You’ve probably seen Hello Fresh and Hello Fresh recipes everywhere by now. Whether your favorite Youtube star promotes Hello Fresh in every single video, you’ve heard about it on a podcast or seen it advertised all over social media, you’ve probably been exposed to Hello Fresh at least 100 times by this point- but can you trust those sources? If you’ve asked yourself, “Is Hello Fresh Worth it?”, you have come to the right place. This post is everything you need to know about Hello Fresh before you purchase, from an unbiased source. For me, the drawbacks to purchasing Hello Fresh for myself were:
- The uncertainty that the Hello Fresh testimonials I was hearing and seeing were biased by the fact the food is provided for free and endorsers are paid to promote it
- Ambiguity and mystery surrounding the price – do the $80 off discount codes really work??
- Will the price outweigh the amount I would be spending on the same items at the grocery store?
Well, today I am going to answer those three Hello Fresh questions and more, so you don’t have to wonder. In this Hello Fresh Review, I am going to answer: How does Hello Fresh work? How much does Hello Fresh cost? How customizable is Hello Fresh delivery? How does Hello Fresh taste? Is Hello Fresh good? How easy are Hello Fresh meals? How quickly do you have to eat your Hello Fresh meals? Is Hello Fresh worth it? How can you try Hello Fresh at the lowest cost possible? A Hello Fresh Discount Code Our Favorite Hello Fresh Meals The Cons of Hello Fresh and more!
How does Hello Fresh work?
You may already know by now, but at its most basic form, Hello Fresh is a meal kit delivery service. For a set fee, Hello Fresh will deliver up to six meals a week, in two or four serving increments. Order deliveries can be as frequent or as infrequent as you would like, and delivery days and locations are completely customizable. There are around 21 meals to choose from each week, and you can choose from the following menu preferences:
- Meat and Veggies (what we always do)
- Veggie
- Family Friendly
- Calorie Smart
- Quick & Easy
- Pork Free
- Pescatarian
You might be wondering, does Hello Fresh have vegan meals? No, they do not! There are also optional additions you can order with your box each week, including ready made meals, sides, desserts, breads, breakfasts, snacks, salads, pastas and other regular grocery items. There is a lot to choose from. It’s almost entirely possible to order enough food for the entire week if that is your desire and in your budget. 
How much does Hello Fresh cost?
The most important factor for me- how much does Hello Fresh cost? I’m going to give you the most basic amounts, and then I will go into the different add on prices that are completely optional. Also, you should note that the following prices do not change based on your selected menu preference. You will pay the same amount below if you get meat & veggies or if you get pescatarian or veggie.
- Three, two serving meals (six servings total)
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Price per serving: $8.99
Shipping: $8.99
Tax: $4.20
Total price: $67.13
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- Three, four serving meals (twelve servings total)
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Price per serving: $7.49
Shipping: $8.99
Tax: $6.45
Total price: $105.32
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- Add ons:
- There are gourmet (An extra $6.99 a meal), gourmet plus (An extra $8.99 a meal) and “taste tour” (An extra $6.99) meals that do cost extra. These meals are very clearly marked as costing more per serving, and you can easily skip these. The taste tour meals come with extra sides, breads, etc. and are more for a family, Sunday meal. The gourmet meals usually contain a higher priced meat, like steak or beef tenderloin.
- Like I mentioned above, you can easily add on breakfasts, lunches, pantry items and more. Here are some average prices for those.
- Breakfast spinach, feta and egg bites, $7.99
- Four cheese pizza (2 servings), $8.98
- Prosciutto Caprese Sandwiches (2 servings), $15.98
- Garlic bread loaf, $3.99
- New England Clam Chowder (3-4 servings), $11.99
- Single serve cheesecakes (4), $14.49
As you can probably tell, you can really make your Hello Fresh order as affordable or as lavish as you want. Something that was really surprising for me was salmon costing the same as the other meals. For some reason, I thought salmon would be included in the pricier meals, but a lot of the fish options are the same price as the regular meals.
How customizable is a Hello Fresh delivery?
The element of customization is one of my personal favorite aspects of Hello Fresh.
- Meal type: Almost completely customizable. While you can’t pick different meats, sides, etc. to make your own meal, you can use the menu preference tool to get a selection of meals that will be right up your alley.
- Meal selection: You can select exactly which meals you would like but only from their menu that week. If you do not log on to select your meals in enough time before your delivery date, they will pick the meals for you. This has happened to us once, but we still liked all the meals we got!
- Delivery schedule: You can completely customize your Hello Fresh delivery schedule. They do not deliver on the weekend or on Mondays, but other than that, you can select the exact day and location your Hello Fresh will come. You can pre-select your delivery schedule to deliver every week, every other week, every three weeks, whatever you want. So if you’re asking, can you skip weeks in Hello Fresh? The answer is yes. Right now, we set ours to deliver every last week of the month.
How does Hello Fresh taste?
This was one of my biggest concerns before purchasing Hello Fresh. I was worried the vegetables and meat would be artificial tasting, and no matter how many paid testimonials I watched, I just couldn’t trust their reviews of Hello Fresh. It seemed really hard to trust someone who was being paid to promote it, on top of receiving the food for free. I am here to tell you- Hello Fresh tastes delicious and the ingredients and meals taste exactly like those you would find and purchase from the grocery store. For the time and incredible flavors, I would consider the meals are slightly even better than those I could put together in an equal amount of time at home. My cousin did tell me that her sons, around the age of five and three, didn’t love the Hello Fresh meals, so I think it would be important to evaluate if your kids would eat almost anything or if they like more “kid friendly” options. I also want to point out that Hello Fresh always marks when a meal is spicy. I did wonder if Hello Fresh meals are spicy before purchasing, but I like that it tells me beforehand so I can avoid the spice.
How easy are Hello Fresh meals? How fast are Hello Fresh Meals?
Hello Fresh meals are extremely easy. I think it’s a great way to learn to cook, but these are also fun enough for seasoned chefs to whip up. The time commitment is minimal, with the average meal taking 20 minutes, the longest meals usually taking around 40 mins and the shortest taking around 20 minutes. I’m going to go out on a limb and say even the least experienced cooks can succeed in making a really impressive meal with Hello Fresh!
How quickly do you have to eat your Hello Fresh meals? What is the Hello Fresh shelf life?
The Hello Fresh website recommends preparing your meat-based meals within five days and your seafood meals within two days.
Is Hello Fresh worth it?
I wish I had a clear answer to this question, but I think it really depends. If you’re someone who has the time, resources and desire to meal plan, coupon clip, shop around at different stores, etc., I think you might find Hello Fresh to be more expensive than you usually like. When I am watching my budget, I can get away with spending around ~$80 a week on groceries (including everything for meals, snacks, breakfasts, la croix, you name it) if we don’t need a lot of hygiene products that week. So, spending $60 for only three meals that week eats basically my entire budget. I will say though, getting to that $80 mark takes time. I have to research affordable, yet delicious, interesting and healthy, go to multiple grocery stores (definitely Aldi, Kroger at least) and spend at least an hour each night making the meals. This regular grocery store approach was great for me when I only worked part time, but now that I work full time, Hello Fresh is worth it for me, especially for only once a month. That one week a month when we have Hello Fresh feels so much lighter and easier for me.
How can you try Hello Fresh at the lowest cost possible?
The cheapest possible way to try Hello Fresh is to get a free box coupon from someone. These come in boxes or are given to existing members. Try reaching out to people you know who use Hello Fresh to see if they have one free box coupon they aren’t using.
Hello Fresh discount code
If you don’t know anyone who uses Hello Fresh, you can use this discount code for $40 off. I see a lot of Youtubers share codes for “$8o off your Hello Fresh,” or “10 free meals” but I think in most cases those large discounts are spread out over multiple box orders, so it’s a little misleading. 
Our favorite Hello Fresh meals
Keep in mind, the menu changes each week, but the meals come back into the rotation regularly. When I first posted I was trying Hello Fresh, I had so many people tell me they had tried a specific one I posted. Here are the best Hello Fresh meals in my opinion, but the website will also mark “fan favorite” recipes when they’re in the rotation. I will try to update this section when we try a new favorite. Which Hello Fresh meals are the best?
- Pork Sausage Rigatoni in a Creamy Sauce, with bell peppers and lemon
- Crispy Buffalo-spiced chicken (this one is marked as spicy, but I didn’t think it actually was) with blue cheese sauce, scallion mashed potatoes and carrots
- Pork and Poblano Tacos, with Kiwi Salsa and Lime Crema
- Beef Bulgogi Bowls with Carrots, Cucumber and Sriracha Crema
- Salmon in a creamy dijon chive sauce, with roasted potato wedges and lemony zucchini
- Spec’taco’lar Chicken Rice Bowls
- Baja Barramundi
- Smoky Barramundi with Brown Butter
- BBQ Pineapple Faltbreads
- One-pan Cantina Shrimp Fajitas
- Yucatan Citrus Chicken Bowls
- Smoky Honey-roasted Carrot, Farro & Kale Salad
- Middle Eastern Chickpea Bowls
- Any of the tacos (honestly we love almost all the Mexican inspired dishes)
- Any of the flatbreads
We have liked all the other meals we’ve tried, but these are just the ones that stand out to us.
Issues You Might Have With Hello Fresh
So, you may be asking yourself, what’s not to love about Hello Fresh? Well, there are actually a few things I would like to point out. I think they overestimate how many cooking tools/ingredients people already have. For example, I lived at my brother’s house one summer, and he is the definition of a bachelor. He only had butter in his fridge when I moved in, and it was expired. He definitely had enough pots and pans but not much more than that. I’ve found that a ton of the meals call for a zester- my mom who is a really regular cook doesn’t even own a zester. They also assume you already have salt, pepper, olive oil and sometimes sugar. My brother didn’t have olive oil or sugar and barely had salt and pepper. I think he is in the least common situation, but that’s just something to keep that in mind! Sometimes the recipes are very prep heavy and require more chopping time than estimated. Every now and then, especially with vegetable heavy meals, the chopping can feel like it takes forever. Even more so if you’re getting the four serving option! It can be a lot. Otherwise, I think the timing is spot on. On face value, it seems wasteful. The first time I tried Hello Fresh, I felt it was really wasteful. With everything individually packaged, it seems like you’re creating so much extra waste. For example, if sour cream is in the meal, they might send four to-go size servings of sour cream instead of one bigger one. However, according to the Hello Fresh website, they actually have a 25% less carbon footprint than meals bought through the grocery store. Take that for what you will, but I do think creating less actual food waste is a positive.
Hello Fresh reviews can be hard to trust, but I promise everything here is 100% my true opinion, and I am not being paid to say any of this! I wish I was honestly, haha. Again, I hope this post informed you on Hello Fresh menus, Hello Fresh prices, Hello Fresh discount code, Hello Fresh customer services and more. Please let me know if you have any Hello Fresh questions! By the way, I chronicle my adventures with Hello Fresh over on my Instagram with really fun and interactive videos and stories, I would love if you followed along over there! Is Hello Fresh worth it? I think you know my answer!
