After my first meal kit experience, I wanted to give Hello Fresh a try. I love testing out different recipes, and this seemed like a good way to cook different and healthy recipes. After trying one box with 3 meals, I think I can give a good review of the process and food! I do plan on getting another box since I have a lot of credit saved up.
While I didn’t have the best start, Hello Fresh turned out to be decent. My box was supposed to arrive on Thursday, but it somehow got held up and arrived Friday instead. I hope this was just a local problem, because it really threw off my cooking and traveling plan. Fortunately, they were quick to fix it and gave me some credit to my account and assured me the food was still fresh.
The meals arrived with recipe cards and were in prepackaged brown bags, making it neat and orderly!
Basil Zucchini Noodles and Shrimp
This recipe had me most nervous about freshness because of the shrimp, but everything arrived perfectly! This was my favorite meal of the bunch, and it was easy to make, except for the zoodles. I had to use a veggie peeler to make my own zoodles, and I definitely would have liked to cut a step with premade ones! The rice was cooked with butter and scallions, and the basil oil and lemon vinaigrette was so flavorful. The shrimp was actually the weak point of the dish, and I think I could have added more lemon or pepper to zip them up.
Vegetable Bibimbap
This was a great meal, but not as good as the real thing, so I wouldn’t repeat this meal. Again, I had to use a veggie peeler to make carrot ribbons, but the rest of the veggies and rice were easy to prepare, as well as the sauce. The zucchini showed up rotten, but Hello Fresh did give credit to my account to make up for this. The sauce was particularly yummy, as was the fried egg on top! The timing for this meal wasn’t as spot on, and different parts were different temperatures.
Crispy Chickpeas with Tabbouleh
This was the quickest meal to prepare, and it was also super yummy and something I would redo! The chickpeas and red pepper roasted with harissa while I easily threw together the salad with the bulgur boiling in the background. The only part I didn’t love was the feta sour cream sauce, so I would leave that out next time. The tabouleh definitely would have benefitted from some fresh parsley, too.
Overall, the box recipes were easy to make (with a few steps I think could be skipped), and they tasted great. I think a second chance will be good so I can experience the ingredients a bit fresher after the shipping debacle.
Stay tuned for the next review, and in the mean time, subscribe here with my link! https://www.hellofresh.com?c=HS-OOIL9YWBQ&utm_source=raf-share&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=clipboard
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I purchased this myself.