At the Meal Kit Review we make sure that everything that we review has been tried personally by ourselves. We continue to do our best to check and personally review all the meal kit delivery services that are available in the States. I have to say that every week it is with a great deal of excitement that we await the next delivery that is due to arrive. I can’t wait to check out the contents and to find out what is going to be on the menu for the upcoming week.
Obviously, I am a huge meal kit fan. From my point of view, using a meal kit subscription service makes life so much easier, and enhances the home cooking experience. At the same time, surprisingly, the use of a meal kit delivery service can turn out to be a very cost-effective solution. They offer a great alternative to ordering in or even to dining out.
This week I received a delivery from Hello Fresh. It’s been a while since I tried Hello Fresh and I must admit I had forgotten how nicely their box is organized. Inside the box, the ingredients of each meal are sorted and labeled in their own individual bags. This makes the unpacking process truly stress free and takes no time at all. Any refrigerated ingredients such as meat, pork, seafood etc are found at the bottom of the box and packed with a suitable amount of ice. This ensures that your order stays cool even if the box needs to remain outside for a few hours.
In this Hello Fresh box I had ordered three recipes:
- Chicken pineapple quesadillas
- Barbecue pork meatloaves
- Chicken sausage pizzas
When I opened the bags of each dish, the first thing I noticed was the great quality of ingredients that were included. The meats and especially the sweet Italian sausages looked like they were from a professional charcuterie and not something that you would find in your local supermarket. The eggs were large and seemed farm fresh, and the huge flour tortillas looked yummy! This came as no surprise to me, since Hello Fresh are very proud of the fact that they use only the best ingredients. These ingredients include meats that are primarily domestically sourced and have no added hormones, poultry that is both antibiotic and hormone free, and excellent quality farm-fresh local vegetables.
Hello Fresh state that their focus is on trying to help customers take the necessary steps to include more fruits and vegetables in their everyday lives, and it shows in their recipes.
Luckily enough, I had a friend coming for dinner the day I received my delivery, so I was able to try the first two dishes that evening, and I saved the Pizzas for a Saturday family lunch.
So, let’s get started with my review on each dish:
Name of dish: Chicken pineapple quesadillas
Cooking time: 27 minutes
Taste ranking: 93
My main notes: We enjoyed this dish very much! As I mentioned with Hello Fresh, I love the quality of products that they provide. The chicken was clean and incredibly tender after cooking and the green pepper was shiny and fresh. As for the flour tortillas they were the best that I have tasted. I loved the combination of the sweetness from the pineapple with the southwest spice blend. Usually I am not a fan of sweet flavors in my food, but in this instance, the sweetness added a lovely delicate touch.
I also have to say that in my opinion, the portion was huge! I kept about third of the dish for lunch the next day. What a great treat for a busy mom like me!
Name of dish: Barbecue pork meatloaves
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Taste ranking: 100% (!)
My main notes: This was a perfect dish. Really, it was such a treat! What I liked best about this dish was the simple yet delicious slaw. The easy but super creative seasoning with the BBQ sauce was a first for me, and it was so good! It also perfectly matched the smoky barbeque seasoning that was a part of the meatloaves, that were also delicious. That is what I love about Hello Fresh – the dishes are classic and not too intimidating or complicated, but still supply some creative twists to enhance your evening meals
A final note about this dish was that it was very easy to prepare. It involved cutting and seasoning the sweet potatoes, mixing the meatloaves and then baking it all together. While everything was cooking, all I had to do was make the amazing slaw, and that was it. As simple as can be.
Name of dish: Chicken sausage pizzas:
Cooking time: 27 minutes
Taste ranking: 93
My main notes: As it was the final week of school, I had promised my daughter that we would have a special pizza lunch (she is obviously a big pizza fan!). Originally I was planning to just order in, but when I saw this recipe in my Hello Fresh box, I thought it would be perfect for my daughter and it was also so much fun making pizza together.
The recipe was very easy to follow. We cut and roasted the zucchini (my daughter did most of the work here), cooked the sausage meat, assembled the pizza (we did this part together) and cooked it for few minutes in the oven. The smells coming from our kitchen, from the sausage meat, the oregano and the Italian seasoning, were heaven.
I was really pleased with this pizza, (as was my daughter), as not only was it delicious but it was also a lot richer and felt a lot healthier than a regular takeaway pizza.
Bottom line, this pizza was a treat. It was filled with great flavors and all of us enjoyed it very much. The meal kit was for two-people, yet there was sufficient for the three of us to share this and still feel very full by the time we had finished. The portion sizes, like most dishes from Hello Fresh, were very generous. The only thing I thought was missing was a nice salad – so I made one myself. Just to add an element of freshness on the side.
To sum it up:
Hello Fresh is a great meal kit alternative and is easily ranked with my top three favorite companies.
Hello Fresh is perfect for people who seek classic meals that are familiar and not too intimidating. Their meals are always super tasty and usually involve some sort of delicate and interesting addition. The Hello Fresh recipes are very easy to follow and usually take no longer than 30-35 minutes to cook. For me, their meals are a winner every time. They are suitable for many occasions too, whether it be a family dinner with kids, a date night with my hubby or a fun evening with my friends. I highly recommend giving Hello Fresh a try!
