Family Meal Kit Showdown: Every Plate vs. Greeen Chef vs. Hello Fresh
Are you considering trying a meal kit service or switching brands and wondering if HelloFresh, GreenChef, or EveryPlate is the best option for your family? Then, you’re in the right place. In this post, I will run through the pros and cons of each option and share which one our family chose to stick with. There’s one key difference I bet will surprise you. Please note that this is not a sponsored post; however, the winner is welcome to contact me about future partnership opportunities. :)
First off, let’s touch on why families should consider trying a meal kit company. If you’re familiar with my blog, then you know that I’m all about helping parents, just like you, develop strategies to parent with intention and confidence. When it comes to meal kits, we’re talking about getting intentional about how family dinners run in your family - plus a bonus consideration of how to get the kids involved more in the distribution of family chores.
I was a stay-at-home mom for 14 years, and I noticed that after our third child and especially after our fourth child, it got harder and harder to find the time to plan out meals for the week - selecting recipes, creating a list of ingredients, carefully grocery shopping to include all of the ingredients (often while juggling four young children at the grocery store), and then, of course, actually cooking the meal. That’s a lot for any busy mom to manage.
By the time I returned to work a few years ago, I was pretty much only cooking things that I could do with very little thought, using the ingredients that I happened to grab at the grocery store. These were perfectly fine meals like salmon, rice, and Brussels sprouts or shrimp tacos with shrimp, tortillas, rice, and beans. However, they were uninspired and frequently repeated.
On top of that, my husband and I had adopted more of a pescatarian diet, while some of our children enjoy red meat and chicken. They wished that we ate more meat at home so they could have it more often than when we dine out. We wanted to find a way to balance everyone’s protein preferences. Plus, I don’t know if you’re like me, but I really don’t like touching raw meat, so I wasn’t very inclined to start cooking more of it. Meal kits solved this problem for us - more on that in a moment.
Two more factors that swayed us toward trying meal kits were wanting the kids to 1) learn more about how to cook and 2) get more involved in helping with the distribution of family chores, including cooking. They were actually pretty excited to learn more about cooking. If your kids are younger, this factor may not play into your decision yet, but it very well may in just a few short years.
It took me about a year to decide to pull the trigger and try a meal kit and actually do the research on which options to try. My oldest was about 13 or 14 when he started expressing interest in learning more about cooking. He anticipated high school graduation coming in just a few years and knew cooking would be a part of being ready to live independently, and he felt much more comfortable with the idea of following a recipe than with playing around with ingredients in the kitchen. My next eldest was 11 or 12 and had already been experimenting quite a bit with cooking and baking but wanted to expand her repertoire. Stick around until the end, and I’ll tell you exactly how the kids are involved in cooking now and the life-changing difference meal kits have made for me as a busy mom.
We consulted friends who use meal kits and did some Google and YouTube searches. We decided to try GreenChef, HelloFresh, and EveryPlate.
For each meal kit service, we received at least three weeks of deliveries, and we ordered dinner for three nights each week for four people. Yes, we have a family of six, but some of our crew eat less than an average adult, and not all the kids enjoy leftovers, so my husband and I wanted to avoid being stuck eating a lot of red meat and chicken when we typically don’t eat those meats. Most nights, meals designed for four were perfect for our family with a few modifications - like adding an extra cup of rice. Let’s run through the pros and cons of each meal kit service separately. We’ll go in alphabetical order to avoid bias.
EveryPlate
Pros:
Easy to navigate website. You can choose from the following plans: Meat & Veggie, Veggie, Family Friendly, Quick & Easy, or Nutrish & Delish.
You can choose your meal to serve 2, 4, or 6 people.
You choose a delivery window. We chose Monday from 8 am - 8 pm and always received our deliveries on time, around 2 pm.
As of the writing of this post, EveryPlate advertises 3 meals for 4 people per week as 12 servings costing $5.49 each. So, our weekly bill, including delivery, was $76.87. For reference, those three meals cost less than it typically costs for our family of six to eat out for one meal.
Offered many options to choose from each week.
Easy to skip up to a few weeks in advance for travel or other reasons.
Clear email communication about upcoming deliveries.
The meals were all pretty straightforward to cook, with excellent step-by-step directions and pictures.
They all tasted great, and we feel like pro chefs making them.
EveryPlate boxes and separators are 100% curbside recyclable. The ice packs are recyclable at plastic bag drop-off locations.
Cons:
You may select 3, 4, 5, or 6 meals per week, so EveryPlate does not work well for households wanting to select only 2 meal kit dinners per week. That is the tradeoff for having such an affordable meal kit option.
The kids easily found options they wanted to cook on EveryPlate, but I had a little bit harder time. There were always several things that appealed to me, but as I scanned the page of that week’s selections, they overall looked heavier to me - more of what is often referred to as “comfort food.” For example, this week, they’re offering Cheesy Southwest Beef Tacodillas, Sweet & Spicy Ponzu Pork Meatballs, and Beef Bolognese. However, that Mushroom & Thyme Risotto looks pretty delicious.
The three meals arrived in one box with the meats separated and protected by ice packs. Meanwhile, the remaining ingredients were stored in one open-top box. This is fine, but you’ll see when we talk about the other companies that the ingredients for each meal are packaged separately, which makes it easier to find the ingredients for the meal you are cooking. Remember, simplifying meal planning and prep is a major reason for using a family meal kit.
GreenChef
Pros:
Easy to navigate website. You can choose from the following plans: Mediterranean, Keto, Protein Packed, Calorie Smart, Plant Based, Quick & Easy, Gluten Free, Gut & Brain Health.
You can choose your meal to serve 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 people, so you can serve a big group with GreenChef
You may select 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 meals per week, so you could really cover most of your cooking with these kits if you wanted.
You choose a delivery window. Again, we chose Monday from 8 am - 8 pm and always received our deliveries on time, around 2 pm.
Offered many options to choose from each week.
Every option offered looked delicious and healthy to me. It was the opposite of EveryPlate in that the kids could only find a few that appealed to them while I was flush with delicious choices. For example, this week, they are offering Barramundi with White Bean Couscous, Salmon with Herbed Chickpeas & Kale, and Sesame Shrimp Poke Bowls & Mango Slaw. They offer the meat the kids like but far more seafood selections than EveryPlate.
Easy to skip up to a few weeks in advance for travel or other reasons.
Clear email communication about upcoming deliveries.
Again, the meals were all pretty straightforward to cook, with excellent step-by-step directions and pictures.
There were a couple of dishes that lacked flavor, but for the most part, they all tasted great, and we were able to make them just as beautifully pictured in the instructions. I have to add that the shrimp from GreenChef tasted incredible.
The three meals arrived in one box with the meats separated and protected by ice packs. The remaining ingredients for each meal were stored in three separate paper bags labeled with the designated meal.
GreenChef packaging is fully curbside recyclable, including the insulated liners. The ice packs are recyclable at plastic bag drop-off locations.
Cons:
As of the writing of this post, GreenChef advertises 3 meals for 4 people per week as 12 servings costing $11.99 each. So, our weekly bill, including delivery, was $154.87. That’s double the cost of EveryPlate.
GreenChef is the only company that we had a delivery problem with. One day, the box arrived and appeared to be fine, but when I opened it up, it was clear that a sauce container had broken. Interestingly, the sauce wasn’t required for any of the meals, so I think it was a free gift promotion.
(Insert static image of broken sauce container pulled from GreenChef Unboxing 1)
Also, GreenChef is the only company that we experienced problems with the items included in the delivery. One time, we received the wrong meat - chicken rather than pork. Twice we were missing an item - not a major ingredient, but my daughter was disappointed that the spicy herbs were missing from what was meant to be a spicy taco dish she made. Once, they forgot to include the instructions for one of the meals, but thankfully, it was easy to print them from the website.
HelloFresh
Pros:
Easy to navigate website. You can choose from the following plans: Meat & Veggie, Veggie, Family Friendly, Fit & Wholesome, Quick & Easy, Pork Free, or Pescatarian - so a couple more options than EveryPlate.
You may select 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 meals per week.
You choose a delivery window. We chose Monday from 8 am - 8 pm and always received our deliveries on time, around 2 pm
As of the writing of this post, EveryPlate advertises 3 meals for 4 people per week as 12 servings costing $8.49 each. So, our weekly bill, including delivery, was $112.87. That’s right between the cost of EveryPlate and GreenChef.
Offered many options to choose from each week.
The meal options were more of a balance between what appealed to kids and what appealed to us parents. For example, this week, I made Ricotta Tomato Ravioli while the kids made Moo Shu Pork Bowls and Chicken Sausage Pasta Primavera.
Easy to skip up to a few weeks in advance for travel or other reasons.
Clear email communication about upcoming deliveries.
Just as with the first two companies, the meals were all pretty straightforward to cook, with excellent step-by-step directions with pictures.
Again, all of the meals tasted great, and we felt like gourmet chefs preparing them.
The three meals arrived in one box with the meats separated and protected by ice packs. The remaining ingredients for each meal were stored in three separate paper bags labeled with the designated meal.
HelloFresh boxes are made from post-consumer recycled fibers and are 100% recyclable. The ice packs are recyclable at plastic bag drop-off locations.
Cons:
You can choose your meal to serve 2 or 4 people. As I mentioned before, our family of 6 does well with the 4-person size, but if you need more than that, you have to have two options: 1) you could open two separate accounts and order the same meals on each one (with a serving size of 2 people on one account and 4 people on the other account), which sounds a little too complicated to me or 2) you could get creative with the number of meals you select per week. For example, you could order 6 meals per week with duplicates of each meal, so you would end up with 3 meals serving 8 people, but that might mean a lot of leftovers.
As of the writing of this post, HelloFresh advertises 3 meals for 4 people per week as 12 servings costing $8.49 each. So, our weekly bill, including delivery, was $112.87. That’s halfway between the cost of EveryPlate and GreenChef.
Next, we’ll dive into which family meal kit company is the winner. As a reminder, this is an impartial, non-sponsored review. I’d love to hear about which one you choose!
Decision Time
It quickly became apparent while testing these three meal kit services that they are all owned by the same company. The websites have a very similar design, the email structure and timing are nearly identical, and the deliveries came at exactly the same time. As I understand it, the HelloFresh Group, which is based in Germany, also owns GreenChef and EveryPlate. So, our friend-based and internet-based research led us to the equivalent of an Old Navy/GAP/Banana Republic scenario where all three brands are owned by the same company, and I like all three brands for different reasons.
With clothes, I can easily shop at all three stores. With meal kits, that gets a little more complicated. While we were testing all three companies, I rotated each week so our decision was not based on a primacy or recency bias - the companies we tried first or most recently. That meant that there were many weeks when I skipped a delivery from two companies in order to receive a delivery from the third. I will tell you that did not work out well. There were at least two weeks - maybe three - when I ended up with 2 companies delivering 3 meals for four people. I could have sworn I had skipped the week, but as a busy mama, I can’t place that blame on any of the companies when it was probably an error on my part (although friends have reported similar issues with deliveries being made despite skipping service). If your goal is to start using meal kits to simplify your life, I suggest selecting one service at a time.
So how can you decide among these options? The good news is they’re all solid choices, so you can’t go wrong, but there are some factors that can help you decide:
If your primary consideration is cost, choose EveryPlate.
If your primary consideration is lighter, healthier eating, choose GreenChef.
If you need more than four servings and don’t want to figure out the math on making HelloFresh’s limit of 2 or 4 people work by adding more meals per week than you actually need, go with EveryPlate or GreenChef.
If you want to serve a very large group of people (up to 12), select GreenChef.
If you want a lot of your cooking covered by meal kits (up to 8 meals per week), choose GreenChef.
If environmental considerations are at the top of your list, all three of these meal kit options have fully recyclable packaging materials.
If taste is of the utmost importance to you, all three were delicious, so you can’t go wrong. When I asked my family to rate the meals, ratings were all over the board - sometimes, one person would like all of HelloFresh’s meals the best, while another would prefer all of EveryPlate’s meals or all of GreenChef’s meals. More often, it was a mix of the different companies that won over our taste buds.
If you want clear instructions and easy-to-follow directions, all three of these options are strong.
If you have multiple people cooking the meal kit meals, consider GreenChef or HelloFresh because the ingredients for each meal arrive in separate bags. We ran into trouble a couple of times with EveryPlate because, with their comingled ingredients in a box technique, the first chef of the week accidentally used too much of an ingredient, like green onions, that was meant to be split between two meals.
If it will drive you crazy to have any mix-ups on your order, such as a missing ingredient, missing instructions, or the wrong type of meat, I would not recommend GreenChef. In contrast, EveryPlate and HelloFresh were spot on every week.
If you want what I consider to be the best balance between all the needs of a family, choose HelloFresh. We’re a HelloFresh family now.
Here are those affiliate links for you again if you’re ready to select which family meal kit company will work best for you: HelloFresh, GreenChef, or EveryPlate. Ok, now I promised earlier to tell you exactly how we integrated meal kits into our weekly cooking routine. Switching to using meal kits three nights a week has been life-changing for me. My oldest child cooks dinner every Monday, completely independently. My second-oldest child cooks dinner every Tuesday completely independently. The third kit I cook on another night and actually feel good about my cooking again - not just cranking out the same few simple meals I could prep without thinking over and over again. We usually eat out as a family one night each week. So that just leaves three nights unaccounted for, which might be filled with leftovers, social plans that involve dining elsewhere, my husband cooking, or one of those simple meals - maybe pasta or nachos.
Everybody in the family gets to pick the protein source they like the most. Usually, Monday is red meat, and Tuesday is chicken. My night is either seafood or vegetarian. So the kids are happy, and my husband and I can still stick to our pescatarian preference by easily prepping some shrimp or salmon to substitute on Monday and Tuesday while enjoying the remainder of the dish that the kids prepped. Plus, I never have to touch the raw meat!
The kids have developed some impressive cooking skills, and each meal that turns out well is a confidence booster for them. The one who preferred following directions has already started becoming more adventurous with substitutions and additions, having learned the basics simply by following the meal kit instructions.
I hope this review helped motivate you to try a meal kit and decide which one might be the best fit for your family. If topics like this, which are meant to simplify your day-to-day parenting experience, appeal to you, check out my YouTube playlist called Parenting Made Easier. Keep up the good work on your amazing parenting journey!
