HelloFresh is a weekly meal delivery subscription that sends healthy recipes and the pre-measured ingredients you need to make them at home.
Choose from the Meat & Veggies Plan, Veggie Plan, Family Plan (meat, fish, and veggie recipes perfect for two adults and two children), or Low Calorie Plan. Each plan can all be customized to fit your needs, as you can choose the number of people you are serving (2 or 4) and the number of recipes per week (3, 4, 0r 5).
This review is of the HelloFresh Family Plan (3 meals at $7.49 per serving + $7.99 shipping) for a total of $97.87.
About HelloFresh
The Subscription Box: HelloFresh
The Cost: Starts at $8.99/person per meal for the 2-person plans and $7.49/person per meal for the 4-person (family) plan.
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 for $7.99.
HelloFresh Family Plan July 2020 Review
I love to cook, but sometimes I just get plain tired of coming up with meal ideas, so I decided to give HelloFresh a go and I am so excited to share how our experience went! Were these meals good? Were they family-friendly? Come along to find out!
Each meal is divided into its own paper bag allowing for ease in ensuring that you have everything you need for each meal. The meat is sent underneath frozen packets, and the entire box is insulated with a thick absorbent material to keep all items safe and secure.
Onto the first recipe!
Meal 1: Jammy Pork Chops with Shallot-Thyme Pan Stuffing & Roasted Green Beans
Calories per Serving: 730
Total Time, According to HelloFresh: 40 minutes
Actual Time: 50 minutes
These recipe cards are wonderful! The front side features the recipe name along with a mouth-watering photo of the completed dish. Also listed are the ingredients for the 2-person version as well as the 4-person version. I love the little tips they give us, and the fact that they also provided us with the prep and cook time!
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The backside of the card gives detailed instructions on how to prepare the meal along with social media info, the HelloFresh phone number, and a list of items you will need to cook this dinner. I love how they use bold print to help the different ingredients stand out on this card to make things that much easier! Plus the recipe cards are color-coordinated with the bag of ingredients to keep things organized and simple.
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The first step in this recipe is to pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. While the oven is pre-heating we were instructed to wash and dry all produce. Once the green beans were rinsed, I tossed them with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and placed them on a pan covered in aluminum foil to roast.
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Once the green beans were ready to be roasted, I sliced up the shallot and stripped the thyme leaves from their stems.
The next step was to dice the baguettes into 1/2-inch pieces... so far, so good!
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Once all of the produce was chopped and set aside, I combined half of the included stock concentrate with 1/2 cup of water and set it aside for the stuffing.
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Onto the meat! To cook our pork chops, I patted the pork dry with paper towels and seasoned them with salt and pepper. Once my oil was heated over medium-high, I added the pork and cooked until both sides were browned, which took about 5 minutes per side. I then removed them from the pan onto a cutting board for a little rest.
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To create the stuffing I heated 3 tablespoons of butter and a drizzle of olive oil into a large pan on medium-high heat. I then added the baguette pieces and toasted them. It took about 6 minutes for the bread to start toasting. I then placed the bread on a plate and added the shallot and celery to the pan. Once that was tender, I added the thyme and baguette into the pan and added the stock mixture until it was fully absorbed, which only took a couple of minutes. This was then put aside until the pan sauce was completed.
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To make the pan sauce, I used the pan that we fried the pork chops in and added the jam packet, and 1/3 cup of water. This boiled and cooked down for about 3 minutes. I then removed it from the heat and added 2 tablespoons of butter and seasoned it with salt and pepper.
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It was then time to plate! I added the green beans first, followed by the sliced pork chop, and the stuffing. To finish it off, I saturated the pork chop with the aromatic pan sauce! Oh my goodness, this meal was divine!!! The pork chop was perfectly tender and juicy, and that sweet jam sauce was fantastic. To quote my 7-year-old, "This sauce tastes better than candy!!!" And that is saying a lot!! We loved the homemade stuffing and felt all of the flavors coordinated well together without being too much. I had to promise my son I would save the pan sauce recipe so we can smother our grouse breast in it this weekend! This recipe was definitely a keeper!
Meal 2: Juicy Lucy Burgers with Tomato Onion Jam & Potato Wedges
Calories per serving: 1030
Total time, according to HelloFresh: 40 minutes
Actual time: 50 minutes
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We are burger obsessed, and while my husband makes a mean elk burger, I love to try new fixings to put on top, so I just had to select this meal. Was tomato and onion jam the ticket? Let's find out!
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To start our meal, we were instructed to preheat the oven to 425 and wash and dry all of our produce. Once that was done, I cut the potatoes into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. I then tossed them in a drizzle of olive oil, half of the included fry seasoning, salt, and pepper, and scattered them over a pan covered in aluminum foil. Before it could go in the oven though, we had to peel our clove of garlic, wrap that up into an aluminum foil ball, and place it on the pan in the oven. 10 minutes after cooking, I pulled them out and flipped the potatoes, then placed them back in the oven for another 12 minutes.
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Because I had a wonderful assistant, my husband went ahead and made the patties, which consisted of combining the beef and remaining fry seasoning and forming them into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. He then divided the cheddar between the centers of each round and folded the edges of the meat around the cheese, sealing it in. Because my husband is grill obsessed, he decided to give these a try on our "Pit Boss" wood pellet grill. He worked on this (and toasting the buns) while I went ahead and made the tomato onion jam.
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To make the tomato onion jam, we sliced and diced the onion and tomato, heated oil in a pan, and cooked. We then added the included vinegar, sugar, and a little salt and pepper. To get to a jam consistency we cooked this down for about 5 minutes.
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Also while my sweet husband was grilling our burgers, I went ahead and made the special sauce. To a small bowl, I added mayonnaise, sour cream, and the mashed garlic clove that we roasted with the potatoes. I added a bit of salt and pepper to taste, and put it in the refrigerator until time to serve.
Before it was serving time, I took the toasted buns and spread on someketchup along with a little bit of the special sauce.
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Then it was time to plate! Check out the pile of potato wedges everyone gets! And don't even get me started on that special sauce...it was AAMMAAZZIINGG! How did I never think to make this before?! I tell you what, I am making this all of the time now because we all are obsessed!!! The burgers were huge and juicy and delicious. The tomato onion jam was a little different, but in a good way, it really amped up a regular burger and gave it a fruity, savory flavor that a regular burger just doesn't have. I am sooo making this again!!
Meal 3: BBQ Pork & Apple Meatloaves with Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Roasted Green Beans
Calories per serving: 730
Total time, according to HelloFresh: 45 minutes
Actual time: 55 minutes
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The last meal we chose this month was this delicious looking meatloaf. I grew up eating meatloaf and it is one of my favorite meals ever, so how would this compare to my traditional recipe?
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Like the previous recipes, the first thing we must do is wash our produce, and preheat our oven to 450 degrees.
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The next step is to halve and core the apple, and grate it into a medium-sized bowl. I don't have a large grater, so I had to use this little tiny one, but it worked. In this recipe, the footnotes suggest to squeeze out any excess moisture from the grated apple before adding it to panko, so it is important to read through the recipe before you start!
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To get the potatoes started I diced them into 1/2-inch pieces and placed them in a medium pot with half of the included garlic and water. These boiled for about 20 minutes. Reserving 1/2 cup of cooking liquid, I drained the potatoes when they finished cooking, added the reserved liquid and sour cream and butter. I used my Kitchen-Aid mixer to mash the potatoes, and set aside covered to keep warm.
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To create the meatloaves, I mixed the grated apple with panko, then added the pork, grated garlic, fry seasoning, and 1/2 tsp of chili powder. I then formed four 1-inch-tall loaves. These baked on a baking sheet for 22 minutes.
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Using another baking sheet, I tossed the green beans in olive oil, and added salt and pepper. These also roasted at 450 for about 12 minutes.
The final step was to make the glaze by mixing BBQ sauce with chili powder and a little bit of salt and pepper. When the loaves had about 3 minutes left to cook, I spooned this over them and let it reduce while baking.
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Another beautiful meal! I gotta say, I am loving these portions! I have 2 little boys who are growing at top-speed and they need all the meat and potatoes they can get! The potatoes in this meal were another home run- I have never boiled garlic with potatoes and mixed it in before, but I am so doing this from now on. The green beans were a perfect addition for a little crunch and color. How did the meatloaves fare, you ask? They were different...but they were good. I really enjoyed the panko and apple mixed with the pork. It made for a wonderful texture that wasn't too soggy or crunchy, and but was moist and flavorful. The barbeque sauce I am still on the fence about. I prefer a sweeter sauce, and the chili powder in the sauce was a little too acidic for my taste. My kids and husband thought it was great, and there wasn't a speck left on anyone's plate, so it was another winner, although I would maybe skip the chili powder in the sauce next time.
Verdict: This is my first HelloFresh review and I gotta say, they hit it out of the park! All three of our meals were top-notch! Not only are the recipes easy to follow, but the produce and meat were all beautiful, and the final products were amazing. I love the fact that we are able to choose from such a vast menu and learn new tips and tricks along the way for everyday cooking. While we haven't been as busy this summer as usual, it has been so nice to have a few nights where I don't need to worry about thawing meat or coming up with a meal plan, as all the hard work is done for me! I also love the fact that the kids get to pick out meals and try new things we may not have tried had it not been for this subscription. Add that to the fact that I don't need to head to the grocery store and I'm in love!! I can't wait to see what meal options they offer next month!
While this box costs more than it would to go out and purchase these items yourself, using this service saves you a trip to the store, the headache of creating a meal plan for 3 days, and turns a chore into a family experience, which makes the cost worth it to me.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Since HelloFresh 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.
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
Value Breakdown: At $97.78 ($89.88 + $7.99 shipping) for this box, you’re paying $8.14 per serving.
Check out all our HelloFresh reviews and our list of the best food subscription boxes for more!
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Do you subscribe to HelloFresh? What's been your favorite meal so far?
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