There really isn’t anything better than a home-cooked meal, huh?
The pressure to provide a hot, healthy — and tasty — dinner each night can be daunting, with many turning to takeout or fast food as an easier option. While there’s nothing wrong with that for some nights of the week, can I offer you a better solution? Home Chef’s meal kits.
I’ve tried countless meal kits over the last four years (well, about 25 different brands, if I had to count), so I know a thing or two about what’s what when it comes to each delivery service. I had the pleasure of trying Home Chef again in 2024 when reviewing what meal kits would make the cut for my 2025 review and can say that it holds up once more as one of the best for filling family meals, adding comfort to your plates in addition to flavor and nutrition.
How Home Chef Works
Home Chef is a typical meal kit in the way that it operates on a weekly menu schedule. It gives users the ability to add meals to their order, and then choose a delivery date that works best for them. The meals come in their own packaging, with ingredients separated for ease, though this does mean more plastic waste for those trying to cut back. Proteins are stored on ice packs.
There are options for meat eaters and vegetarians, as well as those who are carb-conscious, dairy and nut-free, or who have allergies to soy, peanuts, tree nuts, and other ingredients. This kit is one of the most conscious of food aversions, with a very comprehensive list upon onboarding.
The other thing that makes Home Chef stand out from the rest is the meal options aside from traditional kits. It offers a specialty-priced and designed family-friendly meal plan for four, express meals ready in 15 minutes or less, oven-ready meals that come with the tray to bake them in, ready-made microwave meals, and an assortment of add-ons for snacks, breakfast, and desserts. If you want to eat Home Chef for each meal of the day, you can!
Home Chef Price
Home Chef pricing is fairly straight forward. Standard meal kit meals start at $9.99 per serving, but each of the meals also states the price on the weekly menu so customers meet no surprises when filling their box. Extras also vary in cost; for example, my breakfast tamales were $4.49 for two, and the skillet cookie cost $8.48.
Shipping also varies, between $10.99 and $13.99 per box, depending on the size.
Home Chef Meals
Like many meal kits, the menu varies and includes family favorites like mac and cheese, sandwiches, pasta dishes, and soups. The menu does tend to lean more toward comfort classics as opposed to more fancy culinary choices, which makes it perfect for families and those looking for filling and tried and true recipes.
The ingredients all come fresh and pre-packaged, with produce in their own plastic bags, while other ingredients come in plastic or mini jars. This does increase packaging but also makes measuring easier.
I’ve tried:
Pros:
- A ton of options for different schedules, including 15-minute meals and oven-ready bakes
- Easy-to-use zipper-bag packaging, and even easier-to-use recipe cards with cook time, expiration date, difficulty and spice levels
- Great variety of meals for each week, and in many meals, the meat can be substituted for Impossible Foods’ vegan options
- Many options for add-ons, including breakfast, snacks, and baked goods
- Meals are filling and feature classic, delicious recipes many know and love — perfect for families.
Cons:
- Everything included except salt, pepper, and oil
Even though I have a home of just one, I do love Home Chef recipes.
This meal kit really reminded me of my childhood home meals, with meatloaf, mac and cheese, hearty soups, and even a sprinkle cookie for dessert. If I did have children (not just a fur child, whom makes an appearance in one of my other meal kit reviews) I would certainly take a serious look at the Home Chef Family Plan, as the four-person meals would be perfect for adults and kids alike.
During my trials of the company, I’ve tried the traditional chopping and prepping meal kits, the oven-ready options, the microwave-ready meals, the add-ons, and truly there is no wrong answer. I prefer the oven-ready meals when I don’t want to deal with a lot of dishes. Home chef provides a try to cook the meal in, and it even doubles as a leftover container.
I do like to flex my cooking muscles, however, so the regular meal kits are great, coming with straightforward printed instructions, similar to other meal kits I’ve tested. I love that I can mix and match what’s in each weekly box with Home Chef. For this one, I was able to add one oven-ready meal, one pre-made lunch, two meal kits and some extras — very customizable!
The only thing to note is that since you do get a lot of flexibility, make sure to keep an eye on the prices, as some meals can cost more, and extras do add up. There is a handy price tracker at the top corner of the menu page when filling your box, as well as prices on each menu item, so it won’t be hard by any means, just something to keep tabs on so you aren’t surprised at checkout.
The final verdict
Home Chef is an upstanding meal kit that offers delicious meals that are filling enough for me and I trust that they would be filling enough for your family. It offers plans that work for households of two and four, plus has ways to add more food for even more customization.
Unless you only get microwavable meals, this may not be the best for the on-the-go person who isn’t into cooking, but it is very simple to use if you have basic skills in the kitchen and at least 15 minutes or more to spare.
How we tested
- Ease of ordering: When looking at the menu, Home Chef is simple to set up and order for each week, but do note the add-ons. I always take into consideration how to customize the order, make changes and pause a membership when testing.
- Prep, cook and cleanup time: A major selling point of meal kits is that they save time. Home Chef takes between 15 and 50 minutes per meal, sticking very closely to what the recipe estimates. I still noted how long it took me to have a complete meal from unpacking to cooking, eating, and recycling.
- Flavor and fullness: Meal kits are meant to remove all the guesswork from cooking, including seasoning. When testing Home Chef I took into account if any of the dishes I ordered needed to be seasoned or altered to become more palpable. I also considered how satisfied they left me and for how long.
- Sustainability: Not all meal kits are eco-friendly or use sustainable practices. To determine where Home Chef stood on the eco-conscious scale, I reviewed its production policy and looked into how it sourced its ingredients. Other things I took into account were its packaging and whether it could be recycled.
- Price: Meal kits typically run between $7 and $15 per serving, and so Home Chef cost is in the middle at $9.99 per serving, with some priced a bit higher and some a bit lower. I also take into account how many meals per week and how many servings you get for the price.
FAQ: What to look for when choosing a meal kit
Diet: Pay attention to the dietary options each service caters to, from vegetarian and vegan to Keto and paleo.
Household Size: Count the number of people in your family and then account for how much they eat to best calculate how many servings you need to feed everyone. Some kits have larger portions, while others are single-serve only.
Budget: Meal kits and services have a wide range of prices. Some offer free shipping, while others have a minimum spend. Specialty or health-related plans may cost more.
Time: Think about how long you want to be cooking for each night. Some meals require 30 or more minutes to cook, not including cleaning up. Others are microwavable and thus don’t require clean-up time, either.
