Signing up for Home Chef is a snap. Just go on the website where you’ll be asked to fill out some personal details and highlight your food preferences to help the company hone in on the types of fare to offer you. Select the meal plan you want, set your delivery schedule, and pick your first round of meals. Your first week of meals will come on your set delivery date, in a box with clear and easy recipe cards and pre-portioned ingredients that are ready for you to throw together. It’s that easy.
Every week Home Chef offers a choice of around 20 different meals divided into the following categories:
- Meal Kits. Kits packed with everything you need for a rich, delicious meal that can be prepared in 30-50 minutes.
- 15-Minute Meal Kits. Similar to the regular meal kits, but take only 10-15 minutes to prepare.
- Easy Prep Meal Kits. These often don’t require any cooking; if they do require cooking, then you’ll find a pan included. These meals take 5-35 minutes to prepare.
- Extras. Optional add-ons include the Essential Protein Pack (6 chicken breasts and 30 oz ground beef), Classic Protein Pack (2 New York Strips, 6 chicken breasts, and 20 oz ground beef) and Seafood Sampler (4 salmon fillets and 6 ahi tuna steaks).
And now for the best thing about Home Chef: the ‘Customize It’ tool. Almost every Home Chef meal comes with Customize It options that lets you upgrade, swap, or double up the main protein ingredient. This is great if you want to switch to a low-fat or boneless option or if you’re a vegan/vegetarian wanting some plant-based protein in your meal.
As an example of how it works, the Saucy Chipotle BBQ Cheddar Turkey Meatballs can be customized with:
- Ground beef
- Ground turkey
- Impossible Burger (vegan)
- Ground pork
Home Chef offers around 20 meals each week, although there are actually more than 100 possible weekly combinations thanks to the Customize It tool. Here are some of the highlights from when we last checked in.
For your weekly fix of Mexican food, there’s the Fiesta steak mushroom flautas with scallion crema and crispy onions. This is easy to cook, requires only about 30-40 minutes preparation, and it’s not spicy. The fiesta steak mushrooms can be customized with ground beef, ground turkey, steak strips, or the vegan Impossible Burger.
Image: Fiesta steak mushroom flautas with scallion crema and crispy onions
From the 15-minute meal kits, the Honey garlic chicken with broccoli and carrots is a very easy meal to prepare. All you need for this is olive oil, salt, pepper and medium and large non-stick pans. Home Chef provides all the other ingredients. This meal can be customized with shrimp, steak strips, or organic/antibiotic/diced boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Image: Honey garlic chicken with broccoli and carrots
From the easy meal kit selection, check out the Strawberry-balsamic salad with goat cheese and walnuts. There’s no cooking required for this meal and the preparation time is just 5 minutes. All you need is one mixing bowl; Home Chef provides all the rest. Customize It options include boneless skinless chicken breasts, USDA Choice New York strip steak, salmon fillets, and a no-protein option.
Image: Strawberry-balsamic salad with goat cheese and walnuts
At Home Chef, all meals are priced at $6.99 to $9.99 per serving. You can choose 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 weekly services for 2, 4, or 6 people. When you sign up, you’ll see a weekly total based on an estimated per service price of $8.99. Your weekly price will adjust according to your meal selections before you reach the checkout.
When it comes to meal kits, shipping can be a major part of the cost. Home Chef has a fixed $6.99 weekly cost which stays the same no matter how much you order. This is great for people ordering a lot of food but perhaps not as good for people ordering only a couple of weekly meals. On the downside, Home Chef doesn’t offer free shipping.
You don’t need to worry about being home when the package arrives. If you aren’t home, the driver will leave your box on your doorstep. The food will be inside a biodegradable, insulated box with ice packs to keep the food cold. All of Home Chef’s boxes and dividers are made from partially recycled cardboard and are curbside recyclable. The meal bags and ingredient bags can be recycled at all locations that accept plastic bags.
Currently, Home Chef delivers to 98% of the United States. In order to find out whether Home Chef can deliver to your area, just go to the website and punch in your zip code. Additionally, Home Chef meal kits can be found in thousands of Kroger group of stores nationwide. The Home Chef website offers a free search tool where you can find a Kroger store near you.
Home Chef’s website has a searchable FAQ page with lots of information if you have any questions about using the service. If you can’t find an answer to your question, the company also runs a toll-free help line (872-225-2433) from 9am - 6pm Central Time, Monday through Friday, and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm CT. You can submit a request for help on the company website or by writing directly to support@homechef.com.
If you’re looking to make fun and tasty meals in the comfort of your own kitchen in a half hour or so, you should definitely take a look at Home Chef. The company provides you with a wide range of customizable meals to choose from each week, and managing your account and designing your own custom meal plan couldn’t be easier.