Hello Fresh Review and Coupon #hellofreshpics – September 29

Hello Fresh is a meal kit subscription box where you’ll get the recipes and ingredients to make 3 meals for two (or 4) every week. Hello Fresh is a subscription, but you can pause your deliveries and choose alternate meals (at least for the Classic box). There’s also a vegetarian box available. This is a solid meal subscription box with easy and accessible recipes.  Take $40 off your first box with coupon code 7UT7K8. 

Hello Fresh recently redesigned their menu cards, and the instructions are super easy to follow.  It has nice illustrations, is clearly written, and even lets you know nutrition info, prep time, and which recipes are best to make first to optimize freshness of perishables.  Hello Fresh sends all the sauces, bouillon and such in individual serving packets or in off-the-shelf brand name packaging; although it means a little more packaging, they survive shipping better than the plastic cups used by Plated.

Pan-Seared Chicken Sausage with Tangy Cabbage and Butternut Squash-Apple Puree. 478 cal, 35 min, level 1.

This was a really interesting plate of flavors.  The squash and apple puree made for a tart, sweet, and buttery accompaniment.  I think I will steal this idea and serve with pork.  The tangy cabbage is a perfect partner for sausage.  This dish was extremely simple to prepare, since the cabbage and squash were pre-cut.  The only critique I have is that I would have preferred a heartier sausage meat — the tangy puree and kraut could have handled a much gamier or robust protein.  The sausage was “Italian,” and the dish had garlic and Italian parsley, but the overall feel of the dish was much more German or Nordic.

Seared Steak & Creamy Horseradish Sauce with Rosemary-Roasted Root Vegetables. 644 cal, 35 min, level 1.

The steak cooked perfectly — they provided  NY-style steak, so it was fairly easy to cook it evenly.  The root vegetable sticks stayed slightly firm, but it made them even better for scooping up the great sauce!  I used the entire jar of horseradish, and it was tasty, but not nearly as potent as I had anticipated.  The recipe made a ton of the dipping sauce, so we gladly sopped it up.  Extremely simple dish to put together.

Roasted Pork Chops with Balsamic-Fig Sauce, Greens, and Rosemary-Roasted Potatoes. 648 cal, 40 min, level 1 (swapped out the shrimp).

Whoops!  I didn’t take any pictures of this one.  The sweet sauce really complemented the pork.  I cubed the potatoes before roasting, so I served it like a salad nicoise with the potatoes tossed in.  The greens lost all their bitterness with the addition of the simple balsamic dressing, making a nicely balanced and sweet dish.

This week was all about taking a mild cut of meat and blasting it with a tangy, fiery, or sweet accompaniment.  Next week looks to feature some crispy coated proteins.

Here are the selections for next week! Meal choices end Wednesdays at midnight.  Also, Hello Fresh seems to have revamped their interface a bit – it’s cleaner and easier to access the upcoming recipes!

You can click on each dish and get the recipe information, including calories, ingredients, and difficulty levels.  We like having this info available beforehand, as it allows us to avoid meals that we think are too involved or require to much time for our schedule that week.  Although the names of the dishes are fairly lengthy and descriptive, it is also nice to have the ingredient list to get a fuller picture of the dish.

Visit Hello Fresh to select your box for next week!  Take $40 off your first box with coupon code 7UT7K8.Check out all our Hello Fresh Reviews and don’t forget to take a look at other Fresh Food Subscription Boxes