Home Chef Meal Kit Review + $40 Off Coupon – March 2019

Home Chef is a meal kit subscription that delivers a weekly box of the pre-portioned ingredients you need to make 2-6 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 options.

This is a review of my customized plan that includes a combination of meat and vegetarian dinner options (starting at $9.95 per serving) for two people, with two meals a week ($39.80) + a smoothie ($4.95 per serving) and a 5 minute lunch ($7.99 per serving) for a $65.68 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.)

The Subscription Box: Home Chef

The Cost: Meals start at $9.95 per serving, and delivery is free for orders over $45.

COUPON: Save $90 off your first four boxes! No coupon needed - just use this link.

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.)

When you first sign up for Home Chef, you take a short quiz about your meal preferences and dietary restrictions. They ask what you like to eat, as well as what you tend 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. There are also some “Add-On” items like fruit, smoothies, or quick lunches that you can choose to include in your box.

Before we get into a rundown of the packaging situation, here’s a promo for Grove Collaborative that was included with my recipes. Check out our reviews to learn more!

This month’s box was cushioned and insulated with cotton fibers housed in a recyclable plastic liner. The lining can be cut open and recycled, while the cotton fibers can go right into the trash.

Beneath the insulated flap lies all of this month’s meals, neatly packaged into individual, recyclable bags with convenient handles and slide-zip closures. There is also a handy binder for storing recipes, as this is the first order from my personal account! More on that later.

With your first Home Chef delivery, you’ll receive this handy binder for storing recipes. All of the recipes are hole-punched, so they’re ready to add to your collection.

The binder comes with a small introductory packet to Home Chef.

Underneath the ingredient bags is a cardboard divider that typically keeps the meats separated from everything else. This month’s order didn’t come with any meats that needed to be separated, so it was just an ice pack beneath the piece of cardboard.

Here’s the bottom of the box, with the ice pack cushioned and insulated by the cotton fiber lining.

As previously mentioned, every Home Chef meal comes in a plastic bag, except for the meat when applicable, and some ingredients that are too large to fit (such as ears of corn).

The bags are also labeled with the title of each recipe for clarity. They really thought of everything!

Let’s eat, shall we?

Prosciutto and Butternut Chowder with Potatoes and Toasted Ciabatta

Calories: 595 per serving

Time to Table, According to Home Chef: 30-40 minutes

Actual Time to Table: 38 minutes

Cook within: 6 days

Difficulty: Intermediate

Spice Level: Mild

This recipe practically begged to be in my box. Or, did I beg it? I’ll eat just about anything with prosciutto on it, so this meal sounded like a winner right off the bat.

To begin, I heated a large non-stick pan on one burner for the prosciutto, ensuring it would be hot and set to go once needed. I also heated a medium-sized pot with 1 tablespoon of olive oil for the veggies. Then, I went right into peeling and chopping the potato, mincing the 2 pre-peeled cloves of garlic, dicing the shallot, and slicing up the ciabatta. I love that Home Chef pre-peels the garlic—it’s such a time saver. The ciabatta was very obviously a sandwich bun as it was mostly separated through the middle, but I didn’t mind. Bread is bread, and it’s always welcome in my home.

The pot was nice and hot by the time I finished the prep work, so I tossed in the potatoes, butternut squash, and shallot to cook for 3 minutes until lightly browned.

Then went in the garlic to cook for 1 minute so it wasn’t totally raw, followed by 1 cup of water, and the 2 packs of mirepoix base. This was all brought a boil, then covered to simmer for 9 minutes.

Right before the soup was ready to simmer, I had already begun cooking the prosciutto in batches with a little bit of olive oil. The recipe said 1-2 minutes on each side would be enough, but I just eyeballed the pieces for desired doneness. The soup had finished simmering before I completed the batches of prosciutto, so I recommend working with the meat ahead of schedule. The prosciutto was then transferred to a towel-lined plate to drain and crisp up.

After 9-10 minutes of simmering, the vegetables were fork-tender. At this stage, I stirred in the small container of cream and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. The soup was brought back to a boil for 5 minutes or so to thicken up.

In the same hot pan used to heat the prosciutto, I combined the butter packet with a little bit of olive oil, then toasted the ciabatta slices on each side. Mmm.

Voila, the end result! Home Chef rated this meal as Intermediate-level difficulty, but I found it very easy to whip together. The mirepoix base gave everything so much flavor! Although the prosciutto never got crispy enough to crumble over top, it was still a very welcome addition. A sprinkle of red pepper flakes over the top was the perfect complement to the sweetness of the butternut squash and the saltiness of the prosciutto. Plus, the ciabatta toast was excellent. I will say though, the portion was a little on the small side for a dinner. If you see this recipe in your upcoming meal rotation, I highly recommend giving it a go.

BBQ Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl with Farro and Ranch Dressing

Calories: 907 per serving

Time to Table, According to Home Chef: 30-40 minutes

Actual Time to Table: 40 minutes

Cook within: 7 days

Difficulty: Intermediate

Spice Level: Mild

I was interested to test out this recipe because I’ve never cooked with farro before. Plus, I can never turn down a colorful vegetarian meal.

To start, I pre-heated the oven to 425 degrees, then filled a medium-sized pot with 1-1/2 cups of water, to which I added a pinch of salt and the farro. The pot was then covered to boil. As the pot heated, I washed the produce and patted it dry. Then, I lined a large baking sheet with foil and gave it a spritz of cooking spray.

Once the two sweet potatoes were cut into mid-sized pieces, I tossed them in olive oil, then rubbed in the BBQ seasoning mix with my hands, along with a little bit of salt and pepper. They roasted for 20 minutes.

When the farro had reached a boil, I reduced the heat to a simmer and cooked it for 20 minutes. With the farro simmering and the sweet potatoes roasting, I made quick work of roughly chopping the kale, slicing half of the red onion, dicing the jalapeno, cutting the red pepper into strips, and running a knife through the cilantro. Love all that color!

In a non-stick pan on medium-high heat with a bit of olive oil, I cooked the red pepper, red onion, and jalapeno until softened and lightly charred. Around this time, the farro finished cooking, so I drained it and let it rest off away from heat.

Once the sweet potatoes finished in the oven, I removed them and set them aside to cool down.

The kale cooked with the vegetables until slightly wilted. At this point, I added a bit more salt and pepper to taste.

Here’s the completed dish! From the bottom, I filled each bowl with farro, followed by the veggie mixture, the sweet potatoes, some shredded cheddar, and cilantro on top. The ranch was served on the side. The farro was my least favorite part of the dish, as it required a lot of jaw power to get through. My boyfriend said it “wasn’t the most fun to eat,” and there’s a chance I simply undercooked it. I think quinoa would’ve been a better substitute, but that’s just my taste. Speaking of taste, the mix of flavors here was really nice! The sweet potatoes were well seasoned, and the cilantro was a bright, refreshing contrast to the ranch and cheddar cheese. I was very surprised by how filling this dish was. We ate around 6:45pm and neither of us were hungry for the rest of the night, which is rare. The portions were incredibly generous. Overall, this dish was just okay—neither disappointing nor impressive.

Baja Guacamole Chicken Salad

Calories: 479 per serving

Time to Table, According to Home Chef: 5-10 minutes

Actual Time to Table: 12 minutes

Cook within: 5 days

Difficulty: Easy

Spice Level: Not Spicy

The colors of this meal initially caught my eye, but it was the promise of a five-minute lunch that made me add it to my order.

After washing and drying each romaine heart, I gave them a quick chop.

I combined the bag of chicken with the container of corn in a microwave-safe bowl, then heated everything through for two minutes.

While the chicken and corn warmed up, I mixed the two packets of ranch with half of the taco seasoning in a small bowl.

I then sprinkled the other half of the taco seasoning over the chicken and corn and gave it all a generous stir to combine.

What a beautiful lunch! I layered the chicken and corn on top of the romaine, followed by the tortilla strips and the guacamole. I had some hesitations about the flavor of pre-cooked chicken in a bag, but it was surprisingly delicious and not weird in any way. The portions were once again very generous, and the blend of flavors and textures kept it interesting. I tend to get a little bored with salads, but this one was excellent. I’d order it again.

Chocolate Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

Calories: 190 per serving

Time to Table, According to Home Chef: 5-10 minutes

Actual Time to Table: 7 minutes

Cook within: 7 days

Difficulty: Easy

Spice Level: Not Spicy

Admittedly, I could use a little more fruit in my diet. This smoothie was a perfect opportunity to satisfy that need in a very simple way.

Here’s everything ready to go, including 2 cups of ice.

I blended everything but the ice for about 2 and a half minutes.

Then I added the 2 cups of ice and blended for another 2 and a half minutes.

Oh, wow. This was delicious—like having dessert for breakfast! Plus, with zero things to cut or clean up (aside from the blender), it really couldn’t have been any easier.

Verdict: My Home Chef experience this month was pretty positive. As always, I really appreciate the thoughtful, recyclable packaging for every part of the box, along with the clear organization of the ingredients. My favorite meal was a tie between the chowder and the chicken salad, while my least favorite was the farro bowl, though I still think it’s worth trying. Well done, Home Chef!

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: Save $90 off your first four boxes! No coupon needed - just use this link.

Value Breakdown: At $65.68 for this box, each dinner was $9.95 per serving, and the smoothies were $4.95 per serving, and the chicken salad was $7.99 per serving (with free shipping). Marne’s advice is to get at least one add-on since it pushes you over the free shipping threshold, and it’s a solid pointer I happily pass on to you.

Check out all of our Home Chef reviews and find other meal kit boxes in the Food Subscription Box Directory!

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What did you get from Home Chef this month?