Trying Hello Fresh for 2 weeks | February 2021

I had seen a lot about Hello Fresh and the meal boxes that you can receive but had never got around to taking the plunge and trying a box. As part of one of my Glossyboxes there was a leaflet included which had a discount offer to two boxes so thought that this was a good time to try out Hello Fresh and see what it is all about. 

Keep reading for more details around our experience and the meals that we chose as part of the two weeks trial offer. 

As part of your Hello Fresh delivery you will get everything that you need to make the number of meals that you ordered. For our Hello Fresh delivery, our orders were based upon 2 people and we went with 4 meals. These can both be changed depending on the number of people that you need the boxes for and you can choose the number of meals that you want included. 

Once you have signed up for Hello Fresh and have decided upon when you want to have your delivery and the number of meals etc. there is then the option to select your meals. There is a list of meals that you can select based upon the options that you choose (including whether you want family meals, rapid meals etc). You will find that there are some meals which are classed as premium and therefore there is an additional charge as well as the option to add on sides if you want to. 

When you receive you Hello Fresh box, you will find that there are recipe cards for each meal within your box alongside there being a bag for each meal of all the ingredients needed. Your box will also have an ice pack bag for your products that need to be refrigerated. We really liked how there was a bag for every meal all sorted and organised as that makes it easier when making each of the meals. 

Week 1

For Week1 of trying Hello Fresh, we went with the following meals:

• Spiced Pork Ragu
• Beany Beef and Bacon Loaded Sweet Potatoe Wedges
• Middle Eastern-style Beef Stew
• Mexican Style Beef Loaded Wedges

This was the Spiced Pork Ragu and we absolutely loved this recipe, it was really easy to follow and very tasty. Would definitely recommend this meal if it comes up in your selection of choices. 

The Beany Beef and Bacon Loaded Sweet Potatoe Wedges was another meal that we both enjoyed and was quite quick to make. One thing to note especially when you have a number of meals that use the same ingredients (e.g. beef) is to make sure that you check the weight listed on the back of the receipt card and pick the correct one from your products. We got ours mixed up in the recipes from this week but it all worked out in the end. 

Middle Eastern-style Beef Stew recipe was not what we had originally expected when you think o f a stew but this has turned out to be one of our favourites which we have gone on to cook more as part of our weekly meals. 

The Mexican Style Beef Loaded Wedges was similar to one of our other meals this week but there were some differences to how it was made, again this was a really tasty meal that we both enjoyed. This one did take longer to cook than some of the other recipes due to it being baked in the oven but as long as you take the timings detailed in to consideration then it shouldn't be an issue. 

Week 2

For week 2, we chose the following meals from the selection available. 

• Speady Creamy Chorizo & Sweetcorn Pasta
• Green Thai Style Chicken Curry
• Penne Ragu Al Forno
• Thai Style Pork Rice Bowl

The Speady Creamy Chorizo & Sweetcorn Pasta was one of those meals that has become a favourite of ours since making it for the first time as part of this Hello Fresh box. We both really enjoyed it and have made it a number of times since and have also changed some of the ingredients slightly (chorizo for bacon) and it still works really well. 

This was the first time that we have made a Green Thai Chicken Curry and we were both surprised about how nice this meal was quite quick to make as was listed as one of the rapid meals. 

The next meal that we had was Penne Ragu Al Forno and as pasta lovers we really enjoyed this recipe and was quite simple to make. It is always worth noting the time indication for how long it takes to make and cook as similar to one of the recipes above this was a baked pasta dish so took a bit longer to prep. 

The last dish of our box was the Thai Style Pork Rice Bowl and out of all of the meals that we made this was probably our least favourite. Whilst it was still tasty it definitely didn't look like the picture on the meal card so we aren't sure as to whether it was something that we did during cooking or got some of the ingredients incorrect. We would try it again if it appeared in our next selections to see if we do anything different whether it would look more like the pictures on the recipe card. 

We have continued to use Hello Fresh and now get a box once a month as a way of mixing up recipes for dinner. This has been really useful as we have found some really lovely meals that we have since gone on and made again after having them initially in a Hello Fresh box. 

Have you tried Hello Fresh before and what are your favourite recipes of the boxes that you have had?