What Is HelloFresh?
HelloFresh is America’s most popular meal kit delivery service; our team can see why! This service offers a huge menu of weekly recipes and delivers the pre-measured ingredients right to your door!
HelloFresh is a versatile service due to all the options available and can work well for single-person households or families.
What Is Gobble?
Gobble is a meal kit that offers fully prepped ingredients, making it easier to put your meal together at home. The ingredients arrive already chopped, peeled, and even marinated to make cooking a breeze.
Unlike fully prepared meals, these prepped-ingredient meal kits can still be customized to meet your individual needs.
Pros & Cons
HelloFresh Pros
- There is a great variety of recipes with 100+ options every week
- Diet support for Calorie Smart, Vegan, Protein Smart, and more
- HelloFresh Market add-ons for breakfast, quick lunches, and snacks
- Fresh, pre-measured ingredients arrive pre-sorted per recipe
HelloFresh Cons
- Only traditional meal kits, no fully prepared meals
- Some recipes are more complex and may require special tools
Gobble Pros
- Ingredients arrive fully prepped to save time
- Prepared & Ready microwavable meal options
- Support for Pescatarian and vegetarian diets
- Personalize It! option lets you swap or upgrade proteins
Gobble Cons
- There are fewer weekly menu options than many meal kits
- Not great for those with dietary needs or allergies
Variety of Meal Plans
HelloFresh Meal Plans
With HelloFresh, you can choose a meal plan to feed 2, 4, or 6 people, and your weekly box will contain 2 to 6 recipes.
When signing up, you can choose preferences to get recipe recommendations personalized to your needs. The options for HelloFresh plans are the standard Meat & Veggies plan, Veggie, Fit & Wholesome low-calorie meals, Pescatarian, Family Friendly, and quick meals Under 20 minutes. You’ll see the full menu of 100+ choices for every box, no matter which plan you pick.
Gobble Meal Plans
With Gobble, you can get a box for 2 or 4 people, with pre-prepped ingredients for 2 to 5 weekly recipes.
In terms of dietary preferences, Gobble offers three main plan options – Classic, Vegetarian, or Lean & Clean. They also let you choose the proteins you like, so you can opt out of Shellfish, Pork, etc., if needed for dietary or religious reasons. No matter which preferences you choose, you can still mix and match from the full menu each week.
Meal Variety
When picking a meal kit, the taste of the dishes is a top priority. Both HelloFresh and Gobble will deliver on convenience, but how do the flavors stack up?
Our team has enjoyed many different dishes from HelloFresh and Gobble over the years, and we can assure you that everything we tasted is delicious and full of flavor. That said, there are some differences between their menus.
HelloFresh has the biggest variety of recipes, with 100+ options every week. Their menu includes tags to help you find recipes that meet your needs for Easy Prep, Family Friendly, Calorie Smart, and more.
Most HelloFresh meals take around 30 minutes to prepare, and the menu includes several quick 15-minute recipes with easy prep. After picking your meals, you can select add-ons like breakfasts, quick lunches, and more.
Gobble has fewer weekly options on the menu, with around 16 traditional dinner meal kit recipes, plus a handful of Prepared & Ready microwavable meals, soups, and salads.
Even Gobble’s meal kit recipes come with prepared ingredients, making it easy to prepare them in around 15 minutes. They also have some add-on options for quick breakfasts and desserts that you can choose from each week.
Our Experience – Is It Tasty?
At The Meal Kit Review, we have extensive experience with HelloFresh and Gobble over the past six years. In 2024, we re-tested both meal kits for two weeks to update our comparison with the most current information—including how the meals taste!
We can honestly say that both HelloFresh and Gobble boxes arrived well-packed and in clearly branded insulated boxes. The ingredients looked fresh and high-quality, and both were easy to unpack and store in the fridge. We love that HelloFresh bags the pre-measured ingredients per recipe and that Gobble provides fully prepped ingredients for easier cooking.
HelloFresh
With the latest box we got, we loved the Sloppy Pork Joes served with Creamy Lime Slaw. This dish really shows what HelloFresh does best—a classic comfort meal with a tasty twist.
The high-quality ground pork tasted great with the Chili powder, BBQ spices, and tangy pineapple sauce. The potato buns were a nice base for this delicious, juicy filling. To top it off, the cabbage and lime slaw added a good punch of freshness that really took the sloppy joe to a new level.
Even with all those flavors packed into the dish, we found it quick and easy to make, with limited prep time for a great taste payoff.
Gobble
Our recent meal experience with Gobble was good but not great. We tried the Burmese-style braised chicken over coconut rice. Thanks to the pre-cooked chicken, the dish was easy to make, eliminating the prep work. While we thought the flavors of the coconut rice and spiced chicken were nice, it did seem like the dish was missing an edge to make the recipe stand out.
We will say this was very easy to get on the table. We just wish the flavors were a bit more standout on this one.
Other Top Meals To Try
HelloFresh Meals to Try
- Hoisin-Glazed Pork Filet with Scallion Rice, Ponzu Roasted Green Beans & Sriracha Mayo
- Charred Tomato and Ricotta Toasts with Walnuts, Chili Flakes, & Balsamic Glaze
- Bacon, Carrot, and Lentil Soup plus Garlic Toasts & Parmesan
- Chicken Thyme with Green Bean Couscous plus Tomato Cream Sauce & Lemon
- Beef & Zucchini Baked Penne
- Chicken Sausage & Spinach Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato & Lemon
- Hot Honey Ricotta Toasts
- Mini Hazelnut Cheesecake
Gobble Meals to Try
- Crispy Fish Taco with Guacamole, Cabbage Slaw, & Chimichurri and Tilapia Fillet
- Hearty Beef & Quinoa Chili with Ground Beef
- Thai Tofu Noodle Bowl with Peanut Sauce and Organic Firm Tofu
- Lousiana-Style Shrimp with White Cheddar Grits and Sustainably Raised Ocean Shrimp
- Braised Osso Buco with Creamy Polenta & Italian Salsa Verde
- Roasted Chicken with Truffled Mashed Potatoes for Four
- Parmesan Yuca Fries with Truffle Aioli
- Petite Ham & Cheese Quiche
Style and Complexity of Dishes
With HelloFresh, you’re getting a large weekly menu with many styles of meals to choose from. Most dishes are classic comfort meals with a twist. The recipes are tasty but not overly complex—great for young families who need a kid-friendly menu. Some creative fusion takes are available for more adventurous eaters, so it’s a good meal kit to satisfy most households.
Gobble, on the other hand, has a bit more of a global cuisine angle on its menu. Its dishes often include more unique ingredients like polenta, quinoa, and chard that may not be as familiar to picky eaters. It does have some more classic dishes, like beef bourguignon, but still with an elevated flair.
Quality of Ingredients Used In The Meals
You can trust that both HelloFresh and Gobble provide their customers with high-quality products.
HelloFresh sources most of its meat domestically from trusted partners, ensuring all USDA Inspection guidelines are met. It also works to source the freshest produce possible, which means that some, but not all, vegetables will be organic.
Gobble’s ingredients are carefully sourced to provide customers with high-quality, fresh ingredients. Produce is fresh but not organic, and all ingredients are sustainably sourced when possible. To ensure their meals are easy to prep, most ingredients arrive with the chopping, peeling, and sometimes cooking done for you.
The Delivery Box
HelloFresh and Gobble both deliver in attractively branded, insulated boxes. But how do they stack up on sustainability?
Gobble’s boxes and packaging are recyclable. However, many plastics require a special facility to recycle. Therefore, Gobble uses recycled material for its liners and containers.
HelloFresh has a stated commitment to sustainability, including its packaging. The company uses recycled materials to make most of its boxes, and the materials inside are often made from at least 40% recycled material as well. They use paper bags and corrugated and paperboard liners, which are usually easy to recycle curbside. Some items are plastic and may require special facilities.
Subscribing & Managing Your Account
Gobble and HelloFresh both make it easy to sign up, choose your meals, and manage your account information online. You can easily browse the week’s menu, including nutrition information, and pick your meals – or skip the week if you need a break.
Both meal kits have flexible subscriptions that let you skip a week, pause your subscription, or even fully cancel – all online with a few clicks.
HelloFresh also has an app for managing your account on the go. Gobble’s website is mobile-friendly, but the company does not offer an app.
What Do Customers Say About HelloFresh and Gobble?
What Customers Say About HelloFresh
HelloFresh customers appreciate the consistent quality for a decent price and the convenience of the meal kit service.
In response to a request for feedback, one Redditor says, “I’ve tried several meal prep services, and Hello Fresh is my favorite. It’s more affordable than some, and the meals are definitely better than some of the cheaper options.”
Reddit user @Icy-Hyena1427 says the Banh Mi Tacos from HelloFresh are “Super delicious!!! And not heavy.”
What Customers Say About Gobble
Gobble customers love the convenience of the prepped ingredients and the quick, easy-to-make recipes. However, some have had issues with inconsistent ingredient quality.
One Reddit user says, “I’ve had good experiences with Gobble. I like the fact that a lot of the prep is already done, and I can cook one of their meals in 30 minutes or less.”
A longtime Gobble customer and Reddit user, @animalbeware, says, “I’ve LOVED gobble for the last 3 years, primarily for the quality of ingredients and simplicity of the recipes. In the last few weeks, both have gone downhill.”
Customer Support
With either HelloFresh or Gobble, you can find an FAQ section with helpful answers to many common questions.
If you need to contact Gobble, you can use an online chatbot, 24-hour text message support, or a phone line during business hours. You can also complete a contact form to receive an email response from Customer Service.
For HelloFresh, you can chat with a virtual assistant, call during business hours, or use the Report button to let them know about an ingredient or recipe issue.
Delivery Areas
HelloFresh delivers to all of the continental United States and select zip codes in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Anchorage, Alaska.
Gobble has a smaller delivery area, which it is working to expand. This meal kit company currently delivers to the continental U.S., except for Montana. Their delivery areas are limited in Nebraska, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, North and South Dakota, and Louisiana.
Both companies verify your zip code to ensure they can deliver to you as an early step in the sign-up process.
Bottom Line: Our Winner is HelloFresh
In this meal kit contest, HelloFresh comes out on top! While both meal kit companies offer something for people looking for a convenient way to eat healthier at home, we feel that HelloFresh comes out just a little bit above.
HelloFresh offers more affordable pricing, a greater variety of menu options, diet support to meet your needs, and more consistent quality in its ingredients and delivery model. Its add-on menu also offers just a bit more variety for customers to enjoy.
Gobble is more suited to a busy person who values pre-prepped ingredients or wants to experience more global cuisines.
