We’ve decided to try out Green Chef for a few weeks to determine how it compares to other popular meal kit delivery services.
Let’s take a closer look at what you can expect from this meal delivery service, as well as if it is worth the money.
Green Chef Green Chef
Quality
Who is it for?
Who is it for?
- Ideal for those seeking organic, diet-specific meal kits with sustainable practices.
Who is it not for?
- Not ideal for those looking for budget-friendly meal kits.
Final Verdict
Green Chef offers organic, diet-specific meal kits with sustainable packaging, ideal for health-conscious individuals. Its higher price point may deter budget-conscious buyers.
What is Green Chef, and How Does it Work?
Established in the picturesque city of Boulder, Colorado, in 2014, Green Chef stands out in the realm of meal kit delivery services.
This service, distinct from ready-made or fast food delivery services, is in a league of its own.
It focuses on delivering fresh and nutritious meals right to the customers' doors.
With the Green Chef subscription, customers receive boxes brimming with pre-measured Green Chef ingredients like fresh vegetables, succulent meat, fish, poultry, grains, seasonings, and sauces.
Each meal delivery showcases the dedication of Green Chef to offering an organic meal delivery service.
Unlike many other meal delivery services, Green Chef prioritizes both health and convenience.
Each box not only contains fresh ingredients but also features easy-to-follow instructions, ensuring that even novice cooks can craft a delicious meal with ease.
Signing up for their services is a breeze. Customers looking to explore the delightful range of Green Chef meals can easily register via their website.
While Green Chef covers an expansive delivery area across America, it's important to note that Hawaii, Alaska, and certain parts of Louisiana fall outside their delivery zone.
Those who have signed up can expect their boxes to arrive between 8 am - 8 pm from Monday to Saturday, making it convenient to plan their weekly meals.
Benefits and Highlights
We decided to test Green Chef for a few weeks to see how their meal kit service held up.
Here are a few of their stand-out highlights and benefits.
1. Easy to Choose Meals
Choosing meals through Green Chef is a pretty straightforward process.
There are three types of meal plans to choose from depending on your dietary preferences - Keto Paleo is a low-carb-based, plant-based meal that offers vegan options, and balanced living, which is a little bit of everything.
Some vegan recipes include kale salad, sweet potatoes, mushroom tacos, veggie stir fry, and other vegetarian dishes that contain certified organic ingredients such as bell peppers, green beans, and many more.
“Simple ingredients prepared in a simple way - that's the best way to take your everyday cooking to a higher level.”
- Jose Andres, Chef
The Kato Paleo meal plan includes a bunch of organic produce and healthy recipes, both meat and plant-powered. You can also find certified gluten-free recipes.
I decided to go with the balanced living meal plan since it includes lots of organic meats such as pork chops, sausages, beef, and other organic ingredients.
I was offered 9 - 12 healthy meals per week, which could be used for either lunch or dinner, but Green Chef primarily targets dinner time.
I was slightly surprised to see that I could only choose 2 - 4 gluten-free meals per week, which is a lot less than some other meal delivery services such as Sun Basket or HelloFresh.
2. Eco-Friendly Packaging
The meals arrived cold and fresh inside a cardboard box.
The box comes insulated with ice packs (fully recyclable), and each meal kit comes packaged in a brown paper bag.
The ingredients are packed in either plastic bags or hard plastic.
According to the Green Chef website, all packaging is made from reusable, recyclable, or compostable materials (unless stated otherwise), and includes detailed instructions on how to dispose of each material [1].
I found the packaging to be easily recyclable; however, I did have a few problems removing the stickers beforehand.
3. No Overly Complicated Recipes
The box included colorful and detailed recipe cards with a brief description of the chosen dish, calories, cook time, allergens, a list of ingredients, and any other equipment you will need.
The recipe card includes a step-by-step cooking process with helpful photos.
Most of the gluten-free meal plans required equipment such as pots and pans, mixing bowls, knives, cutting boards, baking sheets, etc. - everything you would have in your basic kitchen set-up.
If you don’t have one of the tools listed, Green Chef also offers alternative ideas.
According to the Green Chef kits, each recipe should take 30 minutes or less.
I found the preparation and cooking time to be a little longer than that, taking 40 - 45 minutes for each meal kit, but it didn’t make it any more difficult.
4. Taste and Ingredients
Green Chef strives to source all of its ingredients sustainably.
Unless stated otherwise, the ingredients sent to you will be certified organic [2].
This company offers fresh produce and includes high-quality ingredients. Green Chef meals have a shelf life of 5 days.
I found the balanced living plan to offer a good mix of meat that was sourced from local farms, along with some very high-quality veggies.
I opted for two servings per dish, and they were more than enough for two people.
The meals were full of flavorful spice blends and weren’t too far off restaurant quality.
They are delicious and nutritious meals.
Another great thing about the Green Chef meal plans is they are so easy to recreate.
If you love a dish, you can take a trip to the grocery store and pick up all the same ingredients since you have a detailed recipe on hand.
What Can Be Improved With Green Chef Meal Kits
While there are many good things Green Chef has to offer, there is some room for improvement.
First, Green Chef offers no customization with meal plans.
People who are following low-fat diets or are all-around picky eaters have no option for adding any dietary modifications to their meals.
You also have no choice with the herbs and spices included.
Another thing I was a little disappointed in was the fact you can only order 4 meals per week.
If you wanted to quit grocery shopping altogether, Green Chef doesn't offer enough meals compared to some other meal kit companies out there.
Green Chef Pros and Cons
- Green Chef is a certified organic company.
- All recipe cards are easy to follow and come with step-by-step instructions.
- Perfect for dietary restrictions (offers plant-powered meals, Keto Paleo, and balanced living).
- Healthy and high-quality ingredients.
- No meal customization
- Ability to order only 3-4 meals even though 9-12 are on offer
Other Users’ Experiences
After looking up other customers' reviews on Reddit, it’s safe to say more often than not they are pleased with Green Chef and the meal service it has to offer.
John from Kentucky stated in his Green Chef review that the company offered very fresh produce and highlighted how easy it was to choose recipes on their website.
Amanda from Florida mentioned how handy it was that all the kits came with detailed guides.
Anthony from Maryland shared that he considered this meal kit delivery expensive as he also had to pay for the shipping.
How Does Green Chef Compare to Other Meal Kit Delivery Services?
Since there are tons of meal kit services on the market today, it is only natural that Green Chef has some competition.
Here is how they hold up against other services we have tried.
1. Home Chef
Just like Green Chef, Home Chef offers a range of meal kits that are easy to cook and obtain.
What we like about Home Chef is the fact you can customize your order, swapping proteins or upgrading them for a small fee.
However, this company doesn't have many vegetarian or plant-based options, and they also use quite a lot of plastic within their packaging.
2. Gobble
Gobble meal delivery is similar to Green Chef in the sense they offer similar categories: Classic, Vegetarian, and Lean & Clean.
You can choose 3 - 4 meals per week; however, you can only purchase up to 4 portions, which may be a downside for large families.
We love Gobble because they offer over 23 recipes a week to choose from, which is an excellent range for any meal delivery service.
A downside, however, is we found some of these recipes can be quite hit-and-miss.
3. Blue Apron
Blue Apron meal delivery offers an extensive range of world cuisine, offering recipes you may struggle to find with other meal kit services.
You can choose from 12 meals per week, only 3 of those being vegetarian options, which can be a huge downside for people who don’t eat meat or those sticking to a plant-based diet.
They also don’t offer much customization, which could be a put-off for picky eaters.
An interesting addition to these meal delivery services is the option to add 6 bottles of wine to your order for only $66 a month, which can be ideal for people who enjoy a little drink with their meal.
Our Similar Meal Delivery Reviews:
How Much Does the Green Chef Cost?
The pricing of this meal delivery depends on which plan you choose and the serving size you go with.
Here is a price breakdown according to the Green Chef’s website [3].
| 2 Servings | 4 Servings | 6 Servings | |
| Balanced Living | 3 meals a week: $11.99 per serving ($71.94 per box)
4 meals a week: $11.49 per serving ($91.92 per box) |
2 meals a week: $11.49 per serving
($91.92 per box) 3 meals a week: $10.99 per serving ($131.88 per box) 4 meals a week: $10.49 per serving ($167.84 per box) |
3 meals a week: $10.49 per serving
($188.82 per box) 4 meals a week: $10.49 per serving ($251.76 per box) |
| Plant-based | 3 meals a week: $11.99 per serving ($71.94 per box)
4 meals a week: $11.49 per serving ($91.92 per box) |
2 meals a week: $11.49 per serving
($91.92 per box) 3 meals a week: $10.99 per serving ($131.88 per box) 4 meals a week: $10.49 per serving ($167.84 per box) |
3 meals a week: $10.49 per serving
($188.82 per box) 4 meals a week: $10.49 per serving ($251.76 per box) |
| Keto + Paleo | 3 meals a week: $12.99 per serving ($77.94 per box)
4 meals a week: $12.49 per serving ($99.92 per box) |
2 meals a week: $12.49 per serving
($99.92 per box) 3 meals a week: $11.99 per serving ($143.88 per box) 4 meals a week: $11.49 per serving ($183.84 per box) |
3 meals a week: $11.49 per serving
($206.82 per box) 4 meals a week: $11.49 per serving ($275.76 per box) |
Keep in mind that, unlike many other companies, Green Chef offers delivery at a flat fee of $9.99.
Green Chef is considered more expensive than your average meal delivery service.
While some people feel it’s not worth the price, some other individuals and I feel like it’s justified when considering the quality of ingredients provided.
FAQs
Does Green Chef Have a Family Plan?
No, Green Chef doesn’t offer a family plan.
If you’re looking to feed a family, it would be best to go with Green Chef’s balanced life option since it offers a large range of foods, unlike the Keto or plant-powered menu.
Is Green Chef Environmentally Friendly?
Yes, Green Chef tries to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Their packaging is either made from recycled materials, recyclable, or reusable.
Is Green Chef Worth it?
Green Chef is great for people wanting to make cooking easy.
You can easily pick Green Chef recipes, adhere to dietary restrictions, and get tasty food delivered to your door every week.
They are an ideal option for anyone looking to bring some home cooking into their otherwise busy life, without the hassle of shopping and preparing ingredients themselves.
However, since Green Chef Box only offers customers four meals per week, some may be searching for a company that can feed them all week long.
With Trifecta, you can order anywhere between 5 - 27 meals per week.
This includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a 3rd entre. This is ideal for customers who want to use a meal prep for every meal.
All Trifecta ingredients are organically sourced and made to fit a whole range of dietary needs.
They also offer free shipping and allow customers to skip weeks or put their subscriptions on hold.
If you’d like to try it out, click here to order from Trifecta.
We Recommend This Instead
Trifecta
- Green Chef is a certified organic company.
- All recipe cards are easy to follow and come with step-by-step instructions.
- Perfect for dietary restrictions (offers plant-powered meals, Keto Paleo, and balanced living).
- Healthy and high-quality ingredients.
- Get the BEST PRICE until the end of December
- No meal customization
- Ability to order only 3-4 meals even though 9-12 are on offer
