Meal subscription service...

[WildflowerMom]

Have any of y'all used one lately?   Any favorites?    I know we've talked about these in the past, but I'm thinking there may be some new ones that have popped up.    
I'm looking for good serving sizes and something super easy to cook or heat.   

[ktgrok]

I've never done one, but considering it as I'm in a rut. But we need gluten free as well as tasty and easy, lol. 

[WildflowerMom]

I hate cooking and I'm in a rut, too.   Also, I'm having trouble sizing my meals down now that ds has moved out.   I end up with too much waste.  And I am a terrible cook except when it comes to holiday meals, like thanksgiving and Christmas.  But I can't cook dressing and Mac n cheese every night.  😆

[Farrar]

I've done several of them. I pop in and out of them. I'll use one for a couple of months, then not use any for awhile. They typically have really good deals to try them. Lately it's like $100 or so off, but spread over several weeks, so you get a discounted price on a bunch of boxes. That's what lots of them are offering these days.

They are super useful for food waste. You'll feel like there's more packaging waste, but supposedly it's about the same as shopping - it just feels different. Remember that there's a lot of packaging waste you don't see when you shop because it happens in the delivery to the store. They're good for inspiration or for just not having to think much. 

I think Hello Fresh is the best basic box. Family friendly. Good serving sizes. Generally solid instructions. Recipes are usually replicable, so you can save the card and make them again pretty easily. But they get really repetitive after awhile.

Blue Apron is fussy. Fussy ingredients. Fussy directions. But sort of a nice change of pace if you're a slightly adventurous eater. Makes you feel a little gourmet. Keeps the recipes changing.

Dinnerly is cheap. But like, not in a good way. It's not bad, it's just... kinda meh. Least inspiring one I've tried.

Marley and Spoon (the Martha Stewart one) is pretty good, but the instructions and portion sizes are a bit uneven. Better variety in the vegetables though - with some of the others, you start to feel like it's always one of only like three vegetables for the basis of the sides. I like this one a good bit actually. But it seems to not have that many users.

A friend likes Sunbasket, but I haven't tried that one. There are a bunch more too... So many these days.

[Scarlett]

We have used Hello Fresh off and on for about a year. For just Dh and me the portion sizes are plenty. We even manage to feed all three of us too if we supplement an extra vegetable  I think they are very tasty and fairly easy although not as easy as they claim. After a while it starts to all seem the same…..but that is how cooking is anyway. At least with the meal boxes you don’t have to come up with the ideas or shop for ingredients. 

I love @Farrar’s list above…..makes me want to try a few of them.,

[Toocrazy!!]

We’re doing Hungry Root right now. It’s really easy cooking! For example, Last night it was shrimp tostadas. All I had to do was heat the tortillas, sauté the shrimp and warm the bean salad. And it was flavorful! A lot if it is like that- more easy assemble than cook. 
The variety isn’t that great though. 
You can also order groceries. They have a decent selection of fruits, vegetables, meat, etc you can add to your order. 
It’s easy, so I’m keeping it up for awhile. It’s nice to have those decisions made and I’ve never been good at meal prep. 
 

[ktgrok]

10 minutes ago, Toocrazy!! said:

We’re doing Hungry Root right now. It’s really easy cooking! For example, Last night it was shrimp tostadas. All I had to do was heat the tortillas, sauté the shrimp and warm the bean salad. And it was flavorful! A lot if it is like that- more easy assemble than cook. 
The variety isn’t that great though. 
You can also order groceries. They have a decent selection of fruits, vegetables, meat, etc you can add to your order. 
It’s easy, so I’m keeping it up for awhile. It’s nice to have those decisions made and I’ve never been good at meal prep. 
 

Oh, I get a hungry root box about every other week - more for the groceries, I almost never make the meal. I love the spinach feta turkey burgers though!! I mainly get the box for those, lol. I spent time going through to cut out anything I didn't likeo r want, but I keep forgetting to actually adjust the box before it ships, lol. 

[Selkie]

I get Hungry Root every week, but not for the meals - I customize so it is just a big box of groceries. They have tons of vegan and whole food plant based foods. Their produce is consistently good quality, and they have other items that we eat a lot of, like veggie burgers, tempeh, artichoke hearts, lavash flatbread, really good salsa, etc. It works out well for us, especially since we're staying out of grocery stores at the moment.

[jrichstad]

I do the same thing with Hungry Root--mostly use it as groceries. It does get repetitive, but we eat fairly repetitive meals anyway. If I'm really uninspired I'll make the meals. 

Some weeks I skip just because I don't want to deal with the box and the ice packs, but in general I like it. 

[Farrar]

I thought Hungry Root was just groceries. Interesting! The meals look more like they're mixing convenience products than cooking... but that's sort of nice in some ways.

[City Mouse]

I’ve used Hello Fresh off and on for 2 years. The food is good, and customer service has been easy to deal with when ever some part of the box isn’t right. A couple of times, some vegetables arrive having frozen at some point which makes them not appetizing. My only complaint is that the meals take more prep time than I want to put in at that moment.

I tried Sunbasket a couple of times, but there was something wrong with every order. Also, there several meals we tried that just weren’t good for us. 
 

I tried Freshly for 2 weeks with a really good discount offer. These are fully prepared meals that weren’t much better than frozen dinners. I did not think they were worth what they cost.

Home Chef is what we use most often now. I like that they have oven meals and even grill ready meals. They have options that require very little prep work. The only reason I don’t order more is because they only ship FedEx. FedEx deliveries are not consistent where I live. Home Chef meals are sold at my local Smiths(Kroger’s). I do like being able to pick up just one or two when I am doing my regular shopping.

[Toocrazy!!]

19 minutes ago, Farrar said:

I thought Hungry Root was just groceries. Interesting! The meals look more like they're mixing convenience products than cooking... but that's sort of nice in some ways.

That really is what it is:) I didn’t know that when I originally ordered. But I like the ease of it, and sometimes I do just want a turkey roll up for dinner! So far the pre-made and precooked foods I’ve received have been tasty. The chile lime chicken and lemon pepper half chicken are both good. 
I guess I wouldn’t necessarily call it a meal Subscription, but when she said easy to cook or heat up, I thought, this is pretty easy. 

[theelfqueen]

I have done Hello Fresh off and on and I used to go to Dream Dinners occasionally.

Hello Fresh was especially good for handing off to a teen to do the cooking - the steps.are all well integrated so the whole meal is being prepared at once rather than separate recipes for separate components. I liked most of their recipes and like that you can see all the recipes.in the app even when you don't subscribe. The food was high quality.

Currently I only get the Misfits Market produce box every other week. 

[Home'scool]

I have used Blue Apron for about 2 years now. I am very pleased with them. The quality of the food is amazing, especially their steaks. Everything you needs come with it ... they will even send you a tblsp of butter if the recipe calls for it! My sister and I do it and the portions are perfect. Enough to fill us up with no leftovers. A big eater might find it not enough food.

[Scarlett]

27 minutes ago, Home'scool said:

I have used Blue Apron for about 2 years now. I am very pleased with them. The quality of the food is amazing, especially their steaks. Everything you needs come with it ... they will even send you a tblsp of butter if the recipe calls for it! My sister and I do it and the portions are perfect. Enough to fill us up with no leftovers. A big eater might find it not enough food.

That is how it is with Hello Fresh on portions.  Plenty for dh and me, but for my son and his wife not so much.  

 

[Spryte]

DSS uses Blue Apron and sometimes Hello Fresh.  If not for these, he might just eat out every meal.  I get the impression he loves to cook, hates to shop. Not unlike me!

If any of you come across any that are free of the Big 8 (well, really we need the Big 9, sesame, too) allergens, please post! There are some dedicated GF and dairy free options, but not sure about other allergens, for anyone who needs those.  

 

 

[GoVanGogh]

We used Home Chef for a while. I liked them but thought they had too many gravies and sauces. Switched to Green Chef, gluten free option. Loved them. Only stopped because DS was home from college for summer and I needed to cook for three, not two. I loved the variety of vegetables in Green Chef. It really got me out of a food rut and trying new things, prepared with spices that I had not explored on my own. 

[Sneezyone]

I get purple carrot boxes once or twice a month. It’s vegan food but I usually replace some of the incidental recipe ingredients with non-vegan ones. My DS can’t eat cashew cheese, for ex. Also, it’s nasty, lol. I usually have to double the spice because we don’t like bland food BUT I love that the recipes are great starting points for unusual foods (for us), that the recipes are available for free online, and that I can save all of the recipe books.

Edited August 23, 2021 by Sneezyone

[Faith-manor]

Do they have "Deliver a Chef" subscription? Can I just get Bobby Flat or Wolfgang Puck or Alton Brown delivers to my door to cook? This would be the best subscription ever.

I have not tried any of these meal subscriptions. I have tried misfits and wanted it to work so so much. But they only use FedEx which is profoundly unreliable in my area such that not only was every delivery late, but by several days, and the produce was no good. My daughter has it in the Huntsville area and loves it. I am really NOT a fan of FedEx. The only reliable package delivery we have here is UPS. 

[cjzimmer1]

Every Plate is another one that I haven't seen mentioned here.  We've gotten several free boxes or really low introductory prices from there.  I also like to try a box or two from the different places because I've been introduced to some recipes/ingredients that I knew nothing about and have become family favorites.  I've also learned a few new cooking techniques and so for those things, it's been worth it to try them here and there.  For long term/regular use they are too expensive for my budget but for my sister (single and works long hours) they are perfect. Like other companies, the recipes become repetitive after a while.  They change one small ingredient and then present it with a whole new recipe name.