I get Hello Fresh ads across all social media channels and in my email inbox on a regular basis. I love the idea of them, I still do, and when Rachel Nicole offered out offer codes to try it out for a week, I jumped on the chance. Normally, a week of Hello Fresh meals range between £3.40-£5/meal, depending on which box, how many meals/week and how many people you want it for. The type of boxes you can choose from are: Classic, Rapid, Family or Veggie. All boxes feed between 2-4 people and you can pick 3, 4 or 5 meals to be sent out each week.
There aren’t any options for single household so I picked a box to feed two people for five days. That means for one person, you receive 10 meals. I chose the Rapid box – meals that only take 15-20 min to cook. After work, I don’t want to spend a long time in the kitchen before I can actually eat. And I planned to have the second portion for lunch the following day.
Hello Fresh Recipes
The five meals I picked are Sausage and Bean Chilli, Beef and Ben Tacos, Chicken Chow Mein, Warm Roasted Tomato and Lentil Salad and Superquick Beef Ragu. This is also the order of them during the work week from Monday to Friday. They call it Taco Tuesday for a reason and the Ragu had wine in it so made sense to kick-off the weekend with.
Sausage and Bean Chilli
For the Sausage and Bean Chilli you need; pork sausage mince, kidney beans, coriander, green chilli, Mexican spice mix, chopped tomatoes with garlic and onion, chicken stock powder, steamed basmati rice and sour cream.
1. Fry the sausage mince in a pan. 2. Drain kidney beans. 3. Chop coriander and chilli. 4. Add Mexican spice mix to the mince. 5. Stir in chopped tomatoes and chicken stock. 6. Stir in the beans, coriander, chilli and cooked rice. 7. Top with a dollop of sour cream.
This chilli is very tasty but I didn’t find one portion to be as filling as my own chilli. It’s also definitely a higher calorie intake. The rice arrived in a pouch and is advised to be cooked in a microwave. I don’t have a microwave but the package say that you can eat the rice as it is (already precooked) so I simply added it to the chilli to heat it up.
Beef and Been Tacos
Taco Tuesday. For this recipe you need; red onion, baby plum tomatoes, baby gem lettuce, black beans, lime, pork mince, chipotle paste, tomato purée, chicken stock powder and taco wraps.
1. Slice the onion thinly, the tomatoes in half and slice the lettuce thinly halfway. 2. Add half a lime juice to half of the sliced onion, with salt and sugar and mix. 3. Fry the pork and add half the remaining sliced onion. 4. Add 3/4 of the chipotle paste and the tomato purée. 5. Add water (50ml/portion) and stir on with the chicken stock powder. 5. Stir in the black beans. 6. Serve up in taco wraps and top with tomatoes, lettuce, pickled onions.
Again, a really tasty meal. I did miss not having any sauces like salsa and guacamole or cheese to go on this. There is no way I’d fill up on the suggested three tacos so I used up all the mince and vegetables but on two wraps.
Chicken Chow Mein
For the Chicken Chow Mein you need; yellow pepper, green beans, egg noodles, diced chicken thigh, ketjap manis, Chow Mein paste and Chow Mein garnish.
1. Slice the pepper in thin strips and chop the beans into thirds. 2. Cook the noodles. 3. Fry the diced chicken thigh and once cooked, add the beans and pepper. 4. Stir in the ketjap, water (1tbsp/portion) and Chow Mein paste and garnish. 5. Add the noodles.
This meal was super easy to make and it tastes delicious and is really filling. I would have chosen chicken breast instead of thigh if I made it myself. I cut down on calorie intake by only using half of the recommended sauces.
Warm Roasted Tomato and Lentil Salad
When you hear salad, you think healthy. Well, this salad carries almost as many calories as any other meal from Hello Fresh. I skipped the honey, halved the feta cheese amount and only used oil for frying to cut down. Luckily I did because I needed to eat one and a half portion in order to fill up. Still, super tasty so I’d make it again.
For the salad you need; aubergine, mixed baby plum tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, sundried tomatoes, ciabatta, shallot, garlic, lentils, red wine vinegar, honey, rocket and feta cheese.
1. Chop the aubergine into 2cm pieces and bake in the oven with the tomatoes. 220 degrees for 15-18 min 2. Tear the ciabatta into 2cm pieces and bake in the oven for 8-10 min. 3. Thinly slice the shallot and grate the garlic. 4. Drain and rinse the lentils. 5. Fry the shallot, then add garlic and sundried tomatoes. 6. Add the lentils and stir together. 7. Mix honey and balsamic vinegar to a dressing. 8. Mix the roasted veg and lentils in a bowl. 9. Toss in croutons and rocket. 10. Top with crumbled feta.
Superquick Beef Ragu
Very tasty and very filling. I halved the pasta amount and the cheese amount and saved lots of calories. Even a quarter of the amount of cheese suggested would have been enough. But, I love cheese on pasta. Definitely the tastiest of the dishes but also the one with most calories. Almost as much as if you’d go out to eat pasta in a nice restaurant and let’s be honest. As fun as cooking is, eating out is better.
For the Superquick Beef Ragu you need; beef mince, mushrooms, carrot, Italian herbs, Worcester sauce, chopped tomatoes with garlic and onion, red wine stock pot, pasta, baby spinach and Parmesan.
1. Boil the pasta. 2. Fry the mince. 3. chop the mushrooms and grate the carrot. 4. Mix the vegetables and herbs into the mince once brown. 5. Stir in the Worcester sauce. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and red wine stock pot and bring to boil. 6. Simmer until tomatoey. 7. Stir in the rocket until wilted. 8. Add the cooked pasta. 9. Serve and top with grated Parmesan.
I really enjoyed cooking all these meals. They’re so easy to make and super quick. I loved the flavours as well. What makes me not buying Hello Fresh is the amount of calories each meal contains and the amount of plastic every serving comes with. Everything is individually packed. I think it’s a great alternative if you want to eat something different each day and the week is planned out for you. It’s given me some ideas of meals to make at home, using ingredients with less calories in.
Have you tried Hello Fresh? What are your thoughts on them and similar brands? Has any of the above meals inspired you to make your own version?
Jennie xx
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