Home Chef is a meal kit subscription that delivers you a weekly box of the pre-portioned ingredients you need to make two to six meals that feed two, four, or six people. Home Chef advertises easy recipes that can be made in about 30 minutes. They say their ingredients are fresh (though they don't provide a lot of information about their sourcing practices), and they offer vegetarian, gluten-free, and calorie/carb-conscious recipes
This is a review of the plan I customized that includes a mix of beef, fish, poultry, and vegetarian options (starting at $9.95 per serving) for two people, with two meals a week ($39.80) + a no cook lunch ($7.99 per serving) for a $55.78 total. Delivery is free for orders over $45. Shipping is $10 for orders less than $45.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Home Chef
The Subscription Box: Home Chef
The Cost: Meals start at $9.95 per serving, and delivery is free for orders over $45.
The Products: Fresh ingredients and chef-designed recipes— everything you need to make restaurant-quality meals at home.
Ships to: 90% of the U.S. (You can check to see if Home Chef delivers to your zip code here.)
Home Chef August 2018 Review
When you first sign up for Home Chef, you take a short quiz about your meal preferences and dietary restrictions. I like that they ask what you like to eat, as well a what you like to avoid. Based on your answers, Home Chef will choose recipes for you to get each week. As is the case with most meal kit services, you can log in and hand-select the recipes you'd like to receive. Note though, that the more particular you are with your diet, the fewer options you'll have. I'm pretty open to most proteins, so I currently have 10 different options for next week. There are also some "Add-On" items like fruit, smoothies, or quick lunches that you can choose to include in your box.
On one box flap, you'll find their social media handle, @realhomechef.
The other flap gives a short rundown on how to properly dispose of the various packaging.
After opening the box you'll see instructions on how to recycle the packing material right on it. You can throw the cotton fiber "stuffing" in the trash (or compost, if you are so inclined) and recycle the plastic.
You'll then find all of your ingredients tucked inside. The vegetables and non-meat items will be on top inside their bags, and since it's Summer right now, there will be extra ice packs to keep everything cold.
Under them, you'll see a cardboard divider that lets you know there is more below. This is where more ice packs are: with the meat to keep those extra cold. You can choose to toss the packs into your freezer to reuse, or simply cut them open to dump the contents into your normal trash and recycle the plastic.
Each Home Chef meal comes in a plastic bag, except for the meat, and some ingredients that are too large (such as ears of corn).
The bags are labeled as well to cut down on any confusion when you have multiples in your fridge.
Salmon with Dill Crema and Green Beans Amandine
Calories: 579 per serving
Time to Table, According to Home Chef: 25-35 minutes
Actual Time to Table: 35 minutes
Cook within: 3 days
Difficulty: Easy
Spice Level: Not Spicy
Dill is one of my favorite herbs, so this recipe was a no-brainer for me.
The prep for this is SO SIMPLE. I was excited to see that the meal time was so short.
After trimming the green beans (which was tedious but not too bad), they were put on a foil-lined baking sheet with crushed garlic, olive oil, and salt + pepper and went into a 400-degree oven for 12 minutes.
As they baked, I cooked the salmon (starting flesh-side down, contrary to the above photo) for 3 minutes, then I flipped them upright and put the whole pan in the oven to join the beans for 9 minutes.
While everyone partied in the oven, I made the dill crema which was ridiculously easy and just entailed mixing together the sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, dill, and some olive oil.
At this point, the beans came out and I sprinkled the slivered almonds and parmesan, then went back in for 8 minutes.
Both the green beans and salmon came out at the same time. Look at those gorgeous beans!
I was really pleased with the timing on this dish. It looks stunning and tasted really perfect!
After taking this photo, I slathered that fish in the dill crema and gobbled up all of the green beans quickly.
Calories: 629 per serving
Time to Table, According to Home Chef: 5-10 minutes
Actual Time to Table: 5 minutes
Cook within: 5 days
Difficulty: Easy
Spice Level: Not Spicy
I normally get smoothies to push my order over the $45 threshold and receive free shipping, but this time I decided to choose a "no cooking required" lunch that they offer for $7.99 per serving. I almost never bring my lunch to work, so I thought this would be better than having to run out in a panic and get fast food.
This was obviously really easy to assemble. It starts with the flour tortilla that you slap down your single slice of cheese (boo) and prosciutto on to. The second time that I made this wrap at a later date, I decided to slice the cheese in half so it went further down the center. I thought the amount of prosciutto was good, but wish I had more cheese.
I roughly chopped the romaine and put it on top of the meat and cheese, then used half the tomato I sliced to put on top of that.
They give you 2 packets of dressing to use one for each wrap, but I only ended up using about half of one for this. Marzetti's is my favorite, so I was stoked. 🙂
I then just rolled it up and cut it diagonally to be fancy and voila! I have to say that it didn't really fill me up, but I'm also really bad at portion control, so this was probably a correct amount of food for my size even though it felt like not enough. It was tasty though and everything seemed fresh.
Neapolitan Pizza Margherita with Arugula Salad and Basil
Calories: 668
Time to Table, According to Home Chef: 25-35 minutes
Actual Time to Table: 30 minutes
Cook within: 7 days
Difficulty: Easy
Spice Level: Mild
I love making pizzas at home and arugula is one of my favorite toppings! Even though I eat meat, this vegetarian option really spoke to me.
This recipe is again, so simple (like the salmon) and it's easy to envision me making this again on my own.
The first thing I did was get the shallots sauteing after prepping the veggies. After a few minutes, I turned the heat off and put them aside.
I placed the two naan flatbreads on a foil-lined baking sheet.
I then added the sauce.
Then, it was time for the fresh mozzarella (my fave) and shaved parmesan.
Finally, I added the sauteed shallots, halved cherry tomatoes, and red pepper flakes before sending these into the oven.
While they cooked for 7 minutes at 400 degrees, I rinsed the arugula, and mixed it with the balsamic vinegar in a bowl, adding some salt + pepper, and olive oil.
Here are the pizzas out of the oven! Since the fresh mozz doesn't melt so much, it's a little hard to tell.
I threw one of the pizzas on a plate and topped it with the dressed arugula and basil to complete it. Looking at it, I thought the one would not be enough to fill me, but once I cut it up into fourths, realized it was plenty.
This was so easy to make and really tasty! I didn't even mind the shallots on there. So much goodness!
Verdict: The recipes I chose fromHome Chef this week turned out to be some of the quickest, easiest ones I can remember! I have to pay closer attention to the times moving forward because I appreciate when I can make a meal in a half hour or less. I feel confident to make any of these on my own which is part of why I love meal kits. It makes me a better cook!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Since Home Chef menus change weekly and you must choose them ahead of time, you won’t be able to order these dishes unless they are offered again in the future.
Coupon – Get $30 off your first box from Home Chef. No coupon required, just use this link.
Value Breakdown: At $55.78 for this box, each dinner was $9.95 per serving, and the wrap was $7.99 per serving with free shipping.
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What did YOU get from Home Chef this week?
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