Home Chef

To the reviewer complaining about small portions, comparing it to McDonald's portions...REALLY???? First of all, McDonald's does not qualify as nutritional food, and second, some people obviously are not aware of appropriate portioning of food, according to USDA guidelines. You get way more nutrition from a Home Chef meal than fast food.

It is apparent that some reviewers are challenged by math. Home Chef meals are $9.95 each, with the Culinary menu items costing more, salads and extras costing less. To get the free weekly shipping you must order a minimum of three entrees (x 2), which is $59.70 per week cost for three meals for two. If you are affiliated in any way as a first responder, critical care, or military, Home Chef offers a PERMANENT 10% discount.

To the person who gave HC four stars because they forgot ONE recipe card and refused to read the recipe from a device, and didn't want to put a piece of notebook paper in their Home Chef recipe binder...Did you think of printing out the recipe in full color from the website and using a three-hole punch to add it to your binder? *eyes rolling*

Home Chef service has consistent quality ingredients, convenient portioning in the meal bags, and good recipe directions. I have "paused" my subscription three times over the past five years, and not once has Home Chef sent me a single marketing (or otherwise) email during those times. I can't think of a single other business that would do that.

Recently I reactivated my subscription and was pleasantly surprised that the cost of each meal had not increased. I like that Home Chef offers quick prep and expert level dishes, as well as "grill ready" selections. During the summer the less time I spend cooking the better! I compared the overall cost, permanent discount, number of entree choices, options for protein substitutes (and the availability of plant-based proteins), and shipping costs between Home Chef and nine other meal delivery services. Home Chef (again) won out on all fronts.

Suggestions for Home Chef: I miss the five minute prep time large salads with protein choices, though I do see them offered sporadically. I would love it if I could order meals in singles because sometimes there's only one person for dinner or, as in our case, I am a pescatarian and my partner is not. If the oh-so-nice (and clearly labeled) Home Chef meal bags were done as single meals (a pain initially to implement, but cost effective once in place) I would probably order more meals per week, and would not have to skip weeks when there's only one of us for dinner.

The meal kits combined are not enough to feed an average size female, much less if there is a man in your household. For 2 weeks in a row my box came all beat up and the meat was thawed. There are many prepared food companies out there. Please do not be like me and waste your money on this one. If you do and are disgusted, don’t say you were not warned. And by the way- don’t bother calling customer service because they don’t care. Obviously they are used to complaints because they were simply rude as if I should have been happy with my 6 ounce piece of chicken. Sorry Home Chef, I am not!!

Shipment 1: Box was delivered two days late, all the ice packs were melted and the meats were over 40 degrees. Food too dangerous to eat. Company quickly refunded my money and I decided to try again.

Shipment 2: Box arrived on time, food was ok.. The potatoes sent for one of the meals (Weeknight Steak Bourguignon) were all completely rotten. I supplemented with my own potatoes and once complete, the meal was delicious but it would have been a disaster had I not had potatoes on hand. Shipment also included Shrimp BBQ tacos and Shrimp Diavolo. (I substituted steak in the tacos and chicken in the Diavolo.) Both dishes were good. The tacos are about 6 inches so they are extremely small. I had to give some of my portion to my husband. The pasta dishes are plenty big enough for both our meals.

Shipment 3: Box arrived a day late, ice packs were nearly completely melted but I felt the food was still safe. Food was pretty good but again, portion sizes are small and I felt a bit like I was walking a very thin line on whether or not the food was safe.

Shipment 4: Arrived 1 day late. I received a message from Fedex that the shipment scheduled for Friday, April 30th was not going to arrive until Monday, May 3rd. I contacted HC immediately and expressed my frustration, knowing full well the food would not survive that long. Within an hour I received a message from Fedex that it would arrive on Saturday, May 1st. (Yay HC!) That was great except the package arrived improperly packed and the food was not properly insulated. Meat arrived well over the 40 degree temperature range so I have now received a second box of inedible food! Of course, this happened after the noon cut-off point for this following week's delivery so I'll have one more shipment coming this Friday. Right now we're running at 75% of the shipments arriving late! Still hoping to get a refund from HC on the unusable food from this week's delivery.

In general, these are NOT large portions, especially considering the price point. In fact, my husband frequently has to supplement his meal, but the food, when it arrives on time, is pretty good. I wanted to give a home delivery meal service a chance because I need far less food now that my three sons have left the nest. I was extremely excited about not wasting food because the food service would send just the right amount for each meal. Unfortunately, 6 of my 12 meals have had to go in the trash bin due to spoilage.

My complaint is simply if your company business model is to deliver FRESH food, you should be able to make that goal as a rule, not as an exception!! 75% of my shipments were late. 50% were inedible. I will receive one more shipment since I couldn't get it stopped in time but I am now finished with Home Chef. Hopefully, they will be honorable enough to refund my 4th shipment. Keeping my fingers crossed that shipment #5 will miraculously arrive on Friday as scheduled!