Hello Fresh Review and Coupon – December 8 2015

Hello Fresh put a great spin on some hearty classics this week.  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. If needed, 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.  We typically get a dinner for two, plus a bit for lunches the next day — though most recipes would make a superb high-end snack kit to pair with wine, serving 6-8 snack portions. Take $40 off your first box with coupon code 7UT7K8. 

Hello Fresh‘s menu cards have detailed 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.  I like the boldface on specific ingredients — it makes it easier to grab everything you need at each step.  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.  Our box arrived with thin, corrugated cardboard and paper as insulation — it works well, given the cooler weather and the number of ice packs provided, and it is much easier to recycle than alternative packaging.  A while back, they switched from bagging the individual recipes to providing a small box for each recipe, each being nestled atop ice packs within the outer shipping box.  This has been an excellent way to go, and they seem to be sticking with it.

Italian Ciabatta Burgers with Caramelized Onion, Mozzarella, and Sweet-and-Tangy Arugula Salad. 914 cal, 30 mins, level 1.

This was a very simple recipe, and it made a great, cheesy burger.  I cut our two burgers in half, and we were able to get a nice main course for two adults and two kids out of them — this also resulted in extra onions for the grown-ups (Yay!).  The bread was crusty and wonderful, and the burger was predictably delicious, but it was the arugula that surprised me.  The tomato paste trick made a unique and exquisite dressing.

Southwestern Chicken Sausage Chili with Black Beans, Sour Cream, and Oregano. 604 cal, 35 mins, level 1.

Our kit came with pintos instead of black beans, which may have caused the dish to miss the chicken sausage / black bean interplay that helps compensate for the lighter nature of chicken-based sausage versus beef.  We still loved the dish, enjoying the lighter flavor profile.

Glazed Teriyaki Chicken with Baby Bok Choy and Coconut Brown Rice. 870 cal, 35 mins, level 1.

This dish incorporates teriyaki, a Japanese powerhouse flavor, into a classic Chinese restaurant dish.  The thinly-sliced chicken both absorbs flavor well and distributes well into each bite.  The Bok Choy lends a great crisp, and the coconut rice added hearty textual and rich creaminess to the dish.  This was really fun to dig into!

Here are the selections for next week! Meal choices end Wednesdays at midnight.

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.