Have you wondered if Green Chef is worth the money? Is it actually healthy? Can you lose weight on Green Chef? Is it a good fit for your lifestyle? I’ll answer all of these questions in my Honest Green Chef Review.
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Green Chef Review
Summary
Green Chef is one of the first certified organic meal kit delivery subscription services. It’s an excellent choice for people who want to follow a clean eating lifestyle or have specific dietary needs, If you’re trying to change your eating style to Paleo, Keto, Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free, then Green Chef can be very helpful. Between the convenience, organic, high-quality ingredients, and easy delicious recipes, it’s a great fit for busy people who want to cook healthier. It’s worth the cost!
What is Green Chef
Green Chef is one of the first certified organic meal kit delivery subscription services. It’s an excellent choice for people who want to follow a clean eating lifestyle or have specific dietary needs.
However, not every item that goes into a Green Chef Box is not 100% organic. But rest assured, they work hard to source the highest quality items when certified organic is not available.
From their website:
- All produce and eggs are organic unless labeled otherwise.
- Proteins are raised with high animal welfare standards, and every ingredient goes through extensive screening to meet its high-integrity ingredient standards.
Unlike other meal subscription services, you’re not going to find recipes filled with white pasta, heavy sauces, or other unhealthy ingredients. Instead, you’ll find clean recipes that use whole grains, brown rice, fresh vegetables and other high-quality ingredients.
This healthy meal kit company also meets the specific dietary needs of their keto, paleo, low-carb, and gluten-free customers. Some companies offer low-carb, gluten-free, or low-calories recipes, but often the selections are limited.
Green Chef fills the gap that other companies neglect by providing keto, paleo, gluten-free, and Mediterranean. Focusing on healthy, clean meals is their specialty!
All of the keto paleo meal plans ingredients are certified gluten-free.
So, if you’re looking for a meal kit company that focuses on the keto, paleo, low-carb lifestyle, and gluten-free Green Chef is the top contender.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Ingredients are either organic or super high-quality. Every ingredient meets their high meet their high-integrity standards.
- If you’re trying to change your eating style to Paleo, Keto, Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free, then Green Chef can be very helpful. Offering these specialized meal plans sets Green Chef apart from its competitors.
- Ingredients are prepared and portioned out ahead of time. This means all the vegetables are chopped, sliced, or diced ahead of time. Even the meats are trimmed and cut in advance. I love this feature because it brings recipes together quickly, in some cases 30 minutes or less.
- Many recipes use only one pot or pan.
- The recipe ingredients are organized in bags. After getting your box, you need to put the bags in the refrigerator. I use the bags as a garbage bag as I prepare the recipe.
- Each recipe has a recipe card with colorful photos and step-by-step instructions. Also, the ingredients have a color-coded label to match the card just in case ingredients get mixed up.
- Recipes are restaurant-quality. They include flavorful spice blends and sauces. If you like flavors beyond classic American, then you’ll enjoy the recipes.
- It’s easy to skip weeks if you want a break or go out of town.
- It’s also straightforward to cancel your Green Chef subscription if you decide it’s not for you.
Cons
- The biggest negative is Green Chef doesn’t allow you to choose recipes from different meal plans. I hope this changes in the future because I think it would be helpful for families to choose between meal plans.
- Shipping starts at $8.99. Even though I wouldn’t say I like it, charging for shipping is standard with most meal kit companies. The total shipping cost depends on the number of meals ordered.
Who Would Benefit the Most?
- You want to eat (and feed your family) healthy organic meals but don’t have the time to plan or shop.
- You want to start eating Keto, Paleo, Vegan, Vegetarian, or Gluten-free. Green Chef can make it easier and more sustainable, whether you’re just starting with one of these eating styles or have been at it for a while. In my opinion, this is where Green Chef shines.
- You often eat at restaurants but want to cook more at home. Green Chef offers restaurant-style recipes that you can easily make in your kitchen. I think the prices are lower than eating in a restaurant so, in this case, using Green Chef would be more cost-effective.
- You don’t mind paying for convenience. All meal kit companies provide the convenience of having meals delivered to your door. If that is helpful for you, and you don’t mind paying a little extra, then Green Chef will work great.
- Organic or high-quality food that includes sustainable sourcing is essential to you.
Who Wouldn’t Benefit?
- You are a pickier eater. Green Chef meals are somewhat on the eclectic side, although they offer more classic dishes than in the past. However, if you’re looking for traditional comfort food, Green Chef might not work. Although, I still recommend looking at their meal plans and seeing for yourself.
- You want to both eat low-carb and feed your family with a meal kit. I think the balanced living plan would work well for families, but if you plan to eat from the Keto Paleo Plan, and nobody else is eating this way, you won’t be able to choose recipes from other menus.
- You don’t see the value in having organic recipes and ingredients delivered to their door. If you would rather meal plan and shop for yourself, paying for a service like Green Chef won’t work.
Green Chef Coupon
Currently, new Green Chef subscribers can get $130 off plus free shipping off your first box. Get the promo here.
FAQs
Green Chef offers three meal plans – Keto and Paleo (gluten-free), Plant-powered (vegan and vegetarian), and Balanced-living (diverse customizable meals).
After you choose a meal plan, you’ll be able to customize it even further by selecting a dietary preference. You can change these plans per preference at any time before your billing date.
After selecting a meal plan and dietary preferences, you’ll be brought to that week’s Green Chef menu. Green Chef will curate a box for you based on your meal plan and preferences, and you can either keep it that way or select other recipes.
You can choose 2-4 recipes only from the meal plan you signed up for – you can’t select more than four recipes at a time. Then you can choose 2 to 12 servings of each recipe.
So, if you want more than four recipes, you’ll need to order a second box.
One downfall is you can’t pick recipes from the different meal plans, only the one you signed up for. If you want to choose recipes from another menu, you need to change your menu option for that week.
Green Chef doesn’t allow customers to pick between the menus because the price point for each menu is different. However, I wish they would find a way to let customers choose between the menus because I think that would be helpful for families.
At the time of this Green Chef Review, the cost for each serving is between $11.49 and $13.49. This price depends on the meal plan and the number of servings you order.
Keep in mind that these prices reflect that Green Chef is certified organic and include either organic or high-quality ingredients.
Also, they are comparable to other meal kit services that offer organic ingredients and specialty meal plans like keto, paleo, and gluten-free.
Even though Green Chef is more expensive than buying organic ingredients at the grocery store, it’s still cheaper (and much healthier) than eating take-out.
So, if you spend a lot of money on take-out or prepared foods, then Green Chef will not only help you eat healthier but will save you money in the long run.
Yes, you can edit and change your meal plan at any time. You can also pause a week if you need a break or go out of town.
Of course, selections need to be made before your box gets prepared for shipment – that date depends on the delivery day you choose. My advice is to put that cut-off date and time in your calendar to avoid getting sent an unwanted box.
Canceling your Green Chef subscription is easy to do. Go into the account section and click cancel the subscription. Again, make sure to cancel before the cut-off time to avoid getting charged
Ordering Tips
Based on my experience, here are my expert tips to help you get the best experience ordering Green Chef meal kits:
- Make sure to check off the proteins you don’t want. This step is essential because if you forget to pick your meals, Green Chef will automatically curate your recipes, and you don’t like to receive unwanted meals.
- Choose a delivery day that works best for your schedule. This will depend on your location, but pick the one that’ll work best if you have choices. For example, I like to prepare my meals ahead of time, so I either get the box on Friday to make the recipes on Sunday for the week, or I’ll get the package on Monday. It all depends on my schedule for the week.
- Choose the delivery frequency you’d like. Green Chef can deliver a box weekly, bi-weekly, or every four weeks. You can always skip the weeks planned, but it’s important to note that they will send a box if it’s your delivery week. So, pay attention to that.
My Experience
I’ve been a customer for close to 4 years and have enjoyed many of their meal plans and recipes. I’ve been ordering from their Paleo and Keto meal plan for the last few months.
I wouldn’t say I’m 100% Paleo or Keto, eat gluten-free because of a gluten allergy, and those meal plans meet my needs.
Packaging
Before I jump into the recipes, let’s go over some basics. Green Chef sends all the recipes in a sturdy cardboard box, and all meats and perishables are at the bottom of the box surrounded by insulation and underneath the dry ice packs. Other ingredients are organized into labeled paper bags. Everything showed up cold and fresh.
Currently, new Green Chef subscribers can get $130 off plus free shipping off your first box. Get the promo here.
Green Chef Recipes
These are the recipes I ordered:
- Shrimp Scampi
- Shaved Steak and Mushroom Bulgogi
- Curry-spiced Pork and Veggie Stir-fry
Let’s start with the Shrimp Scampi.
- This recipe was easy to prepare. The only preparation that took the most time was cooking the spaghetti squash. But it came cut in half, so I didn’t have to fuss around with that.
- The shrimp were super fresh.
- The entire recipe came together in less than 40 minutes.
- It was easy to meal prep. After cooking the scampi, I divided the recipe into two containers to heat and eat.
- This was my favorite recipe. The taste was delicious, and I loved using spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta in this classic recipe.
The second recipe I made was the Shaved Steak and Mushroom Bulgogi.
- Again, this recipe was easy to prepare. Mainly because the steak came sliced into shavings ahead of time. I was so happy to see this because it significantly reduced cooking time.
- This recipe came together in under 30 minutes using one pan.
- The meat was very tender, the bell pepper and broccoli were crisp and fresh, and the flavors were outstanding.
- I also divided this recipe into two meal prep containers to heat and eat during the week.
The last recipe I made was the Curry-spiced Pork and Veggie Stir-fry.
- The pork tenderloin came chopped up, making this dish easy to throw together.
- Again, this recipe came together in under 30 minutes.
- Like the other recipes, I package it into two meal prep containers to eat during the week.
- This was my least favorite dish regarding flavor. I wasn’t a fan of the curry. You’ll most likely enjoy this recipe if you like curry, but I won’t order it again.
Overall, the recipes were delicious, easy to prepare, and came together quickly. I’ve also tried chicken recipes and the meat is always fresh and tasty.
Can you meal prep these recipes?
One of the things I look for in meal kit recipes is if they can be meal prepped ahead of time. All of the Green Chef recipes I chose worked great with meal prep.
The recipes tasted great after they were heated up. I’ve found this to be true with every Green Chef box I’ve ordered.
The competition
Regarding healthy meal kits, I think Green Chef’s biggest competition is Sun Basket. I’ve also used Sun Basket numerous times, so I feel confident comparing the two.
Both are focused on providing health-conscious recipes. Their menus are somewhat similar, offering low carb, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options.
However, Green Chef offers specialty menus such as Keto and Paleo. While Sun Basket does have low-carb and keto-friendly options, they do not provide a keto or paleo-specific meal plan.
Sun Basket offers more recipe options, so there is a wider variety. Also, you don’t need to commit to a specific menu, and you can choose from all the recipes.
Sun Basket uses primarily organic ingredients, but there are times when some ingredients are conventional. Also, you need to pay extra for organic meats, poultry, and seafood.
You don’t need to pay extra for any upgrades with Green Chef.
Last Sun Basket offers more than just meal kits, and they have increased their offerings to include prepared meals, pantry items, and refrigerator items such as meats, yogurts, green juice, and other things. You can stock your kitchen with Sun Basket.
Green Chef is currently just offering meal kits. So, if that’s all you’re looking for, the Green Chef fits the bill.
Check out my Sun Basket Review if you want to learn more about them.
Currently, new Green Chef subscribers can get $130 off plus free shipping off your first box. Get the promo here.
I hope you found my Green Chef Review helpful. I would love to hear about your experiences with Green Chef. Have you tried this meal kit delivery service? What did you think?
Tara says
I’ve been waiting for weeks for feedback from green chef on the quality of their meats. I’ve ordered and use the service and absolutely love it there sauces and seasonings are awesome! However the meat does not come label that it’s grass fed or finished or wild caught. One of the seafood options that I had said sustainable farm raised (I’ll have to look more into what this actually means since a lot of verbiage can mean nothing and just marketing) in particular concern with the beef because there’s no labeling on it whatsoever which leads me to believe it’s completely conventional. This is the downside I am finding if it’s true, because why pay for organic vegetables if you’re mixing it with low quality conventional meat 😭 Hopefully I hear back from them soon.
Jacqueline says
I’m curious if Tara ever heard back about meat sources. I just tried Green Chef this week, and was surprised to find out that only the produce was organic- no standards on the beef or chicken which makes some believe it was conventional, and salmon even said “farm raised” rather than wild caught- yuck! Seems like sun basket offers more organic options, which Green Chef having the guise that THEY do. Also didn’t find the meals that good- they were OK, 5/10, wouldn’t buy them again.
T says
I have the same exact issues with the meat quality. If I had to choose between organic meat or veggies I would pick the meat!!!!!
Susan Levine says
Their produce is not organic and their meats are not grass-fed. I used to get my meals from them before they did their bait-and-switch routine. They are owned by Hello Fresh and I have confirmation that they are substituting mostly all of their ingredients with conventional ingredients. They are always sure to throw you a bone with one or two organic peices of something (scallions or a zucchini), but trust me when I tell you that they are not organic. Big lesson learned here.
Terry Watson says
Hi,
Is it required that you cook all three meals at one time? Or can you cook them as you eat them during the week?
Just curious….
Tammy Kresge says
Hi there! Yes, of course, you can cook the meals as you eat them. Whatever works for you. Tammy 🙂
T says
The amount of garbage these weekly boxes produce is insane. Which one of these deliveries are concerned about their carbon footprint as well as our health?
Stephanie says
It does look like you can at least now pick your meals choices! I haven’t ordered it yet but it looks like starting in January of this year you can. I can’t even imagine trying it if I couldn’t!
Gaius Gracchus says
As a foodie, I am happy to see interesting flavors. Not sure what constitutes ‘American-style’ recipes – hamburger and mac and cheese?
I would guess people who prefer that sort of meal are not ordering this sort of thing, anyway.
–Gaius Gracchus
Amy Pollard says
Hi, thanks for your review. It seems honest and thorough. Kinda confused on cost though. So for family omnivore is it only $11.99 for each of the 2 family meals in the box?! Or $11.99 per person per meal? And how much are the keto meals? Thanks in advance!
Gloria says
Thanks for this review. I subscribed to Green Chef because the ingredients were organic and high quality, and the meals were intriguing and looked easy to prepare. I loved the way the ingredients were packaged; when I received a box, I would organize the meals according to the color coding, while following the list of ingredients for each recipe, and bagged them separately. I learned some new techniques and experienced new foods that I had never tried before. Unfortunately, some of the ingredients were too exotic for my husband. Also, the preparations involved copious amounts of oil at every step. But it was a great while it lasted!