HelloFresh vs. Home Chef: A Dietitian’s In-Depth Comparison

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HelloFresh and Home Chef are meal kit services designed to help you cook and enjoy more healthy meals at home.

Offering convenient kits with preportioned ingredients and step-by-step recipe cards, both HelloFresh and Home Chef help make meal prep easy and fun.

However, while these kits have many similar features, several key differences set them apart.

This article compares some of the similarities and differences between HelloFresh and Home Chef to help you determine which may be the better option for you.

Basics

Home Chef and HelloFresh are two meal kit delivery services that simplify meal prep by delivering preportioned ingredients and detailed recipes to your doorstep each week.

Both services feature a rotating weekly menu with options to suit several dietary preferences.

When you sign up, Home Chef allows you to select 2–6 recipes per week that include two, four, or six servings each.

Meanwhile, HelloFresh offers 2–6 meals per week, with two or four servings each.

Both services allow you to customize your meal plan prior to delivery or skip a delivery week as needed.

Pros and cons at a glance

Here’s a quick look at how these two services compare:

Who tried it?

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Cost

Prices for both services vary depending on the specific plan and number of meals you select.

However, they are comparable in price, with HelloFresh meals starting at $7.99 per serving and Home Chef meals starting at $6.99 per serving.

Shipping fees for both services are $9.99 per box.

Availability

HelloFresh is currently available throughout the contiguous United States.

Similarly, Home Chef delivers to 98% of the United States. You can enter your zip code to find out whether delivery is available in your area.

In addition, Home Chef is available at select grocery stores. You can use the store locator on the website to find a participating location near you.

Ingredient quality and variety

Home Chef incorporates a variety of unique ingredients into its weekly menus, with meals featuring different proteins, vegetables, starches, and spices.

Although organic ingredients are available for certain meals, Home Chef uses mostly conventional meat and produce in its kits. According to its website, the company works closely with trusted suppliers to ensure quality and adhere to animal welfare standards.

HelloFresh also uses a wide array of seasonal ingredients, making it easy to add some diversity to your diet.

Like Home Chef, HelloFresh uses organic produce in select meal kits but focuses mostly on providing fresh, high quality ingredients. It also prioritizes sustainably sourced seafood and works closely with suppliers to promote food safety and animal welfare.

Getting started

HelloFresh

To sign up for HelloFresh, you’ll start by selecting at least one of the six available plans, which will determine the types of recipes you see first. Regardless of which plan(s) you pick, you’ll still be able to choose from any of the available recipes.

Next, you’ll decide how many recipes you want each week and how many servings per recipe you’d like. Once you’ve made these selections, you’ll be prompted to create an account.

Recipes are updated each week, and it’s easy to choose your own meals, customize meals, or let HelloFresh select meals for you based on your preferences. You can also skip a week or cancel anytime if you need to.

Home Chef

Home Chef asks you to select preferences based on prep time (standard meal kits or low prep recipes). You can also select dietary preferences (Calorie-Conscious or Carb-Conscious) and whether you want to omit certain ingredients from your meals.

After that, you’ll be asked to choose how many recipes you want to receive per week and how many servings you need for each meal. You’ll then be asked for shipping and billing information.

The menu changes each week, and you can choose your own recipes, customize the ingredients for certain meals, or let Home Chef make suggestions for you. As with HelloFresh, you can skip a week or cancel as needed.

Types of meals

Both Home Chef and HelloFresh offer an extensive menu with plenty of options to choose from when creating your custom meal plan.

HelloFresh

HelloFresh features a rotating weekly menu with 40 or more recipes, including options that fit many dietary preferences.

In fact, HelloFresh allows you to mix and match recipes on your own or choose from personalized plans. The meal plans currently available from HelloFresh are:

• Veggie: vegetarian and plant-based meals
• Pescatarian: seafood- and plant-based meals
• Family Friendly: kid-friendly recipes requiring less prep
• Meat & Veggies: variety of options that all include meat and vegetables
• Fit & Wholesome: meals with about 650 calories or less per serving
• Quick and Easy: meals that can be cooked in less than 30 minutes with minimal prep

Home Chef

Meanwhile, Home Chef offers 20 or more recipes every week, grouped by how much preparation they require.

In addition to regular meal kits, Home Chef offers 15-minute meal kits and dishes that are oven- or grill-ready. Some meals can also be prepared using only a microwave.

Home Chef meal types include:

• Meal Kits: 25–60 minutes of prep time; more prep required
• Easy Prep Meal Kits: less cooking time; minimal prep
  • Express Plus: 10–30 minutes
  • 15-Minute Meal Kits: 10–15 minutes
  • Fast & Fresh: 15–30 minutes; microwavable
  • Oven-Ready: 30–55 minutes; prepared oven-safe tray

Home Chef also offers a la carte items like desserts, salad bundles, snacks, and proteins that all require very little preparation and short cooking times, if any.

When signing up, you can input your dietary preferences to receive a list of suggested recipes or pick your own from the full menu. Certain Home Chef recipes can also be customized with your choice of protein.

Diet friendliness

Home Chef provides an array of vegetarian, carb-conscious, and calorie-conscious meals and allows you to select the specific protein source for certain dishes.

Similarly, HelloFresh offers vegetarian, pescatarian, calorie-smart, and carb-smart selections.

Both services offer limited options for more restrictive eating patterns. This may be challenging for those following low fat, paleo, ketogenic, or vegan diets.

That said, I usually follow a low carb, high fat keto diet, and I found that both HelloFresh and Home Chef had options that I could tweak slightly to accommodate both my keto diet and my family’s regular diet.

While both Home Chef and HelloFresh label allergens found in their recipes, it’s important to note that the meals are processed in facilities that also handle many possible allergens.

During the sign-up process, Home Chef allows you to select ingredients you wish to avoid, including:

• specific types of protein (pork, beef, poultry, shellfish, and/or fish)
• mushrooms
• tree nuts
• peanuts

However, there’s still a risk of cross contamination, and you can’t choose to omit allergens such as milk, dairy, or gluten.

Therefore, if you have a severe food allergy or intolerance, be cautious when using either meal kit service.

Packaging and sustainability

To promote sustainability, both HelloFresh and Home Chef use packaging that’s mostly recyclable or reusable.

Both companies’ websites also offer detailed instructions on how to recycle or dispose of the various components of the packaging.

I was really pleased with the packaging for both services. Both services ship their meals in boxes with insulated liners and ice packs. The meat is packed on the bottom of the box and separated from the rest of the ingredients by a layer of cardboard.

All other ingredients are neatly packaged in individual bags, grouped by recipe. HelloFresh puts them in paper bags, while Home Chef uses plastic bags. This made it really easy to unload the box into the fridge and to get all the ingredients out when it was time to cook.

As far as sustainability goes, it seems like HelloFresh uses less plastic overall than Home Chef.

Meal preparation and taste

HelloFresh

When testing HelloFresh, I tried three meals:

• Salmon in a Creamy Dijon Chive Sauce
• Meatballs with Bulgogi Sauce
• Cheesy Smothered Mushroom Chicken

Instead of sticking to a particular meal type, I just chose the meals that sounded the most appealing to my family.

The meals all took 30–40 minutes to prepare, including the time to prep the vegetables. In fact, veggie prep — like peeling and chopping carrots and mushrooms or boiling potatoes — was the most time-consuming part of the meal prep.

Everyone in my family really loved the flavors of the Cheesy Smothered Mushroom Chicken, and it was easy for me to substitute mashed cauliflower for mashed potatoes to reduce the carbs on my plate. I saved the recipe card, and it’s a meal that I’ve actually re-created since.

Home Chef

When testing Home Chef, I tried two recipes:

• Chicken Lorraine
• Turkey Burrito Skillet

These were both from Home Chef’s Carb-Conscious menu. Both meals took about 30 minutes to prepare. As with Hello Fresh, most of that time was spent prepping fresh vegetables. Once that was done, the meals came together pretty quickly.

My family also really enjoyed the Chicken Lorraine. I thought the sauce, fresh lemon, and almonds were nice touches that made it taste a lot better than a regular chicken and Brussels sprouts dish that I might have prepared without the guidance of a meal kit.

Are HelloFresh and Home Chef worth trying?

Home Chef and HelloFresh have many similarities, especially in terms of price, ingredients, and availability. However, there are also notable differences between them.

First, Home Chef lets you customize the protein source in certain meals, which can be ideal if you prefer having a bit more control over your menu. However, HelloFresh offers more than 40 meal options each week, while Home Chef offers 20–25 each week.

I found the huge number of selections HelloFresh offers each week to be a bit overwhelming, and it was a bit easier to pinpoint exactly what I wanted from Home Chef’s smaller menu.

Overall, I had positive experiences with both HelloFresh and Home Chef. They both provide healthy and tasty meals with lots of fresh vegetables. HelloFresh offers a little more variety from a menu standpoint, but Home Chef meals tend to take less time to prepare.

Which meal delivery service is better for you?

While HelloFresh includes family-friendly options, Home Chef allows you to select up to six servings per recipe, which may better suit larger families and households.

Additionally, the Home Chef menu includes a variety of meal kits and dishes that require little to no preparation.

Thus, Home Chef may be better for those with limited time, while HelloFresh might be more suitable if you’re hoping to brush up on your cooking skills.

How do customers feel about HelloFresh and Home Chef?

HelloFresh

HelloFresh has more than 39,000 reviews and has a rating of 4 stars out of 5 from customers on Trustpilot. Most people appear to be satisfied with the meals and ingredients.

Most of the negative reviews are about shipping issues, subscriptions, and promo pricing. Some reviewers say there is too much packaging, and a few people say they’ve had trouble with missing ingredients or damaged produce in their boxes.

Home Chef

Reviews for Home Chef are similar, and it has a rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot. Regular users seem very satisfied with the service, the meals, and the food quality. However, several reviews mention difficulty canceling the service or getting a refund.

Customer service

If you experience any issues or have questions regarding your HelloFresh order, you can reach a customer representative by phone or through the live chat feature on the website.

Similarly, Home Chef allows you to submit help requests online or contact a customer service representative by phone.

Both websites also provide extensive lists of frequently asked questions, which include answers to many common issues.

How do HelloFresh and Home Chef compare to other meal delivery services?

Home Chef and HelloFresh are moderately priced meal kit services that are a good fit for households without specific dietary needs, but they may not be a good fit for everyone. There are several other services you may want to consider.

For instance, Blue Apron also provides meal kits that can serve 2–4 people and has a wine subscription service for people who are interested in wine pairings with their meals. Meals start at $7.99 per serving, which is similar to the cost of HelloFresh and Home Chef.

With meals starting at $11.99 per serving, Green Chef is more expensive but offers gluten-free, keto, paleo, vegetarian, Mediterranean, and vegan options. It’s also certified organic, and each meal can serve two, four, or six people.

EveryPlate is less expensive but still provides a wide variety of weekly options with two or four servings each. With prices starting at $4.99 per serving, it may be a more budget-friendly option, especially if you’re ordering a large number of meals.

Frequently asked questions

Can I substitute meals on HelloFresh?

Yes, you can choose your own meals from the weekly menu, but you need to make selections at least 5 days ahead of your next scheduled delivery. If you miss the deadline, you’ll receive meals that were chosen by HelloFresh.

Are Home Chef meals already cooked?

Some Home Chef meals arrive partially cooked, but the service does not offer any ready-to-eat meals. If you’re looking to save time, you can choose from the Easy Prep Meal Kits menu or look for meals labeled “Fast & Fresh,” which can be prepared using only a microwave.

What’s the main difference between Home Chef and HelloFresh?

Home Chef and Hello Fresh are fairly similar. There are some minor differences in pricing, and Hello Fresh offers roughly twice as many menu options each week.

In my experience, HelloFresh provides more kid-friendly options and more variety, but Home Chef offers more fast, low prep options for people who are short on time.

The bottom line

Home Chef and HelloFresh are meal kit services with several similarities in terms of price, ingredients, and availability.

However, the two services also have many differences, including the amount of preparation required, customization options, and number of serving sizes available.

Be sure to consider the factors listed above and check out the weekly menu for each to decide which is right for you.