Updated on Dec. 19, 2024
Why pit Home Chef vs. HelloFresh when they both have equally quality products? These two companies offer similarly positive experiences, so the choice is yours.
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I’ve tested six meal delivery services, and even I, who has unpacked the boxes of ingredients and prepared the meals with my own two hands, can get them mixed up. The companies are similar, and, as far as I’m concerned, similarly successful at accomplishing their mission: delivering the makings for quality recipes to doors across the country and alleviating the burden of meal planning.
Because of these overlapping goals and audiences, the company names sound, well, kind of the same. There’s HelloFresh, Home Chef, Chefs Plate, Green Chef, Purple Carrot, Blue Apron. Phew! If the “H” companies have you jumbled up, we’re here to explain the differences between Home Chef vs. HelloFresh, two of the more prominent names in the biz (don’t miss out on our comparison of HelloFresh vs. Blue Apron, too!).
Home Chef and HelloFresh have the same model as other meal delivery services for families. They allow you to select plans for different numbers of recipes and servings to receive each week. The insulated cardboard boxes that each company sends contain all the ingredients needed for the chosen recipes, sorted into bags for added convenience.
Even the cost differences are virtually nonexistent. Home Chef meals cost between $9.99 and $11.99, depending on how many you purchase. HelloFresh meals cost between $9.99 and $11.49. (Psst! Keep an eye out for sales.) Note: With Home Chef, you have the option to order six servings per meal, whereas HelloFresh only sells meals with yields of up to four servings.
The recipes are similarly categorized on the website, with labels related to carbohydrate and calorie content, cook/prep time, vegetarian-friendliness and more. Both companies offer roughly 30 recipes to choose from each week. (Need an exclusively vegetarian service? Try Mosaic Foods.)
When trying out Home Chef vs. HelloFresh recipes, each box had its highs and its lows, for a very comparable experience with both brands. For instance, I loved the Italian-Style Wedding Soup from Home Chef but was a little underwhelmed by the Salmon Cakes with Dill Hollandaise. As for HelloFresh, the Street Cart-Style Turkey Bowls wowed while the One-Pan Beef Enchiladas Verdes left a bit to be desired.
In addition to the entrees they provide, HelloFresh (through HelloFresh Market) and Home Chef also allow add-ons to their boxes. Think breakfasts, drinks, side dishes, breads, desserts and a la carte proteins, available for an additional cost.
Lastly, both companies are committed to eco-friendliness and sustainability, exhibited through their sourcing practices. However, these companies may pose cross-contamination risks which can be dangerous for those with severe allergies. Both brands have also been known to include some single-use plastics in their kits. That said, most of these single-use materials are recyclable.
The differences between these two companies in terms of menu options, flexibility and pricing are hard to identify. There are a few additional features of Home Chef, potentially accounting for its slightly elevated price tag, that set it apart from HelloFresh. If you view these features as value-adds, then it could be the fit for you.
Home Chef, owned by Kroger, sells some of its meal kits in supermarkets. This means that to enjoy Home Chef’s offerings, you might not even need to subscribe. Also, if you have a favorite food celebrity, there’s a chance they’ve collaborated with Home Chef. Some examples of partnerships include Rachael Ray and Tieghan Gerard of Half Baked Harvest fame, who developed limited-time recipes for the service. This meal kit also offers oven-ready meals that require little prep before popping in the oven and family meals that automatically come with four servings.
Home Chef is based in Chicago, Illinois, and was founded in 2013. Since then, the company has expanded its offerings to include traditional meal kits, as well as optional add-ons like desserts, breakfasts and sides; oven-ready meals; and in-store kits.
Most of its recipes are developed by professional on-staff chefs, though some notable celebrity partnerships mean a selection of the company’s recipes were developed by the famous chef in question. Recipes are dubbed easy, intermediate or expert, and labeled with tags like Keto-Friendly, Gluten-Smart, Vegetarian, Carb-Conscious, etc.
The company boasts its products as “endlessly customizable…meal kits that fit your needs” with “fresh, pre-portioned ingredients.” This customization is made clear via the “Customize It” options, which usually entail swapping out proteins or omitting them altogether.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Home Chef meals, especially the Italian-Style Wedding Soup, and their high-quality ingredients. I found the cook times and difficulty ratings to be accurate. Plus, the comprehensive recipe cards were incredibly helpful.
Although I think some of the recipes could’ve been more efficient, my experience was certainly a positive one, and I believe it could be for you, too. Home Chef offerings are suitable for all types of consumers: couples, singles and families.
VIA MERCHANT
Home Chef, available in select Kroger stores and online, is a celebrity-endorsed, ultra-customizable meal delivery service.
If HelloFresh isn’t beckoning you, perhaps one of the company’s other brands will. The HelloFresh Group, based in Germany, also owns Green Chef, EveryPlate, Factor and Good Chop, among others. Green Chef focuses on healthy, organic recipes while EveryPlate is a budget brand. Factor sells fully prepared frozen meals, and Good Chop is a meat delivery service.
HelloFresh, the group’s namesake, is the most straightforward meal delivery service—and perhaps the original, founded in 2011. You’ve surely heard of it, thanks to its omnipresent marketing, solid reviews and amazing deals.
I’ve tested HelloFresh three times now, and its meals are always tasty, easy and made with ingredients I, myself, would pick out from the supermarket. Think Daisy sour cream, Philadelphia cream cheese, Cholula hot sauce and Colavita olive oil. The comprehensive recipe card makes recipe preparation super simple.
And don’t discount HelloFresh Market, which functions as a more built-out grocery delivery service. There’s even fresh produce available!
Some negligible drawbacks include misquoted prep and cook times and substantial cleanup, but those are small complaints for an overwhelmingly pleasant, ever-consistent experience.
HelloFresh also has the lead in allergy information with their clear breakdown of ingredients to avoid any allergens like dairy or gluten.
VIA MERCHANT
HelloFresh is a fan-favorite meal delivery service celebrated for its diverse menu, customization options and affordability.
Annamarie Higley is the shopping editor who manages all of Taste of Home‘s testing lab and product testing. She has assessed online trends and search traffic to review hundreds of products, food subscriptions and wine delivery services in her experience at Taste of Home, Brit + Co and Edible. Given her hands-on experience with meal kit subscriptions and extensive experience looking for the best food and kitchen products, she is more than adept at comparing Home Chef and HelloFresh.
Nancy Snyder is a shopping editor and professional dietitian at Taste of Home, Reader’s Digest, Family Handyman, The Pet Collective, Women’s Health, Prevention, MyFitnessPal and Bustle. At these publications, she has years of experience honing her culinary talent and identifying the food industry’s top trends, recipes, subscriptions and products. With all of this experience under her belt, she is an excellent candidate to review Home Chef and HelloFresh.
Alexandra Mantella, Content Updates Editor at Taste of Home, updated and contributed research to this piece. She has over five years of experience in product testing, research and commerce writing. Previously, she served as a commerce content update editor at Bob Vila.
Home Chef and HelloFresh are less expensive than eating out as their meals are priced at $9 to $11 for two to four servings, which is definitely cheaper than most takeout options.
Home Chef subscription plans come at a price point of $50 to $82 depending on which plan you select. Or, HelloFresh comes with 15 different plans to select which can range from $100 to $110 per week. Plus, it comes with a $10.99 shipping fee per week, rounding out the price to $110 to $120 per week.
Home Chef and HelloFresh subscriptions are easy to cancel by logging into the ‘Account’ portal and selecting ‘Cancel’ or ‘Cancel Plan’. If you are vacationing or going away for just a short time, you can also suspend or pause your subscription at any time.
When it comes to Home Chef vs. HelloFresh, you can’t go wrong here. I’d suggest browsing the menus of both companies and deciding which one entices you more. However, if you’re committed to your weekly supermarket runs or your favorite celebrity chef, then Home Chef might be a better call. Aside from that, the pricing, sustainability practices, recipe selections and ingredient quality are very comparable.
