Price: Meals start at $9.95 per serving.
The box being reviewed cost $79.60 (2 meals, 4 portions each meal)
Website Description of Box:
“Home Chef is a weekly subscription meal kit service. Customers receive orders with all the fresh ingredients you need to make restaurant quality recipes, designed by our chefs. We save you the time of going to the grocery store, finding new recipes, meal planning, and portioning.
Our seasoned chefs create new recipes each week for you to choose from–fresh ingredients are sourced for each menu.”
Shipping: Delivery is free for orders over $45. Shipping is $10 for orders less than $45.
Ships to: 98% of the US, enter your zip code in during the sign up process and their system will let you know if you’re in their delivery zone
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Background
On a typical week, I cook dinner at home six days out of seven. One day a week we either order in or go out and enjoy a nice meal. Needless to say, after cooking at home for, give or take, fourteen years, I tend to get bored with my repetitive dishes. To solve this problem, I figured ordering a subscription box once a month would teach me some new recipes and tricks and get me interested in cooking again. There are several subscriptions out there, but for my first go around I choose to try Home Chef. I like that I can see the menu for each week well in advance and choose which weeks I want to skip each month. I have the flexibility of choosing which week I want to have my box delivered as well as which meals I want to receive. Even though I only have three in my family, my husband has a generous appetite so I choose to have each meal portioned for four people. This does raise the price a bit for us, however any leftovers I snag for my lunch which is a win-win.
Packaging and Contents
I was so excited to get my cook on that I inadvertently forgot to take pictures of how the box came packaged and separated. I did record an unboxing video that will give you some insight if you are curious though. The only ingredients that I provided were: salt, pepper, olive oil, and cooking spray. Everything else that was needed for the recipes was included and portioned into bags. Each bag was portioned for two servings. The meat was at the bottom of the box topped by a reusable ice pack. I do try to be conscious of waste and was happy to see that all the packaging materials were either reusable or recyclable. Home Chef also puts helpful recycling tips on packaging materials to make it easier on the consumer.
Cheese Stuffed Chicken Milanese
Stuffed chicken is one of my favorite meals. I have never been great at making it though, so I added this to my Home Chef menu with hopes they could teach me the correct way to prepare this savory dish. The recipe card comes punched so I can save it in a recipe book, which I thought was really handy. All the ingredients were fresh and divided out nicely. The card said it would take about 35-45 mins to prep and cook, however, I think it took me about an hour, I do have a 5-year old that loves to help. While my dish is nowhere as pretty as the recipe card, I can assure you that it tasted great! I already have plans to add this dish to my dinner repertoire. The stuffed chicken is pretty basic and easy to cook on a typical work night. The spinach salad was something I would have never concocted on my own accord and tasted fabulous.
Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Pears
Typically if we are eating pork, I lean away from pork tenderloin. Something about it has never sat right with me in the past. Nevertheless, I decided to add it to my Home Chef box to give it another try before completely writing it off. I made this meal the day after our box arrived and was a tad disappointed to see one of the shallots was moldy, but I was able to salvage about half of it. Overall, it was an easy meal to prepare and again, not one that I would ordinarily cook. The garlic thyme sauce was so delightful I will be making that for sure to go along with other meals in the future. My son didn’t think the pears would mix well with the green beans, but even he was a fan of the final product.
Overall Experience
Home Chef taught me some valuable cooking skills to up my game. I am so thrilled with this box that I have decided to add them into my dinner rotation. The price per meal is a bit on the high side for something I am making at home, however, I think the convenience and the lessons are worth it. Even so, I will be only adding one box every 5-6 weeks to cut back on the expense. Lucky for me, with Home Chef it is easy to skip meals and plan my box around dishes that I know my family will love.
Try Home Chef today!
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All views in this review are the opinion of the author. The Review Girls will never accept payment in exchange for a review, but will accept a box at no cost to provide honest opinions on the box. This post may contain affiliate/referral links. Read our complete disclosure.