Green Chef Review 2023: Is Organic Worth the Price? (Tested)

Overview

Green Chef was the first meal delivery service to be USDA-certified organic. Acquired by HelloFresh a few years ago, Green Chef now serves as the premium wing of this huge meal delivery brand.

I wanted to see if Green Chef’s high-quality ingredients and healthy recipes are worth the premium price. And now, after trying Green Chef at home, I can give you my honest take.

Green Chef’s meal kits produced the best meal delivery service meals I’ve ever cooked. And while Green Chef is on the pricier side as meal delivery services go, new customer discounts (like Get $250 off + free shipping) can make your order much cheaper.

You can now mix-and-match meals across plans, which you couldn’t do previously. But Green Chef’s kits use a lot of plastic, and its adventurous cuisine might not work for families with picky eaters. So while Green Chef certainly deserves its premium label, there’s still some room for improvement, and it might not be the best choice for everyone.

Still, Green Chef is a fantastic option for eating well. Eating healthy is hard and sourcing high-quality ingredients or following a niche diet is even harder. Green Chef makes it a lot easier.

Pros

• Easy-to-follow recipes

• Meals for specialized diets

• Prepared marinades and sauces

• Current deal – Get $250 off + free shipping

Cons

• $10.99 weekly shipping fee

• No prepared meals

• Can’t customize individual meals

What’s on the Green Chef Menu

Meal Options

Green Chef’s plans cover 7 categories catering to different dietary needs, including:

• Keto: carb-conscious, high-protein recipes free of gluten, grains, soy, and legumes

• Vegetarian: meatless recipes focused on plant-based ingredients

• Mediterranean: Mediterranean flavors with lots of veggies and healthy fats

• Fast & Fit: calorie-conscious recipes ready in 25 minutes or less

• Vegan: recipes with a variety of veggies, plant-based proteins, and grains

• Gluten-Free: free from gluten and soy

• Protein-Packed: satisfying recipes high in protein

The recipes cover a lot of culinary ground with dishes inspired by global cuisines – from Asian noodle dishes and stir-fries to Middle-Eastern rice bowls and even classic American meatloaves. Currently, there’s no way to customize the meals, so if you have an allergy outside of those catered to in the plans, you might have to leave out extra ingredients while cooking.

Green Chef no longer offers a Paleo menu, though many of its meals are grain and dairy-free, and you may find some paleo-friendly recipes. If you’re a strict paleo dieter, you should check out the companies on our list of the best paleo meal delivery services.

Green Chef also offers add-on items like breakfast entrees and bulk protein packs. While the selection is more modest than some other services, each item is carefully curated and the quality is uniformly excellent.

Green Chef’s organic ingredients are limited to eggs and fresh produce. Its proteins are raised using only “high animal welfare standards” and sourced from local farms, but Green Chef doesn’t offer organic meats.

Green Chef’s minimum order is 3 meals for 2 people, but you can order up to 4 meals serving 6 people per week. While this is great for large families, Green Chef meals may be a tough sell for picky eaters. For example, my 11-year-old daughter who only eats chicken in nugget form showed no interest in Green Chef’s excellent chicken entrees.

Green Chef can be an excellent way to feed your children high-quality meals with organic eggs and produce. But if you have picky eaters or very young children, you may do better with a meal delivery company on our list of the best meal delivery services for kids.

You get to choose from all 30 of the recipes on the menu, but the selection available will be narrower if you need to stick rigidly to a specific plan. There are usually 8 or 9 Keto recipes available per week but only around 4 Fast & Fit or Vegan meals, though you could make many Vegetarian entrees vegan by leaving out the cheese or the sauces.

Most Green Chef meals are certified gluten-free by the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG), including every recipe on the Keto menu. While Green Chef offers a few meals containing gluten, they’re prepared and packed separately to avoid cross-contamination.

Tags on each recipe let you see which plans they work with. The “Gluten Free” tag appears on most entrees. If you don’t see this tag, the meal includes pasta, bread, or another ingredient that contains gluten.

Unfortunately, Green Chef doesn’t offer filters to deselect meals with other allergens. Each recipe includes a complete ingredient list, but there’s no simple way to avoid problem ingredients like tree nuts and no guarantee against trace contamination, so this service might not be suitable for people with other allergies.

Most Green Chef meals require 30-40 minutes of cooking and preparation time, though  Fast & Fit meal kits can be made in 25 minutes or less.  Some of the recipes sound intimidating, but in my experience below, the color-coded recipe cards keep it easy for even beginners.

Unboxing

I received a phone notification that my Green Chef order had been delivered. When I went downstairs the box was waiting by the stairs. It was in good shape, and when I opened it, the inside was still cool so the chill packs did their job well.

Green Chef’s packaging was extremely well-insulated and contained ice packs to keep things fresh. I liked that the ClimaCell lining that makes this possible is plant-based and curbside recyclable, too.

The 3 meals I ordered were each in a clearly labeled paper bag. The chicken packs were beneath the bags, resting on the cold gel packs. I put the chicken in the meat drawer and the bags in the refrigerator. There were no signs of leakage with the chicken cutlets or the other ingredients.

Green Chef recommends you prepare meal kits within 5 days, or 2 to 3 days if your meal contains seafood. There were no storage instructions in the box, however, and it would be easy to miss the chicken cutlets if you were in a hurry. But overall I was quite impressed with Green Chef’s delivery…save for a small problem.

I would love to see Green Chef dial back on the plastic. I understand chicken cutlets need to be sealed in plastic when shipped, and I appreciate the pre-portioned and clearly labeled ingredients. But I don’t think carrots need to be wrapped in plastic and would love to see the spice packets and vegetables arrive in recyclable paper.

On the other hand, organic ingredients can be particularly tricky to transport. The lack of preservatives means they tend to have a shorter shelf-life. So while organic produce tastes fresher, it’s not so great for shipping around the country.

Plastic aside, Green Chef does a good job of being environmentally responsible. Its boxes are made of corrugated cardboard containing a minimum of 40% recycled content. And Green Chef also provides recycling instructions for all its packaging material. So I would give it a solid “B” for its environmental efforts.

Cooking (and Eating) with Green Chef

Green Chef’s foolproof instructions let you cook restaurant-quality meals at home. The recipes may look intimidating, but if you follow the steps, you should have no problems.

I found Green Chef’s estimated cooking times to be accurate, but I spent anywhere from 15-20 extra minutes on food prep. I would recommend making similar allowances for preparation when you’re scheduling supper, and I’ve added that additional prep time to my recipe reviews below.

The cards include any staples you may need to have on hand, like butter or olive oil. The list of required utensils was also thorough. I wound up having to improvise when I forgot to check the list and discovered I needed a microplane grater, but that’s due to my carelessness and doesn’t reflect on Green Chef’s instructions.

The premade sauces save you the trouble of cleaning another bowl or pan. My cleanup time was around 15 minutes, which is what I spend cleaning up after most meals.

Shortlist of My Favorite Meals

Green Chef’s recipe cards helped me cook meals that were well above my pay grade. When it comes to cooking, I’m at best an enthusiastic amateur. I can follow recipes and do basic cooking techniques, but nobody’s going to mistake me for Julia Child.

I found that the organic ingredients made a big difference in all the Green Chef recipes I tried. The tastes were fresher and more intense, and the texture was superior as well. The portions were good-sized and left us full, with no leftovers. A single person could easily get both a lunch and a dinner out of a 2-serving meal.

Lemon-Caper Basil Chicken with Roasted Cauliflower & Tomato, Kale Salad with Almonds & Raisins

• Prep time: 15-20 minutes

• Cooking time: 30 minutes

• Cutlery used: Knife, several bowls, frying pan, baking sheet

• Washing-up time: 15 minutes

I roasted the cauliflower for about 10 minutes before opening the oven and adding the Roma tomatoes. The result was a delicious vegetable side dish that blended the sweetness of roasted cauliflower with roasted tomato tartness.

Green Chef’s instructions said to cook the chicken between 4-6 minutes on each side. I split the difference and went with 5 minutes. The result was a moist and delicious cutlet. The lemon-basil caper sauce with avocado mayo added a bit of extra depth to the taste but could easily be skipped. (My wife, who dislikes capers, loved the cutlets without the sauce).

I knew kale was a superfood with numerous health benefits, but I never knew that you could enjoy eating kale until I tried it with almonds, raisins, and a red wine vinaigrette. Kudos to Green Chef for broadening my culinary horizons!

I was also impressed by the paprika and dried orange peel flavors. While it isn’t a spice combination I would’ve come up with on my own, I’ll definitely consider using these flavors the next time I’m cooking chicken.

Spicy Tunisian Chicken with Pistachio Cauliflower “Rice,” Spicy Lemon Carrots, and Lemon Yogurt Sauce

• Prep time: 15 minutes

• Cooking time: 25 minutes

• Cutlery used: saute pan, knife, peeler

• Washing-up time: 15 minutes

This was our favorite of the 3 Green Chef meals. I held back on the red pepper flakes in deference to my heat-intolerant partner but didn’t feel cheated. There are plenty of flavors here without the red pepper, so don’t let the “spicy” scare you off!

I discovered that the recipe called for a microplane grater to zest the lemon. I used the peeler I used for the carrots, then chopped the zest with a knife. This is how I have always prepared lemon zest for recipes, so it wasn’t an issue for me. But someone who has never zested a lemon before might be confused.

The spice mix used for the chicken featured smoky cumin and coriander and blended perfectly with the lemony roasted carrots. I cooked the cauliflower rice in the same pan and oil I used for the chicken. It made for a very tasty and filling rice substitute, and the turmeric added a faint bitterness that complemented the sweet carrots and savory chicken.

The chicken and carrots were just fine without the lemon-yogurt sauce, but I liked a tiny bit of it blended into the cauliflower rice. I followed the recipe and the chicken came out perfectly – moist with no hint of dryness or toughness.

Blistered Tomato and Feta Cavatappi with Sauteed Onion and Kale and Italian-Style Spices

• Prep time: 20 minutes

• Cooking time: 30 minutes

• Cutlery used: Pot, saute pan, strainer, measuring cup

• Washing-up time: 15 minutes

One of my concerns was that it might be hard to find “comfort food” with Green Chef. I love new tastes and culinary adventures, but sometimes you just want to sit down to a nice, filling, and unfussy meal of familiar foods.

The Blistered Tomato and Feta Cavatappi has all the comfort of macaroni and cheese with added nutrition. (If Green Chef keeps this up, it’s going to make a kale-lover out of me!)

The licorice dill note sets off the salty feta wonderfully, and the cream cheese blends with the reduced vegetable broth to create a delicious coating for the noodles. It’s a satisfying dish that isn’t too heavy thanks to the blistered Roma tomatoes and kale sauteed with chopped onion.

When I read through the recipe the first time, I thought that the sauce reduction sounded tricky, as you had to remember to save ¾ of a cup of pasta water to mix with the vegetable stock concentrate. But I followed the instructions and simmered for 2-3 minutes and it came out perfectly.

Prices

Green Chef is a premium meal kit company, and this is reflected in its price tag. In my opinion, Green Chef’s higher-quality ingredients and delicious meals are worth the additional price if you can afford it.

No matter which plan you choose, the per-serving price is the same. Your shipping fee is a flat $10.99 regardless of your box size or delivery location.

If you’re on the fence, give it a try using this Delivery Rank coupon – Get $250 off + free shipping. You can try Green Chef at a discount and decide for yourself if it’s worth the money for you.

Shipping & Delivery

Your Green Chef order can arrive any day between Monday and Saturday, depending on where you live. My northern New Jersey home address was eligible for delivery 6 days a week, but when I tested a zip code for rural Pennsylvania, I only received a choice of 4 delivery days.

Green Chef delivers to the contiguous US with exceptions for some Louisiana zip codes.

When you sign up, you’re automatically enrolled in a weekly delivery service, but you can choose to pause or cancel at any time should you need to skip a week. Like most meal delivery services, Green Chef also only delivers to the contiguous 48. Sorry, once again, Alaska and Hawaii!

Green Chef gives you a delivery window between 8 am and 9 pm. But the day before my package arrived, I received an email from UPS telling me my box was rescheduled and would arrive between 9 and 11 am that day! Getting it earlier actually worked out better for me anyway.

Green Chef has a useful app you can download to give you access to shipping information, as well as manage your subscription. It’s easy to alter your order via the app or on Green Chef’s website, but mind the cutoff date! You only have until midnight (EST), 7 days before your scheduled delivery to make changes.

How Green Chef Works

Green Chef’s signup process is quick and easy. Here’s how you can sign up for a Green Chef subscription in just a few steps:

How to Sign Up for Green Chef

1. Visit the website and click Get Started. You can also accept prompts to Sign Up or click on Our Plans.

2. Select your plan and box size. Choose from 7 different categories and a range of order sizes.

3. Type in your email address. Now it’s time to start inputting your information. The first step is to add your email address. Green Chef lets you add your email manually or sign in using your Facebook, Google, or Apple ID.

4. Input your address. You can also pick your shipping day, finalize your box size here, and provide delivery instructions here.

5. Add your payment method and choose your meals. Then confirm your order and look forward to enjoying your delivery in just a few days.

Managing Your Subscription

Green Chef requires you to make any changes to your shipments at least 7 days in advance, which is slightly longer than I’ve experienced from other services. Still, it’s quite reasonable. You have until midnight (EST) a week before your order is expected.

A warning from personal experience: when I made this order, I was checking Green Chef prices for another Delivery Rank article and chose a random delivery date that happened to be 6 days out. The next thing I knew, there was a Green Chef box headed my way. If you’re unsure about ordering, be sure to choose a delivery date more than 7 days in the future.

Like most services, you can easily skip weeks without having to cancel your account. Green Chef lets you skip up to 4 weeks at a time, and you can do this online, as well as via the app.

If you want to cancel your subscription, you can do so easily via the Green Chef website. Simply log in, go to your account settings, and scroll down to Deactivate Your Plan. For a more thorough walkthrough, be sure to check out our expert blog post that walks you through it in just 3 steps.

Customer Service

Green Chef’s customer service avenues are pretty standard. There’s a robust FAQ section, a phone line available 7 days a week, and a live chat option.

Green Chef’s live chat is available Monday to Sunday from 9 am to 7 pm Eastern time. You can also reach customer support by phone at +1 (888) 236-7295 from Monday to Friday 6 am to 11 pm ET and Saturday to Sunday 7 am to 7 pm ET.

I reached out to Green Chef’s customer service via live chat with a question about filtering for allergens when choosing meals. Olive, although a bot, responded in mere seconds and gave the information I needed. Based on my live chat and FAQ experiences, I give Green Chef high marks for customer service.

How Green Chef Compares to Other Meal Delivery Services

• Green Chef vs HelloFresh: HelloFresh, Green Chef’s parent company, offers meals that are around 20% cheaper. But HelloFresh doesn’t use organic ingredients and has fewer items that are suitable for those on specialized diets.
  

• Green Chef vs EveryPlate: EveryPlate, HelloFresh’s budget line, is around 50% cheaper per serving than Green Chef. But EveryPlate’s menu tends more toward filling comfort food and is considerably less adventurous than Green Chef’s recipes.
  

• Green Chef vs Factor: Green Chef vs Factor: Factor, HelloFresh’s line of prepared meals, comes in at a similar price tag and also has a good line of keto meals, but its selection of vegetarian and vegan entrees is considerably smaller.

The Bottom Line: Is Green Chef Worth It?

Green Chef is one of the priciest meal delivery services I’ve researched and reviewed. The premium cost makes sense, though, when you consider the quality of the ingredients and the healthy recipes that make cooking restaurant-level meals easy even for an amateur like me.

For me, Green Chef’s quality is good enough to back up its higher price tag. It’s up to you to decide if these features are worth the added cost over less expensive services. If the cost is too steep for you, there are several excellent budget meal kits on the market.

If you’re on a specialized diet or if eating organic is important to you, you'll love Green Chef. It may cost a little more, but it’s a great investment in your health.

FAQ

Where does Green Chef deliver?

Green Chef delivers almost everywhere in the contiguous US states. Like most meal delivery services, it, unfortunately, doesn’t deliver to Alaska or Hawaii. See where you can check your zip code in my walk-through of the sign-up process.

Is Green Chef good for weight loss?

Green Chef could work for weight loss if you follow the low-carb keto diet, but it doesn’t advertise itself as a weight-loss meal delivery service. In general, Green Chef’s meals are designed for those who want to enjoy a healthy, balanced diet.

Who owns Green Chef?

Since 2018, Green Chef has been owned by HelloFresh, the world’s largest meal delivery service. Green Chef serves as the premium offering of this massive German company, with organic produce and sophisticated recipes.

Is Green Chef worth it?

I could taste the difference in Green Chef’s high-quality, organic ingredients and that makes it worth the price in my opinion. Green Chef is one of the more expensive meal delivery services out there, but you get what you pay for.

Can Green Chef meals be frozen?

Many, but not all, Green Chef meals can be frozen. Green Chef’s FAQ provides instructions on which meals can be frozen and an estimated amount of time they’ll keep in the freezer.