Meal delivery services are wonderfully convenient. Once you sign up for a subscription, all you have to do is browse upcoming menus and pick out which dinners look best to you. Then— like your very own dinnertime fairy godmother— they’ll ship a box to your doorstep filled with everything you need to get delicious meals on the table in a flash.
I’ve been sampling and reviewing meal kits for years, and HelloFresh is one of my favorite subscription services. The menu is huge, there are several meal plans (classic plan, family plan, vegetarian plan) to choose from, the recipes are creative and enticing, the fresh ingredients are high-quality, and the food is delicious. I’ve always looked forward to deliveries from HelloFresh, and I wholeheartedly believe that subscribing makes my life easier. (I love saving time on meal prep work and limiting my food waste!) I’m almost certain that HelloFresh saves me time every week, and I’m pretty sure that it saves me money, too. But I’ve never really done the math before, and I thought it might be fun to put HelloFresh to the test. In this article, I’m going to set out to answer these questions: #1. Is HelloFresh really quicker and cheaper than the grocery store? #2. Does my subscription actually save me time and money? To do this, I’ve come up with a challenge, complete with rules and everything. Are you ready to see how HelloFresh holds up in the gauntlet I’ve prepared?
Let’s find out!
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Can HelloFresh Really Save You Time and Money?
Jump to:
The Questions
The Challenge
The Rules
The Shopping List
Shopping
The Results
...or continue reading below.
The Questions
To make things as fair as possible, I wanted to start by clearly establishing my goals for this challenge. What questions am I trying to answer here? Well, first and foremost, I want to know if buying a box from HelloFresh is more or less expensive than shopping for meals at the grocery store. The question of time is another important one. It seems pretty obvious that picking out three meals online is quicker than meal planning, making a grocery list, driving to the store, and buying groceries. But how much time does HelloFresh really save me each week? I want the cold, hard facts.
The Challenge
After identifying my questions, it was time to outline the challenge. I decided to order a box from HelloFresh, catalog the ingredients, and shop for what I'd need to recreate the meals. I'd pick up groceries at my local supermarket (Rouses Market) and keep track of how long it takes to shop. I'd also keep my receipts, so I could compare the cost of HelloFresh meals to my grocery bill.
The Rules
I’d need some ground rules. HelloFresh sends a lot of ingredients that are pre-portioned or pre-mixed, so shopping for what I received in my HelloFresh box wouldn’t be as simple as running to the store and picking up the same ingredients (in the same quantities). I'd need some guidelines. Here’s what I came up with:
- I'd purchase the item closest to what I received from HelloFresh. (If they send “stock concentrate,” for example, I'd buy a concentrated stock over regular stock that I’d need to reduce myself.)
- I'd purchase everything that I received from HelloFresh, even if I have it stocked at home. (Because not everyone will.)
- I'd buy the quantity closest to what I received unless a larger quantity is less expensive.
- I wouldn't be brand loyal or go out of my way to purchase the same brand I received in my HelloFresh box. (For this challenge, tomato paste is tomato paste; generic and store brands are a-okay.)
- Regarding spice blends, I'd buy the closest product available. (If there's no suitable substitution, I'd skip it. I wouldn't buy the individual spices needed to recreate the blend myself at home.)
- If an item is not available or is cost-prohibitive, I'd skip it. No fiddly substitutions allowed.
I also wanted to identify how I’d measure time spent. I figured that cooking time would be more or less the same whether I was using HelloFresh’s ingredients or my own. So, for this challenge, I’d focus on the time required to shop (whether in person or online) and unpack groceries. Additionally, if I needed to prep any of my purchased ingredients to get them to match what HelloFresh sent, I’d clock that, too.
The Shopping List
After my HelloFresh box arrived, I had a look at the recipe cards and carefully drafted my shopping list.
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 thumb ginger
- 1 chili pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 1 packet chicken stock concentrate
- 1 packet veggie stock concentrate
- 1 onion
- 1/2 oz cilantro
- 10 oz chicken breast strips
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 8 oz cream sauce base
- 1 red onion
- 1/2 oz pistachios
- 13.4 oz chickpeas
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 oz grape tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon shawarma spice
- 4 tablespoons sour cream
- 1. lemon
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
- 6 oz rigatoni pasta
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 9 oz Italian chicken sausage
- 2 scallions
Shopping
With the rules set and my shopping list in hand, I was READY. Before we dive in, though, I should tell you that I’m located in southern Louisiana. Obviously, shopping options and grocery costs vary depending on location. I think it’s fair to say that I live in an area where food costs are pretty average; this list tells me there are quite a few states where food shopping is cheaper and many where groceries cost more.
Read on for a play-by-play of my shopping experiences with HelloFresh and Rouses, or jump straight to the results.
Ordering from HelloFresh
Before shopping for what I needed at the grocery store, I needed to set my baseline. How much time and money was I spending to get healthy meals delivered from HelloFresh?
Time Spent: 10 minutes
Ordering took me about 5 minutes. HelloFresh’s menu is large, but I'm fairly decisive, and picking out my meal plan doesn’t usually take very long. After adding items to my virtual box, I just hit save, and then sit back and wait for my box to arrive. When it lands on my doorstep, it takes me about another 5 minutes to put away the groceries, dispose of the recyclable packaging, stash the recipe cards (complete with step-by-step instructions), and dispose of the ice packs. Ingredients for different meals are bundled in paper bags, so it's easy to transfer everything into the fridge. Total time spent? 10, hassle-free minutes.
Money Spent: $62.93 ($8.99 per serving + $8.99 shipping)
My HelloFresh subscription is 3 meals for 2 people. Pricing for this plan is $8.99 per serving plus $8.99 shipping. (If you're a new subscriber, you'll spend a lot less. Just sign up using this link to score 12 free meals across your first 4 boxes + free shipping on your first box.)
Issues to Note: None
Ordering was easy. I received my delivery on time, and all of my ingredients were in good condition.
Shopping at Rouses
With my list of ingredients in hand, I headed to my local store to go grocery shopping in-person. As I mentioned before, I’m located in Louisiana. My neighborhood grocery store is Rouses, a regional chain with locations in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. For comparison’s sake, I’d say it’s priced in the same ballpark as Publix, Kroger, Giant, and Safeway.
Issues to Note: Many
Wowzers, my local store (which I love) was having an off day when I went shopping for this challenge. There was no shawarma spice, they were completely out of lemons, and the only pistachios were shell-on and cost $10.49. That definitely counts as “cost-prohibitive” in my book. I also skipped hot sauce and garam masala and would need to make my own béchamel.
Time Spent Shopping: 65 minutes
It took me 15 minutes to drive to and from the grocery store, 30 minutes to shop,10 minutes to put away my groceries, and another 10 to make the cream sauce. I also have to mention that I walked away from the store without quite a few items I needed. Under different circumstances, I probably would have hit up another store to complete my shopping, which would have been an additional time suck.
Money Spent: $51.30
First impression: what a great price! Reality: my shopping list had 28 items on it, and I was only able to purchase 23.
The Results
That’s a lot of info. Let’s break it down.
For this challenge, I purchased a box from HelloFresh and compared it to my own shopping experience at my own local grocery store (Rouses). Let’s tackle the issue of time first. How much hands-on time did it take for me to get food into my kitchen and ready to cook:
HelloFresh: 10 minutes vs. Grocery Store: 65 minutes
Wow. HelloFresh wins this category hands down. I think it’s safe to say that HelloFresh will definitely save you time. But what about money? Here’s how much I spent on groceries:
HelloFresh: $62.93 vs. Grocery Store: $51.30
At first glance, Rouses appears to be the clear winner, but Rouses didn’t have everything I needed; given how many items were missing, recreating HelloFresh’s recipes was tricky. I don't think there's any way I can declare Rouses the winner. That pushes HelloFresh to the top, but in the spirit of fairness, I think there's still more to unpack. For this challenge, I compared the cost of each total grocery bill with what I received from HelloFresh. As I mentioned previously, I always tried to purchase ingredients in quantities closest to what I needed. But that wasn't always possible. In the case of garlic, cheese, and even meat, I had to buy more than the recipe called for. Additionally, it’s worth noting that those with a well-stocked pantry will probably have a number of the items I ended up buying (like spices, rice, and pasta) already at home. Factoring that into the equation, let's ask the question again. Will a HelloFresh subscription save you money? The answer, while perhaps a little unsatisfying, I think has to be this one: maybe. If you shop at high-end grocery stores, if you don’t have a lot of basics stocked in your kitchen, or if you don’t cook at home often and won’t use up leftover ingredients, then— yes— HelloFresh will probably save you money. Otherwise? Maybe not.
But regardless of whether a HelloFresh subscription will consistently save you money on your weekly grocery bill, one thing is certain. You can DEFINITELY save money on your first orders. If you use this link, you'll score 12 free meals across your first 4 boxes + free shipping on your first box. You know how I paid $62.93 for my HelloFresh delivery? You'll get your first box for only $22.92 and your next three boxes for just $31.91 each. That is, without question, an insanely great deal.
