Home Chef is a company that creates curated meals for deliveries, offering up to six servings in every kit. Consumers can purchase these meals in stores or by signing up for the subscription service.
What is Home Chef?
Everyone has a busy schedule nowadays. With the effects of the pandemic on working-class citizens, it is time to get back to the regular grind with work meetings, school pickups, and social engagements. While this slice of everyday life is reassuring to many people, others find it challenging to find the time to do basic errands and tasks – like shopping for and preparing dinner. Luckily, subscription services like Home Chef can help.
Consumers have many different options, depending on how much work they want to do to get a meal on the table. While consumers can choose from a list of meals, their particular preferences determine which ones are shown to them to choose from. While some consumers prefer that the recipe is ready to warm and eat, they can also get fresh ingredients already portioned out to cook the meal. When consumers sign up for Home Chef, they can access a subscription service that sends an insulated box of meals.
With Home Chef, users don’t have to plan or shop because everything is provided. Users can choose from the 25 recipes they want during their initial setup. The kits are sent to users every week, allowing professional chefs to add new recipes each week with fresh ingredients.
If consumers want to try out Home Chef but might not be ready for a subscription, that’s okay too – their Oven Ready meals are already available nationwide in Kroger & Fry’s stores.
Recipes and Meal Options
All the recipes are broken down into a few categories, depending on how much time users want to dedicate and how much preparation they want to do.
Meal Kits
The traditional set is the Meal Kit, which includes ingredients already portioned out for the user and only takes about 30 minutes. Users who want to save a little time can opt for the 15-minute meal kits, which have all of the benefits of regular Meal Kits but in half the time.
Some of the standard meal kits include:
- Banh Mi Burger with sweet chili garlic fries
- Feta and Spinach Stuffed Chicken with parsnip and potato gratin
- Salmon with Brown-Butter Tomato Relish and wild rice
- Crispy Buffalo Chicken Salad with blue cheese and ranch
- Pork and Guacamole Tostadas with cheese
Some of the 15-minute meal kits include:
- Orange Chicken Lettuce Wraps with roasted peanuts
- Steak Strip Gyro Mini Flatbreads with mozzarella and tzatziki
- BBQ Cheeseburger Chili with crispy bacon
- Shrimp Arrabbiata Cavatappi with parmesan
Ready Meal Kits
Consumers who want less work ahead of them can choose Oven-Ready or Grill-Ready meals. With the Oven-Ready meals, consumers will get all of the fresh and ready ingredients within a tin container. The Grill-Ready meals are compressed into a bag that can be emptied onto a grill. With both options, users don’t have to prepare anything ahead of time, and the meals are ready to use straight out of the containers.
Some of the Oven-Ready kits include:
- Onion Crusted Chicken with Caesar broccoli
- Greek-Style Lemon Garlic Shrimp Risotto with feta and peppers
- Creole-Style Pork Meatloaf with comeback crema and succotash
Currently, none of the grill-ready meals are specifically featured on the website.
Fast & Fresh
Fast & Fresh Meals are the other options available. These kits are ready to microwave or heat in the oven quickly to start eating as soon as possible. Some of these options include:
- BBQ Chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans
- Hawaiian-Style Sloppy Joes with cilantro and red cabbage slaw
- Bacon Chicken Chili with white cheddar and crème Fraiche
Signing Up for Home Chef Deliveries
Consumers who want to get started on the Home Chef deliveries will need to fill out some information that allows the creators to develop a meal plan with variety. Their first choice is between Home Chef or Home Chef Fresh and Easy. The original Home Chef plan offers the user multiple recipes with fresh ingredients already portioned out. With Fresh and Easy, the recipes require minimal or no prep.
Users can make some optional selections after that point. They can include whether the user wants a calorie-conscious or carb-conscious diet plan, and they can note any foods they don’t want to include (like pork or beef). This is an opportunity for the user to include any foods they are allergic to, like peanuts or shellfish.
Before the user is given the opportunity to build the box, they will need to include an email address and a zip code. Providing the zip code ensures that Home Chef delivers in their area. Users will also need to include the number of people they want to serve and how many recipes they wish to receive each week.
Buying Access to Home Chef Deliveries
The total cost for each order depends on the number of people users want to serve and the number of recipes they want to receive.
The minimum order required must have two servings for no less than two meals, which costs $39.96, plus shipping ($13.99). Consumers can select up to six people per recipe, and they can choose up to six recipes a week, which would cost $359.64 with $9.99 in shipping fees. Generally, each serving costs $9.99.
Once the user schedules their first delivery (which can be as soon as seven days away), they can make their meal selections. These selections are only available after the user inputs their payment information.
Frequently Asked Questions About Home Chef
Q – Are Home Chef kits available in grocery stores?
A – Yes. While other subscription services only distribute their meals via delivery, consumers can purchase Home Chef meals in stores.
Q – Can consumers find a copy of the recipes online?
A – Yes. Users will need to go to their account dashboard to choose the recipe and get a PDF copy. If the user forgets where they put their recipe, they can go online to view or download it.
Q – Can consumers purchase breakfasts, desserts, or side dishes from Home Chef?
A – As of May 2021, consumers are able to purchase a la carte options, which change from week to week. Though the options won’t always include breakfast and dessert, these opportunities are often included in the meal plans. Users can also include more protein and bread on the Extras of the menu.
Q – What is the Shopping List feature?
A – This feature allows consumers to create a shopping list when they use the corresponding Home Chef app through the cookbook. The cookbook for each user contains an option to add the ingredients for each meal to a shopping list.
Q – What are Oven Ready Meals?
A – The Oven Ready meals have all the pre-portioned ingredients in a tray that is safe to bake in the oven. Since they are prepared within a metal pan, these recipes cannot be microwaved. Preparation is minimal (if any). It takes very little time to make dinner, and cleanup is easy.
Q – Will consumers be able to follow their particular diet with Home Chef?
A – While the creators don’t specifically plan meals for keto or paleo diets, they can still use recipes that happen to follow them. Plus, consumers who follow a vegan lifestyle can often customize the meals to remove the meat.
Q – Are vegetarian options available?
A – Yes. Users can choose from the filters at the top of the weekly menu options to only view vegetarian meals. They can also use the website to exclusively order plant-based proteins. However, these options are only available every other week.
Q – How long should the meals be cooked?
A – Every recipe card will show users how long each meal needs to cook. The cards also indicate how long the meals can be stored after delivery before cooking.
Q – Should consumers wash the produce they receive from Home Chef?
A – Yes. Consumers should always wash fruits or vegetables before preparing them or adding them to a recipe.
Q – How long will it take for the delivery to arrive?
A – Orders arrive on their scheduled date by the end of the day, but consumers don’t have to be home to get them. The boxes are insulated with ice packs to ensure that all ingredients remain fresh.
Q – How can you contact customer service?
A – To reach the customer support team, call 872-225-2433 on weekdays from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm CST.
Summary
Home Chef provides a way for consumers to reduce the time that they spend on planning and stressing about the best meals for their family. These meals can work for a dinner for 2-6 people, and consumers can even shop in Kroger stores to pick up their kits if they want instant access. The subscription service delivers meals weekly to ensure that every person gets fresh ingredients to try out new recipes they might’ve never made of their own volition. Plus, users can stop their subscriptions at any time. Visit the official website to order Home Chef today!
