The Most Comprehensive Home Chef Reviews

Home Chef is a meal delivery service with eight years in the industry. It’s perfect for anyone with a busy schedule or those stuck on what to cook every day. 

Home Chef reviews confirm the company is one of the best on the market with highly competitive pricing. 

Let’s look at the company to see its prices, how it compares to other services, what’s included, and what the customers think about it.

All About Home Chef Meal Kits

Home Chef has grown into one of the largest companies in the meal kits industry, but where did it all begin?

Overview and Highlights

In 2013, Pat Vihtelic created Home Chef to provide consumers with quick and delicious meals no matter how busy they are. Keeping things simple is this organization’s mantra. There’s a suitable option for everyone — from delivery and prep to service. 

Vihtelic partnered with a chef to create easy and delicious recipes, like the Home Chef Boom Boom sauce. Now, the business has grown to incorporate multiple chefs and over 700 employees.

In 2020 alone, Home Chef delivered over ten million meals, keeping tummies full while reducing food waste. 

Home Chef Unboxing — What Does the Service Offer?

Firstly, you can choose your dietary preference, such as calorie-conscious, vegetarian, or carb-conscious. Then, you can specify any food you wish to avoid, like pork, beef, fish, nuts, poultry, or mushrooms. 

You can either pick the suggested Home Chef options or choose the meals you want. Also, you can upgrade your meal or double up on the protein. 

The menus change weekly, so you get a fantastic variety. Plus, you get pre-portioned ingredients that come with step-by-step recipe cards telling you precisely what to do. You can also adjust your Home Chef meal delivery depending on the time you have. Here are the main options:

Standard Meal Kit: It comes with everything you need and takes around 30 minutes. 

15-minute Meal Kit: The perfect option if you’re truly short on time.  

Oven-ready: The food comes pre-prepared in an oven-safe tin that just needs heating. If you have a busy week, this option might work best for you.

Grill-ready Kit: You can simply throw these ingredients on the grill. 

Culinary Collection: These come with premium ingredients and recipes — perfect for a special occasion. 

What’s more, you don’t have to rely on delivery, with meals available at Kroger grocery stores across the US. 

Reviews of Home Chef Add-Ons

You can include add-ons in any meal. They range from desserts and salads to bread and delicious extra protein. 

The prices vary depending on what you want. For example, the Classic Protein Pack includes two New York strips, six chicken breasts, and 20 oz. ground beef. Or you can get Snappy Snacks for $4.95 each.

Home Chef Pricing, Discounts & Options

The price depends on how many people you’ll be cooking for — two, four, or six. Also, you’ll pick how many recipes to receive each week. There’s no set Home Chef subscription cost. You pay for what you order.

Still, the average cost per serving is $8.99. Home Chef has a minimum order value of four meals, meaning two meals with two servings each. Delivery is $13.99 for orders of $50 or less, which is reduced to $7.99 if you go over that amount.

Compared to other meal delivery services, the Home Chef prices are among the most affordable, if only by a fraction. Also, customers say the value for money is fantastic. 

Once you sign up, you’ll be billed from the first delivery. If you want to change or stop the orders, you can do so from your account or by contacting customer service.

Discounts are available on your first order, and students get 50% off their first purchase. Plus, if you’re looking for a great gift, a gift card for this service is a brilliant idea.

Saving Opportunities

HomeChef.com reviews show the service has ongoing discount codes, so keep an eye out. If you refer a friend, you get a $35 credit, and they’ll get $35 off their first order. 

What’s more, the service has an ongoing discount for first responders, doctors, nurses, hospital employees, teachers, and military personnel. You only have to sign in with the ID.me at checkout to verify your identity.

Website Experience 

The Home Chef website is incredibly user-friendly. All you have to do is enter your email, sign up, and state your preferences. Then, you’ll receive Home Chef menus tailored to your information, and you can adjust them however you like. Finally, you select a payment option and wait for your order to arrive.

The website offers detailed recipes for you to download if you prefer to make something different. Also, all sets come with nutritional information and recipes. If you have any questions, you can make use of the comprehensive FAQ section. 

Ordering Process

Here’s what you need to know about submitting your order:

• Go to Home Chef’s website.
• Select “Pick Your Meals.”
• Choose your recipe and dietary preferences. Are you looking to save time or try something different? Either way, Home Chef has you covered.
• Then, you enter your dietary preferences and any allergies. 
• Follow the instructions, and enter your email.
• Select how many people you’re cooking for and how many recipes you want per week.
• Then, enter your delivery address and select your first delivery date. 
• Finally, you’ll get to the payment page, where you can enter a coupon code and add your payment details. 

That’s it! The sign-up process is straightforward, and we appreciate how Home Chef has thought of every detail. 

Managing Your Home Chef Subscription

If you have an issue with your order, contact the Home Chef customer service agents. Depending on the problem, you might receive a refund. But the company doesn’t accept returns. 

You can pause or cancel your subscription by logging into your account or contacting customer service. Also, you can change the delivery date anytime. Plus, they can leave the box outside, so you don’t need to be at home to get it.

Shipping & Packaging

You’ll usually get the items once a week on your selected day, but you can receive them more often if you like. 

Home Chef delivers to 98% of the US. Most of the areas not covered by the service include small coastal islands connected to the mainland and places FedEx can’t get to in a three-day transit.

When looking at the Home Chef monthly cost, remember to consider the delivery fee. Delivery prices vary depending on the order size. You’ll pay $13.99 for orders of $50 or less, which is reduced to $7.99 if you go over that amount.

Your items come in insulated liners with ice packs. Also, the ingredients are packaged separately to stop contamination. They’re all pre-packed, so sauces and their condiments come in small containers, pre-measured for your convenience. We love that most of the packaging is recyclable or reusable.

Customer Service

Home chef reviews report that the customer service is on point. The highly informative FAQ section answers most questions you might have. Still, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, there’s an agent available promptly. 

You can easily make changes, cancellations, and substitutions. The website is user-friendly and gives you all the options you could possibly want about deliveries, menus, and payment. 

Note that the changes and orders must be in by noon on the Friday before delivery so that Home Chef has time to prepare your personal kit.

You can contact the customer service by calling (872)-225-2433 during office hours:

• 9 AM–6 PM CT Monday–Friday
• 10 AM–2 PM CT Saturday

Alternatively, you can message a customer service agent through the website. They usually respond within 24 hours.

First Home Chef Delivery

I wanted to play it safe when I tried out this subscription, so I chose one meal, a fruit basket, and a smoothie.

I don’t eat dairy or meat, and it’s pretty challenging to find recipes on the Home Chef menus that don’t include one of the two. There were no options that completely excluded milk when I signed up (other than the fruit). Although these recipes typically have dairy, it’s usually not much, so it’s easy to exclude ingredients since they aren’t prepared yet. 

My box arrived on the day they said it would, which is great because I’ve had some shipping delays with other meal delivery services in the past that made the ingredients go bad. The box was somewhat bulky because of the insulation and lining. My items were packed underneath some thick, gel liners. There were also a couple of ice packs at the bottom to keep the ingredients fresh!

The meal and smoothie ingredients were packed in separate bags.

As for the fruits, they were stored in a protective box, so they weren’t able to bang around.

My Home Chef delivery also came with a small plastic binder to keep the recipes in! Each recipe had punched holes on the side so I could easily store them inside. This is convenient in case I want to make it again in the future. Otherwise, I’m sure I would’ve just thrown the recipes away when I was done.

Bang Bang Tofu with Rice and Snap Peas

Here’s another plus for this Home Chef review! I was glad to see a meal with tofu as the source of protein rather than meat. Although the recipe still had milk in the sauce, I figured it’d be simple to make a replica. There are a ton of vegan boom boom sauce recipes on Pinterest that only require a couple of easy ingredients. The one I chose just used vegan mayonnaise, chili paste, and agave (all of which I already had). I made a little more than it originally came with to be safe.

It came with a block of tofu, snap peas, green onions, cornstarch, sesame seeds, jasmine rice, toasted sesame oil, chile and cumin rub, boom boom sauce, and a veggie mixture.

The steps on the recipe card were very easy to follow. The first step was to cook the rice, then prepare and fry the tofu, then cook the vegetables. I make all of these regularly, so none of this was difficult for me.

In total, the meal took me about 30 minutes to cook. This isn’t too long and it’s pretty much the highest length of time their recipes take – meal preparation time was never one of Home Chef complaints. The rice is the main part that takes a while.

After everything was cooked, I threw the vegetables and tofu on top of the rice and added the sauce. As it turns out, a little extra sauce was a perfect amount.

Overall, this meal turned out delicious. I’d definitely make it again! Although it took a bit of time, it was straightforward and simple to make. The portions were just the right amount for two servings. It filled me up and didn’t make me feel bloated or too full. I’m now aware why is this meal marked as a favorite in many Home Chef reviews.

Cranberry-Pineapple Smoothie

There were five ingredients included to create this smoothie. These were pineapples, cranberry sauce, pineapple juice, a greek yogurt cup, and a couple of packets of honey.

I excluded the greek yogurt cup and used a bit of coconut milk instead. It ended up tasting wonderful! The smoothie had a very creamy texture because of the frozen pineapple and was deliciously sweet from the honey.

Seasonal Fruit Basket

Many Home Chef reviews contain this item, but I was a bit hesitant to choose the fruit basket because of the possibility that they might not arrive fresh, might be damaged during shipping, or might be too ripe. However, I took the risk, and they were just right!

They arrived firm and became as ripe as I prefer within a couple of days, which timed out perfectly with the day I chose to make my meal and smoothie. I received two apples, two kiwis, and two pears. The only complaint I had is that they weren’t organic.

Home Chef Reputation & Customer Satisfaction

The most significant Home Chef complaints seem to revolve around delivery and shipping. Some customers say that even after canceling or postponing an order, the food arrives and sits outside until someone gets it. That could mean days or weeks if you’re away. 

The packaging is also a concern, with some clients reporting their goods weren’t packaged properly, so there were meat contaminants on other food items. The provided ice packs only work for a limited time. They’ll melt if you leave them in the sun all day.

Customers also warn that there aren’t many vegetarian options. 

Still, Home Chef ratings show most users enjoy the service with a 3.6-star rating on Facebook,  3.2 stars on Consumer Affairs, and 4 stars on Trustpilot.

People like the Home Chef recipes, ingredients, and simplicity. Many have been loyal for years and truly appreciate the service.

Customers like that they can choose the ingredients and mix and match their proteins. Plus, everything’s packaged separately and comes pre-measured, which is a real time saver. It’s a unique feature lacking from many competitors.

Home Chef Alternatives — How Does It Compare?

Comparing other subscription boxes gives us a pretty good idea of what might work best for you.

Home Chef vs Blue Apron

Blue Apron offers much more variety with its weekly menus. Blue Apron has only four menu options, and the meals often overlap, bringing around eleven meals per week. 

Still, shipping costs less with Blue Apron, charging a set of $7.99 for two meals. Anything over two and shipping is free. Home Chef charges $13.99 with less than four meals, but the meals come just over $1 cheaper per serving.

Home Chef vs Hello Fresh

Now, here’s where the real battle begins. Both are well-priced and offer a good range of options. While you can get more add-ons with HelloFresh, customers prefer Home Chef for its simple, quick, and easy recipes. 

So, if you’re looking for unusual taste, HelloFresh might be a good option. The company offers more unique recipes and ingredients. But if you want more of a traditional meal, Home Chef would be the better choice. 

Home Chef vs Sunbasket

When comparing these two they offer a similar service, but Sunbasket charges a bit more. It’ll cost you around $11.49 per serving, more than the average $8.99 of Home Chef. Still, Sunbasket offers organic ingredients. If that’s important to you, and you can afford to pay a bit extra, this service will be the better choice.