Blue Apron vs Hello Fresh vs Plated vs Home Chef– January 2017

This month, I reviewed boxes from the top four meal subscription companies: Plated, Hello Fresh, Home Chef, and Blue Apron. To get a sense of how the boxes compare, I’ve outlined all of the meals I received below. I’ve assigned each dish a score out of 5, and I’ve averaged the scores from each box together to get a total box score. Read on to see which box came out on top for me this month!

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

Plated

Plated recipes begin at $12 per plate. 2 recipes (4 plates)= $48 per week (+ $6 shipping). 3 recipes (6 plates)= $72 per week (with free shipping). 4 recipes (8 total plates)= $96 per week (with free shipping).

NEW DEAL: Save $30 off your first box, no coupon required, just use this link.

Check out the full Plated review here!

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Meal #1-  Saucy Meatball Sliders with Classic Caesar Salad

Calories Per Serving: 760

Cook Time: 35-45 minutes

Score: 5/5 I’ve been subscribing to Plated for almost two years now, and this is one of the first recipes I ever ordered. It still sticks out in my mind as one of my favorite subscription box meals ever, so when I saw it was back on this week’s menu as a featured encore recipe, I couldn’t resist adding it to my box! Luckily, it was just as good as I remembered. The meatballs were tender and juicy, the sauce was rich and flavorful, and I love that Plated sent enough parmesan to ensure the sliders were super cheesy. The salad was great, too. Plated’s caesar dressing is some of the best I’ve ever had— I can’t believe it was so quick and easy to make!

Meal #2- Baked Penne with Roasted Mushrooms and Ricotta

Calories per Serving: 840

Cook Time: 40-50 minutes

Score: 4.5/5 This dish was tasty, comforting, and cheesy. (There were three kinds of cheese incorporated into this dish: ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella!) Plated provided a mushroom medley for this dish, which added a nice meatiness and flavor, and the portion size was huge. Divided between two, our plates were heaping!

Meal #3- Peanut Chicken Curry with Sticky Rice

Calories: 660

Cook Time: 30-40 minutes

Score: 5/5 This dish was another winner! The flavor was incredible, and I was able to have it on the table in under 30 minutes. I’d be impressed if I was served this dish in a restaurant, so I’m thrilled that I was able to make it myself at home! The sauce was delicious— rich, peanutty, tangy, and a little spicy. So good!

Overall Score: 4.83/5

Cost per Plate: Meals start at $12 per serving. Dessert is $4 per serving.

Number of meals available to choose from each week: 11 meals + 2 desserts

Home Chef

Home Chef meals start at $9.95 per serving, and delivery is free for orders over $40.

COUPON: Save $30 off your first box! with coupon code 3PLATESOFF

Check out the full Home Chef review here!

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Meal #1- Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps with Water Chestnuts and Sesame Dipping Sauce

Calories: 576 per serving

Prep Time: 25-35 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Score: 4.5/5 These lettuce wraps were delicious. The filling was really tasty, and I loved the combination of sweet and spicy flavors. My only complaint about this dish is that I wasn’t in love with the dressing Home Chef sent for dipping, so I ended up skipping it. Luckily, the lettuce wraps were juicy and flavorful enough that I didn’t think they needed a dipping sauce, anyway.

Meal #2- Mushroom- Spinach Lasagna Rolls with Ricotta and Mozzarella Cheese

Calories: 756 per serving

Prep Time: 40-50 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Score: 4/5 Okay, so this may not be the most elegant dinner I’ve ever had, but it was a lot of fun to make! I did run into an issue with this dish, though. Home Chef sent spinach to incorporate into the rolls, but my spinach arrived in pretty bad shape. I decided to substitute some fresh Italian parsley, instead, and I was happy to have something fresh to balance out all the pasta and cheese. Despite the hiccup with the bad spinach, I ended up really liking this dish. The rolls were warm, gooey, rich, and very cheesy.

Meal #3- Sirloin Steak with Brown Butter Bordelaise with Brussels Sprouts and Roasted Potatoes

Calories: 734 per serving

Prep Time: 35-45 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Score: 4/5 This was a really tasty, comforting dinner! The potatoes were nice and crispy, the Brussels sprouts were yummy, and the Bordelaise sauce was fantastic.

Overall Score: 4.17/5

Cost per Plate: Meals start at $12 per serving.

Number of meals available to choose from each week: 10 meals + 1 breakfast + 1 dessert + 1 smoothie

Hello Fresh

With Hello Fresh, 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. Starting in February, Hello Fresh will offer two plans: Unlimited Meal Choice ($11.50 a meal) or Basic Plan ($9.99 per meal). Learn more about this update here!

COUPON: Save $40 off your first box – no coupon code necessary, just click this link!

Check out the full Hello Fresh review here!

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Meal #1- Mozzarella-Crusted Chicken with Blistered Tomatoes and Potato Wedges

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 545

Score: 4/5 This dish was pretty tasty. I really liked the crispy, mozzarella topping, and the chicken was really tasty with the roasted tomatoes. (It was kind of like a deconstructed chicken parmesan!) The potatoes were good, but I think if I make this dish again I’ll serve the chicken with a green salad instead.

Meal #2- Sweet Italian Sausage with Couscous and Spinach

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 769

Score: 4.5/5 This dish was really yummy. It was rich, meaty, and super comforting, but the addition of the spinach on top gave it a nice boost of freshness and helped keep the meal from feeling too heavy. This is exactly the kind of food I want to eat when it’s cold outside, and I think I’m going to make a version of this dish again soon. (I’m thinking it would be great with chicken sausage, kale, and butternut squash!)

Meal #3- Shawarma Meatballs with Bulgur and Sumac Veggies

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 569

Score: 2.5/5 This dish was just okay. The veggies were delicious and the bulgur was a nice base for the dish, but the meatballs were very dry. Also, sour cream seemed like an odd choice to use as a topping. I think I would have preferred yogurt, labneh, or humus.

Overall Score: 3.67/5

Cost per Plate: Hello Fresh starts at $9.90 per serving (for The Classic Box).

Number of meals available to choose from each week: 6 meals

Blue Apron

Blue Apron is $59.94 for 3 recipes on the 2-Person Plan, $69.92 for 2 recipes on the Family Plan, $139.84 for 4 recipes on the Family Plan.

COUPON: Get 3 Meals Free in Your First Order, no coupon required, just use this link.

Check out the full Blue Apron review here!

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Meal #1- Spicy Shrimp & Korean Rice Cakes with Cabbage & Furikake

Calories: 580 per serving

Cook Time: 25-35 minutes

Score: 5/5 This dish was really tasty! The rice cakes were chewy and delicious, and I loved the flavor of the sauce. It was rich, creamy, and a little spicy. This is the first time I ever cooked Korean-style rice cakes at home, and I couldn’t believe how fun and easy they were to prepare! (I loved this dish so much I’ve made rice cakes again twice since this dish. I’m hooked!)

Meal #2- Seared Chicken & Couscous with Broccoli & Lemon-Yogurt Sauce

Calories: 570 per serving

Cook Time: 25-35 minutes

Score: 3.5/5 This was a simple and healthy dish that made for a quick and tasty mid-week meal. It’s not the kind of dish I couldn’t make myself without a recipe, but I enjoyed it.

Meal #3- Guacamole Burgers with Roasted Red Onion & Sweet Potato

Calories: 790 per serving

Cook Time: 20-30 minutes

Score: 3/5 This dish was simple and tasty, but I felt the burgers were a little naked. I ended up adding lettuce, tomato, and onion to mine to give it some freshness and crunch.

Overall Score: 3.83/5

Cost per Plate: Blue Apron costs $9.99 per serving.

Number of meals available to choose from each week: 6 meals (Note: meal choice is limited by the fact that not all combinations of meals are available.)

Verdict

It’s so much fun looking back at the meals I received this month from Plated, Home Chef, Hello Fresh, and Blue Apron, and it’s very interesting to stack them up against each other to see how they compare! I made (and ate) a lot of great dishes in January, but I think my favorite dish has to be Plated’s Meatball Sliders. Plated takes the award for best box, too. All of the meals I received from Plated this month were fantastic!

Favorite box: Plated

Yummiest dish: Plated’s Meatball Sliders

Do you subscribe to Plated, Home Chef, Hello Fresh, or Blue Apron? What were your favorite January dishes?