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Hello Fresh Subscription Box Review + Coupon – June 2016

Lindsey Morse
ByLindsey MorseJul 25, 2016 | 8 comments

HelloFresh-June-2016-Box

HelloFresh
3.9 overall rating
44 Ratings | 29 Reviews

Hello Fresh is a weekly meal delivery subscription that sends healthy recipes and the pre-measured ingredients you need to make them at home. 

It’s easy to skip deliveries using the Hello Fresh website, and you can skip as many weeks as you like.

Check out all of our reviews of Meal Delivery Services to see every meal kit subscription box option!

My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

HelloFresh-June-2016-Contents

The Subscription Box: Hello Fresh

The Cost: The Classic Food Box (for omnivores) starts at $9.90 per person per meal. The Veggie Box (for herbivores) starts at $9.08 per person per meal. The Family Box (for families) costs $8.75 per person per meal.

ACTIVE DEAL: 16 Free Meals (Offer is for new subscriptions only across 9 boxes and varies by plan) + First Box Ships Free + 3 Surprise Gifts
CODE: MSA16HF

The Products: Healthy recipes and pre-portioned fresh ingredients.

Ships to: The contiguous US.

Check out all our Hello Fresh reviews and the Food Subscription Box Directory for more meal boxes!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

HelloFresh-June-2016-BoxedIngredients

The ingredients for each recipe come packed in a brown box.

HelloFresh-June-2016-GnocchiNote

I received a reminder not to forget about my gnocchi (which was packed underneath a layer of ice with the meats)!

HelloFresh-June-2016-Booklet

Hello Fresh includes a booklet that spotlights seasonal ingredients and includes your recipes for the week. This week’s booklet featured a prominent reminder that deliveries during the week of July 4th might be disrupted.

HelloFresh-June-2016-Cake

The booklet also included a recipe for a 4th of July cake!

Sautéed Shrimp and Collard Greens over Cheddar Grits

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 462

HelloFresh-June-2016-ShrimpCard

Shrimp & grits is one of my favorite brunch dishes, and I’ve been trying to teach myself how to make perfect grits at home. When I saw this dish, I knew I had to try it!

HelloFresh-June-2016-ShrimpPrep

Prep for this dish was pretty simple. The most time consuming part was cleaning and trimming the collard greens— they were really gritty!

After I finished my prep, I started cooking the grits in a combination of milk, water, and salt.

HelloFresh-June-2016-ShrimpVeg

While the grits simmered, I cooked the greens and blistered the tomatoes. When the were ready, I set them aside and cooked the shrimp with salt, pepper, and chili flakes.

HelloFresh-June-2016-ShrimpGrits

Next, I finished the grits by stirring in cheddar cheese and adjusting the seasoning. I think the cooking time suggested for the grits was a little too long (they were VERY thick), so I thinned them by adding extra milk.

I divided the grits between two bowls and topped each one with shrimp and veggies.

HelloFresh-June-2016-ShrimpPlated

Overall, I enjoyed this dish. The collards were great, and I enjoyed the spiciness of the shrimp. I think, though, that this dish was missing something. Sauce, maybe? A few crumbles of bacon would also have been a delicious addition.

Pan-Seared Gnocchi with Pesto, Green Beans, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 441

HelloFresh-June-2016-GnocchiCard

Usually, I like to read the full descriptions of all the dishes offered for the week before selecting my meals, but the photo of this gnocchi had me hooked immediately. It looked so good!

HelloFresh-June-2016-GnocchiPrep

To begin, I cleaned and prepped all of my veggies.

HelloFresh-June-2016-GnocchiMushrooms

I sautéed mushrooms with salt and pepper in a little olive oil and blanched the green beans.

HelloFresh-June-2016-GnocchiBoil

When the veggies were ready, I set them aside and boiled the gnocchi.

I allowed it to cook for only a couple of minutes before draining it really well and pan searing it in a little olive oil.

HelloFresh-June-2016-GnocchiMix

After the gnocchi developed a nice crust, I added the mushrooms, beans, chopped sundried tomatoes, and the provided packet of pesto.

HelloFresh-June-2016-GnocchiReady

As soon as I stirred everything together, I wished that I hadn’t added all of the pesto at once. (I love pesto, but the dish was a little heavily sauced for my liking.) I divided the gnocchi between two bowls, topped each one with parmesan, and garnished each with a lemon wedge.

HelloFresh-June-2016-GnocchiPlated

This meal was comforting and tasty, but I would have enjoyed it more with less sauce. Also, I noticed that Hello Fresh’s photo of this dish showed that it was topped with walnuts, and there were no walnuts provided with the actual dish. Maybe it’s a little nitpicky, but it’s a big pet peeve of mine when a meal delivery company features an inaccurate picture of a dish. If there’s something in the photo (even something small like a garnish of nuts or fresh herbs), I want to see it in the box!

Speedy Italian Meatballs with Smoked Tomato Linguine

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 851

HelloFresh-June-2016-MeatballCard

The last meal I selected for this box was Speedy Italian Meatballs with Smoked Tomato Linguine.

Pasta is one of those things I never get sick of, and I’m always looking for new recipes!

HelloFresh-June-2016-MeatballPrep

To prep for this dish, I finely chopped a (very large) carrot and an onion.

HelloFresh-June-2016-MeatballVeg

I sautéed the veggies together over medium heat with a little olive oil, stirring them until they softened.

HelloFresh-June-2016-MeatballSauce

Next, I added tomatoes to the pan with water, smoked paprika, sugar, and salt & pepper.

While the sauce simmered, I boiled the pasta and made “quick meatballs” by forming Italian sausage into balls. I cooked the meatballs in a pan until they were cooked through and then added them to the sauce along with some thyme and parmesan.

HelloFresh-June-2016-MeatballPlated

I plated the pasta and topped each plate with sauce, meatballs, and a little extra parmesan cheese.

HelloFresh-June-2016-MeatballPlatedClose

This dish was tasty! (Can you ever go wrong with Italian sausage?) There was a little too much meat in this dish for me personally, but my husband had no complaints.

Verdict: This box from Hello Fresh was pretty good. For my husband and I, the shrimp & grits and pasta definitely came out on top. Value wise, Hello Fresh is competitively priced within the meal box subscription market. Their price per meal is less than Plated and about the same as Blue Apron and Home Chef.

Do you subscribe to Hello Fresh? If so, which meals did you pick last week?

Starting at $56.95
Active Deal
16 Free Meals (Offer is for new subscriptions only across 9 boxes and varies by plan) + First Box Ships Free + 3 Surprise Gifts
Use Coupon Code MSA16HF
Subscribe Now

HelloFresh is a popular meal kit delivery service and subscription that takes the guesswork out of planning and prepping home-cooked meals. Feed your family or just yourself with quality pre-portioned and fresh ingredients, and easy-to-follow recipes that you can choose week by week. No grocery s... read more.

Lindsey Morse
Lindsey Morse

Lindsey is a professional baker, cold brew coffee addict, and rosé aficionado who loves writing about food and wine. When she’s not sharing her love of subscription boxes with the world, you’ll find her in the podcasting studio, perfecting her cake decorating techniques, or cursing her way through the New York Times daily crossword puzzle. 


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8 comments

Lynn

How in the world do you use Glossy boxes $50 off cards for Hello Fresh? They say you can only use them for new accounts but there an automatic $40 coupon code applied when you open a new account. So ridiculous.

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KC

I received some Hello Fresh discount coupons in my Glossyboxes this month that I will never use. (The service just doesn’t interest me. )

If anyone wants them, both are for $50 off your first 2 boxes. :

~ 1A277U942
~ 1A296U705

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Katherine

I’m wondering if you guys could review the “Munchery” box. They state that meals only take 15 minutes from start to finish and I’m wondering how it works and how delicious/nutritious the food is.

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Amy

Munchery isn’t actually a meal-prep service, their meals are delivered already prepared and just needing to be warmed up.

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Liz Cadman

Thanks for the suggestion! Right now it looks like they don’t ship to any of our reviewers locations, but I’ll keep an eye on it. Hopefully they expand their delivery zones soon! 🙂

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Randi

that gnocchi dish looks so good (does look like a lot of pesto though) – I wish there was an option to get past dishes from time to time

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Vanessa

I really enjoyed this review. It’s been about a year since I’ve ordered from Hello Fresh; I found that I prefer the recipes from Plated and Home Chef. But it looks like Hello Fresh has really stepped up their game! Their packages and ingredients look much better than I remember. I may have to try them again.

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Amanda

Great photos of the food! I appreciate the thorough reviews you provide too. Thank you!

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