HelloFresh sent me ingredients for three meals so I could review their service and share my honest thoughts with you in my HelloFresh Canada review. As always, all opinions in this post are my own!
Have you heard of HelloFresh Canada? I had not heard of them until recently and I was intrigued. I'm all about food (as you may be able to tell!), so when they offered to send me their veggie box to try out, I dug a little deeper to find out if this service would be a good fit for my family.
I had all the questions you may have...What is a HelloFresh subscription? Will it be enough for my family? How much is delivery? Is it suitable for those with food allergies and special diets?
I met with Irene Ngo, Head of HelloFresh Canada Culinary a few weeks back and she answered all of my questions (I had a lot of them!). Irene is in charge of developing and testing all the recipes HelloFresh offers to its customers.
What is a HelloFresh meal subscription?
HelloFresh is a meal subscription service, so once you're signed up, you're subscribed to receive a new box each week.
You aren't locked in for any minimum amount of deliveries, so if you decide that you need to pause your deliveries, change something about your deliveries, or cancel your subscription, you can do so at any time.
And speaking of deliveries, the shipping cost is built into the cost of your plan, so there is no extra charge on top of the prices listed below. Your ingredients will arrive on your doorstep each week in recyclable, insulated boxes complete with ice packs.
HelloFresh Canada currently only delivers to addresses in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Maritimes. Click here for more info.
What kind of plans are available?
A lot of thought goes into the meals that end up in their boxes. Meals are all based on seasonal and fresh ingredients.
There are currently three plans available to order: The Pronto Plan, The Family Plan, and The Veggie Plan.
Pronto Plan meal boxes contain three meals and take 30-minutes to prepare. It can be ordered to serve either two ($13.33/meal) or four people ($11.67/meal).
Family Plan meal boxes come with four meals ($10.83/meal) and are designed to appeal to everyone (they're built with kid-friendliness in mind!)
The Veggie Plan is 100% vegetarian. It comes with three meals for two ($12.33/meal) and is the newest box to join the lineup. It was actually introduced due to customer demand!
Can I see the recipes ahead of time?
If you visit the recipes section of their website, you can see the recipes in this week's boxes, last week's boxes, and upcoming boxes.
Each recipe has its ingredients listed and clearly lists allergens, so you can decide whether or not each meal is suitable for you.
If there happens to be a recipe in the box that is not suitable for you, you can swap it out with something else being offered that week.
Being able to see the ingredients and see a list of allergens was important for me because of the food allergies and special diet we have to work with.
Is the meal prep easy? Do the meals taste good?
To try out the service myself, I was sent two veggie boxes that contained three veggie meals for my family. The meals were more than enough and delicious.
It was very nice to take a little break with my meal planning and list making for a few days and it opened us up to a few ingredients and dishes we may not have tried had it not been for these recipes.
One of the recipes I received was the Tunisian Freekeh Stew with Roasted Spiced Chickpeas and Green Salad. The box also contained ingredients for a Charred Veggie Salad, and a Brussel Sprout Crumble.
In the image above, you'll see the ingredients in the just opened Tunisian Freekeh Stew ingredient box. Each recipe comes with everything you'll need (you'll have to use your own staples such as salt, pepper, oil, etc) and a very easy-to-follow recipe card that contains clear directions, timings, and images.
All of the recipes I received were categorized as level 1 (aka: easy!). There is a companion app you can download to help you with timing certain steps. I did not use the app, but you can check it out in the Apple Store or Google Play.
I did find that it took me a little longer to make the recipes than the times listed on the cards. Maybe that was just me? Not sure. It could have been caused by having two very interested kids hovering around who wanted to see everything that was going on!
In this image, you'll see the unpacked ingredients. Everything is packaged separately and is clearly labelled.
Are HelloFresh Canada plans suitable for those on a vegan diet?
The answer to this is: Yes and no. It all depends on your comfort level in the kitchen.
There is no Vegan Plan, so the closest you're going to get at this point is with the Veggie Plan. All of the veggie recipes are vegetarian, but some recipes call for non-vegan ingredients.
For example, the Tunisian Freekeh Stew recipe you see below called for a spoonful of Greek yogurt for garnish. I simply left it out and garnished mine with parsley.
If you're comfortable with changing up recipes to make them vegan, you will have no problems, however, there are some recipes that rely heavily on a non-vegan ingredient to be a big part of the recipe.
For something like that, when ordering, you can swap that recipe out for a more suitable one in another plan or you can just skip that week. It's your call and it all depends on your comfort level.
The same applies for gluten free and other special diets. Be sure to keep a close eye on the ingredient and allergen lists.
I asked Irene if a vegan box or other boxes that specifically cater to special diets would be available soon, but as of now, there are no plans. If there is something you would like to see, get in touch with them and let them know!
I hope my HelloFresh Canada review helped you decide whether or not this is a service that's suitable for you. If you have questions, get in touch with them or check out their FAQ page.
Ordering from HelloFresh Canada is all about the convenience. They do the planning, shopping, and delivery for you, you take care of the rest!
Ray Mahoney says
My review is not so nice I guess. My wife decided to give this a try as she hates cooking....I ended up doing most of the cooking for 2 weeks as this wasn't any easier. The meals are OK. Not really big enough for a family of 5 but that is to be expected. If your kids are picky eaters, don't waste your money. Sure things look healthy and fresh, but not much good if your kids won't eat it. Huge box and so much cardboard and plastic! If you care about the earth at all it will make you wonder what is really going on. Sure cardboard and plastic is recyclable but does every little thing need to be individually packaged? What about the gel packs in the bottom? Don't try and empty them in the sink 🙂 Meals still take along time to cook too, all this does is put the recipe and ingredients in the box. If you have little kids and you are a single parent, you might need to hire a babysitter to watch the kids while you prepare the meals. Get a dish washer while you are at it as I seemed to use every pot and bowl I had to make this stuff. Set aside an hour because that's how long it is really going to take. I don't care what the recipe says. Beware!!! Cook your poultry first. I ended up tossing the chicken even though it was not past best before. The nose knows and my nose said DON'T eat that. Tried for 2 weeks but cancelled and just tossed out the last meal. Kids didn't like it and truthfully neither did I. Ordered pizza instead and everyone is happier. Just not for everyone I guess.
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Hi Roy, sorry to hear it wasn't a good match for you. And yes, everything isn't for everyone, like you said. I do agree about the cooking times being off. The meals took me way longer to prepare than was listed on the cards, I mentioned that above. The selection we received was good for my family, though. I recycled everything that was recyclable and kept the gel packs to reuse. Meat was not a worry for me because I don't eat it, I went with the veggie boxes 🙂 A good idea (if you do try them again) would be to keep an eye on the menus for the upcoming weeks (they publish them ahead of time) and place your order for a week that there are recipes you think your family will like. Good luck!
Kara says
Where does the food come from??
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Hi Kara! At the time I did my review, all food was shipping from their Toronto warehouse and was sourced from suppliers local to the Toronto area. Get in touch with them if you need more info, either through their social channels or by email through their website. They are very responsive. I hope this helps!
Carey Hurst says
I am in Drumbo , Ontario . I love that being so remote as I am without a vehicle , the ability to get fresh healthy food is not very readily available so this is something very amazing . It is also a great way to get a treat and like a dinner out without having to leave the house which is also out of the question esp as a single mom .
Linda says
I live in BC. What I like about HelloFresh is that it's delivered to my door and saves me time.
Melinda says
I live in Calgary. I love that the food is healthy and fresh!
Belinda says
I live in Edmonton, AB. What appeals to me most is getting is the potential time savings yet not sacrificing healthy eating. Would love to cook everyday but find it's difficult to buy ingredients to try new recipes and take the time to prep and cook. This meal boxes seem so convenient with my busy lifestyle!
Francine says
I'm in Toronto - what appeals to me is not having to buy a whole package of something for a recipe, when you only need a bit!