Home Chef Or HelloFresh? Here’s What We Think


Why is it that eating a nutritious meal every day feels like such a chore? Between all the planning, searching for recipes, finding quality ingredients, and prepping, cooking can be daunting for the average person.

Thankfully, there are tons of meal kit companies out there to help busy individuals achieve a more balanced diet, even during their most hectic weeks. But which delivery service is truly worth it?

Our Food and Beverage editors did some online research and discovered that Home Chef and HelloFresh are the top two contenders. We tried both subscription-based services to decide which was the best-of-the-best.

Here’s what we found:

Key Similarities:

  • Both deliver fresh, pre-portioned ingredients to your door
  • Both services offer chef-designed recipes
  • Both services use recyclable packaging

Key Differences:

  • Home Chef allows you to customize the protein on select meals with their Customize It tool*
  • Unlike HelloFresh, Home Chef has 8 Oven-Ready options
  • Home Chef has the highest rate of customer satisfaction among leading meal kit companies**

Home Chef Overview

With Home Chef, you can choose from 30+ meals and 18 extras every week. There are traditional meal kits, Oven-Ready options, Express Meals ready in less than 15 minutes, and microwavable Fast & Fresh options. We really love the variety!

The great thing about Home Chef is that you can edit select meals with their Customize It tool so you can upgrade, swap, or double up on your favorite protein.

Home Chef has everything from breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to snacks. Their mouth-watering menu features dishes like Pasta with Sausage Ragu and Cheesy Tortilla Chicken. There are gourmet meals from the Culinary Collection meals, like Salmon and Pickled Ginger-Scallion Sauce, which you can also customize protein to your liking with Sirloin Steaks, USDA Choice New York Strip Steak, Salmon Filets, or Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts.

Being able to prep balanced meals such as Prosciutto Carbonara Spaghetti from their Express menu in only 10 minutes is a lifesaver on those stressful days. They have 8 Oven-Ready meals on their menu every week – a huge differentiator from other leading services. Simply assemble the ingredients in the Oven-Safe Tray (that comes with your order), pop it in the oven, and voilà! It's just like you worked over a hot stove for hours – with Home Chef, cooking is such a breeze!

HelloFresh Overview

HelloFresh is a meal kit service with many plan options and a wide variety of meals on their weekly menu –100+ options. However, we found it rather overwhelming to scroll through so many meals and click on ones we’d like to cook. This ordering process is quite time-consuming.

You can choose 2 servings or 4 servings up to 6 recipes a week. Their menu features recipes such as Meatloaf à la Mom, Sweet Corn, Bacon & Green Pepper Chowder, and One-Pan Beef Enchiladas Verdes. While we enjoyed their meals overall, we would have preferred that they have more Oven-Ready options on their menu.

Final Verdict

Overall, we adore Home Chef. Whether you’re a single, busy professional who only has a few minutes to prep your meals, or a family looking to feed picky eaters, Home Chef can meet your specific needs.

HelloFresh has lots of options, but Home Chef’s 8 Oven-Ready meals each week truly gives them the competitive edge.

Although we enjoyed meals from both companies equally, when it comes down to it, we’re so personally pleased with our Home Chef meals. It’s no surprise that Home Chef is #1 in Customer Satisfaction among meal kit companies!**

And with portions starting at only $7.99, their delicious meals are convenient and incredibly affordable. So we’re going with Home Chef.

FOR OUR READERS: Our friends at Home Chef are giving 18 MEALS FREE to new customers! Follow this link to get 18 MEALS FREE + FREE Shipping!!


Offer Expires In

*Source: https://www.homechef.com/customize-it

**Source: US Grocery Benchmark Study, April 2020, Market Force Information, Inc.

***source: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/hellofresh.com?stars=3