ow, I may be jumping the gun a little bit here as I have only cooked two, that's right two, Hello Fresh Meals so far but it more than worth the price you pay. (Promo code below to make your first box only $19.99!)
You might be thinking - how can this girl spend hours of her time writing about a company she has only used TWO times. Well, here's why.
How does one get into Hello Fresh?
I heard about Hello Fresh online, in articles like so and though that is sounded very convenient but maybe a little out of my price range for 3 mere meals a week. A friend on Facebook posted a coupon and a raving review about her experience prepping, cooking and eating her Hello Fresh meals. Obviously I was hooked - First by the coupon (my first 3 meals for $19.99) and then by the research I did. So there I am at 11pm at night ordering meat and cheese and fresh produce to be shipped to me in a cardboard box. It all sounded a bit fishy to me. How does it stay fresh? How fresh can it all be and stay after being thrown around a mail truck for a few days? Am I going to like all of these random ingredients I have never tried before?
How does Hello Fresh ship?
A few days later I received a 14 pound box to my front door. I work a typical 9-5 job so I didn't get to the box until hours after it arrived. Once I opened the box I found 3 smaller boxes filled with produce, seasonings, dressings - all labelled for the three separate meals I picked off a list while ordering, a 5 pound ice pack, instructions on each meal and my 3 three sets of airtight packaged meats to go with each meal. The meat was so cold it was practically frozen and all the produce was a refrigerated temperature which wasn't even the most surprising part. Then came prepping, cooking and eating the 3 handpicked meals.
How do you cook Hello Fresh Meals?
Not only does everything come in the perfect portion sizes, where you have little to no extra ingredients, you have step-by-step instructions (with pictures) to help walk you through the steps. It tells you everything from how to cut each ingredient, which ingredients to wash, how long to cook each part of the meal all the way down to telling you 'share' and put onto plates. Do to the perfect portion sizes, it is very hard to over or under season any step of the meal but it also allows you make that restaurant styled meal with fresh herbs you never think to add to some of your own home-cooked meals.
How good are the Hello Fresh meals, really?
Like i said before, it's like eating a perfectly portioned meal from a restaurant. It is perfectly seasoned, tastes fresh (shocker!), fills you up and leaves you feeling like a professional chef. (Does anyone know if Chopped is taking beginner chefs on their show now?) From cutting, washing and prepping the meals, I feel a sense of satisfaction. Not only did I not have to walk around the grocery store looking for farro and shallots, but I felt much better cooking my meal for myself than paying someone else 5x the amount for a meal that may not even be as good. (I'm telling you, these meals are GOOD).
Are Hello Fresh meals worth the cost?
The initial reason I even considered Hello Fresh was because of a coupon code I saw on a friends Facebook - don't worry I have one for you too! Now you may not be able to purchase every week for $19.99 but you can bet you last dollar that I will be continuing to purchase Hello Fresh meals at full price (WHOA!) for a while.
How do you get a Hello Fresh subscription?
It's your lucky day! If you go to https://www.hellofresh.com/tasty/?c=CRYHAI&utm_sou... and use promo code CRYHAI you can recieve $40 off your first Hello Fresh box giving you 3 meals (for 2) for only $19.99.
Be careful though - I guarantee you get hooked, just like I did in just two simple meals.
Happy, healthy, cooking!
