HelloFresh Is the Meal Kit for People Who Are Bored of Predictable Meal Kits

Until recently, I didn’t understand the point of meal kits. The services I’d tried leaned on the same tired recipes of sloppy joes, bland chicken breast, and boring pasta. After trying HelloFresh, I can finally say I get it.

Of all the meal kits I’ve tried, HelloFresh stands out for one reason: its menu reads more like a restaurant’s than a meal kit service’s. You’ll find dishes like za’atar-crusted halloumi, moo shu pork bowls, and Peruvian chili-soy steak stir-fry, with over 100 rotating options and more customization than any other service I’ve tried.

Whether you rarely set foot in the kitchen or cook elaborate meals on weekends, HelloFresh takes the stress out of the most tedious parts of cooking. Figuring out what to make, tracking down the right ingredients, and avoiding the inevitable half-used bunch of cilantro rotting in your crisper drawer are all someone else’s problem now.

I spent a week cooking with HelloFresh for my husband and me. Here’s what won me over, and what didn’t.

Watch us put HelloFresh’s cook times to the test

The HelloFresh ordering experience

Ordering meals from HelloFresh was easy. You’ll start by selecting your serving size (up to six people), how many meals you want per week, and a dietary plan: Meat and Veggies, Veggies, Family-Friendly, Fit and Wholesome, Under 20 Minutes, or Pescatarian. I opted for the two-person serving size and the three-meal-per-week plan for my husband and me. Prices start at $57 for two meals for two people per week.

From there, you’ll choose your meals from HelloFresh’s extensive menu. There are over 100 delicious-sounding rotating options, from coconut shrimp and cabbage curry to bavette steak with creamy truffle polenta, all filtered by your dietary preferences. Nutrition- and prep-related callouts like Fiber Smart, Easy Prep and Clean, and Vegan are marked under each meal to speed up your selection process, and you can browse up to five weeks of menus in advance since options rotate weekly. Each listing also includes ingredient amounts, cook time, nutritional info, allergens, and the full recipe. For those short on time, HelloFresh also offers a selection of heat-and-eat Ready Made Meals.

Your box arrives between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on your chosen delivery date, packed with pre-measured produce, raw meat or seafood (if applicable), and small amounts of herbs, spices, and condiments, plus the recipes for each meal. Heads up: if you’re not home when it arrives, don’t sweat it. The contents are packed with insulation and several (seriously heavy) ice packs to avoid any food safety issues. There’s no long-term commitment either: skip a week, pause, or cancel anytime.

What I loved about HelloFresh

Because I wanted to sample a range of HelloFresh’s meal options (e.g., a seafood and a meat-based dish, each of varying amounts of prep time required), I added the sweet and spicy shrimp lo mein, chicken and spinach couscous salad, plus the shrimp and pesto rotini from the Ready Made Meals line to my order.

As a gal who fancies brand transparency and flexibility around meals, I was into HelloFresh’s lengthy list of customizable menu options, as well as the in-depth information the service provides about each recipe’s ingredients, flavor, process, and nutrition. This made ordering a stress-free (enjoyable, even) process—in a matter of minutes, my meal planning and food shopping for the following week was signed, sealed, and nearly delivered. Bonus points for not needing to painstakingly pore over packaged food labels at the grocery store (Is this salmon farm-raised or wild-caught? Are these oats safe for my gluten-free friend?).

It was equally pleasing to see that HelloFresh sources its recipes from a wide range of cultural cuisines. Rather than the sloppy joes, meatloaf, and underseasoned skinless, boneless chicken breasts I’m used to seeing with this type of service, HelloFresh’s menu offers bahn mi, za’atar-crusted Halloumi cheese, stromboli, and enchiladas verdes (to name a few).

Flavor-wise, I was sold after a single bite of the sweet and spicy shrimp lo mein. The dish—which took me about 45 minutes from start to finish—tasted vibrant and saucy, and it hit the ideal balance of heat, sweet, and sour. The preparation was about as basic as it gets too: Cook noodles, sear shrimp and veggies, stir in sauces and seasonings, then garnish. It was clear that the recipe itself had been developed and tested by professionals, because it actually worked (a relative rarity!). And in terms of quality, I was relieved to see that the shrimp was still ice-cold when I pulled it out of the HelloFresh packaging and that the green beans and bok choy looked lively.

Similarly, the chicken and spinach couscous salad was just the thing for a sweltering July weeknight dinner when switching on the oven felt like a death sentence. It took just shy of 40 minutes to toss together, and thanks to the inclusion of a garlicky mayo-based dressing, toasted walnuts, and a generous portion of HelloFresh’s signature Fry Seasoning, the otherwise simple seared chicken and spinach salad was rich in both flavor and textural nuance.

The sleeper hit from my test? The Ready-Made Meal, HelloFresh’s shrimp and pesto rotini. In under three minutes, I had plated a generous serving of al dente rotini noodles tossed with a creamy pesto sauce made with basil leaves that tasted vibrant and fresh, as if they’d just been harvested from my garden. All was topped with juicy (not chewy) shrimp, parboiled pieces of asparagus, and a blend of five Italian cheeses. Given the amount of time the dish took to serve, the flavor was impressive, especially compared to other heat-and-serve-style dishes I’ve sampled.

What I didn’t like

While HelloFresh certainly took the guesswork out of making a delicious midweek meal and saved me hours in the shop-and-prep department, the cooking process was slightly less predictable. According to HelloFresh’s recipe, the chicken and spinach couscous requires roughly five minutes of hands-on time and no more than 30 minutes total. Not so, in my experience: it took me over 35 minutes to prep the dish. After testing a few other HelloFresh recipes with similar discrepancies, I’d recommend tacking on around 15 minutes to the predicted cook time, regardless of what you’re serving.

And while the single-serve packets of seasoning and sauce are smart when it comes to reducing food and packaging waste, opening packet after packet mid-sear or sauté, when your hands aren’t exactly available to pry open anything slippery, was, honestly, agonizing. Similarly, the cleanup that came after felt relatively extensive for such a simple meal. None of the dishes I tested were one-pot or one-pan, so if that’s the case for you, too, budget some extra time for scrubbing.

The bottom line

HelloFresh is best suited to beginner and intermediate cooks looking to up their skillset and creativity in the kitchen while adding new flavors, cooking methods, and recipes to their arsenal (without having to grocery shop or take a cooking class).

It’s also a smart service for those who prefer to outsource the process of portioning their meals, as HelloFresh’s recipes are composed of pre-portioned ingredients. And compared to many other meal kit services on the market, HelloFresh offers lots of customization options and a lengthy recipe list—so whether you follow a restrictive diet or have strong preferences (and/or aversions) to certain ingredients, you’ll still find delicious menu options that fit within your palate’s preference.

Read more meal kit stories on Bon Appétit

• HelloFresh made our list of the best meal delivery services for families—see which others we recommend
• If price is your top priority, here are the most affordable meal kits
• And these are the best healthy delivery services