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Meal kit companies make it easier than ever to enjoy more healthy meals at home. HelloFresh and Green Chef are two popular meal kit companies.
Although both can save you time and energy during the week, there are several notable differences between these two services.
This article compares and contrasts HelloFresh and Green Chef to help you decide which may be right for you.
HelloFreshGreen ChefBasics• meal kits with step-by-step recipes and premeasured ingredients• allows you to order 2–5 recipes per week, each with 1, 2, or 4 servings• organic meal kit company
• offers Keto + Paleo, Balanced Living, and Plant-Powered plans
• provides 2–4 recipes per week, with 2, 4, or 6 servings eachMenu options• rotating menu with 23 dinner entrées
• calorie-smart, carb-smart, and vegetarian meals available• rotating menu with 9 entrées to choose from on each plan
• vegan, gluten-free, paleo, and keto options availableCost• 1 serving: $8.99–$12.49 per serving
• 2 servings: $8.99–$12.49 per serving
• 4 servings: $7.49–$8.99 per serving
• shipping: $8.99 per box• Keto + Paleo: $12.99 per serving
• Balanced Living: $11.99 per serving
• Plant-Powered: $9.99–$11.99 per serving
• shipping: calculated upon checkoutEffectiveness• provides calorie-smart and carb-smart choices, which could support weight loss
• eating home-cooked meals more frequently may be linked to decreased body fat• detailed nutritional information available for each recipe
• provides options for dietary patterns linked to weight loss
• promotes cooking more meals at homeBenefits• budget-friendly
• several serving sizes are available
• offers a variety of meals to add diversity to your diet
• uses mostly recyclable packaging• high quality, mostly organic ingredients
• eco-friendly and sustainable
• offers choices for several diet patterns
• Keto + Paleo plan is certified gluten-freeDownsides• very few options for certain diets
• not suitable for people with severe food allergies
• uses conventional produce, not organic
• shipping costs are extra• higher cost
• shipping fees aren’t included
• not suitable for people with severe food allergies
• not all plans are gluten-free
Get started with either meal kit company here
- HelloFresh
- Green Chef
Basics
Here’s a closer look at how each service works.
HelloFresh
HelloFresh is a meal kit company that provides preportioned ingredients and simple, step-by-step recipes.
The service has a large rotating menu, and the recipes feature fresh and seasonal ingredients.
You can choose two to five recipes per week from the full menu to build your own meal plan.
HelloFresh also lets you select one, two, or four servings per recipe, based on your needs and preferences.
Green Chef
Green Chef is an organic meal delivery service that specializes in providing flavorful, nutritionally balanced meal kits.
It offers several plans, including:
- Keto + Paleo. All meals include fewer than 35 grams of net carbs and are free of grains and gluten.
- Balanced Living. Includes a variety of meals with meat, fish, and poultry.
- Plant-Powered. Provides vegan and vegetarian options.
For each plan, you can order two to four meals per week, with either two, four, or six servings per recipe.
Menu options
Here’s what you can expect to find on the menu for each service.
HelloFresh
HelloFresh has a rotating menu of 23 dinner meals each week.
Some of the entrées you can choose from include:
- Cherry Balsamic Pork Chops with Green Beans and Thyme-Roasted Potatoes
- Saucy Ginger Meatballs with Bulgogi Sauce, Roasted Carrots, and Sriracha Crema
- Mushroom and Nerb Shepherd’s Pie Topped with White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
- Pineapple Salsa Chicken Tacos with Cilantro and Sour Cream
Any items that are vegetarian, spicy, low carb, or lower calorie are clearly marked on their menu.
Green Chef
Green Chef offers a variety of options for each of its plans, featuring around nine recipes to choose from each week.
Here are a few examples of items that you can select:
- Italian Beef Stuffed Peppers and Sautéed Green Beans with Almonds
- Jamaican Fried Rice with Collard Greens, Kidney Beans, Rainbow Carrots, Pineapple, and Mint
- Cuban Chicken with Chimichurri, Sautéed Black Beans, Red Bell Peppers, and Toasted Pepitas
- Chickpea Salad Sandwiches with Roasted Curry-Spiced Carrot Fries and Scallions
Dishes that are vegan, gluten-free, paleo, or keto-friendly are labeled on each menu as well.
Cost and shipping
Here’s how these two services stack up in terms of cost.
HelloFresh
The price of HelloFresh ranges depending on the number of recipes and portions that you order each week.
Here’s how much each plan costs:
- 1 serving: $8.99–$12.49 per serving
- 2 servings: $8.99–$12.49 per serving
- 4 servings: $7.49–$8.99 per serving
In addition to the prices listed above, HelloFresh charges a flat delivery fee of $8.99. The company provides delivery throughout the contiguous United States.
Green Chef
Green Chef offers three plans, which vary in price.
Here’s how much each plan costs:
- Keto + Paleo: $12.99 per serving
- Balanced Living: $11.99 per serving
- Plant-Powered: $9.99–$11.99 per serving
Green Chef is currently available throughout most of the contiguous United States.
The website calculates shipping costs upon checkout, and these vary depending on the number of servings that you select.
Effectiveness for weight loss
Although neither service offers a plan specifically for weight loss, both HelloFresh and Green Chef provide options that may aid weight control.
What’s more, some studies have found that eating more home-cooked meals may be tied to better diet quality, decreased body fat, and a lower risk of obesity (1, 2).
Because both services help you prepare healthy home-cooked meals, either might help you lose weight.
HelloFresh
Although HelloFresh doesn’t offer a specific plan for weight loss, the company does label any items on the menu that are lower calorie.
These items contain around 650 calories per serving and are intended to support weight loss by helping you decrease your calorie intake (3).
HelloFresh provides options that are low in carbs as well, which could also promote weight loss (4).
Green Chef
Green Chef is focused more on promoting healthy eating rather than weight loss. In fact, unlike many similar services, it doesn’t offer a low calorie plan or menu specifically for weight loss.
However, it does allow you to view the nutritional information and calorie content for each item on the menu. This will help you make healthy choices based on your goals for weight loss or otherwise.
Green Chef also provides options for several dietary patterns that have been shown to increase weight loss, including low carb, ketogenic, paleo, and plant-based diets (4, 5, 6, 7).
Other benefits
Here are a few of the other benefits of each service.
HelloFresh
With plans starting at just $7.49 per serving, HelloFresh can be a convenient and cost-effective alternative to other meal kits.
It also offers a variety of portion sizes and can save time on meal prep for individuals, couples, and families alike.
Plus, with 23 dinners to choose from each week, it can help add some diversity to your diet without feeling too repetitive.
HelloFresh also uses mostly recyclable packaging and provides detailed information on how to recycle packing materials on their website.
Green Chef
Green Chef offers options for several restrictive dietary patterns, including vegan, ketogenic, and paleo diets. Some people may find this helpful, as it can take more time to find and prepare meals that are appropriate for these diets.
All items on their Keto + Paleo menu are also certified gluten-free, making Green Chef a great choice for people with celiac disease or a sensitivity to gluten.
Additionally, Green Chef adheres to strict animal welfare standards and uses high quality ingredients in all of their meal kits, including mostly organic produce.
Green Chef is likewise focused on sustainability and sources ingredients from local, family-run suppliers whenever possible.
What’s more, the company uses packaging materials that are recyclable, reusable, or compostable. They also offset 100% of the carbon emissions from their operations.
Downsides
Here are a few of the drawbacks of each service.
HelloFresh
Despite having a large rotating menu, HelloFresh offers very few meals suitable for those with restrictive eating patterns, including those following a vegan, ketogenic, paleo, or gluten-free diet.
It’s also not a good choice for those with severe food allergies, as all meal kits are packaged in a facility that also handles many major food allergens.
Most meals also contain conventional produce, which might be an important consideration for those who prefer eating organic.
Additionally, although HelloFresh is more affordable than many other services, the company does charge for shipping, which can increase the total cost per order.
Green Chef
Green Chef is more expensive than other services, with plans ranging from $9.99–$12.99 per serving.
Note that this doesn’t include shipping fees, which can drive up the price even more.
Green Chef meal kits are also not suitable for people with severe food allergies, as the company manufactures them in a facility that processes common allergens.
Additionally, although the Keto + Paleo plan is certified gluten-free, the Plant-Powered and Balanced Living plans may not be a good choice for those on a gluten-free diet. Thus, if you wanted to eat gluten-free with Green Chef, your selections might be limited.
The bottom line
HelloFresh and Green Chef are two meal kit companies that can help you prepare healthy and delicious meals at home.
HelloFresh is the more affordable of the two. It has a larger menu, but uses conventional ingredients and offers a limited selection for people with dietary restrictions.
On the other hand, Green Chef uses high quality ingredients and caters to several dietary patterns. However, it’s more expensive and offers fewer recipes to choose from.