Two of Our Editors Tried Home Chef—And They Have Thoughts

The sheer amount of subscription services out there today is bonkers. No, really, we’ve seen it all. From Pickle of the Month Club to a Doomsday planning monthly box—you name it, there’s a subscription for it. There’s even a service for toilet paper (how that’s any different than just setting up a recurring order on Amazon Prime is beyond us, but yep, it exists). 

The promise of subscription services is that they make your life easier, save you precious time and money, and carry some of the never-ending mental load that is adulting. And while we do get a kick out of the more out-there services that exist, our goal is always to find the ones that actually make your life easier, which is why we keep coming back to meal kits. 

Since they exploded around a decade ago, you’ve probably come across more than one meal kit brand. As of 2024, there are roughly 353 meal kit delivery services in the United States, and that number is predicted to grow exponentially in the next five years. 

We all eat—and lots of us are looking for ways to make that easier. How many of us exactly? Well, 17% of Americans have tried a meal kit delivery service, with 90% recommending it to others. From what we can tell, meal kit delivery isn’t going anywhere, so we started to investigate.

Our method? Have two completely different people with varying lifestyles and goals try one out simultaneously. Both of these editors would describe themselves as foodies, but that’s where the similarities end. One loves a home-cooked meal but is a self-confessed liability in the kitchen; the other loves to cook but, with two small kids and a job, has virtually no free time at all. 

Next came getting them to agree on one that would fit both of their needs. After much research and much back and forth, we landed on Home Chef. 

There are so many meal kit delivery options out there tailored to this specialty diet or that lifestyle goal, but Home Chef seems to have something for everyone. They have recipes perfect for families and aspiring cooks, Oven-Ready meals for those pressed for time or less well-versed in the kitchen, and Calorie and Carb Conscious options for those looking to support a healthy lifestyle.

Both editors tried it, and both editors loved it—but for different reasons.

The one who hates cooking but loves a home-cooked meal

Tried: Home Chef Core

Taste:  **** 

Ease:  *****

Overall Rating:  **** 

TL;DR: Here’s what I loved the most:

• Tasty recipes with a variety of flavors
• Options for less well-versed cooks
• Saved money on takeout
• Faced my cooking fears

Review:

It’s not that I hate cooking; it’s that cooking hates me. I love the idea of being a hostess and making a meal from scratch, but over the years, I’ve grown to hate the reality of it. I attempted to make my college boyfriend dinner and started a small but very real fire. I’ve also had several incidents where I basically cremated a roast chicken. I’m known in my friend group as bringing takeout to potlucks and Friendsgivings. 

It sucks because I adore home cooking, and I live for the holidays when I get to indulge in my mom’s sausage stuffing and heavenly mashed potatoes. But other than the odd dinner at friends' places, I’ve pretty much resigned myself to a life of takeout and frozen Trader Joe’s meals. 

The thing is, I spend a small fortune on takeout, and it’s meh at best half the time. The idea of a meal kit is appealing—pre-portioned ingredients and step-by-step guides make it pretty idiot-proof—but I’m terrible at cooking.

Before trying anything, I need to do a deep dive, and there’s only one place for it: Reddit. 

Whatever your feelings on Reddit, you have to admit users are honest. Turns out, people seem to love Home Chef:

“Taste: One word, outstanding. Each meal exposes me to interesting and excellent flavors and sometimes techniques that I haven't used before. Ever marinate shallots in lime juice? I'm actually experiencing and learning things like I'm taking a cooking course, which I think is awesome.” 

It’s the internet, so of course, someone’s always complaining about something. I can get a little uppity about produce quality, so I was relieved to see that most people were praising Home Chef for resolving these types of issues quickly and fairly.

When I looked at the Home Chef website, I was pretty excited to see a lot of options for those who are less skilled in the kitchen.

Don’t get me wrong, I was looking forward to trying some of the meal kit recipes, but Home Chef also offers Express options that are ready in 30 minutes or less, Oven-Ready meals that require little-to-no prep, and come with an oven-safe tray (love no cleanup!), as well as Fast & Fresh meals that can be microwaved and can be assembled in minutes. 

I’m single and in my 30s—my schedule is always changing. Some weeks, I have more time to indulge in a longer recipe, and others, I need something quick, so I really like that Home Chef can be customized to fit my evolving needs.

The process of signing up is simple. I chose three recipes with two servings each a week, but you can select up to six recipes and six servings. The signup is really easy to navigate, plus it’s straightforward to skip a week or pause your plan, which is perfect around the holidays or if you’re heading on vacation.

They also give you different delivery days to choose from, so you can have your box arrive pretty much whenever you want. I chose Monday, so I could be set up with dinners for the workweek. When the box arrived, each recipe was separated into individual bags—hard, even for me, to mess that up.

Home Chef sends you the exact amount of each ingredient and seasoning you need, so there’s no food waste. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gone grocery shopping with the best intentions, only to end up ordering takeout and inevitably throwing away the fresh produce I never got around to using. Pre-portioned ingredients are one of the things I like most about using a meal kit. 

Home Chef also includes step-by-step recipe cards that walk you through how to make each meal, and in your first box, there’s a binder for you to save the recipe cards in. 

For my first box, I chose:

• Sliced Steak Strip Sandwich With Horseradish Cream and Pot Roast Potatoes
• Crispy Jalapeño-Crusted Chicken With Fire Roasted Corn and Potatoes
• Boom Boom Shrimp Tacos With Sesame Slaw and Crispy Wontons
• Chicken Schnitzel With Garlicky Orzo and Arugula Salad

A good mix of all of their offerings, so I was excited to try a range and get a feel for how Home Chef could fit into my lifestyle long-term. 

I started with the hardest recipe first, the Sliced Steak Strip Sandwich—wow, it was insanely good. I’ll be honest: It took me a bit longer than the promised 30-minute cook time, 37 to be exact, but the end product was worth it. The steps were laid out in a really manageable way, and I was impressed with the quality of the meat. Sometimes when I’m feeling bougie, I’ll have a steak sandwich delivered from my favorite steakhouse, which sets me back around $45. Home Chef costs around $9.99 a serving—a way better deal.

I had a busy week at work, so the Oven-Ready Crispy Jalapeno Chicken and Fast & Fresh Boom Boom Shrimp Tacos were a godsend. The Oven-Ready meals come with that cooking tray, so there is nothing to do except put it in the oven. The shrimp tacos were FAST (ready in a matter of minutes) and tasted so FRESH—yes, from the microwave! 

Overall, I was surprised how much I liked Home Chef; I ordered less takeout and saved some $$, plus I actually enjoyed the cooking process. Knowing I had a good range of meals with varying cooking difficulties on hand made my week feel less stressful. Plus I still indulge in my beloved takeout on the weekends, so I’m getting the best of both worlds. 

I’m a realist, so I don’t see myself becoming a cooking pro, but Home Chef is perfect for where I’m at and a welcome addition to my routine that’s helped me feel more confident in the kitchen.

The one who loves to cook but has no time

Tried: Home Chef Family

Taste: *****

Ease:  ****

Overall Rating: ****

TL;DR: Here’s what I loved the most:

• Kid-friendly recipes
• Can select meals up to five weeks in advance (one less thing to think about!)
• Fewer trips to the grocery store with restless kids

Review:

I wish there were more hours in the day (to sleep, mostly). I have two kids under four, so my days are no longer my own. My husband and I both work full-time; mealtimes must be thought of in advance, not to mention be quick and appealing to some picky kiddos.

As busy as we are, I’m determined to always sit down at the end of the day as a family and enjoy a home-cooked meal. I’m a chill parent otherwise, but this is something I won’t budge on. Don’t get me wrong, we do pizza in front of the TV every Saturday, but outside of that, dinner at the table is not something I’m willing to compromise. 

Not to mention: I love to cook! Before we had kids, I used to make bread and sauces—everything from scratch—but now I need something that’s homemade, delicious, and isn’t a whole ordeal.

I tried a meal kit years ago when I was single and living alone, and while I liked it, I highly doubted it could work as well with kids to consider, but I was committed to giving it a real shot. 

Home Chef’s Family Plan offers four-serving meals for only $15! I don’t need to tell you that the price of groceries is astronomical, so anywhere I can save a little cash is music to my ears. A moderate weekly budget for groceries for a family of four is $304, and that’s just covering the basics. I’d say we spend more like $500–$600, so Home Chef is a great deal.

There are 18 recipes to choose from a week, and my favorite part about the signup process is that you can see the menu up to five weeks in advance. My husband makes fun of me because I always look at the menu online before we go to a restaurant, so to say I’m a planner is an understatement. Picking meals way ahead means I can log in once every few weeks and forget it the rest of the time.

For my first box, I chose:

• Turkey Tacos With Mango Chimichurri Slaw and Red Pepper Rice
• One-Pot Lemon and Herb Chicken Soup with Carrot and Potatoes
• Crispy Onion-Crusted Chicken With Jalapeno Cornbread Cakes and Green Beans
• Cookie Dough Dessert

We chose a mix of Family Meal Kit recipes—I love the one-pot option, they didn’t have those when I was a customer back in the day. We also got a sweet treat to surprise the kids with at the end of the week.

The box arrived early in the chosen delivery window, so I could unpack before my first meeting. I work from home, but even if you don’t, Home Chef boxes everything with ice packs, which keeps it fresh, so no biggie if it sits on your doorstep for a few hours.

I love organization, and the way each recipe was separated made my heart happy. They fit easily in the fridge, keeping the meat and seafood separate so you can pop those on the bottom shelf. 

Mondays feel even more hectic now that my oldest is in pre-school, so seeing the One-Pot Lemon Chicken Soup bag in my fridge after the longest day ever was such a relief. Dinner that night was as easy as chopping some veggies and cooking some chicken before combining it all and letting it simmer—such a low-maintenance meal. 

I had a little more time later in the week, so I was excited to try the Crispy Onion-Crusted Chicken with Cornbread Cakes. My kids loved this one; my oldest said it reminded them of eating pancakes for dinner! And the sweet sauce seemed to distract them from the fact that they were eating green beans, too.

What I loved most about trying Home Chef’s Family Plan is how much time it saved me on trips to the grocery store. Usually, I order our basics online, then hit the store as needed throughout the week to get fresh food for that night’s meal. With Home Chef’s Family Plan, I only needed to go at the weekend, which is way easier when you’re not balancing the needs of toddlers and work.

I also really liked the food, and my kids did, too. There’s lots of whole, nutritious ingredients, and the produce was super fresh. I like how Home Chef has thought of everything; they have add-ons, like microwave-ready fresh meals for lunch, as well as muffins and smoothies, which is perfect if you know you’re going to be having a particularly busy week.

Overall, this was a success. I love cooking for my family, but I don’t always have the time, so Home Chef’s Family Plan solves that problem.

Final Verdict

Home Chef ticks many boxes, so if you’re looking to simplify dinner without sacrificing your tastebuds or your wallet, it’s a no-brainer. Each of our editors recommends it for varying reasons, but both agree that its vast offering covers all the basics.

Their flexible subscription plans are easy to tweak online, so you don’t have to worry about dealing with some annoying customer service rep if you need to skip a week. Both of our editors recommend it if you’re busy, are in a recipe rut, or just wanna save yourself time and stress.

Home Chef is offering $4.99 meals + free shipping for StackSocial readers for a limited time, so use code STACKNEWS499 if you want to up your dinner game in 2025. 

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