Today brings you my last review with Mosaic Reviews. I’ve enjoyed my time, but need to change gears a bit for the coming year. This final review was a fun one, 99 other bloggers and I reviewed the food boxes from HelloFresh.

About Hello Fresh

HelloFresh is a company that delivers weekly boxes of fresh food when you sign up for a subscription. They offer a Classic box and a Veggie box. In the box contains the exact ingredients for three meals that serve two to four people. The recipes for each meal are also included.

I received a Classic box to review. With the Classic box, you have five recipes to choose from. Once you have subscribed, you will have the option to change up which recipes you receive ingredients for. The cost of the boxes vary, but the classic box with three meals for two people costs $69 per delivery to my area.

You can connect with Hello Fresh on their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

My HelloFresh Review

The ingredients we received were well packaged and the box stayed cold inside our house for over a day. You see, I received my box the day before Thanksgiving and my refrigerators (yes, I have two) were FULL. So it sat in our cool bedroom out of direct sunlight the first night and on the back porch (temps in the 30’s) overnight the second night. Nothing spoiled. The only problem I had with the packaging was one of my ice packs had a slit in it and leaked as it melted, resulting in a bit of a mess.

The recipes were different than what I would normally pick, but not outlandish. We received zucchini parmigiana, apricot glazed turkey with beets and orzo, and stuffed squash with cherry balsamic reduction. It is nice to have all the ingredients in just the right amount, saving you from measuring and then storing the rest.

The recipe cards list exactly what you need equipment-wise as well. For example, the zucchini parmigiana listed a knife, pot, pan, and baking dish. The recipe cards are oversized and include photographs for each step, including plating. The estimated nutrition values for calories, carbohydrates, fat, protein, and fiber are also listed on the cards.

Now, a lot of the other reviewers would show you photographs of their meals. I do not have any. We have been dealing with sickness in our house since the day after Thanksgiving and in the chaos, I did not take photos. Not even the ones of the ingredients when they came that I THOUGHT I took. Sigh. It’s been a long month.

Pros and Cons of HelloFresh

Pros:

• Time saver – meals delivered to your door, no measuring, no prep work
• Delicious recipes – food you may not normally try, but nothing too far outside the box
• Quality ingredients – food is packaged well, meat is vacuum sealed
• Fantastic packaging – great ice packs, food stays refrigerator cold for a couple days
• Dependable delivery – you know exactly when your box is coming (Wednesday) and you can pause delivery if you will not be available one week

Possible Cons:

• Not allergy-friendly – if you have food allergies, this could prove to be a problem

Cost. This is a big one for me. This is not a frugal option unless you are spending more than $69 each week eating out. We do not. Our entire week’s grocery budget for all 6 of us is $125 for 21 meals (7 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners). So, spending $69 for 3 meals for 2 people is quite pricey to me. That is an estimate, some meals do provide leftovers, but that depends on how many “big eaters” you have in your family. I have 2-3 big eaters, depending on the week.

For me, this falls in the category of eating out. You are paying for the service, not the cost of food. For the service, HelloFresh can be considered a good deal with each plate of food running around $11.50. This is pretty typical of meals at a sit down restaurant. When you factor in that it was delivered to your door; that you don’t have to tip a waiter/waitress; nor do you have to spend the gas to drive to the restaurant or time waiting for a table; it starts to gain more frugal value. It’s really a matter of where you are budget-wise.