Hello Fresh Final Review - It's Not Good!

I wrote a blog post on 9th Feb about signing back up to Hello Fresh, you can read the post here.  I first used Hello Fresh back in 2012 and was assured when I agreed to purchase a box earlier this month that all the problems they had in 2012 had been resolved.  I did enjoy a few of the meals from the box but I cancelled my subscription as I felt that the box did not provide value for money and that I could purchase the ingredients for a fraction of the price from the supermarket.

I cancelled my subscription too late for the following weeks box to be cancelled so on Thursday this box arrived....

The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was that it contained considerably less than the previous weeks box. As I was getting the "fresh" items out of the box I noticed that some of them were slightly wet...

This was the reason why! Rotten tomatoes! 

Rotten pepper!

Green potatoes!

Damp, mouldy garlic!

I was not happy at all with finding these items in my box and emailed Hello Fresh straight away to let them know and to ask for a refund.  They didn't reply to me on the Thursday and I had to chase twice on Twitter before they replied to my email on Friday.

The reply was not satisfactory at all - all items are checked before packing, we will tell the delivery driver to be more careful and we will add a little something to your next box! WHAT! Firstly they could have at least checked my account to see that I had already cancelled my subscription, I am speechless that they think they can send rotten/mouldy food to customers and expect them to carry on their subscription for "a little something extra" in the next box.  

These items weren't damaged in transit - the rotten tomatoes were in the middle of the pack, I moved some of them to the top for the photo.  

I replied that I wasn't happy at all with the response and that I wanted a refund.  I still haven't had a reply.  

The awful customer service I received and the quality of the food were the reasons I cancelled the subscription back in 2012 and I feel like a bit of an idiot for resubscribing!

It is not very often I post negative reviews on my blog but I feel very strongly that I need to be honest about my experience with Hello Fresh.  £49.00 is a lot of money to spend on 5 meals and I can't afford to be wasting money on food that we cannot even eat!  

*UPDATE - I was contacted by the Managing Director of Hello Fresh after he read this blog post.  He was very apologetic and I was refunded for the box.

Hello Fresh Meal Review

I wrote a post yesterday about me getting a Hello Fresh box last week for the first time since 2012, I said I would let you know what the meals were like.  These are the first two meals I cooked:

I like the little write ups about the meal and the picture of how it is supposed to look like is a good guide!

The ingredient list is very clear although I do find it weird that they use "cup" measurements as this is more commonly found in American recipes and the UK tends to use grams.  I just presumed that the breadcrumbs etc were the correct amount and used the lot!

Ta-Dah!

Ok the sweet potato is a little overcooked but they tasted delicious and so did the chicken.  I added some coleslaw as the dish was quite dry without a salad dressing or anything so the coleslaw just finished the dish off in my opinion.

Again a write up about the dish.

Again nice clear ingredients list, I used the whole pack of pancetta and a whole carrot as otherwise they would have gone to waste.  I didn't bother weighing them out (ohhh living dangerously!)

I never would have cooked something like this normally but it was absolutely delicious, the crispy pancetta set it off perfectly.

I really liked both of these dishes, the portion sizes are much bigger and so more filling than when we got the boxes back in 2012.  The nutritional information is really handy as I'm trying to lose weight.

I am not sure on the value for money though, each meal is nearly £10 as the box costs £49.00 for 5 meals including delivery...

Hello Fresh Review

Hello Fresh is a company that delivers fresh ingredients to your home along with recipe cards to make delicious home cooked meals!  They do a variety of boxes including vegetarian.

I had a few Hello Fresh boxes back in 2012 (I can't believe it was that long ago!), at the time they had only just launched in the UK so there were a few teething problems.  I had a few deliveries with damaged food packaging, damaged outer box and I thought the portion sizes were quite small.  I was contacted by Hello Fresh with an offer of £15.00 off a box if I renewed my subscription.  They assured me that lots of the problems when they started had now been resolved so I agreed to purchase the 2 person 5 meal classic box, which usually retails at £49.00.  The lady told me that the portions would be suitable for 2-3 people.

The boxes are delivered by courier and a tracking link was emailed to me once the box was collected from Hello Fresh.  I left instructions to leave the box on the front step if I was out which the courier had to do as I was out doing the afternoon school run.

The packaging is much better now, all the cold items were in this insulated bag.  The bag is recyclable.  Previously the cold items were in the box with the rest of the items and the cooling packs were around the outside of the items - this tended to make the outer cardboard box a bit soggy!

The recipe cards are the same virtually the same as before.  They have a little write up about the dish, a clear list of ingredients then step-by-step instructions on the reverse including nice clear pictures of the cooking process.  The little envelope that the cards come in is a nice touch!

They do now include nutritional information which is really helpful - it shows calories, carbs, fat and protein per portion.

These are the cold items we got this week.

This is all the veg, lentils, rice, tins etc

Looks lovely and healthy doesn't it!

The herbs etc are packaged seperately.  The spices have already been measured out, so the quantities are correct for the recipes.

Unfortunately there was damaged packaging on the focaccia bread but I put it in a sandwich bag and it was fine.

I will review each of the 5 dishes over the week and let you know what we think about them, how easy and accurate the recipes are, portion sizes etc.

Have you had a box from Hello Fresh? You can use my referral code 75ZPXR for £20.00 off your first box here (I do get a credit to my account if you use my code).

If you want to read any of my previous reviews you can find them here, here, here, here and here!

Hello Fresh Ancient Asparagus and Prawn Risotto

Last Tuesday my second Hello Fresh box arrived.  After the first week we realised that the four person box was much too much for 2 adults and 1 child so we changed the box to a 2 person 5 meal box.

The box arrived with no trouble again this week, apart from the tray that the prawns came in had cracked as the ice had poked through it. No problem though, just meant we had them for tea!

I had a lovely surprise in the box...

A handwritten note!

I was absolutely made up with this, I can't remember the last time I received something that wasn't typed or emailed. I really appreciate the personal touch from Hello Fresh.

They also sent me two bars of chocolate - neither of which lasted very long as they were very yummy!

Because the tray of prawns had cracked we made the recipe that contained them - Ancient Asparagus and Prawn Risotto. 

I love Risotto - I have an obsession with mushrooms which no-one in my house shares and if I make risotto then it's always mushroom risotto! Which means I get to eat most of it...

My knife skills are truly awful - I might invest in one of those dicer gadgets. 

Wow the smell from this was beautiful. I couldn't wait for it to cook. 

 Ta-dah!

Review

Again another fantastic recipe from Hello Fresh. The ingredients that they send are of top quality and I can really taste the difference from the food that I usually buy at the supermarket.

This has to be one of the nicest risottos that I have ever had (mustn't get out much!) and it was clean plates all round.

I think it would be really helpful if the recipes listed the nutritional values of the meals and I have suggested this to Hello Fresh. I know the meals are nutritionally balanced but I do like to keep an eye on the pesky calories!

You can use code 75ZPXR on the Hello Fresh website to get £20 off your first box. Just so you know I get £12 credit on my account if you use my code xx

Hello Fresh - Mexican Chicken with Refried Beans

Mexican chicken with homemade refried beans is the fourth meal I cooked from last weeks box, it is the only meal that I have added anything extra to and thats because I wasn't sure if I would like refried beans as the only beans I think I like are baked and come in a tin ;) So I put some potato wedges in the oven just in case!

Sorry forgot to take a pic of the back of the card!

Even though it is coming to the end of the week the ingredients were still nice and fresh.

I love colourful food! 

This is where I ran into my very first problem in all the recipes I have done so far, the instructions start off with preheat the oven but when I got to the chicken part it says grill them! I can't do that as are oven and grill are together so I put in the chicken in the oven for about 5-10 mins then put the peppers and wedges in. 

Pretty Peppers! 

The dreaded beans... 

Ta-Dah! 

Perfect drink to go with mexican food!

Review

The beans were lovely! Much nicer than I thought they would be and the chicken was gorgeous.

Again a great recipe from Hello Fresh :)

This was the last recipe I cooked from the first box. There were five meals but I missed cooking one of the recipes which was a wild rice salad, I still have the ingredients so I'm going to cook it at the weekend for lunch. As I ordered the four person box and the portions are very generous I did have food left over so I made a curry using two chicken breasts, a red pepper, a yellow pepper, a courgette and a red onion which were all left overs from the box plus a tin of chopped tomatoes and some madras paste.  All thrown in the slow cooker and ready to eat when I got in from work.

I can't believe how much I have enjoyed cooking this week, I love the concept of the box. I am enjoying trying new foods and its teaching me to cook! 

I will definitely carry on with my subscription. I hate food shopping and thinking about what to cook for my family to make sure they eat a varied and balanced diet so I love the concept of these boxes and so far so good.

I ordered the two person box for this week and I have made three of the recipes so far - just need to get them typed up to share with you all.

You can use code 75ZPXR on the Hello Fresh website to get £20 off your first box.

Hello Fresh - Smoked Mackerel Summer Salad

I didn't get in from work until late last night and was all ready to make beans on toast when I  flicked through the recipe cards and saw that the Smoked Mackerel Summer Salad with Green Beans and New Potatoes would be ready in 20 minutes so I made that instead - its one of the recipes that I wasn't sure if I would like as I am not too keen on smoked mackerel....

Double sided recipe card

Clear and easy to follow - I like that they put little jokes in!

All the ingredients - we didn't need all the radishes.

I'll do a post at the end of the week to see if we have anything left over. 

Think my knife skills need a bit of work! 

 Really good quality fish

Dressing - I may have added more than a grind of pepper.... 

So easy to make, much better than beans on toast! 

Ta-Dah!

Review

I didn't think I would like this because I'm not too keen on mackerel BUT it's actually my favourite meal so far!

The fish was gorgeous and the ingredients really tasty and fresh. I made a 2 person portion as my son had tea at a friends house so I have enough left to make this for lunch over the weekend :) Curtis loves mackerel so I know he will really enjoy this.

Two thumbs up!

I have changed my subscription to a 2 person box from Tuesday (which will be my second delivery) as the portions are definitely big enough to fill us up. If the 2 person box is enough then it fits into my weekly food budget, my only concern would be the number of recipes that they have.  I wouldn't want to have the same meals over and over. I'll email Hello Fresh to ask them this question and let you know what they come back with.

If you would like a referral code for £20 off your first box please email me at beautyandthebooks@btinternet.com, for anyone that signs up using my code I will get a £12 credit on my account.

Hello Fresh - Chicken, Chorizo, Pearl Barley and Cous Cous Salad

Today I cooked my second meal from the Hello Fresh box - you can read all about Hello Fresh on yesterdays post.

I let my son read through all the recipe cards and pick which one he wanted - I am trying to get him more involved in cooking as he is going through a fussy stage but if he helps me cook then he tends to try new things.

He choose Roasted Chicken with Chorizo, Pearl Barley and Cous Cous salad.

Double sided recipe card 

The instructions are very well written, clear and easy to understand.

Tonights ingredients.

As we ordered a four person box and they deliver 2 x 2 people boxes - we didn't need to use one of the blocks of feta as the recipe is for 100g and the pack is 180g. We only needed one courgette and pack of parsley too. 

Chop, Chop!

Frying the chorizo

My little helper!

So much food

Ta-Dah!

This is how much was left over after 2 adult size portions and 1 childs portion. 

There is enough for me and Hubby for tomorrows lunch.

Review

I was really impressed again with tonight's meal, the recipe card is clear and easy to follow.

The chicken took slightly longer to cook than the 20 minutes stated on the card but that may depend on your oven, even with the chicken taking 5 extra minutes the meal was ready in the 35 minutes stated on the front of the card.

The portions are huge, you can see how much was leftover. No problem though as it means lunch is sorted for tomorrow!

The ingredients are very good quality and you can really taste this in the food. Again a big thumbs up!!

If you would like a referral code for £20 off your first box please email me at beautyandthebooks@btinternet.com, for anyone that signs up using my code I will get a £12 credit on my account.