Between the menu planning, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning, trying to eat a healthier diet can be stressful! I’m all about helping others find solutions to make home cooking easier and fun. If all the planning has become a little too much, meal kits are one option you need to know about.

You’re getting the full scoop on Hello Fresh vs Green Chef right here. In this ultimate review and comparison guide, we’ll cover menus, costs, delivery availability, special diets, benefits, and drawbacks. You’ll also learn about the meals we cooked in these plans, and what my family really thought about the taste.

Here’s a quick summary of the differences between Green Chef and Hello Fresh (2024):

Neither HelloFresh nor Green Chef is available in Alaska and Hawaii. Green Chef is also not available in certain parts of Louisiana.

Green Chef and HelloFresh are both meal kit delivery services that make cooking at home simple. You sign up for a box, based on your needs and preferences, that gets delivered to your home each week. Inside the box you’ll find step-by-step recipes, pre-measured ingredients, and nutritional information.

Choose the Keto plan for low carb and grain-free menu options. Gut & Brain Health meals are high fiber and nutrient dense to reduce bloat and increase energy.

The Plant Based menu has all plant-based options for veggie and vegan diets. The Mediterranean meal plan offers a variety of meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetarian choices. Quick & Easy menu options are ready in 25 minutes or less.

The recipe cards for Green Chef all provide the preparation time, major allergens, and calories. The meals I chose all had a cooking time of around 30 minutes, which seemed to be typical.

Recipes in the Keto plan also provide the net carbs. All meals I happened to choose were listed as certified gluten-free by the Gluten Intolerance Group.

Yes! We tried the Balanced Living plan (now “Mediterranean”) for this Green Chef review, under the 2-person, 3 meal plan. It was perfect for my husband and I for work-at-home lunches.

I’d say Green Chef meals have a bit more of a health focus than the HelloFresh meals. However, I was pleasantly surprised that they did not sacrifice flavor for nutrition. We truly enjoyed every Green Chef meal that we made. Here’s what we tried:

• Cajun Shrimp & Pickled Corn Relish with Cheddar Mashed Potatoes and Sauteed Collards
• Blackened Tilapia with Chipotle Aioli with Lime, Roasted Veggies & Pepitas, and Guacamole
• Chili & Ginger Pork Meatballs, Stir-Fried Broccoli, Cabbage, Bell Pepper & Shiitakes, Rice

Yum, am I right?!? I was really feeling the southeastern U.S.-inspired meal options from both menus. All these meals were in the 700-800 calorie range (not low calorie, but perfectly reasonable for a lunch or dinner in my household).

They all tasted as decadent as they sound and would definitely not be mistaken for diet food. I appreciated that Green Chef was generous with the cheese and butter in the cheddar mashed potatoes, for instance. Since you’re cooking at home, you could choose to cut back, but they haven’t forced it on you. (Love it!)

All of that said, you’re getting nourishing, meals with organic ingredients and a whole foods focus. The blackened tilapia was a Paleo meal, and the vegetarian meals also sounded lovely. Whether your preferred way of eating is low-carb, plant-based, or label-less, you’ll find wholesome meals with Green Chef.

The plant-based (Veggie) menu is “full of seasonal, naturally produced veggies.” Family-friendly meals are kid tested, quick, and easy to cook. The Fit & Wholesome meals are perfect for a balanced lifestyle.

There are delicious pasta meals, sandwiches, international dishes, Quick & Easy options, and much more. If you don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen, prep and cook times are given when picking meals.

The recipe cards for HelloFresh all provide the prep time, cook time, and calories. You can also learn new cooking techniques and terminology from the cards. Each recipe also features a certain spice, some of which are bound to be new to you.

The HelloFresh recipes I cooked featured ancho chili powder, Herbes de Provence, and Tuscan heat spice. The Tuscan spice was a HelloFresh blend, so you can’t find it in stores.

I noticed my HelloFresh box contained a lot of familiar grocery store brands. PIllsbury, Philadelphia cream cheese, and Marzetti all made an appearance.

It’s subjective, but yes, we thought our HelloFresh meals were DELICIOUS. I was sent a box of three HelloFresh meals (4 servings each) to review. I chose meals based on taste and our typical eating pattern, so my answer is definitely biased!

Here’s what we tried:

• BBQ Baby Back Ribs with Chili Lime Corn Salad & Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuit Bombs
• Tuscan Garlic Butter Chicken with Creamy Kale & Paprika-Roasted Carrots
• Cherry Balsamic Sirloin with Herby Fingerling Potatoes & Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Don’t those sound SO GOOD?!? The ribs meal appeared to be a special feast available for Memorial Day weekend, and it did not disappoint! (Yup, I didn’t choose all the “healthiest” options, and I am not guilty about it at all.)

How much is Green Chef? Pricing variability is similar for Green Chef vs. Hello Fresh, and depends on the servings but not menu chosen. Here is a more detailed breakdown of Green Chef prices:

In summary, the cost per week for Green Chef ranges from $90.93-297.75. The Green Chef cost per month ranges from $363.72-1191.00.

Let’s talk Hello Fresh pricing and plans (menu options with cost and shipping)! The HelloFresh box cost depends on the number of meals and number of servings. Choose more recipes per week and more servings per meal for the lowest cost per serving.

To sum it up, the cost per week for HelloFresh ranges from $55.95-249.75. The cost per month for HelloFresh ranges from $223.80-999.00.

I do think HelloFresh kits are worth the money. If you consider the foods and meal ideas you get, plus the time it saves you, it’s a deal.

Depending on the plan, you may not spend any more with HelloFresh than you’d spend with a CSA. Unlike the CSA, you know exactly how all the foods will be used. There’s less of a chance that anything will go to waste.

After opening the box, I found the recipe cards and several paper bags. Each bag contained nearly all of the ingredients needed for one recipe.

Beneath the paper bags, the individually wrapped protein foods were nestled among large ice packs. I loved that the proteins were packed separately. This kept the other ingredients from getting contaminated with meat, poultry, and seafood juices.

The paper bags can go right in the refrigerator. The protein foods can go in the fridge or freezer, depending on when you make the recipe.

Both meal kit boxes appear to come with a lot of packaging. However, the first thing you’ll notice when you get your boxes are the sustainability claims.

The food in both boxes was well-packed and remained chilled even in the heat. I was happy to learn that both HelloFresh and Green Chef are mindful of their environmental impact as well. A lot of the packaging clearly states on it that it is recyclable.

So, why do people purchase dinner kits like HelloFresh and Green Chef? One reason is that it’s just plain fun to learn new cooking techniques and tricks. (I’ll definitely be roasting potatoes and Brussels sprouts cut side down from now on!)

Just look at this cute mini bottle of balsamic vinegar, the exact amount I needed for the recipe!

And if you want to make a recipe again? Since you keep the recipes you make, you can create favorites again and again. (Paprika carrots, here we come!)

Finally, we come to flexibility. You can choose to cancel or modify both the HelloFresh and Green Chef plans with relatively short notice. If you’re going on vacation, it’s easy to stop deliveries for a week or two.

If you need to add more meals or fewer meals, more servings or fewer servings, those changes are only a few clicks away. These meal kits are designed to fold seamlessly into your lifestyle. You don’t have to try to fit yourself to them.

This is an honest review, and I don’t feel it’s right to share benefits without also sharing downsides. IMVHO, here are the main disadvantages to HelloFresh and Green Chef:

• These plans are not really intended for people with severe food allergies. Though the foods are individually packaged, there is still a risk that cross-contact with allergens may occur.
• Those highly interested in food sourcing and eating locally may be disappointed that they may not know which farm foods were sourced from.
• You can’t easily substitute ingredients in recipes (though you could make changes with ingredients purchased at home).
• Several of the recipes call for an unmeasured “drizzle of oil.” This can be an unrealized source of a lot of unwanted additional calories for those trying to lose weight.
• Some of the house blend spices might be hard to replicate if you want to recreate a recipe.
• Some of the meals created a lot of dirty pots, pans, and baking trays- sometimes 3-4 for one meal. (That said, you CAN choose meals with easier prep if you don’t want to deal with a big clean up.)

I think I would just like a dishwashing subscription service along with the meal kit service. Maybe that will be offered sometime in the future. (Hey, a girl can dream, right? Haha)

I would be completely thrilled to receive a gift of HelloFresh or Green Chef deliveries for my birthday, just sayin. A little kitchen mess is totally worth it.

There are other meal delivery services that offer boxes like Hello Fresh and Green Chef. Some of these companies like Hello Fresh include:

• Dinnerly
• Blue Apron
• Home Chef
• Chef’s Plate (Canada only)
• Gobble
• Sun Basket
• EveryPlate 
• Purple Carrot 
• Factor Meals 
• Goodfood (Canada only)
• Plated (home subscription meal service ended in 2019; meal kits are available in some grocery stores)

Here’s a summary of the meal services that are (mostly) available in the United States (subject to change):

We found both plans offered healthful, flavorful recipes that were packed with fresh produce and whole foods. HelloFresh seemed to offer more “fun food” options for those who are a little less health-minded.

In summary, I think both HelloFresh and Green Chef have a lot to offer and I’d buy either one. The one that is “best” really depends on what you’re looking for. Either way, get ready to fill your belly with some nourishing and scrumptious meals!

Here are some other review articles you may enjoy: 

• Thrive Market Review 
• Best Air Fryer with Rotisserie 
• High Calorie Bars for Gaining Weight 
• The Frozen Garden Review 
• Good Chop
• Butcher Box