Home Chef vs. HelloFresh 2024: I Tested Both at Home

Home Chef and HelloFresh are 2 of the biggest meal delivery services out there. On the surface, they’re pretty similar. Both offer good value and a large, weekly menu, but I wanted to find out for myself which has the better meal kit. I ordered from both services multiple times to research and taste-test their offerings.

I enjoyed my experience with both of these services. They’re easy to use, and the menus are filled with fun and creative recipes. However, I found a few key differences that set them apart. 

Overall, Home Chef is my winner in this head-to-head. Its customization options are the best out there, and I loved its range of low-prep meals. HelloFresh had some of the tastiest meals I’ve gotten from any meal kit, though, so it’s still a great choice. Ultimately, the decision depends on your own tastes and preferences. Read on for all the details you need to pick your perfect meal kit.

At a Glance: Who Won Each Category?

Menu Variety: Both Services Are Excellent Choices

Home Chef and HelloFresh both have large weekly menus. While Home Chef has more than 60 recipes and other items, HelloFresh has over 100 weekly meal kits and market items. 

Menu Size: A Large Weekly Menu With Both Services

HelloFresh cuisine is largely American, with customer-approved Hall of Fame dishes like Honey-Butter BBQ Pork Chops. Among the 100+ items, you’ll find a variety of other cuisines, including Pan-Asian, Italian, and Mexican dishes in ample supply.

Home Chef gives you over 60 selections each week. It has a pretty similar offering to HelloFresh, with mainly American fare and some international cuisines. Overall, I’d say it’s a bit less adventurous with its flavors, but this may not necessarily be a bad thing if you have a picky eater at home!

Quick Kits: Home Chef Has More Easy-Prep Options 

Home Chef has a great range of low-prep meal kits, many of which suit busy weeknights. You can pick up everything from Express meal kits to oven-ready dishes and Fast & Fresh microwave meals. If time is your number 1 consideration, these easy-prep kits will be an important factor to consider. 

HelloFresh has some Easy Prep and Easy Cleanup recipes. These can be made in 10 to 15 minutes and use limited dishes. It’s also recently introduced a few prepared meals, which you can find on the HelloFresh Market. But it can’t quite compete with Home Chef. 

Both services list the cooking times on their menus. Clicking on each recipe also lets you see a difficulty rating. I found these were generally good estimates, although if you’re a complete beginner, I’d stick to “Easy” ratings and give an extra 10 minutes per recipe to allow room for mistakes.

Premium Options & Extras

Both services also allow you to order upgraded recipes for an additional fee. HelloFresh calls them Premium Picks, while Home Chef has the Culinary Collection. These recipes include more expensive proteins and sides like Steak au Poivre, which comes with Garlic and Herb Shrimp.

To limit grocery shopping, both offer extras. You’ll find breakfasts, drinks, and snacks on the Home Chef menu, making it a great option for households with big appetites. HelloFresh offers a decent range of 10-minute lunches, and you can access its Market for additional items (but only after you sign up).

Dietary Requirements: A Mixed Bag

Both services cover basic diets, offering options for low-carb, low-calorie, high-protein, and vegetarian dishes. HelloFresh has a much better vegetarian selection thanks to its Veggie plan. It also has some vegan dishes each week, which are rarer with Home Chef. You can order several Home Chef entrees with vegan Impossible Burger, though. 

Home Chef also caters to a few more niche diets, with tags for Gluten-Smart, Keto-Friendly, and Paleo-Friendly. This service wouldn’t be suitable for strict followers of these diets, however, and neither service is suitable for those with serious allergies.

Both Services Have Family-Oriented Plans

If you’re cooking for children or picky eaters, both services would be in my top 3 choices. I’d recommend checking out the menus yourself to see what looks better for your family.

Home Chef offers kid-friendly options like oven-ready burritos and meatballs. It has a Family Plan where you can see the best 4-serving meals for families each week. HelloFresh similarly has an entire plan of kid-approved dishes, including burgers, pot pie, and pasta bakes.

Sample Meals: Every Dish I Tried Tasted Great!

HelloFresh Meals

HelloFresh has new dishes on its menu each week, as well as a few returning customer favorites. The full menu is sprawling and massive, to the point where it can be daunting to browse. Use the tags on the menu to quickly see meals that suit your needs: “Hall of Fame” recipes are time-tested favorites while “20-Min Dinners” are great for busy weeknights.

Here are a few of the dishes I ordered when I tested the service (pictured above, from left to right): 

• Pork Bahn Mi Burgers: This Asian fusion dish incorporates Vietnamese-inspired flavors like ginger, garlic, and pickled veggies. The form factor is akin to a classic burger and fries, making this approachable even if you’ve never had traditional banh mi. It’s a tangy and satisfying dish that was also simple to prepare. 

• Vegan Street Cart-Style Chickpea Bowls: I found this to be among the more complex recipes I’ve seen from a meal kit, but the result was worth the extra effort. The combination of flavors and textures is reminiscent of Middle Eastern street-cart food with bright veggies, hot sauce, and a hummus-based dressing. 

• Vegan Mushroom French Dip Sandwiches: As an omnivore, I can attest that these vegan sandwiches were among the most satisfyingly savory dishes I’ve ever enjoyed. The umami flavor of the garlic, mushrooms, and onions makes up for the lack of meat, and the rich broth is the perfect dip to take the sandwich to the next level.

Home Chef Meals

Home Chef’s menu also changes weekly, with separate sections for easy prep kits, bundles, and extras. The menu is more structured than HelloFresh’s, with dishes separated by categories such as “Express” and “Oven-Ready.” You can browse the menu based on your preferred preparation methods, making it easy to plan meals based on how much time you have to cook. I prefer this structure to the simpler layout of HelloFresh’s menu because it’s easier to navigate.

Here are a few of the dishes I ordered from Home Chef (shown above left to right): 

• Crispy Chicken and Black Garlic Crema: This was one of my most-loved dishes. Tasty and quick, the black garlic crema ensures it lives up to its premium label. The potatoes come pre-mashed, so you just have to heat them in the pan, and then add the spinach and onions for extra flavor. 

• Thai-Style Pork Soup: The combination of sweet coconut, tangy lime, and fresh cilantro worked really well in this dish. The key ingredient is the “Asian Garlic, Ginger & Chile Seasoning,” which is a premade blend of aromatics that transforms this dish and gives it an authentic smell and taste.

• One-Pan Turkey Chili Skillet: For this recipe, you build the chili in an oven-proof dish, then dollop cornbread batter over the top and finish the whole thing in the oven. This hearty meal came out very mild (it’s labeled “not spicy” on the website), which is probably because this is a family-friendly dish. If you like your chili spicy, like me, you’ll want to add some hot sauce or red pepper flakes from your own pantry. 

Meal Customization: Home Chef Wins This Round Thanks to Its Customize It Feature

Both Home Chef and HelloFresh offer more customization options than most other meal kit delivery services. However, Home Chef’s flexible Customize It feature gives it the edge in this category.

You Can Customize Loads With Home Chef

Home Chef’s Customize It feature is hard to beat. Not only does it allow you to double-up on the protein in your dish or swap it for an alternative, but you can also upgrade to a more premium protein or antibiotic-free version. 

Some swaps are free, but most cost an extra few dollars. Regardless, this feature makes for the most customizable meal kit I’ve ever seen, as it more than doubles your options.

During the signup process for Home Chef, you can also remove certain ingredients. This is another useful customization feature, especially if you have picky eaters in the family, as it filters out recipes with these ingredients. Some of these include mushrooms, pork, and shellfish.

HelloFresh’s Swaps Are More Limited

HelloFresh offers customization on some dishes, but I found it to be more limiting compared to Home Chef’s choices. You can choose between a couple of different proteins or side dishes in some recipes, but that’s it.

Neither service lets you filter the menu based on allergens, although Home Chef makes it easier to see the allergens in each meal by listing them on the front. With HelloFresh, you have to click through to the individual recipe to see what allergens it contains.

Ingredient Quality & Nutrition: You Can’t Go Wrong With Either Service

On paper, these services are neck and neck for ingredient quality. However, when I tested them for myself, I found that the produce I received from HelloFresh was generally better than Home Chef. Despite that, Home Chef offers more options to upgrade to premium produce and more extensive nutrition details.

Fresh Produce: I Had a Couple of Misses With Home Chef

I had some issues with the ingredients in my Home Chef order. In particular, I received sub-par produce like wilted spinach and a mushy cucumber. It’s possible it was just bad luck or a one-off, but I didn’t have any problems like this with HelloFresh. Home Chef’s customer service was helpful and gave me credit for a future order, though I have to admit I’d rather just have fresh produce in the first place!

Sourcing: Both Services Are Transparent

HelloFresh prides itself on sourcing high-quality meats and fish. It carefully chooses meat suppliers that adhere to USDA Inspection Guidelines. HelloFresh also offers sustainably sourced seafood and works with Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch to guarantee the highest standards.

Home Chef sources ingredients from trusted suppliers and fisheries that follow industry standards for animal welfare. For example, it sources its salmon from a company in Norway that practices sustainable fish farming.

Organic Ingredients: You Won’t Find These as Standard

HelloFresh only offers a limited selection of organic produce. Instead, it primarily focuses on high-quality, seasonal, farm-sourced produce that gets to you at peak freshness. Its sister company, Green Chef, is much more focused on premium, organic ingredients.

Similarly, Home Chef only occasionally features organic ingredients, instead focusing on seasonality. However, the Customize It feature gives you more options to upgrade to higher-quality and organic ingredients where available, for example, swapping regular chicken for organic boneless skinless chicken breasts.

Nutritional Info: Both Cover the Basics, but Home Chef Has More Detail

HelloFresh provides detailed nutritional information with every meal. You can find this underneath the Nutritional Values section of each full recipe. This gives you a per-serving breakdown of calories, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugar, dietary fiber, protein, cholesterol, and sodium. Allergen info can be found on the website, your recipe cards, and individual packages.

Home Chef provides even more nutritional information for each meal. With each recipe, you’ll find a basic nutritional per-serving breakdown, just like HelloFresh, but if you select See Full Nutritional Facts, it’ll bring up a much more detailed table, including things like Trans Fat, Vitamin D, and Iron.

Ordering & Delivery: Both Home Chef & HelloFresh Offer Streamlined Services

This round is a tie as ordering is fast and easy with both Home Chef and HelloFresh. Every step of the way – from signup to unboxing – is streamlined. With either service, it only takes a few clicks to get your meal kits ordered. I also like that both services have apps to make it even more convenient.

Changing your order size or the meals you’ve chosen is easy, too: just make the changes before the dedicated cutoff day. The cutoff for HelloFresh is 11.59 pm PT, 5 days before your next scheduled delivery. With Home Chef, it’s Friday 12 pm CT, the week before your next delivery is due.

Order Sizes: Both Suit a Range of Households

Home Chef and HelloFresh both allow you to order up to 6 servings per meal and up to 6 meals per week. The minimum for both is 2 recipes per week serving 2 people.

Home Chef will also give you other customization options during the ordering process, such as the ability to change the number of servings on different meals. I’ve not seen this offered anywhere else. Customization really is the cornerstone of Home Chef’s model – but don’t forget this will also affect the final price, so keep that in mind if you’re budgeting!

Delivery Days: HelloFresh Has More Available

HelloFresh has the advantage of offering more delivery days. With Home Chef or HelloFresh, however, the number of delivery options will vary depending on your address. For a NYC zip code, HelloFresh offers delivery a full 7 days a week! 

In comparison, Home Chef offers delivery just 5 days a week for me, as it doesn't deliver on weekends. With either service, you can change your delivery day at any point.

Tracking Works Exactly the Same 

Both companies partner with a range of interconnected courier services in order to deliver meals across the country. For my NYC address, Home Chef and HelloFresh both used Jitsu – a common courier in large metropolitan areas – to fulfill my orders. Different national shipping services like FedEx or UPS may be used at earlier stages in the shipping process. You’ll receive a link with tracking information when your order ships so you can follow along.

Unboxing: HelloFresh’s Packaging Is More Eco-Friendly

HelloFresh takes this round as it has more eco-friendly packaging. Both services provide recycling information on their websites. However, HelloFresh’s packaging is much more sustainable.

Recipe Bags: Paper for HelloFresh, Plastic for Home Chef

In addition to recyclable insulation in its boxes, HelloFresh organizes its ingredients in paper bags. It’s convenient and more eco-friendly than the plastic bags Home Chef uses.

Home Chef similarly sorts its ingredients by recipe, but it does so in plastic. I don’t see any advantage to using plastic over paper, even if it’s recyclable. Both services use some non-recyclable plastic, but Home Chef really uses a lot.

Storage & Freshness: Easy to Figure Out 

Both services recommend eating your meals within 5 days for peak freshness. Following these guidelines, all of my HelloFresh ingredients were fresh when I cooked them. As mentioned above, some of my Home Chef produce was getting mushy within just 3 or 4 days.

Some of HelloFresh’s meat and seafood may arrive frozen, and you may choose to store these proteins from either service in the freezer. All my meat arrived fresh and stayed fresh, so I don’t see any need to freeze anything: just keep it all in the fridge.

Meal Prep: Home Chef’s Meal Kits Are Easier to Prepare

I loved cooking with both services, and they both made my life a lot easier. However, Home Chef’s recipes were definitely faster to prepare. It gets the win in this category.

Easy-Prep Kits: Home Chef Has Some of the Speediest Kits Around

Home Chef gives you loads of prep options, from classic meal kits to speedy Express meal kits, oven-ready meals, and more. The dishes from its Fast & Fresh collection need only be microwaved (or oven-cooked if preferred), while the Culinary Collection meals feature more complex recipes.

I found HelloFresh to have fewer quick and easy recipes than Home Chef. In fact, HelloFresh has fewer meal kit types in general. I like the number of One-Pan and One-Pot dishes on the menu, though. It’s also got several dishes marked 15-Min Dinner, 10-Min Lunch, and 15-Min Lunch for when you’re in a hurry.

Another plus for both services is that you’re guaranteed perfectly portioned ingredients, alongside some ready-made sauces and marinades.

Recipe Cards & Method: Both Are Easy to Follow

Both services offer clear recipe cards that are easy to follow, even if you’re a beginner. They both include numbered steps, bold text to highlight ingredients, and pictures, which are particularly useful for inexperienced cooks.

In general, I found the instructions from Home Chef slightly longer and more detailed, while HelloFresh’s were more concise, which can make the process easier to follow. It all depends on personal preference, though.

Both are also comparable in terms of what they expect you to have in your cupboards already – you’ll often need to provide stuff like salt, pepper, butter, and oil. You’ll find this info on the recipe cards, but it’s also on the website when you initially choose your recipes.

Customer Support: Home Chef’s Support Team Is Better

Both services make it easy to get help. And while I’d have rather not had a reason to contact them in the first place, I’ve given Home Chef the win here, as the customer service team was quick to deal with my complaint.

Response Time: Home Chef’s Customer Service Was Really Helpful

Home Chef offers customer support via phone Monday through Friday, 9 am to 6 pm CT, and Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm CT. Live chat is also available during these times, plus Sunday 10 am to 2 pm CT. I have to give props to Home Chef’s customer support team. When a shipment I received was missing an entire meal, I was able to get in touch with a real person via the chatbot. Daniela helped me by issuing a $20 refund to cover the value of the missing food.

HelloFresh’s customer service has longer customer service hours, but my experiences have been mixed. On a few occasions, an ingredient or 2 will be missing from a meal kit. Instead of a refund, HelloFresh gives you a small credit toward your next full-priced order. I found this quite frustrating, because a $2.50 credit on your account isn’t very helpful when you’re in the midst of cooking dinner and realize you don’t have all the ingredients.

Finding Answers: Both Have Handy Chatbots & Searchable FAQs

Both services offer a chat function that starts with a virtual assistant. Home Chef has Herb and HelloFresh has Brie. You can find answers to basic questions via the chatbot and sometimes they’re more up-to-date than the FAQ section. If the chatbot can’t help you, you can ask to be put through to a human representative instead. 

Home Chef’s detailed Help Center has a collection of thorough FAQs covering many potential needs. HelloFresh also has an FAQ section on its website with guides to walk you through updating your account, changing your preferences, and many other things. It also has a large collection of short articles that you can search through using keywords.

Pricing: HelloFresh Has a Better Pricing Model

For me, both services fall into the same “affordable mainstream” category. They’re cheaper than all-organic services like Green Chef or fully prepared services, but they’re more expensive than the no-frills budget brands. Overall, I gave HelloFresh this round thanks to its more transparent pricing. 

Per-Meal Pricing: On Par, but HelloFresh is Clearer

HelloFresh’s prices are pretty affordable and larger families tend to get the best value. Although larger boxes cost more overall, you’ll get the best per-serving value for a big order, with higher per-serving prices for smaller orders. For example, 6 meals for 4 people cost just $107.75 for the first order if you use our link. 

By comparison, Home Chef meals are priced individually, starting at $9.99 per serving after discounts. Home Chef meals are generally between $9.99 to $11.99 per serving. However, you can’t be sure of your box total until you’ve selected your meals, as they’re individually priced. This means your total will change week by week.

Premium Upgrades & Extras

Both services offer premium meals. Home Chef’s Culinary Collection and HelloFresh’s Premium Plus meals cost a few dollars more, as they use more expensive ingredients like shrimp and filet mignon. These premium meals taste great, but they can really increase your weekly price, so may be best kept for special occasions. 

Home Chef’s extras are priced individually and can be added to your order at checkout, while HelloFresh’s 10-minute lunch options can be added to your order like a regular entree. Note that both companies also charge a flat rate of $10.99 for shipping. (HelloFresh’s is technically calculated at checkout but in my experience, it’s always been $10.99.)

Home Chef vs. HelloFresh – Pros & Cons

Home Chef

Pros

• Most of the menu is customizable

• Great range of easy-prep kits

• Tasty, family-friendly meals

Cons

• Exact prices not given until checkout

• Doesn’t cater to allergies

• Uses a lot of plastic

HelloFresh

Pros

• Huge range of dishes to choose from

• Recipes are well thought through and easy to follow

• Tasty meals with international inspirations

Cons

• You can’t see marketplace offerings until you subscribe

• Doesn’t cater to niche diets or allergies

• Limited customization options

Home Chef vs. HelloFresh – Quick Overview

And the Winner Is: Home Chef

I enjoyed reviewing both Home Chef and HelloFresh, so picking a winner was difficult. The services are similar in many ways, and both regularly rank highly on our updated list of best meal delivery services. Their key differences may lead you to have your own winner, but I’m giving the edge to Home Chef.

If convenience is a big priority of yours, Home Chef is the best choice. You may also find that the flexible menu suits your tastes better. All of the customization options make it better suited to families with picky eaters to cater to.

I also had a great experience with HelloFresh. I liked its more eco-friendly packaging as well as its larger selection of unique recipes. Plus, all the meals I cooked were really tasty.

After experiencing both, I can confidently endorse either of these services. They are on par in many aspects. Moreover, both were significantly superior to my own cooking!

FAQ

Are Home Chef and HelloFresh the same company?

HelloFresh and Home Chef are owned by different companies. HelloFresh is the flagship brand of HelloFresh Group SE, a German company that also owns EveryPlate and Green Chef. Home Chef is owned by the supermarket chain Kroger. You can see in my side-by-side comparison that both are solid meal delivery services aimed at a general audience.

Which is better, Home Chef or HelloFresh?

Home Chef is my overall winner because of its customization options and meal types. HelloFresh’s menu variety and customer service is also impressive, so both companies come highly recommended.

Which is cheaper, Home Chef or HelloFresh?

Home Chef and HelloFresh are fairly evenly priced, but it depends on the size of your order. HelloFresh’s price-per-serving is lower on larger orders, making it great for families on a budget.  

Is HelloFresh healthier than Home Chef?

Both services offer low-carb and low-calorie options made with fresh ingredients. Ultimately, however, the healthiness of either service depends on which meals you order, but both do offer balanced dishes and quality ingredients. You can easily check all the nutritional details on any recipe before you order.