Home Chef Review

Home Chef is a top-tier meal delivery service that provides its customers maximal customizability in terms of quantity of meals, actual meal recipes, what specific day the food is delivered, and all at a highly competitive cost when compared to other meal delivery services.

MEAL KITS



How does Home Chef meal delivery work?

Home Chef uses your Taste Profile to provide you with tailored meal recommendations from its full menu of 20+ recipes each week. You'll be able to make edits to those meals anytime before 12pm CT each Friday. Once your meals are locked in, the team at Home Chef makes quick work of precisely portioning and efficiently packaging everything you'll need for your meals. You should note that your delivery will also come with comprehensive recipe cards that will make your meal prep as simple as possible.

Is Home Chef good for families?

Home Chef is a great meal delivery option for families. In fact, Home Chef now offers Family Menu so you can spend more time together and get a quick dinner on the table with our easy-prep, no-cleanup options. Additionally, if you factor in Home Chef's current price point average for a meal which is $9 and consider that a family of four is going to all order meals from Home Chef, this would be $120 total. Plus, you'll have free shipping. When you compare that total cost, factor in the high-quality ingredients that go into each Home Chef meal, and compare it to ever pricier grocery store costs, Home Chef is definitely an economically-efficient meal delivery option. You'll also be able to consider whether or not you and the family would like to incorporate meal planning as an option, which works out to between $60-75 from Home Chef.

Is Home Chef good for singles and couples?

Home Chef has received widespread positive feedback from singles, couples, and families for a few notable reasons. First, the recipes provided by Home Chef are customizable which plays out particularly well if you're ordering from Home Chef alongside a picky eater. Next, Home Chef's recipes are organized according to any potential dietary restrictions to ensure that you're able to enjoy a streamlined meal selection process. Lastly, you'll be able to edit and pause your meal delivery from Home Chef at a moment's notice in case you have an upcoming trip or any other reason for not needing meals from Home Chef during a particular week.

What's in the Home Chef box?

With each Home Chef box you can expect pre-portioned ingredients in addition to recipe cards as well as your own recipe binder. You'll also be able to enjoy a wide variety of meal options due to Home Chef's weekly rotating menu that takes into consideration various dietary restrictions.

PREPARATION





How easy are Home Chef meals to prepare?

Home Chef makes a point of offering its customers especially easy meals when it comes to any necessary preparation. With Home Chef's quick-fire meals they use fresh pre-proportioned ingredients that will require minimal effort on your end. Then, their oven-ready meals only require you to assemble the ingredients that come with the meal in an aluminum baking tray before you stick it in the oven.

Does Home Chef offer a premade meal option?

Home Chef's "Oven Ready Meals" are your best bet when it comes to a premade meal option. Each "Oven Ready Meal" from Home Chef comes with fresh, pre-portioned ingredients that are packed in an oven-safe tray and require minimal (if any) preparation.

How long will it take to prepare a Home Chef meal?

A "Meal Kit" from Home Chef will generally take anywhere from 25-50 minutes to prepare. Then you have your 15-minute meal options. Lastly, you can elect to try out the "Easy Prep Meal Kits" which don't require any prep work on your end and can be stuck in the oven.

How long can I store my Home Chef meals in the freezer/fridge before I eat them?

It's strongly recommended that you cook your food from Home Chef within a week from receiving it. This is based on the fact that each meal comes with fresh ingredients and you don't want to run the risk of consuming any proteins that might have gone bad over the span of a week. You'll be able to extend the shelf life of your food from Home Chef if you decide to freeze it though.

What supplies will I need in my kitchen in order to prepare Home Chef meals?

What kitchen supplies you'll need when you prepare each meal from Home Chef will largely depend on the kinds of meals and the difficulty level that you choose to select from Home Chef. You can expect to need your traditional kitchen supplies alongside any spices that you might want to add to your meal unless you opt for the oven ready meals, which simply require you to pop the meals in the oven.



DIETS





Does Home Chef offer vegetarian and vegan options?

At this time Home Chef's vegetarian options are fairly limited. Home Chef offers a vegetarian option every other week. With that being said, you will be able to use Home Chef's meal customization feature to substitute plant-based proteins in numerous meals that'd otherwise contain meat by default.

Does Home Chef offer special diet meal plans?

Home Chef doesn't currently offer meals that specifically cater to a Keto or Paleo diet, but that doesn't necessarily mean that their meals don't fit under either of those umbrellas after some strategic food substitutions. For instance, you can swap in Impossible Meat for a meal option that'd otherwise contain beef.

Can Home Chef accommodate food allergies?

You should note that all Home Chef production facilities actively store, portion, and distribute ingredients that have been identified as containing all eight major food allergens as confirmed by the FDA. Even though Home Chef takes every precaution to cut down on the risk of cross-contamination between various ingredients and food products that they distribute to their consumers, there is still the risk that cross-contamination can occur.

Are Home Chef meals healthy?

Home Chef makes a point of offering numerous calorie-conscious meal options that typically range from 400-to 600 calories per serving. Plus, the fact that Home Chef has made it so easy to prepare their meals from home will help encourage more consistently healthy eating habits.



CUSTOMER SERVICE





Does someone need to be home when my Home Chef box is delivered?

You don't need to be home to be able to enjoy a successful delivery from Home Chef. If you're not home when Home Chef delivers your food, the delivery driver should leave the package for you at your door without needing your signature.

What type of packaging do Home Chef meals come in? 

Home Chef packages all their meal kits in insulated liners with ice packs in case you're not going to be able to retrieve your package for a while.

Is Home Chef shipping free?

Home Chef tries to make its delivery and shipping parts of the equation as easy as possible for you. No matter how frequently you order from Home Chef in addition to the size of your order, each serving will end up costing you $9.99. However, if the total cost of your order exceeds $40 a week, shipping is free. If your total order cost doesn't hit the $40 mark, then shipping will cost you $10.

How can I pause or cancel my Home Chef subscription?

Home Chef makes sure that its cancellation policy is as easy as possible. With Home Chef you'll have the ability to skip orders or cancel your subscription altogether, at any time, for as long as you need.

What is the Home Chef refund policy? 

Home Chef will only issue a refund for any meal that a customer has successfully canceled. The refund itself can be expected to clear within five days of the original cancellation.

Compare Home Chef to Top Meal Delivery Competitors

With its mission to bring simplicity to the dinner table, Home Chef easily makes the cut as a top meal delivery service in our eyes. Customers have all the control over which meals they want to make, and with an approach that is tuned in to each order, Home Chef has made home chefs the priority.

Home Chef vs. HelloFresh:

In one noticeable difference, Home Chef allows each chef to choose the level of difficulty they prefer for each meal. HelloFresh can sometimes send over meals that take over 30 minutes to make, whereas Home Chef customers can request more simple or more difficult recipes.

Home Chef vs. EveryPlate:

EveryPlate wins out in affordability when compared to Home Chef, but Home Chef provides a much larger variety in terms of recipe categories and menu options. EveryPlate is committed to simple recipes that are perfect for busy professionals and students to have a meal in little to no time. Home Chef, however, gives users the option to flex their culinary muscles when wanted.

Home Chef vs. Green Chef:

Home Chef offers up to 6 servings per meal, which is more than Green Chef is able to offer at this point. Green Chef emphasizes their sourced ingredients and healthy options a bit more than Home Chef, and they do have options that cater to Paleo options. On the price spectrum, Home Chef sits at a little less per serving, helping with the affordability factor.

Home Chef Alternatives

Home Chef offers several resources to help you get started on your cooking journey, and with their flexible subscription and cancellation policies, it’s easy to try them out and see how Home Chef works with your schedule. With their pre-portioned meals that are ready in under 30 minutes, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a higher-quality alternative that isn’t listed in our top picks.

Home Chef Buyer’s Guide

Home Chef definitely helps you save time by offering meals that don't take very long to prepare and use cooking techniques that most people won't have a problem understanding or mastering. Prices are reasonable, recipes are flavorful, and you can customize, rearrange or cancel your subscription at any time without a penalty. They even have a kitchen marketplace if you need to upgrade your cooking pans or mixing bowls.