At this point I presume almost everyone has at least heard of ‘ Hello Fresh‘ whether that be through online advertisements, the phrase coming up in conversation. Or perhaps whilst witnessing an older lady greeting the cabbages in the produce isle in the supermarket. “Oooh.. Hello Fresh”. And if you didn’t know ‘Hello Fresh’ is a popular meal subscription service where fresh foods and recipes are sent to your door step in hopes of making your life a whole lot simpler. I had heard of Hello fresh before, but I had never really had the opportunity to try out the service for myself, and as someone with specific dietary requirements, I was curious if this service could cater to me and other individuals in a similar predicament to myself. So today I will be recapping my experience, reviewing Hello Fresh. Asking questions like ‘Is Hello Fresh worth the money?’ and whether Hello fresh is a viable option for dietary requirements or whether we’re better off using other less known Gluten Free meal subscriptions?
Step One & already considering other Gluten Free meal Subscriptions
When trying to set up a subscription for Hello Fresh, I ran in to a wall almost immediately. This was rather frustrating to say the least. As a coeliac who needs to eat Gluten free food indefinitely, I wanted to look at the weeks recipe options before committing to any sort of payment. Well that wasn’t possible apparently. I googled ‘Hello Fresh Gluten Free’ to see if they had a way to filter their recipes for dietary requirements and it seemed they did.
I continued through and set up my first Hello Fresh order and payment, blindly I’ll have you know. And as someone who is a fussy eater with a lot of anxiety around food, this was not a step I took lightly.
So you can probably imagine my dismay at my next realisation. I set up my order. Was taken through to the recipe selection for the following week, finding no such way of filtering for dietary requirements.
Bare in mind this realisation happened moments after I’d already prepaid for my first order. But as a standard British person who hates to make a scene. I spent the following hour or so painstakingly going through the ingredients list of every recipe option. Eventually I decided on three recipes that I could switch out specific ingredients. Small changes I could make in order to make the meals 100% gluten free.
Unfortunately, at this stage I was starting to wonder if Hello Fresh is worth the money
Hello Fresh- A tool for personal recovery?
I have spoken about my Eating disorder struggles in the past, however briefly. I suppose I thought HelloFresh could be a positive way to introduce new meals and become more excited about food again.
To some degree I think this did actually help, or at least I enjoyed the process of discovering a new recipe and preparing it. Regardless of whether I enjoyed the end result or not.
Rosemary Peppercorn Pork Steak with Mash potato and Broccoli
The first recipe I tried was Peppercorn pork. It looked safe, like something I would definitely enjoy. In fact it was the only recipe that was Gluten free without me having to make any ingredient alterations.
It was my first and favourite meal from HelloFresh. Although I panicked a bit trying to juggle the several elements. I know that on repeating this recipe it would be much more straight forward. Sometimes the way HelloFresh phrases its instructions and measurements on the recipe card can lead to some confusion. Or that is what I found in this case.
Simple, delicious and gluten free. I’d definitely recommend this recipe if it shows up in your ‘Hello fresh’ options. Or even if you wanted to recreate it with what you have at home. Getting to browse dishes for inspiration is half of the magic of subscription services I feel.
Miso Sweet Potato and Chicken Thigh Salad
This next recipe was definitely out of my comfort zone. I’m not a salad eater nor have I ever eaten a sweet potato. But I am not blind to the sweet potato phenomenon that emerges periodically, throughout the last five years or so. Everyone loves a sweet potato apparently. But I…..I do not.
This meal was one that I had to remove a couple of the prepackaged seasonings and sauces. Replacing them with Gluten free alternatives. So I have to say I was disappointed when I plated the meal. Stuck my fork into a sweet potato and tasted, what I can only describe to you as tangy earth. It goes without saying that sweet potato is clearly not my jam but the glazed thigh meat was very nice. I did end up picking out the meat amongst the salad (which defeats the object really). But there you have it. You win some, you lose some.
This recipe, though I am sure could be appreciated by someone with a more sophisticated palate, put me off ordering again. It made me realise that my toddler tastebuds and dietary needs just aren’t cut out for a service like Hello Fresh.
Verdict
Is Hello Fresh worth the money? Or are we better off using other Gluten Free meal subscriptions?
If you love all kinds of food, have the spare money and don’t have any specific dietary requirements. Then I think Hello Fresh could be a great addition to your weekly meal schedule.
But when it comes to the rest of us?? I can only speak for myself when I say the Gluten free options of this service are extremely limited. It was quite a stressful task trying to sift through ingredient lists, just to discover a may contain.
It wasn’t too much of an issue this time as I had used a half price promo code. But if I was paying full price for the service (£30+) , then still having to swap out ingredients in order to suit my requirements, then I think I would be questioning this service as an effective implication to my routine.
So if you’re a fussy eater or have coeliac disease like me, there is a alternative Gluten free meal service that I would potentially recommend trying out. I haven’t had a chance of trying it myself but I have seen it on Instagram and it looks incredible.
Good Box, offer gluten free meals and I have heard nothing but wonderful things. Hopefully I can do an in depth review on them at some point in the future.
On a similar note I have also seen some other subscription boxes that I would love to try out and review in the future, if thats something you’d like to see.
LoveFreefrom and AllergyBox are freefrom and allergy safe snack boxes that I always see plastered on my Instagram feed. All with positive reviews. Go check them out if you’d like. They have promotions for new customers I believe.
Lets start supporting smaller businesses that cater to our needs, instead of having to cater to big brands and their limitations. Some services just aren’t for everybody and thats okay.
But I am determined to put my money into a service I love, that will hopefully love me right back.
Have you tried out these services? Let me know in the comments down below.
Keiran
