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If you’re looking to watch your calories and support a balanced diet, meal kits like Calorie Smart from HelloFresh can be a great option. The Calorie Smart menu from Hello Fresh was introduced in 2022 and remains a popular choice for those of us looking for delectable, easy-to-prepare meals that support weight loss and overall health.
In 2024, our team revisited Hello Fresh to sample several meals from their Calorie Smart lineup. Our latest review has all the insights and info you need to help you decide whether Hello Fresh is the right fit for your healthy dinner goals.
What is the Hello Fresh Service?
Hello Fresh is one of the largest meal kit delivery services around, and it’s a popular choice in the US. They specialize in delivering a wide variety of delicious recipes with easy-to-follow instructions, using farm-fresh ingredients. Hello Fresh also emphasizes sustainability with a focus on reducing food waste and using environmentally friendly packaging.
To support customers looking for lower calorie options, Hello Fresh includes a roster of Calorie Smart options on their Fit & Wholesome menu. It’s not a weight-loss specific service, but offers healthy and calorie-conscious meals that can easily become part of your healthy eating habit.
Hello Fresh describes these Calorie Smart meals as wholesome, nutritionally dense, and balanced. The recipes have a calorie count of around 650 calories or less per serving – although if a meal falls higher on the calorie spectrum because it includes more healthy fats like salmon, avocado, or whole grains (farro, brown rice, and quinoa), it will also be considered a fit dish for this menu.
Hello Fresh lets you pick your meals from a rotating weekly menu lineup, offering flexibility and variety with its delicious Calorie Smart dinners. New recipes are still being added in 2024, so each week’s offerings will be fresh and exciting.
Hello Fresh Calorie Smart Meal Options
It’s easy to find the Calorie Smart options through Hello Fresh, as they’re clearly marked in the weekly menu using the Calorie Smart symbol. This menu offers a variety of delicious, nutritious dishes that fall at or below 650 calories. When we ordered our calorie-smart box in April 2024, there were over 20 calorie-smart meal options to choose from – so it’s safe to say anybody can find what to eat on the Hello Fresh menu, even when on a low-cal diet!
Thanks to the labeling system, it’s also easy to meet other needs, so you can find Calorie Smart meals that are vegan, quick, low in carbs, and more. Thanks to this labeling system, you can easily choose a weekly meal kit that will suit your diet and that of anyone else in your household.
Hello Fresh customers on the Wholesome & Fit Calorie Smart plan can still view the entire menu, so if you’re looking to mix it up for a week, you can.
A few favorite Calorie Smart recipes that we recommend are:
- Salmon With Maple Dijon Sauce, With Sweet Potato, Zucchini, & Red Onion Jumble (450 calories)
- Everything Bagel Avocado Toast With Balsamic Mixed Greens & Grape Tomatoes (480 calories)
- Indian-Style Chicken Curry With Chicken Thighs, Rice, Bell Peper, & Cilantro (630 calories)
- Creamy Garlic Shrimp with Ricotta Ravioli (650 calories)
- “Skip the Bun” Crunchy Cheeseburger Salad, With Monterey Jack Cheese & Special Sauce (650 calories)
- Vegan Coconut Curry Tofu Lettuce Wraps, With Bell Pepper, Cilantro, & Lime (490 calories)
Our Experience
Our team tried out a box of 3 Calorie Smart meals from Hello Fresh. We have used this meal kit service many times and can safely say that the Calorie Smart boxes offer the same high-quality ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions as their other offerings.
The Calorie Smart meals included a variety of quality ingredients like large, fresh zucchini, delicious-looking potatoes, green beans, and asparagus. We also received high-quality chicken raised without antibiotics as part of our kit.
In particular, we wound up loving the Apricot Chicken. We were a bit skeptical about this one because it looked like a classic dish of greens, potatoes, and chicken breast at the end of the day, but we were pleasantly surprised. Despite its simplicity, this recipe really wowed us.
The two elements that made this dish extra good were the excellent quality of the products – the green beans and potatoes were super fresh, and the chicken breast was very clean. Second, the apricot balsamic sauce to top the chicken was just delicious! The fruity flavors from the apricot jam combined perfectly with the vinegary tang! This meal had only 550 calories per serving, so it’s both delicious and helps maintain a balanced weight loss goal.
Like most Hello Fresh recipes, the instructions were clear and easy-to-follow, and the pre-portioned ingredients made prep simple. Plus, the variety of recipes kept us looking forward to the next exciting email we’d get to try out. The Calorie Smart box gave us the Hello Fresh experience we know and love, with the added benefit of being calorie-conscious.
Why Use Meal Delivery for Low-Calorie Meals?
Meal delivery kits like Hello Fresh Calorie Smart offer ease and flexibility when looking to eat healthy, calorie-conscious meals. The convenience can help support your goals, and pre-portioned ingredients help you control your portion size while also reducing food waste.
Having an easy recipe and ingredients for a healthier, homemade dinner ready to go can help you stick to your health goals with fresh, nutritious ingredients delivered right to your door. With Hello Fresh, you can have delicious, calorie-conscious meals that are quick and easy to make, so you don’t wind up ordering takeout.
Hello Fresh is best known for dinners, and the Calorie Smart menu is a great addition to a balanced diet with a focus on health and weight loss. They have also recently added quick lunch recipes and delicious breakfast items like salads and egg bites, so you can choose to use Hello Fresh for other meals to get that same convenience for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
What Do Customers Think of Hello Fresh Calorie-Smart Meals?
Hello Fresh is a popular meal service for a reason, and customers enjoy the variety offered by the Calorie Smart meals on the menu. Many reviews also cite the usefulness of Hello Fresh in helping them cook dinner at home and lose weight as part of a balanced diet. Here are a few customer reviews of Calorie Smart meals.
This user loves Hello Fresh meal kits dinners for supporting their weight loss goals, as part of their exercise and healthy eating regime. “I actually have! I exercise regularly anyways, but I’ve found HelloFresh pretty helpful in cutting back my snacking. I have a light breakfast of just an egg , coffee and fruit, a big salad at lunch with some protein, and then a HelloFresh dinner.”
The Greek Goddess Bulgar Bowl earns a 10/10 from this happy customer: “Such a light and refreshing meal (but we do always add extra feta). This is one we often make iterations of and it’s always nice to see it come up! Highly recommend :)”and other Hello Fresh fans in the comments agree.
“The Hello Fresh Calorie Smart kit is a great option for anyone looking to eat a little lighter. Each meal contains around 650 calories or less. Hello Fresh makes it clear that while these meals are lower in calories than some of their traditional meals, they are not skimping on protein or flavor. Because their lean protein servings remain generous, they have staying power that will keep you feeling full and satisfied and hopefully minimize mindless snacking between meals, making it easier to reach health goals. There’s also flexibility in the plan, which I like, allowing customers to mix and match Calorie Smart meals with other plans, preventing boredom with the menu and more flavor freedom if a certain craving hits. It’s okay to give into those cravings on occasion and may help you stick to your plan if you’re not completely depriving yourself of your favorite foods. Hello Fresh Calorie Smart meals make it embarrassingly easy to prepare a healthy meal in 30 minutes or less that the whole family will enjoy.” shares Katie Drakeford, MA, RD, CSP, LD, CLC.
Bottom Line – Is It Worth It?
So, is the Hello Fresh Calorie Smart plan a good choice for you? Absolutely. Overall, Hello Fresh Calorie Smart is an excellent meal kit service to help you maintain a low-calorie diet while still enjoying diverse meal options.
While the price may be a bit higher than doing your grocery shopping, the convenience, quality, and portion control can be worth the cost, especially for busy folks. However, it’s always a good idea to consider how it fits into your overall budget and lifestyle.
If you’re looking for a variety of wholesome, high-quality meals, and the ease of meal prep, the Calorie Smart offerings from Hello Fresh are definitely worth it and might just be what you need to spice up your dinner routine without the guilt!
