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Hello Fresh Subscription Box Review + Coupon – August 2017

Hello Fresh August 2017

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. 

Hello Fresh lets you choose from a Classic Plan (choose from 8 weekly meat and fish recipes), a Veggie Plan (get 3 weekly vegetarian recipes), or a Family Plan (meat, fish, and veggie recipes perfect for two adults and two children). I like to eat a vegetarian diet, so I selected the Veggie Plan. Hello Fresh only offers 3 vegetarian dishes per week—where Classic Plan members can hop into their account and swap the recipes selected for them with other dishes on the menu, I've got to take what I get. I'm not a picky eater, so being subject to the luck of the draw has worked out okay for me so far. But I do wish there was just a little bit of wiggle room in the Veggie menu!

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

This review is of the Hello Fresh Veggie Plan, $9.99 per meal, per box. This box came to a total of $59.94.

Hello Fresh August 2017

The Subscription Box: Hello Fresh

The Cost: The Classic Food Box (for omnivores) starts at $9.99 per person per meal. The Veggie Box (for herbivores) starts at $9.99 per person per meal. The Family Box (for families) costs $8.74 per person per meal. Hello Fresh announced they will soon offer two plans: Unlimited Meal Choice ($11.50 a meal) or Basic Plan ($9.99 per meal). Learn more here!

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 U.S.

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!

 Hello Fresh August 2017

I've been enjoying a couple meal kit delivery subscription boxes lately to add some ease to my weekly lunch and dinner prep. So far, my experience with Hello Fresh has been pretty great. Their meals are simple to prepare, full of fresh ingredients, and they're each divided into handy paper bags. Most of my vegetarian meals have been both filling and delicious. I also love that healthy options are the main focus, and you're able to easily access the nutritional information of each meal with an included info card. 

Some coupons are also included in each box.

This month's box came with an additional fold-out that encourages subscribes to share their dishes on social media.

Hello Fresh August 2017

Each meal is divided into its own paper bag allowing for ease in ensuring that you have everything you need in one place. Less waste, a smaller overall box, and more convenience.

Hello Fresh August 2017

Boxes are insulated and lined with ice packs.

Onto the first recipe!

Hello Fresh August 2017

Grilling Cheese Burgers

Calories per Serving: 700

Total Time, According to Hello Fresh: 30 minutes

Actual Time It Took: 30 minutes

Hello Fresh August 2017

Hello Fresh August 2017

Hello Fresh August 2017

Being a huge fan of cheese, I was really excited about this dish. The only type of cheese that I had grilled before this recipe is haloumi, but this Mediterranean grilling cheese is a bit milder and less salty.

Hello Fresh August 2017

I began by chopping my zucchini, squash, garlic, and mint. The zucchini requires two different cuts - short slices and matchsticks.

Hello Fresh August 2017

A simple aioli works as the sandwich sauce.

Hello Fresh August 2017

Before distributing the veggies on a sheet tray, I coated them in oil and sumac. This recipe actually called for broiling, but I found that the zucchini and squash pieces weren't getting much color with that method. I ended up switching to a 400 degree oven to roast them for about 10-15 minutes.

Hello Fresh August 2017

Now, lightly pan fry your grilling cheese. Just be careful here! I ended up burning myself on some jumpy hot oil.

Hello Fresh August 2017

The final product was super tasty! The freshness of the mint worked so well with the creaminess of the grilling cheese, and the acidity of the aioli cut through the richness. Also, NOTE, toasting the bun is definitely KEY. This was my favorite dish of all 3. Started the week off on a high note, for sure!

Hello Fresh August 2017

Sriracha Sesame Wonton Pasta

Calories per Serving: 500

Total Time, According to Hello Fresh: 25 minutes

Actual Time It Took: 30 minutes

Hello Fresh August 2017 Hello Fresh August 2017 Hello Fresh August 2017

Asian recipes aren't in my comfort zone. I'll just get that out of the way. However, I was looking forward to cooking a bit outside of my box, if you will, with this one. It's just not a recipe that I would have picked on my own had the option of curating my own week of recipes been presented.

Hello Fresh August 2017

Per usual, I began with chopping up my veggies. The ginger was fun to peel because I got to use the old spoon trick - not something I can do often!

Hello Fresh August 2017

I quickly boiled and blanched the broccoli pieces in a bowl of ice.

Hello Fresh August 2017

I also toasted my cashews for the pasta topping. Speaking of the pasta, though - that's where things got tricky. I wouldn't call the outcome disastrous, but... it was pretty close. After cutting the wonton wrappers into strips, I added them to my pot of boiling water. They instantly completely stuck together. Like, giant globs of wontons. I'm not sure if I should have stirred the water sooner or maybe added the strips a bit more carefully (and separated), but... there was no returning from this fail. I was pretty much stuck with globby pasta.

Hello Fresh August 2017

I topped the cooked wontons with sesame oil, sriracha, broccoli, cashews, hot pepper, and scallions. It looked pretty! The taste, however, was lacking. The sauce for the broccoli never really came together, and that wonton pasta... it was just sort of sad. I was pretty bummed to not have had a better outcome, but I definitely took this as a learning experience if I even find myself making wonton pasta again.

Hello Fresh August 2017

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

Calories per Serving: 880

Total Time, According to Hello Fresh: 40 minutes

Actual Time It Took: 40 minutes

Hello Fresh August 2017 Hello Fresh August 2017 Hello Fresh August 2017

Yay, tacos! They're always a hit in my house, and I rarely have a less-than-successful experience with them. These seemed to be pretty straightforward, so I was pumped to get started! That vibe was sort of killed when I noticed that my avocado wasn't exactly on par, though. This seems to be an issue with Hello Fresh. This is the second box I've received with an unusable avocado. Luckily... I ALWAYS have avocados on hand, so no huge deal.

Hello Fresh August 2017

I zested my lime and chopped up all the veggies.

Hello Fresh August 2017

The onion was cooked down with garlic, and then the sweet potato and black beans were added.

Hello Fresh August 2017

Half of an avocado was combined with sour cream and lime juice to create a guacamole-like taco topping. My lime was pretty dry, so it was tough squeezing out an adequate amount of juice. I made it work, but it would have been nice to have more acidity in the final dish.

Hello Fresh August 2017

I layered my ingredients onto the flour tortillas starting with the squash and bean hash and followed by the sour cream mixture, avocado slices from the reserved other half, and cilantro. Despite my issues with the avocado and the lime, these were really yummy in the end!

Verdict: This Hello Fresh box really delivered, though I did run into some issues. The wonton thing was my mistake, but I'm happy to have learned from it! Pasta never was my forte. I love that Hello Fresh's ingredients are heavy on the fresh produce. Their recipes are also really easy to follow with only 4-5 major steps.  

I do wish that they had the option to allow subscribers to choose their own meals. Having each week's menu be automatic does eliminate the whole decision-making meal dilemma, but I like to pick what I'm getting. It would also be cool if they sorted out the avocado issue, but I understand that this is majorly determined by season. 

The meals in Hello Fresh's veggie plan only cost $9.99 per serving. That pricing seems to be on par with other meal subscription boxes (Blue Apron at $9.99 per serving, Home Chef at $9.95 per serving, and Plated at $12 per serving). 

Do you subscribe to Hello Fresh? What's been your favorite meal so far?

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.

Jess Cole Payne
Jess Cole Payne
Jess's love for subscription boxes began with a makeup and skincare fixation. She's looking forward to broadening her horizons in discovering new products within the lifestyle and food world of subscription boxes.

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6 comments

Shannon

Just wanted to say thank you for mentioning that spoon trick with the ginger! I was like what spoon trick??? so I watched a video and omg I never knew that. Can’t wait to try it now haha

Enjoyed reading your review! I get the normal Hello Fresh and wish that they would give us the option of choosing the vegetarian options too, because I definitely would have gotten those cheese burgers!

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shara

Hi Jess! You can in fact pre-select your meals! Go into ‘my deliveries’ in your account and check off which 3 recipes you’d like that week.

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Jess Cole Payne

Thanks, Shara! With the vegetarian plan, it doesn’t appear that I’m able to edit. I’m definitely going to explore this option though.

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Lena

Note that the author chose the vegetarian plan so they only get three items every week with no option to swap any out. This is a common issue with meal boxes.

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Saloni Gajjar

The exact same thing happened to me with the wonton pasta dish. Just disastrous because like you said, the pasta strips just stuck together and it drove me nuts!

The other two dishes, however, were simply delicious! To the black beans and such for the tacos, I added a bit more spice to mine, which was perfect.

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Jess Cole Payne

Whew, glad I’m not alone! 🙂

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