Review – Home Chef - Meal Delivery Service

This is the fourth in my quest for a home meal delivery service. Home Chef is one of the best-known services. 

Online

With Home Chef, you select a Taste Profile: Calorie-Conscious Meals, Carb-Conscious Meals, or Vegetarian (I picked Carb Conscious). Next, you choose ingredients you would like to avoid. We avoid fish, so we selected that. You can avoid several ingredients, including peanuts, pork, and poultry. Like the other services I’ve tried, you select the number of people being fed, in my case two, then the number of meals per week you want from them (I picked four). It is straightforward to skip a week or two if you wish.

Variety

They have meal kits, which take a half-hour to 45 minutes to prepare. They also have “Easy Prep” kits which take 15 to 20 minutes, and oven-ready kits, which take about 30 minutes in the oven. Of course, they have a bunch of add-ons, such as breakfast frittatas, broccoli cheddar soup with sourdough demi loaf, lattes, smoothies, salads, and desserts. They have something for any meal you’d like to augment. There was a nice mix of beef, pork, chicken, and fish for the meal kits.

Receipt

All of the orders I’ve received have arrived on time by FedEx. They were packaged nicely with frozen blocks to keep the items cool. 

Quality

We had difficulty with quality. Two kits had slimy green beans, and some had white mold. I contacted customer service and described the problem. They were easy to work with and gave a credit for the following box. Also, one of the orders had a potato that was a bit moldy and an onion that was turning. I cut around it and still had enough potatoes and onion for the meal.

Preparation

The recipe cards have a nice feature I haven’t seen elsewhere—a cook within X Days note. We used it to order which dinner we were going to have next. The kit includes everything except olive oil, salt, and pepper. One recipe called for Canola oil to fry chicken in; they included 5 fl. Oz. They even included butter when called for in a couple of other recipes. The recipe card has step-by-step directions and photos of things in various stages of completion; however, the print on the recipe cards is tiny. 

Taste

I’m pleased with the taste. The meals include items I’d consider regular home fare—meat, potatoes, and vegetables. There was nothing exotic in the selection. However, there was always enough when a sauce was included in the meal. The spicy chicken parmesan had one of the best marinara sauces I’ve ever had. Really tasty. 

Portions

The portions were about perfect. If anything, there might have been too much. For example, we could have the zucchini and red peppers from one meal carry over to another as it was too much. I was never left hungry. 

Sustainability

Home Chef had the worst sustainability of the four companies we’ve tried. The packing insulation was not recyclable. To recycle, cut the package open and put the gel into the bin. Rince the plastic and recycle it in a 4 receptacle. Unfortunately, my local recycling doesn’t include soft #4 plastics. One good part is the Home Chef boxes were square, which makes folding and getting into the recycle bin much easier. 

Price

Our first 12 meals cost $59/box (including shipping), That’s $7.38 per meal. It was the best price of any meal services. 

Rating: 4.4

Ordering Process: 5

Cooking Process: 5

Food Taste: 4

Price: 5

Cleanup 3

Conclusion:

I liked Home Chef. I sense they are the best bang for the buck—a nice blend of lower price and good taste. My wife and I have discussed our meal delivery services and we’ve decided to go back to Green Chef for a month and then return to Home Chef for a month as we continue to explore the services.

My reviews are my honest opinion. After I write the review, I may see if I can provide a link. If I gain some benefit or commission by your use of the link, it is just my bonus and not considered during my review.