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What Is HelloFresh and How Does It Work?

Amber Sayer
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Whether inspired by the culinary legends on Food Network or with world-renowned restaurants, or on a mission to eat healthier and feel better, more and more people are trying their hands in the kitchen and cooking seemingly gourmet, yet nutritious, meals these days with the help of meal delivery kits. HelloFresh offers subscribers an easy, curated way to discover, cook, and enjoy new recipes without having to look up recipes, find and buy individual ingredients, and measure out each ingredient every step of the way. Instead, all the ingredients for a given recipe are pre-portioned and sent in a chilled box that arrives at the customer’s house on planned days.

While there is an ever-increasing number of meal kit delivery services, HelloFresh has been—and remains—one of the most popular. If you’re trying to decide if a meal-delivery kit might be something fun you’d like to take on, or if you’ve been a subscriber to another meal kit subscription and are looking to change things up, keep reading to learn about HelloFresh, including how it works and what options there are.

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What Is HelloFresh?

HelloFresh is a meal kit delivery subscription box service that delivers weekly boxes filled with pre-portioned ingredients for rotating recipes to customers across the United States. Customers can choose to receive ingredients for either two or four servings of chef-created receipts to make at home each week, and each box comes packaged with freezer packs and all the ingredients necessary to make the recipes along with the instructions and nutrition information.

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What Are the Benefits of HelloFresh?

HelloFresh is an efficient way to handle meal planning and preparation because it eliminates the need to research recipes and spend time meal planning. Everything you need arrives refrigerated and ready to go, without the need to go out and shop for ingredients. Since the ingredients are sent in pre-portioned amounts according to the exact needs of the recipe, there is less food waste. Lastly, HelloFresh is a fun way to build your skills as a home cook and try new recipes and cooking techniques that you may otherwise be unexposed to.

What Meal Plans Does HelloFresh Offer?

HelloFresh offers a variety of meal plans based on dietary preferences. Customers can choose to get two or four servings of each recipe in whatever plan they prefer, and enough ingredients for anywhere from two to six recipes each week.

What Kind of Meals Can I Make With HelloFresh?

HelloFresh recipes change each week. The Classic meal plan has over 50 chef-created recipes to choose from each week. More restrictive plans offer fewer choices, but still plenty of options each week. Examples include Firecracker Meatballs, Apricot and Chickpea Tagine with Almonds, and Chicken and Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers. Most recipes take under 30 minutes and can be done by home cooks of any level. That said, when selecting your recipes, you can filter by difficulty and total time. Level 1 recipes are quite basic and usually only take 1-2 pots or pans and minimal time, Level 2 recipes are more involved and may introduce more advanced skills, and Level 3 recipes are for more experienced or adventurous home cooks looking to challenge themselves or make something more gourmet.

Is HelloFresh Healthy?

HelloFresh offers healthy options, and they post the nutritional information for each recipe to better help you meet your dietary needs. The Calorie Smart meals are specifically designed for those watching their caloric intake and are created in collaboration with dietitians. That said, HelloFresh does not cater to specific dietary needs like gluten-free, vegan, keto, or paleo. Customers have to review the recipes themselves and adjust them as necessary.

How Much Does HelloFresh Cost?

HelloFresh boxes work out to $9 per serving plus a $10 shipping fee but can be as low as $7.49 per serving for larger plans. There is no membership fee. New customers can usually get a promotion with up to 14 free meals.

Can You Change Your HelloFresh Subscription?

Subscribers can change the plan they are on at any time on their customer page, or pause or cancel delivery.

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Amber Sayer
Amber Sayer
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Amber Sayer is a fitness, nutrition, and wellness writer and editor, and was previously a Fitness Editor at Byrdie. She…
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