HelloFresh Review: Trying The Most Popular Meal Kit Subscription

Lately, it seems like there’s no time to do much of anything but work, sleep, and repeat. As much as I love planning my meals ahead of time and picking out everything at the store, I have to admit that shopping for groceries has become more of a hassle and is one of the last things I want to do at the end of the weekend.

To make life a little easier, as far as cooking goes, I decided it was time to sign-up for a meal subscription to streamline the process of buying, preparing, and cooking my food. As I was checking out all of the options available, there was one brand in particular that caught my eye - HelloFresh.

This meal kit subscription stood out to me for a few key reasons: affordability, recipe selection, and meal plan options. I decided that since it offered a bit of everything and was incredibly affordable that I’d give it a try to see what it was like.

Signing Up For HelloFresh

While I chose Family Friendly and Quick and Easy as my preferred meal types, I still had access to all meal options when it came time for picking out my weekly recipes. Selecting these choices only caused them to appear first when looking at recipes and I still had access to all other weekly meals.

I also decided to try out 3 meals with 2 servings each to start just to be sure that my husband and I would enjoy our new plan. Usually, the price per serving for this plan comes out to around $9.99 per serving, but recently the company has offered major discounts on all of its plans and the final price came out to only $4.69 per serving with free shipping - what a steal!

Once I had completed the initial sign-up steps, I was then able to view the weekly menu which had 35 recipes altogether. It was challenging to pick out 3 from their amazing selection, but I ended up ordering the following meals:

• Balsamic Fig Chicken with Roasted Potatoes & Mixed Greens
• One-Pan Black Bean & Poblano Quesadillas with Lemon Crema
• Beef Tenderloin with Truffle Mash plus a Ricotta Crostini App & Vanilla Cheesecake Dessert

Here’s a closer look at each of the meals I tried!

My HelloFresh Meals

One-Pan Black Bean & Poblano Quesadillas with Lime Crema

This meal was incredibly easy to make and only required 15 minutes of total prep and cook time. To prepare this meal, I first had to wash and dry the produce, quarter the lime, and then core, deseed, and dice the poblano. Next, I drained and rinsed the beans and combined the sour cream with a bit of lime juice in a separate bowl.

Then, I melted 1 tbsp butter in my cast-iron pan and cooked the poblano in it for 4 minutes. Following this, I added the black beans and tex mex paste and cooked the contents of the pan for an additional 3 minutes.

After the ingredients had cooked through, I topped one half of each tortilla with Monterey Jack cheese, added the cooked ingredients, and placed the remaining cheese on top.

I then folded the tortillas in half and placed them in my cast-iron pan that had butter in it. I cooked each side of the quesadilla for roughly 2-3 minutes until they had browned. Finally, once each side was browned, I cut the quesadillas into thirds and topped them with lime crema and hot sauce.

This meal made the perfect lunch as it didn’t take much time to prepare and was hefty enough to hold us over until dinner time. I loved its simplicity and would certainly repeat this on a busy workday.

Balsamic Fig Chicken with Roasted Potatoes & Mixed Greens

This meal required about 30 minutes to make and was one of the lighter options on the menu. First, I diced the potatoes, tossed them in olive oil, and cooked them in my air fryer at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. While the potatoes were roasting, I minced the onion, stripped and chopped the rosemary leaves, and halved the lemon.

I then grilled the chicken in my cast iron pan with olive oil for around 7 minutes on each side. In a separate pan, I added the minced onion and chopped rosemary to a bit of olive oil. I cooked the ingredients for about 3 minutes and then added the jam, stock, and ¼ cup of water to create a syrup-like coating. I let everything cook for another 3 minutes and then added 1 tbsp of butter to thicken the coating.

While my potatoes were roasting and the sauce was simmering, I added my salad greens into a separate bowl and tossed them with a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of lemon juice. Once everything was done cooking, I plated my dish with the chicken, potatoes, and greens and then topped the chicken with the fig sauce.

This meal was delicious and was surprisingly filling, despite only having 500 calories per serving. The fig sauce helped the chicken to have more personality and the greens mixed with oil and lemon were quite refreshing.

Beef Tenderloin with Truffle Mash plus a Ricotta Crostini App & Vanilla Cheesecake Dessert

Last, but not least, I had to try out one of HelloFresh’s 3-course meals! This meal took 35 minutes to prepare. The first portion of prep for this meal was for the Ricotta Crostini appetizer. I sliced the baguette crosswise into 8 rounds, sliced the chives, and then drizzled olive oil on top of the baguette rounds. Then, I baked them at 325 degrees for around 10 minutes.

While the baguette rounds were browning, I placed the ricotta in a small bowl and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Once the rounds were done, I spread the ricotta on top of each round and then drizzled Mike’s Hot Honey on top of them, sprinkled on some walnuts, and used half of the chives.

I proceeded to snack on this appetizer while I completed the rest of the meal - needless to say they went quickly as they were absolutely delicious with their crisp texture and rich flavor.

The next part of meal prep required me to dice the potatoes and boil them for 20 minutes. Once they were through cooking, I drained the pot and then mashed the potatoes, after which I stirred in sour cream, crème fraîche, 1 TBSP softened butter, and the truffle zest.

I then flavored the beef with peppercorns and then cooked each side of both pieces of meat for 5 minutes. Once the meat had browned, I added the stock concentrate along with 2 tbsp of water and allowed the pan to simmer.

In a separate cast-iron pan, I added some olive oil and then grilled the asparagus for 5 minutes. Once they were finished, I moved them to a separate plate and then used the same pan to toast the almonds.

Finally, I plated my dish with beef, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. I topped the asparagus with almonds and topped the beef with a little melted butter and chives. Once we had finished eating the main course, we unwrapped the cheesecakes and downed them in just a few bites.

If you want a flavor-packed, satiating meal, then you have to try this recipe out!

Final Thoughts On HelloFresh

HelloFresh exceeded my expectations and was incredibly fun to try out. I enjoyed each of the three meals for different reasons (two serving as quick lunches and the three-course meal serving as the perfect date night at home) and appreciate that the brand offers something for everyone.

Unlike other food subscriptions, HelloFresh does not skimp out on portion sizes despite being one of the most affordable options and you always have plenty of recipes to choose from which ensures that there are at least a few meals you’re bound to love each week.

Something that I love about HelloFresh is that they use paper bags to separate meal ingredients, other than the meat and dessert, which is a major plus in my book as most brands aren’t as conscientious about plastic consumption.

Other than the few plastic bags included, everything else in my box was recyclable including the box itself, the insulating liners, the gel packs, and the separators.

If you want to try a meal subscription that’s fun, affordable, and provides you with plenty of food, then HelloFresh is the one!