Green Chef
Reviewed August 2022
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What is Green Chef?
Green Chef is a certified organic meal kit delivery service that specializes in healthy veggie-centric foods. Like other meal kit programs, Green Chef packages pre-measured ingredients along with recipe cards so that you can make delicious and healthy meals without the hassle of planning and grocery shopping. Green Chef differentiates itself from other meal kit programs by offering organic ingredients and a wide variety of special diets (Keto, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Mediterranean, Vegan and Vegetarian)
Green Chef began in 2014 but was bought out by HelloFresh in 2018. The program is structured very similarly to HelloFresh, with the ingredients in paper bags and similar-looking recipe cards. Even some of the recipes seem very similar to HelloFresh’s recipes. The quality of the food and the taste of the recipes is excellent, just as it was with HelloFresh. HelloFresh had been my favorite meal kit program so far, but it was knocked out of the number one spot by Green Chef. Green Chef’s meals taste like restaurant-quality (delicious!), but they have the extra benefit of being healthy. Even my picky teenage son loved the food, and I actually got him to eat lots of veggies!
Who is Green Chef best for?
Green Chef is best for people who are looking for a quick and easy dinner solution but want to eat healthy. Almost all the ingredients are certified organic and include a lot of veggies. Green Chef is also great for people who are on special diets. It can be hard to plan and shop for a paleo or gluten-free diet, for example. With Green Chef, it’s as easy as selecting your diet plan in the preferences.
What are some examples of Green Chef meals?
The meals change weekly. These are some of the meals that we enjoyed.
Pork with Balsamic Tomato Sauce
Pork tenderloins topped with a tangy balsamic tomato sauce, served with nutritious spaghetti squash tossed with mozzarella and drizzled with basil pesto
Barramundi with lemon chive butter
Flaky barramundi fish service with kale salad with a lemon-basil dressing
Peruvian-style roasted chicken
Roasted chicken, carrots, bell pepper and tomato sprinkled with Peruvian spices and topped with a drizzle of chimichurri sauce
Does Green Chef taste good?
All of the meals were amazing! I was so impressed that healthy meals with so many veggies could taste so good. I felt like I was eating in a restaurant, but it was food that I cooked!
How long does it take to prepare a Green Chef meal?
Most recipes take between 20 and 40 minutes. The time is listed on the website when you select the meals, so if you want easy recipes, you could select the quicker ones.
Does Green Chef save you time?
Green Chef will definitely save you time because you don’t need to plan, or grocery shop and some ingredients come pre-prepared. What’s nice is that you also don’t have to stress about how you’re going to get more veggies in your diet. You know you’re eating healthy. If you follow a specialized diet, it also saves you the time of figuring out what is in your food. For example, if a meal is labeled as Keto, you know that you can eat it.
Is Green Chef easy?
Green Chef is super easy! All the ingredients for a recipe come in a labeled paper bag. When you’re ready to cook, you just pull the paper bag out of the fridge, grab the recipe card and start cooking. They plan the recipes for novice chefs. There are no complicated cooking techniques. The recipe cards have simple explanations with photos to illustrate each step. Most of the recipes only take 30 minutes from start to finish including the cooking time. It can’t get much easier than that!
How much is Green Chef shipping?
Green Chef charges a flat $9.99 for shipping (as of the time of this review), which is pretty standard among the meal kit companies. When you order, you select your delivery day. You could schedule it for your day off or have it delivered to you at work. Your box arrives between 8 am and 8 pm local time on your scheduled delivery day. They send a tracking number so you could run home to bring it in the house when it’s delivered. The ice block will keep the ingredients cold until you can retrieve it.
Where is Green Chef available?
Green Chef currently delivers almost everywhere in the continental United States, except for Alaska and Hawaii.
What packaging does Green Chef use?
Your meal kit comes in a green cardboard box with a couple of ice blocks and insulation to keep it cold. The ingredients to each recipe are packed in a paper bag except for any meat which is usually packed at the bottom of the box, closest to the ice blocks.
Can I recycle Green Chef packaging?
Most of the packaging is curbside recyclable. According to their website, their insulation is made of ClimaCell, a proprietary plant-based insulator that is certified curbside recyclable, with a thin sheet of kraft paper on either side to hold it together. The ice block is made with a gel packed in a #4 plastic film. They recommend that you melt the ice pack, cut a corner, drain the non-toxic gel into the garbage, rinse out the #4 plastic bag and recycle it. Unfortunately, #4 plastics are not recycled in my area so I need to throw away the whole ice pack.
Does Green Chef have dietary options?
Green Chef has many dietary options.
- Keto+Paleo
- Mediterranean
- Fast & Fit
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-Free
Can you lose weight with Green Chef?
Green Chef has many healthy options to help you meet your weight loss goal. You could select a plan that meets your diet program (Keto+Paleo, Mediterranean, Fast & Fit, etc.). You can check out how many calories are in a meal online before you decide if you want to order it. You don’t feel like you’re sacrificing while on a diet if the meals are delicious like those offered by Green Chef.
Is Green Chef healthy?
Green Chef’s mission is to make it easy to eat healthy. What I love about Green Chef is you get a wide variety of fresh vegetables in your diet without really having to think about it. When I cook, I tend to fall back on the same boring vegetables, but with Green Chef, I tried many different vegetables that I don’t usually cook and even a few that I had never tried.
How do you order from Green Chef?
Ordering from Green Chef is easy. You set up your account with basic information (name, address, etc.). Then you select your diet plan (Fast & Fit, Vegetarian, etc.), the number of servings (2, 4 or 6) and how many meals per week (2, 3 or 4). Even if you’re single, the 2-person option is great because you have leftovers the next day. You can select your meals or let the computer randomly select based on your meal plan.
How much is Green Chef?
The cost per serving depends on how many servings and how many meals per week you selected. For example, it costs $13.49 per serving if you order the 2 people/3 meals-a-week plan but the price goes down to $11.99 per serving if you order the 6 people/4 meals-a-week plan. Basically, the more you order, the cheaper it gets. I ordered the 4 people/3 meals-a-week plan, and it was $12.49 per serving. Pricing may have changed since the time of my review.
Does Green Chef save you money?
It can save you money, depending on what the alterative is. If the alternative is eating the same quality of food out, it will definitely save you money. If the alterative is cooking, remember that organic food tends to be expensive so even buying the organic ingredients and making things yourself will not be cheap. You also need to factor in the cost of food waste. If you buy the ingredients yourself, you generally need to buy more than you end up using.
There are cheaper meal kit programs, but you can’t compare the cost of Green Chef to a non-organic alternative. For me, eating healthy and saving time and stress is definitely worth the $12.49 a meal that I paid.
Pros
- Delicious food – All of the recipes that we tried were outstanding. It tasted like restaurant-quality food.
- Easy recipes – The recipe cards are easy to follow with photos of each step. The average recipe takes just 30 minutes to make.
- App – Green Chef has an app that you can use to make order changes, reschedule the delivery day, view recipe information or change your profile data.
- Green Chef is a USDA certified organic company. All of their produce and eggs are certified organic, and their meats are raised with high animal welfare standards, according to their website.
Cons
- Non-recyclable ice blocks – The ice blocks are made with a non-toxic gel that needs to be thrown in the trash can. The plastic film on the gel-pack can only be recycled if your area recycles #4 plastics, which my area doesn’t.
- Expensive – Green Chef is more expensive than many meal kit programs because they offer certified organic ingredients.
Coupons/Deals for Green Chef
Use this link for $150 off.
Meal Kit Programs
HelloFresh Blue Apron Marley Spoon SunBasket Mosaic Green Chef EveryPlate Home Chef Factor Gobble HungryRoot Dinnerly Splendid Spoon
