Cooking Made Easy With HelloFresh

The following post is sponsored by HelloFresh. While I was compensated to share my experience, all thoughts and opinions of this service remain my own. I hope you enjoy the colorful food pictures, free access to recipes, and my honest review. Make sure to scroll down for a special discount offer at the bottom!

 

I know that I’m not alone in thinking that cooking and preparing fresh meals for myself and my family every night can be overwhelming. Since it’s just the two of us (for now — I’m currently 24 weeks pregnant!), and my husband usually works night shifts, I can get away with throwing anything together at the last minute when I get home from work to meet my own dinner needs.

Pair that with cooking in a considerably small kitchen in New York City, and it becomes tricky to get the motivation to plan dinners out ahead of time and cook meals at home. I actually love cooking … it’s the prep work that requires figuring out what to make, getting the ingredients, and carrying them home that usually holds me back from doing it more.

I’ve been an avid fan of food delivery services in the past, and the reasons that I just listed above couldn’t be more true now that we live in Brooklyn and without the convenience of owning cars. Today I’m giving you all a peek into my experience with using along with a great discount code at the bottom, so be sure to check it out!

Services like  allow you to get creative in the kitchen and deliver all of the fresh ingredients you need, already measured out, right to your doorstep. This is great for anyone who lives a busy lifestyle, is in a dinner rut, or wants to minimize their frequency of take-out dinners!

 

Here’s how it works:

 

Pick your plan

To start, you pick a plan that works best for you, your family, and your dietary preferences.

There are classic, veggie, and family options so you can choose what works best for your schedule and the size of your household.

 

Select your recipes

The HelloFresh team includes chefs and dietitians that create a variety of fifteen new recipes every week! Meals are already pre-selected based on your preferences, but you have the flexibility to select the meals you want from your weekly menu. This means that you have the option to leave the meal choices up to HelloFresh, or you can log in to your account and pick exactly what you will receive.

 

Select your delivery date

Select what delivery date works best for you (a one time thing or a continuous subscription!), and HelloFresh will send a box to your doorstep, free of charge.

FYI, you can always freeze, modify, or cancel your subscription anytime. (This is key when I know life is going to be too busy to cook myself, or if Scott and I plan to travel.)

 

Receive your delivery

Each box includes simple recipe cards, fresh, pre-portioned ingredients, and cooling gear. HelloFresh uses top products nationwide, and the boxes are layered with insulating liners and ice packs to keep ingredients cool until you get home.

I really like how each recipe comes divided in its own brown paper bag, and they didn’t take up much room in our refrigerator.

 

Get cooking

Choose which meal you want to start with and follow the recipes!

All of the recipes that I tried were very user-friendly, perfect for a cook of any experience level. I like that the recipe cards list extra supplies you will need (like pots, bans, bowls, oil, butter, etc.), tips like skipping the shallots if you aren’t a fan of that flavor, and includes wine pairing suggestions as well as an ingredients list to easily double the recipe in the future.

That’s it!

(I picked the Classic Plan, which includes three dinners for two.)

The recipe cards also let you know the expected prep and total cook time for each meal. This was helpful for me to plan what meal I wanted to cook on what day. I reached for the 30 minutes or less options on days I came home late and hungry, of course.

Something I definitely wanted to mention in this review is a mishap that was quickly fixed, thanks to their great customer service. When I originally received my first box of meals, I opened two servings of ground beef instead of one and was missing a serving of pork. I contacted my HelloFresh representative and asked if they could send over a serving of pork so that I could complete the meals while they were still fresh.

He immediately apologized for the inconvenience and instead of sending over what I was missing, he scheduled an entire new box of meals to go out right away. I ended up cooking two out of the three from the first week (pictured below) and all three from the second delivery.

While I was annoyed that I didn’t have the pork right off the bat, I was impressed by the level of customer service and happy to take on another week of HelloFresh meals on the house.

*We’ll take it!*

That said, I added the sides that came in the pork meal to our Thanksgiving dinner and made a total of five meals in the two-week period. Here’s a little breakdown of the recipes!

By the way, you can find all of these recipes along with hundreds of others on their Recipes Archives page. Even if you don’t try the service, you should definitely check out some of their recipes. They’re quick, healthy, and sure to please a variety of palates. (I know I’ll be turning back to this page when I’m in need of recipe inspiration!)

 

• Chicken Thighs in Kimchi Sauce

This one truly surprised me! I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it since I’m not big on red cabbage, and it looked like that took up half of the plate. It did, but I’m glad to report that the pear slaw was very unique and delicious.

Chicken Thighs in Kimchi Sauce with an Asian Pear Slaw and Jasmine Rice

The best part about this meal is that it only took 20 minutes to cook and maybe 5 minutes to prep, which is a true win for a weekday meal when you’re hungry and craving an Asian dish (<- me this entire pregnancy)!

 

• Chicken Cheddar Fajitas

As expected, this meal was also very easy to put together. I love fajitas, and they’re often my go-to when I go out for Mexican food or cook it at home.

Chicken Cheddar Fajitas with Bell Pepper, Lime Crema, and Pickled Jalapeño

The best thing I learned from this recipe is to sprinkle a layer of cheddar cheese onto the tortillas before heating them (just don’t let them sit in the oven too long). I also forget to use fresh lime juice to flavor my dishes, and this reminded me. So good!

 

• Buttered-Up Steak

To be honest, I’m not the best at cooking meat. I really like how these recipes break everything down step-by-step so I’m not playing a guessing game. (While pregnant, I ask Scott to handle the raw meat or I wear a pair of latex gloves while handling it.)

Buttered-Up Steak with Roasted Potatoes and Garlicky Green Beans

I actually ended up cooking my steak a little longer than Scott’s, which is pictured. He always prefers a medium-rare while I like medium-well. The herb butter in this recipe is phenomenal, and I was also reminded how effortless roasting potatoes can be. Um, hello, where have I been?

 

• One-pan Hearty Pork Chili

I feel like I’m on repeat here, but OH-MY. This recipe might be my favorite. The colder weather rolling in is steering me towards hearty soups, and I was legitimately sad when the last spoonful of this pork chili was gone.

One-pan Hearty Pork Chili with Kidney Beans and Poblano Pepper

This recipe only took 35 minutes to cook, and I loved that it was all thrown into one pan, making clean up a breeze. Scott raved about it as well, so I will keep it handy in our rolodex of recipes for the future!

 

• Thyme Gravy Chicken

Believe it or not, this recipe actually taught me how to mash potatoes. I’d never done it before. Crazy, right? And again, it so easy and they tasted fantastic with the addition of garlic, butter, and parmesan cheese.

Thyme Gravy Chicken with Roasted Carrots and Cacio e Pepe Potatoes

The carrots didn’t come out as great as the picture showed, but that was my own fault for leaving this recipe to make a few days after I planned. (The carrots went soft.) Whoops! Regardless, it reconnected me with cooking chicken breasts on the stovetop and gave me great ideas on how to season them (butter, smashed garlic, thyme, demi-glace, water, salt, pepper).

 

Overall, I was very pleased with all of the recipes and I plan on ordering more down the road!

In case you’re still on the fence on whether a food-delivery service is for you …

 

HelloFresh is not for:

• people who don’t want to cook themselves
• people who travel a lot
• extremely picky eaters

HelloFresh is better suited for:

• people who want to learn to cook
• people who like to cook but don’t like to plan meals
• people who don’t like to grocery shop
• people who cook in small kitchens
• people who don’t like to waste ingredients after purchasing for specific recipes
• people who want to try new recipes and get creative

 

Now on to the good stuff!

 

Hello Fresh Discount Offer

I am happy to be teaming up with  to offer a special discount just for Life In Leggings readers. First time customers will receive $30 off their first box! Simply enter the code LEGGINGS30 to apply the discount.

Even with a bumpy start, HelloFresh has been a great experience and I think a lot of you would truly enjoy it, too.

Thanks so much for reading!

 

Questions of the Day

• Have you ever tried a food delivery service?

• What is your favorite recipe to cook at home?

 

Just to throw this out there, I do not receive any affiliate credit or compensation for anyone who signs up to use this service. I hope you take advantage of the discount offer if you’re interested in cooking with HelloFresh, and I genuinely appreciate your support on this and all sponsored posts that appear on this blog!