I don’t know if ya’ll have noticed, but meal kits are all the rage these days.
I’m talking about those services like Blue Apron, HelloFresh and others that send you a box of meals for a week. Due to a few coupon codes and recommendations from family, we tried each of these meal kit services right before and after our recent trip to France.
Here are my unbiased, un-sponsored opinions about meal kits and these two in particular. Of course, I haven’t tried all of the options out there, so I can’t speak to others.
PROS
- If you are eating several meals out per week, then you will likely save money with a meal kit.
- Same as above- if you’re eating out a lot, then these meals will probably be healthier.
- Encourages cooking at home
- Allows you to get new cooking/meal inspiration
- Creative ingredients that are individually packaged
- Most meals can be made in 30 minutes or less
CONS
- Wastefulness- individually packaged foods waste more packaging
- Cost is generally more than meal planning and grocery shopping (approximately $10-12 per person per meal)
- No leftovers, or not much
- You can’t invite others over for dinner… unless maybe you have a family meal kit
- Products aren’t necessarily local to you- you miss out on knowing your farmers and producers
Let’s start at the beginning.
I was pretty skeptical in the beginning about meal kits. I mean, I’m a seasoned cook, food blogger and foodie, so I’ve got this whole meal planning/shopping/cooking thing down pat, right?! Well, not totally.
I’m like you in that sometimes (on rare occasion for me) I don’t want to plan my meals, and sometimes I miss my Saturday grocery shopping date. Sometimes I need some fresh inspiration for meals for my husband and me. Sometimes my husband wants more meat-inspired meals, and that’s not necessarily in my wheelhouse.
Blue Apron
It was pretty fun unpacking our Blue Apron box and seeing what types of ingredients and meals awaited us. For our 2-person, 3-meal pescatarian pack, we had Seared Cod & Udon Noodles with Shitake Broth, Avocado Tempura Tortas with Spicy Turnip & Cabbage, and Fingerling Potato & Kale Hash with Baked Eggs.
What I learned:
- I do not like udon noodles (no fault of BA’s, I just don’t like how thick they are)
- Fried avocado is really easy and tasty
- I need to make more potato hashes!
- I miss leftovers/big meals
- Picking the pescatarian pack was a good move on our part, since we ate the fish meal first right before we lost power for 2 days from Hurricane Matthew. I was so glad we didn’t have to pitch the other vegetarian meals!
I had a coupon for Blue Apron, so it only cost me $30. It normally costs $60 for 3 meals for 2 people. Overall, I liked it, but I wasn’t really “wowed” by any of my meals. I also thought the portions were lacking in some cases.
HelloFresh
Once again, it was pretty exciting getting a box of meals after we returned from Europe. Our fridge was mostly empty, so it was nice to fill it up with the 3 traditional (meat) meals for 2 people from HelloFresh. This plan is normally about $70, but I got it discounted with a coupon code from my sister. Our meals were Thai Pork Meatballs with Fresh Noodles & Green Beans, Lemony Chicken Paillard with Sweet Potato Wedges, and Coffee-Rubbed Steak Tacos & Black Beans.
What I learned:
- I generally just don’t get very excited about the Asian-inspired meals in these meal kits (not sure why- but my husband loved them)
- Steak tacos are super simple to make
- Chimichurri is delicious on chicken
- Olive oil, lemon juice and honey is a great salad dressing
- Some of the recipe instructions were a little confusing
I’m not sure if it was the slightly larger portions (leftovers on occasion!) or the fact that I got the meat meal plan, but we really liked HelloFresh more. I know it’s a bit pricier, but if I just have to do minimal grocery shopping on a HF week then it still works in our budget. I liked how the packaged each meal’s ingredients together in one small box, too. Bonus: Jamie Oliver does some recipes for them.
*You can use my coupon code (2CFLML) to get a $40 discount on your first HelloFresh box!
All in all, I think these meal plans are a great option for a lot of people, and it might be something that we just do on a rare occasion for lack of time, etc. I would encourage you to get a coupon code, try one of these services out, get some new cooking ideas and let it push you to cook more meals at home! Whatever gets people in the kitchen and eating healthier (and on budget) is a win-win in my book. Just don’t forget to keep going to your local farmers market, farm stand and supporting your local food people!