Hello Fresh & Gousto etc

[tinkertailorsoldierspy]

Hello (fresh),
Thinking of giving one of these ingredient box services a go. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations? Thanks in advance!

 

[HoGi]

I have had both over the years. My opinions on both

Hello fresh
Less choice
Far simpler recipes than gousto
Quite basic meals so if you aren't a keen cook they are good starting point
A lot of recipes use green beans so if you don't like them you are limited in choice
The recipes use a lot of spice blends so it is harder to recreate after
The recipe cards are big and hard to store
All the ingredients in one bag (bar meat) so takes up a lot of room in the fridge
Fridge ingredients separated from cupboard so takes up less room I'm the fridge but does mean you need to grab the right ones
Lots of choice and flexibility about how many meals you receive each week

Gousto
More choice in recipes
Meals are less basic and a little different to every day food
Less plastic than hello fresh
Better deals available
Cut off date for amendments is later than HF
Ingredients better quality than HF
Can get a free recipe card hold for the recipe cards
Sometimes get free gifts (chocolate or popcorn)
My sister moaned that you can't get 5 meals from gousto max is 4.

Personally I prefer gousto. I prefer the choice of meals, the app and their customer service is great.

Happy to answer any questions.

 

[lapta00002]

I agree with the above! I used HelloFresh for a while and found that the recipes got repeated quite often as well.

I started using Gousto a few weeks ago and have to say I think it’s SO much better than HF. The choice of meals is huge, most of them take no longer than 45 mins from start to finish and find it better value for money.

My housemate (who is coeliac) uses Mindful Chef whose recipes can be easily make allergy free (e.g. all recipes are diary free etc), so they’re a great choice if you have any dietary requirements. MC also let you order microwave ready meals instead of the recipe box, if you find you don’t have a lot of time to cook - as a teacher my housemate has said these have changed her life!

 

[EleanorRigby]

I just can't get over how horrendously expensive they are compared to buying the same ingredients in a supermarket. You really are paying for the convenience aren't you.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Gousto is sooo much better than Hello Fresh. The variety and choice of meals suit my tastes.

Yes its more expensive and you are paying for the convenience but if you can afford it, its worth it. I remake a lot of the Gousto meals often. I find they dont use many ingredients and theyre so tasty.

I don't get it every week but its great when Im in a rut. If you have a friend who gets Gousto ask them for a referral code, youl get 60% off your first box and a discount off the rest of the month. Itl let you try it at a discounted price

 

[Grizzlybear]

I prefer Gousto - definitely get a code and try to get as much money off as poss! I tend to get it when I know I will have a very busy week, and it’s seriously worth it. I wouldn’t get it all the time.

 

[Lola UK]

We’ve used Gousto for a while now and love it. You can drop it and pick it back up whenever you like. The meals are lovely and easy to make.

It might be slightly more expensive but personally, if I go shopping, I can go to Tesco and spend £80 and I don’t have 4 good proper meals to make for the week.. with Gousto I think it’s £35 and I’ve got 4 great healthy filling meals. For us it’s worth it!

 

[tinkertailorsoldierspy]

Thanks everyone, really useful!

 

[Justhereforthebantslll]

Glad I came across this thread as I’ve been looking at both of these aswell!

 

[Tiredbones]

I used Guosto for a couple of months earlier this year. We really liked the majority of the recipes we tried, my only criticism would be the sizes of main ingredients, like chicken. I found these to often be really small, in the supermarket I can search for a pack of chicken breasts the size I want for example. Quite often I would still be hungry at the end of a meal and I have a very small appetite.
Other than that I really liked it, I just stopped because it is a bit more expensive

 

[Happy35]

I was bought a Gousto box by my son as he had an extra code, I loved it as found the recipes tasty and simple to cook. I love cooking but found myself always making the same things, so have made the recipes again it by buying the ingredients in the supermarket. The recipes are also online. I am going away self catering in August and will be ordering a box to take with me.

 

[bepobee]

I've not used gousto but have tried hello fresh a couple of times, only when heavily discounted. It's good for trying new recipes but in my last 2 orders there were ingredients missing from the box. In the first it was the pork and the second had several ingredients missing from one recipe. The ingredients were also quite poor quality.

As an alternative I'd highly recommend simply cook which is just recipe cards and spice/paste pots, so you buy your own ingredients. Makes it easier to switch ingredients you don't like and there's no pressure to eat all the meals in one week. Also much cheaper getting your own ingredients than gousto or hello fresh boxes. You can usually get a free trial box and I regularly get offered a £3 box so good value I think.

 

[under the ivy]

I love Hello Fresh! I really rate the Cajun chicken creamy pasta and Thai pork recipes

 

[ATV2021]

I'm a fussy sod so I find Hellofresh better than Gousto (I can never find enough recipes I'd eat on Gousto). As a single person the 3 meals for 2 does me for a week and it's foolproof which I need but I have skipped 3 weeks as nothing was tempting me. Going to cancel shortly though as cost of living etc lol

 

[Very traditional]

I’ve had guosto and hello fresh (only ever when on an offer) and Gusto is far better in my opinion. Better recipes, more choice, easier instructions, better recipe card (hello fresh ones are like big A3 pieces of paper compared to gustos A6 cards), better customer service, better packaging and better quality ingredients.

 

[rainbowlemon]

Use someone’s referral code for hellofresh!

Easy to find online too on another forum that ends in net and starts with mums.

We got our first box really cheap and liked the recipes, but stopped because of the price.

 

[Giggling Squid]

We’ve used hello fresh for a while now, never paid full price for a box (not worth it IMO). We get a food shop delivered at the weekend and HelloFresh on a Wednesday. Previously we’d go “what’s for dinner” and go to M&S at least one of those nights so it works out cheaper for us. We do a discount, cancel, then a week or 2 later they send another discount of x% off so many boxes. They’re pretty basic, but they work well for us.
All this good gousto feedback I feel like we need to try them, but a part of me begrudges lining the pockets of the saviour of PE

 

[a.pain]

Use someone’s referral code for hellofresh!

Easy to find online too on another forum that ends in net and starts with mums.

We got our first box really cheap and liked the recipes, but stopped because of the price.

Pasted mine at the bottom of this post, anyone feel free to use, shamelessly hoping for some free credit

I’ve tried both, personally prefer hello fresh as I found the Gousto recipes much longer and more complicated. Hello fresh is a lot more basic but it’s family friendly and they do a free ‘premium’ option each week, which normally is extra and these are a bit fancier e.g venison, duck which I don’t like but also chicken saltimbocca, teriyaki salmon etc. Sometimes things are missing but it’s not been bad recently. I always find every meal tasty.

Also you’ll never run out of garlic as you get a whole bulb per box even if you only need one clove

Hi, you’ve been invited to experience cooking with HelloFresh. To get started, claim this £42 discount. Start your cooking adventure today and use the following promo code: HS-PXBF2QXP3.

 

[whyhellothere83]

I’m vegetarian and absolutely love gousto! I tried the free box from hello fresh and they sent me a meat box and a bunch of random ingredients with no cards, which made me not bother again!

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

I’m vegetarian and absolutely love gousto! I tried the free box from hello fresh and they sent me a meat box and a bunch of random ingredients with no cards, which made me not bother again!

The veggie and vegan options are brilliant with Gousto. The burgers are amazing.