Hello Fresh provided meals free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated monetarily.
Update
Hello Fresh
We have since purchased Hello Fresh quite a few times since the initial review was written and still enjoy it from time to time. Allergens are always well labeled and we have enjoyed a large variety of meals from them. Most of the meals we get are with naturally gluten free ingredients. Even my parents have gotten in on the action. Because my toddler has started eating more, we switched to the family plan and like it. If you want to try it, you can get a discount on your first order with this link: HELLO FRESH DISCOUNT.
Hello Fresh, Hello Easy
Lately, I have been inundated with ads for Boxed Meal Services- you know, those services where a company basically plans out your menu, does the grocery shopping and mails it to you. It sounds like a pretty good idea if you are really busy, but just don’t want to eat fast food or take out.
However, if you have celiac, non-celiac gluten sensitivity or other food allergies, it may not be that easy (of course take out really isn’t an option either if you have any of these). My curiosity got the best of me so I started looking at several. What I found was most couldn’t be adjusted for gluten free easily or I couldn’t find out much about their position on allergies.
When I was looking I noticed that Hello Fresh clearly lists allergens right under each meal so I decided to write Hello Fresh and see if they would send me some meals to check out. Much to my delight, they said yes and 4 meals for 2 were on their way. My week of Hello Fresh Gluten Free went really well!
The Hello Fresh Gluten Free Experience
Packaging:
I was a bit concerned about waste, but there really was not any more than if I had bought everything myself at the store. Obviously, there was a box and 3 huge ice packs, but I reused the box and threw the ice packs in the freezer to use next time we go to the beach. Plus, they sent me a really cool apron. I love aprons. Ingredients for each meal were packed in their own little recyclable cardboard box. This was AWESOME, I just cleared a small space in the fridge and stacked them in, super simple.
Recipes:
Clear, easy and concise. No fancy tools required. Nice picture on the front, simple and to the point instructions on the back. I really don’t think it could get any easier. Especially since everything was packed in its own little box. A teenager could follow this to make dinner, no problem.
Clean Up:
I gotta tell you. This was my favorite part. The recipes are engineered to require minimal dishes. Most nights was a pan, a knife and a cutting board. They even tell you what order to cut things in so you don’t have to have multiple cutting boards. It was great to have dinner done AND hardly any dishes to do.
Is it Enough Food:
Yes. It is enough food for 2 adults to have decent sized portions. It was also enough for my toddler to eat as well. I made a few adjustments each meal for her. For example, with the Jerked Chicken, I just kept aside a few pieces that just had salt and pepper. For the Steak with Chipotle Pan Sauce, I didn’t put any sauce on her steak and I kept out some corn for her. It was really simple.
Allergies:
I know this was the part you were all waiting for. I was very impressed with the way Hello Fresh handles allergens. They clearly list on each recipe (and on the website) if there are any the Top 8 allergens in a dish. They also provide an ingredient list that tells you which ingredient has which allergen.
Three of the meals this week were naturally gluten free, which was really easy. One that I had was not. It used panko, which I easily replaced with gluten free breadcrumbs that I had. I wasn’t worried about cross contamination because everything is packed and sealed separately. I took a look at a bunch of other meals and the gluten tends to be in simple to replace items, like soy sauce.
Cost:
It is about 20.00 a night for enough to make two adult meals and feed a toddler. While it may be cheaper to buy ingredients yourself, it is definitely cheaper than ordering take out or eating fast food. Personally, I thought the quality of the meat and produce was good. It is not something I would do every week, but if I know I’m going to have a busy week, I would consider it, just to have some easy healthy meals on hand.
Final Thoughts
I loved it. Maybe it’s because I’m a mom and work at home, but by the time it hits 5:00 I can’t even think. All of the meals took under thirty minutes or about the same time as one Doc Mcstuffins episode. Plus, all the meals tasted great and we ate healthy, quality food. It was plenty for my husband, plus my 19 month old.
I love to cook, but some nights I need quick and easy and this worked. I’m planning to keep ordering it occasionally. It’s nice to eat something a bit different and helpful when I’m just to busy.
Try it Yourself:
Want to try the Hello Fresh Gluten Free experience?Use this link for a DISCOUNT. That’s pretty awesome. Just click here:
That’s pretty cheap for dinner! If you want to save even more you could also always use Ebates (affliate link).
If you try it (or have already tried it) let me know what you think!
