HelloFresh Reviews [How It Works, Pricing, & Reviews]

HelloFresh is a food subscription service that provides well-thought-out and delicious ingredients and recipes. HelloFresh reviews its menu each week to ensure variety and quality.

If you’re looking for a way to save time and money without having to think about what to cook, HelloFresh might be the perfect option for you. 

Let’s see what the service is all about.

All About HelloFresh

We’re researching a load of meal delivery services, and we can’t leave out one of the first in the industry. Let’s check what HelloFresh customer reviews have to say. 

Overview and Highlights

Thomas Griesel,  Dominik Richter, and Jessica Nilsson launched the company in 2011 in Germany. In 2012, the business expanded across Australia, the UK, and the US. 

Two years later, the brand delivered its one-millionth meal. Since then, HelloFresh has grown exponentially, and it’s now one of the top meal delivery services in the US. 

Life can get hectic, and what’s on the menu should be your last worry. That’s why the brand aims to provide healthy and easy meals to its customers.

HelloFresh and How It Works

HelloFresh sends you weekly pre-measured ingredients to make delicious meals. You’ll also get all the nutritional information. Plus, chefs curtate the meals and test them 200 times to bring you the best ingredients and recipes. 

You only have to order what you need, pick the number of people you’re cooking for, and state how many times you want a box a week. Also, you’ll have to define your dietary preferences, like:

• Pescatarian
• Meat and Veggies
• Quick and Easy
• Veggie
• Family Friendly
• Calorie Smart

HelloFresh meal reviews confirm that the service saves you time in grocery shopping and helps you decrease wastage, which we love. We all need to do our part in reducing our eco-footprint. 

Each box contains: 

• Pre-portioned ingredients
• Easy to understand recipes
• Nutritional information

You can browse the menu whenever you want and select what you might enjoy. There are over 25 recipes each week. 

HelloFresh meal reviews tell us that the boxes don’t include sugar, salt, oil, and pepper, so ensure you already have these essentials. 

If you’re allergy-prone, the subscription is also a good fit. Dieticians at HelloFresh review the ingredients carefully and always specify possible included allergens, like fish, wheat, nuts, shellfish, and dairy. It’s up to the customer to read the nutritional information. 

HelloFresh Prices, Discounts & Options 

Pricing depends on your specific preferences, like the number of people and how many times a week you want meals. Check the chart to get a better idea of the cost:

HelloFresh reviews for 2022 confirm these prices. Also, that includes shipping. 

To prove HelloFresh is more cost-effective, the company conducted a 10-week study, comparing itself to grocery store prices. It found that customers could save as much as 75% by subscribing.

The company claims that it’s cheaper because:

• It ships directly from suppliers. 
• You don’t have to drive to the store.
• The recipes depend on what’s in season, which lowers the price.

HelloFresh charges you at checkout, so your weekly subscription comes off your account five days before delivery. 

Veterans and military personnel get 50% off their first box. Plus, an additional 15% off the next boxes.

Saving Opportunities 

Our HelloFresh intro offer review confirms you can make use of the available coupon codes. As of November 2021, you can save $20 on your first box and $10 on the second. Plus, you get free shipping on the first one. 

The other coupon code saves you 10% on your first five boxes.

Website Experience 

We found the HelloFresh site easy to navigate. You’ll see dropdowns up the top to help you get information on how the service works, menus, and plans. Also, you can scroll down the home page to find out more about the brand and what you can expect from your first HelloFresh unboxing. 

At the bottom of the page, there are clickable options for the FAQ section, recipes, and blogs.  

Ordering Process

Here’s how to sign up:

• Go to the HelloFresh website or download the app. 
• Click on “Get Started.”
• Personalize your plan by selecting the weekly frequency and the number of people. 
• Register.
• Add in your delivery info.
• Checkout.
• Select your meals.

The whole sign-up takes only a few minutes. 

Managing Your Subscription

Changing your preferences from your online profile is super easy. You can pause or cancel at any time. Just make sure it’s five days before the delivery date to let the employees at HelloFresh review your changes. Skipping a week is also super easy. 

Since the service deals with raw ingredients, HelloFresh can’t accept returns. But if anything arrives damaged or spoilt, you can contact the customer service. 

Shipping & Packaging

HelloFresh understands that packaging is an essential step in ensuring freshness. Your order will arrive in a cardboard box with insulated liners inside and gel packs to keep the ingredients cool. 

All the packaging is recyclable. To discard the gel packs, cut a small hole and pour the gel into the trash. Then, recycle the plastic. 

Common HelloFresh delivery problems include orders left in the sun, incorrect delivery dates, and insufficient packaging. 

Your subscription cost covers shipping, but breaking it down, you pay $9.99 for each delivery. HelloFresh is available throughout the continental US but not in Alaska and Hawaii. 

When you first sign up and enter your zip code, you’ll pick from a list of dates the one that works best for you. Your following orders will come on that day each week unless you change that from your account settings. 

HelloFresh reviews say that you don’t need to be home to collect your order. It will wait for you at the door when you get home. But keep in mind that if the package stays in the sun, you might have to deal with ingredients gone bad. 

Customer Service

The massive FAQ section answered every question we had about the service in an easy-to-understand way. But if you need further assistance, you can either use live chat or call the service at (646) 846-FOOD (3663). 

We found a few HelloFresh complaints about customer care. They suggested that the company sometimes does little to fix issues like not receiving orders on time. 

My First HelloFresh Meals

I was glad to find my first shipment at my doorstep right on the day it was scheduled to come. It came in a huge HelloFresh box padded with special lining and ice packs to keep the perishable ingredients cool. When I opened the box, there were a couple of coupons on top as well as the recipe sheets and nutritional information. Beneath this, my three meals were packed in separate paper bags. Since the box was very large, I was glad to find out that the packaging they use is 100% recyclable!

The coupons included were for Rockets of Awesome (a kids clothing subscription box) and the HelloFresh wine club.

I’m vegan, so I was unsure if I should even bother trying out HelloFresh since they don’t offer meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free options combined. However, I noticed the vegetarian recipes didn’t have too much dairy for the most part, so I figured it wouldn’t be hard to make small substitutions. I did this for another meal kit subscription (as you can see in my Home Chef reviews), and it worked out well.

Thankfully, substitutions were pretty easy with these HelloFresh recipes as well! I’ll be reviewing each meal below.

Meal Reviews

Chipotle Black Bean Chilaquiles

I was most excited to get this recipe because I don’t make Mexican food that often even though it’s one of my favorite types of food. I’d never heard of this dish, so it sounded like it might be complex to make.

It ended up being pretty simple! All I had to do was cut up the tortillas into chip-like triangles, bake them, and cook the other ingredients. Then I just combined everything! I’m glad there wasn’t much to cut up other than the pepper and green onion. 

Once again, the only dairy item in the recipe was a small amount of cheese, which was an easy substitute. It only took me about 30 minutes to make. This dish was delicious—it’s pretty similar to nachos! It was also gluten-free and egg-free. It had a total of 740 calories per serving. The recipe made plenty of food for myself and another person!

Pasta Parmesan

This recipe is supposed to be fantastic because it’s in their hall of fame! I love pasta, so I knew I’d enjoy it. It seemed like a basic marinara sauce pasta with a few extra ingredients. Even so, I knew it’d be delicious. The only dairy ingredient in this recipe was the cheese, which I simply substituted for my favorite dairy-free cheese.

Overall, it was very simple to make since I’ve made numerous pasta dishes before. The Tuscan heat spice gave it an awesome kick! I also loved the crunch of the crispy breadcrumbs on top. This dish has 730 calories per serving. Again, there was more than enough food for two people—I was stuffed before my bowl was finished!

Caramelized Shallot Risotto

Before this, I’d never actually tried risotto before! There were a few dairy ingredients, such as butter and parmesan, but conveniently I had dairy-free butter as well as parmesan on-hand to substitute. When I ordered HelloFresh, I wasn’t too worried about the substitutions because I typically have the ingredients since I cook on my own as well. That said, it might be inconvenient to find substitutions if you don’t usually have them.

Overall, the dish was fairly simple to cook. The first step was to roast the shallots in the oven to caramelize them, then cook the rice with vegetable stock and butter to make it creamy, and finally roast the zucchini ribbons. In total, the dish took about 30-40 minutes to cook. It was well worth it—the risotto was creamy and delicious! I was impressed. The caramelized shallots and zucchini ribbons made the perfect additions. There was more than enough food in this meal—I was stuffed before my portion was finished! The recipe card stated that this meal has just 490 calories per serving (which is much less than the other two meals I got).

HelloFresh Reputation & Customer Satisfaction

Many customers are devoted to the brand and have been for years. They love the food and recipes and report little to no issues with the company’s practices. 

But there are some HelloFresh bad reviews. They mention leaking packaging, users not receiving orders, and customer service not helping much. Online ratings for HelloFresh range between 2.7–3.8 stars. 

HelloFresh Alternatives — How Does It Compare?

In a world full of monthly deliveries, your options are endless. If cooking isn’t your thing, you can check out other subscription boxes. But if you’re a foodie, keep reading to see how HelloFresh compares to others in the industry.

HelloFresh vs Blue Apron

These two services are always going head to head, and it’s easy to see why. Both deliver fresh ingredients for you to put together at home. So why pick one over the other? 

The most significant difference is that Blue Apron recipes are slightly more advanced. The menu options come with adventurous spice combinations. While HelloFresh is by no means plain, it isn’t as out there as Blue Apron. 

In terms of price, both subscriptions are pretty similar on a per-serving basis. A HelloFresh plan for four people four times a week works out to $7.49 per serving. And the Blue Apron price is the same. 

HelloFresh vs Home Chef

Both have similar pricing, locations, packaging, and even ingredients.

The biggest difference is that customization lets you get up to 30 or more meal options each week with Home Chef, whereas HelloFresh offers 25 menu choices. Also, Home Chef has more traditional meals compared to HelloFresh.

If you’re also looking for healthy snack options, have a look at our NatureBox review. 

HelloFresh vs Freshly

While HelloFresh is a meal kit service, Freshly sends you ready-made meals that you simply reheat. But these aren’t your typical frozen dinners. The ingredients are natural and mostly healthy. 

HelloFresh nutrition facts come with each order, so you know what you’re eating. It’s a bit easier to see what’s going into the food if it’s not pre-prepared. 

The Freshly meals are for one person, whereas HelloFresh servings start at two people. Hellofresh costs $11.99 per serving with two servings for two people per week. Freshly is $11.79 per meal with four meals per week. Overall, the cost isn’t a deciding factor. 

If you’re looking for a ready-to-eat solution, Freshly is the better option. But there are other ready-made options on the market, so before you choose, have a look at our Revive Superfoods review.