Home Chef is a meal in a box subscription – every week, you choose from a variety of recipes and have all the ingredients and preparation instructions delivered to your door. The basic concept is the same as other weekly meal delivery services, but it has its own unique features and recipes. Their meal options include many great Asian, Indian, African, and South American inspired dishes, along with more traditional American home-style and steakhouse fare.
When you open your box it has the recipe cards on top and special packing to keep it insulated. This is more environmentally friendly than styrofoam and is just shredded cotton clothing wrapped in plastic. You can slit the plastic and throw the contents in the trash or compost and then recycle the plastic. Everything looked good and was cold, the ice packs are doing their job!
Home Chef offers an incredible 10 selections available for 2, 4, or 6 people, a breakfast choice, a smoothie choice, and a fruit basket selection. Meals for your box are suggested based on your preferences, but you can change the selections any time. The portions are large, and this is currently the least expensive and has the most choice out of any similar major subscriptions (for 2 people) – $9.95 per person per selection (they typically have one meal option a week that’s a premium meal and costs a little more, though).
The raw meat was wrapped separately and placed in its own zipper bag to avoid cross contamination. The rest of the items were packed together depending on which recipe they belong to.
DEAL: Get $30 of free food when you sign up – just use this link to get the deal!
I ordered two meals for two, and a smoothie add-on, which means my shipping was free!
Steak de Burgo with Mashed Red Potatoes and Thyme Roasted Carrots 40-50 minutes, Intermediate, 693 calories per serving. Each recipe comes with its own card with detailed instructions and full-color pictures of prep steps.
I removed everything from the bag to make sure that it was all there and that the produce looked good, and it did!
I started by cleaning and prepping the vegetables.
I patted the steaks dry, which helps encourage a crust when browning.
My steaks were cut a little weird – one was flat and long, the other thick. They weren’t cooking at the same rate so I eventually cut the thicker one in half and spread it flat so it wouldn’t be overly rare when finished.
I mashed the potatoes in the pot instead of beating with my hand mixer and they were very yummy.
The sauce was extremely easy to make and after this dish I know I need more roasted carrots in my life since they were incredibly good. The steaks were tender and the mashed potatoes were very creamy.
One-Pot Creamy Chicken Chowder with Poblano and Crispy Tortillas – 35 minutes, Easy, 588 calories per serving.
Everything was in my pack and looked to be in perfect shape!
I started by chopping the veggies and cutting the meat into bite-sized pieces.
I sauteed the chicken to get some color going. The chicken did not need to be cooked all the way through since that happens in a later step.
I then cooked the poblano and onions. The onion was huge, so I decided to use only half.
I added the corn and seasoning pack and stirred.
I added the chicken and its juices back to the pot along with the light cream, water, and chicken base.
I topped my chowder with the tortilla strips and cheese and it was very creamy, tasty (but not too spicy), and it warmed me up from the inside out. I ended up eating the leftovers the next day without the toppings and it was still wonderful. If you wanted to make some changes you could add some canned, rinsed white beans or try topping with diced avocado or cilantro for a pop of color.
Frutti Tuttie Smoothie with Strawberry, Orange, and Pineapple 5-10 minutes, Easy, 174 calories per serving.
I added a smoothie pack to my order to qualify for free shipping. Everything was in the bag and was in perfect shape. Just in case you were wondering, the strawberries are pre-sweetened with sugar.
First I zested the orange directly over the blender, then peeled the orange and placed it in the blender along with the rest of the ingredients and some ice cubes.
I blended until smooth.
I ended up with two huge glasses full of smoothie. It was delicious and easy to replicate at home.
I thought this was one of the best boxes yet from Home Chef! I usually have one item either missing or in bad shape (like an herb that got too close to the ice packs during shipping) but everything in this box was fresh and in perfect condition! FYI, Home Chef is very good about quickly giving credit when a problem occurs. I liked my meals and they were perfectly sized for two people. The recipes are very easy to follow and I love that there are color pictures in the instructions. The total for my meals this month was $49.70. My meals were a hit, thanks Home Chef!
Have you tried Home Chef? What did you think of your meals?
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