Home Chef – Would I Order Again?
I have ordered from Home Chef a few times, and have never really been disappointed. The meals are geared more towards what I consider normal everyday food, rather than gourmet or speciality meals.
As I saidWe have ordered from Home Chef a few times, and now my daughter and her husband order from Home Chef as well. We actually prefer Home Chef over the other meal kits because the meal options are more of what I would call traditional or common type meals most people are used to.
I’m not a huge fan of meal kits that are comprised of ingredients that I’ve never heard of and meals that I know my husband – as adventurous as he is with trying new foods – would never eat. If all I’m offered is meals like that – then that meal kit is not for me.
I would say the other top two meal kits besides Home Chef that we also like would be HelloFresh and Sunbasket.
If you are looking for a meal kit that will push your cooking skills, or teach you new techniques, or get you to experiment with a large variety of new food items – then Home Chef probably won’t be your first choice. However if you are like us, and just like quality fresh ingredients, great tasting meals, appropriate portion sizes, and a variety to pick from then Home Chef is a great choice.
Plus now they also offer their new Oven Ready Meals that are as easy as putting everything into the pan (which is included), baking and viola you have a fantastic meal ready in no time. We love these for those nights when everyone has been busy, and you just want to pop something in the oven and not have to spend a lot of time and fuss making it. These are especially great for winter evenings when you just don’t feel like spending a lot of time prepping and cooking.
So What Was in our Last Order?
Our last order was the traditional meal kit that we are all used to (versus the new oven ready or grill ready options from Home Chef). We ordered three different menu options with two servings each.
Chipotle Shrimp Tostadas
Of the three meals we got in this box, this was our favorite! I would definitely get it again and I’m not normally a huge fan of chipotle – so I was a bit hesitant when I ordered it. However I was delightfully surprised – it had a lot of flavor but wasn’t over-bearing or too spicy, the portion size was perfect, the instructions were easy to follow, and we really enjoyed this meal.
Shrimp isn’t something we normally buy and cook ourselves so this was very tasty. I’m not sure why I don’t buy a lot of shrimp – I guess I just don’t think far enough ahead to thaw out frozen shrimp, and I’ve done my fair share of cleaning fresh shrimp when I worked as a prep chef at a restaurant in high school and college, so the idea of that doesn’t really thrill me.
My only complaint about this meal was it was a bit messy to eat… but that’s just the way tostadas are, so it had nothing to do with Home Chef!
Al Pastor Pork Tacos
Yes, we had a bit of a mexican vibe going with this box, but both my husband and I are huge fans of mexican food.
I was a bit skeptical about the ground pork, but I was pleasantly surprised. Add the seasoning, poblano pepper, shallot, and the pineapple chunks and it was actually really good.
The cook time was estimated between 25 and 35 minutes and that estimate was right one, if not a bit on the high side. This was a fairly quick and easy meal that tasted great, which is what I like!
Final Opinion
I like Home Chef, and I will definitely order from them again. But as I said, I like meals that utilize fairly familiar ingredients that when combined make for a great tasting meal.
If you are looking for a meal kit that might challenge you with new techniques or unusual ingredients then Home Chef probably isn’t going to impress you. Or if you are looking for wholly organic, vegan, keto, paleo or meals that cater to special diets like low sodium or low sugar then again you will want to check out other options like Green Chef, Sun Basket or Purple Carrot.