Anyone try those meal-prep delivery services? Blue Apron, HelloFresh, etc?

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

That's the great thing about Dream Dinners... Everything is pre-prepped. Just sequentially dump each ziploc bag into the pan as directed.

mtn said:

RevRico said:

Are there any that are more specialized? Maybe more international or traditional ethnic varieties?

I have a hard time getting proper spices and veggies for a lot of stuff we like to try, getting them in a kit would be nice.

Try to find an Indian or Mexican grocery store in your area. May be inside a gas station. 

That's the problem, there aren't any. 

I have tried asking the Indian store owners I've known forever, because their wives always bring them delicious smelling food, and even they have family send them stuff from India a few times a year. I got the same answer from the Mexicans I used to work with at the Japanese steak house.

Hispanic stuff is easy enough to find, but good, traditional Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern ingredients are very difficult in my corner of the world

We have been using Home Chef for a few months now and love it. The produce is fresh, sometimes better than what I find at our local supermarket. The meals are good, pretty flavorful and a great selection each week. My husband is a little picky (no mushrooms, onions, etc.) but there is plenty of selection, so I can always find something that works for both of us. For the usual meals it's $8.99 per serving, and we get it three days a week. The portion sizes are large in my opinion, so there is usually left overs for lunches. I haven't tried the other food services, but from what I have heard this one works best for us. You can usually find killer deals too for new people online if you search. We got a $90 credit and the first box free, just by using a link. YMMV

In reply to StilettoSS :

I should mention, it is helping me learn how to cook. Yes, I'm 39 and have burned pasta, but I'm learning thanks to the Home Chef thing. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is cooking impared like me.  I am actually making meals without using the food service now, from scratch without a recipe. It's pretty bitchin. :D

DId SunBasket for a while.  Mostly organic, lots of vegetarian options, decent recipes.  Aside from the occasional FedEx screwup it generally worked pretty well.  I canceled because it always seemed that I wasn't cooking them for one reason or another and ended up with meals that didn't get cooked days later that I had to throw out.  Cost was about twenty bucks per meal for two shipped.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Seeing as you are “Tampa-ish”, you should check out The Lean Box.  They do prepared meals that they deliver from Miami to Tampa.  I’ve been using them since Oct of 2019.  The food is delicious, and they have several Keto, Paleo, and Gluten free options.  They also have desserts, such as Green Tea cheesecake, Peanut Butter Pie, and Key Lime Pie.

https://theleanbox.com

In reply to jwagner (Forum Supporter) :

We are having a similar experience with Sunbasket. Switched to them after getting cooking burnout because they have meals that are heat-and-eat (and because a podcast we listen to had a sweet discount code), but now we're getting a little bored with them and end up eating something else most nights.

I enjoy a lot of the recipes, but they're usually a bit high-calorie for my needs. Tom has the opposite experience - portions are sometimes too small for him and he doesn't always love the low-meat or low-carb substitutions. The upside is that we can mix and match the individually-portioned meals and not have to always eat the same thing as each other, and the ones we don't want right away can wait in the freezer until we're feeling like eating them... if we remember to freeze them before they go bad. 

Yes, I've tried meal-prep delivery services! I actually used Blue Apron for a while, but I found that Cumin Club was a better fit for me since I prefer Indian and vegetarian meals. Their meals were really delicious and convenient, and I found the portion sizes to be just right. I was also able to save some money by using Quicklly, an online Indian marketplace, to find coupon codes for Cumin Club meals.

Cumin Club focuses on Indian cuisine, so if you're looking for more variety in that area, they are a great option. Even though Blue Apron offers vegetarian options, they have a wider variety of cuisines.

So, follow up. Still using Home Chef 4 days a week. It's now MUCH cheaper than buying the ingredients at the store and making the meal the old fashioned way. I honestly don't know why anyone wouldn't do it now. I'm a much better cook after about 4 years of using Home Chef too. We tried Hello Fresh, but were not impressed with the menu or quality of ingredients compared to Home Chef. And, it was more expensive, so we canceled after about a month and went back to Home Chef. Honestly thinking of adding at least another day to our week's menu, since the cost of groceries is just nuts now.

If anyone is interested in a free box or discount, shoot me a PM and I will see what I have.

I really don't get the whole thing about having pre-cooked meals sent to your house.   I mean really?  Pre-cooked meals?

Wait, I have to go.  My pizza is here.

We have a friend that sell Epicure and the missus loves to order stuff, but then never uses it. 

I've started picking out 2-3 a week to try to use them and also add some variety. These will be the onnes I cook this week. I'll add cooked/shredded chicken to the ratatouille for protein. 

It's not pre-cooked, at least not Home Chef. It's just pre-portioned ingredients, you still need to have some cooking abilities. I do agree that the pre-cooked and microwave ones are junk.

...

My wife has been working for a company, Factor (pre-made meals - microwave for 2 minutes and eat), under the Hello Fresh umbrella for about a year. She gets a superb discount on both Hello Fresh and Every Plate. A decent discount on Factor. 
 

We like the Factor meals well enough for days that in the past would have been a PBJ/Grilled Cheese type of night. They have also been really good for my in-laws, both of whom are disabled. I haven't had anything bad, some things are pretty good. 
 

Every Plate we gave up on. I think we had 6 total deliveries, 5 of which had spoiled food (chicken), 3 had missing food. Maybe if we lived near their distribution center in Texas it'd be different. 
 

Hello Fresh... well, at the price we get it it is a no brainer. If she loses the discount, or if they reduce it, we'll likely stop using it. Generally pretty happy with the meals. I like it a lot better since I stopped using their recipes as anything more than a suggested. I am continually disappointed with their cheese.

I really do not like the waste generated though. It makes more chores for me - melt/drain the ice packs, take out the insulation, break down the boxes... it doesn't sound like much, but it is annoying. Especially since we still go to the grocery store 1-2 times a week.