Home Chef vs. Hungryroot Comparison Review and Prices (+3 Ingredient Types)
In the ever-evolving landscape of meal kit delivery services, Home Chef and Hungryroot have emerged as popular options for those looking to simplify their cooking routines. Both services aim to provide delicious meals straight to your doorstep, but they do so with different approaches to meal preparation, recipe variety, and nutritional offerings. With a myriad of choices available, it can be challenging to determine which service aligns best with your lifestyle and culinary preferences.
Have you ever wondered how these two meal kit services compare when it comes to cost, convenience, and overall meal satisfaction? As you explore the differences, you might discover which service not only meets your dietary needs but also enhances your cooking experience at home.
By reading this article, you’ll gain valuable insights into the pricing, meal options, and convenience of both Home Chef and Hungryroot. Whether you’re a busy professional looking to save time in the kitchen or a health-conscious eater seeking nutritious meals, this comparison will empower you to make an informed decision and choose the meal kit that’s right for you.
Home Chef vs Hungryroot Comparison
The following table will depict the main features that are present in Home Chef as well as those in Hungryroot. The limitations of both of these meal kit delivery services have also been shown in the table below, which can help you make a better educated decision in choosing which platform serves you in a better manner.
| Feature | Home Chef | Hungryroot |
| Delivery areas | 98% of the United States aside from Alaska & Hawaii | 98% of the United States aside from Alaska & Hawaii |
| Price range | $30 to $120 per week for two | $99 to $129 per week |
| Price per plate | $8.99 per plate | $8.49 per plate |
| Difficulty levels | EasyIntermediateExpert | Easy |
| Avg. cooking time | 30 minutes per meal | 10 minutes or lesser |
| Avg. calorie count | 400-600 calories per serving | 300-400 calories per serving |
| Supporting material | Meal description, Nutritional fact, Recipe cards, Mobile app | Recipe card, Online information |
| Recipes supported | Vegetarian, Poultry Without nuts, Without soy, Seafood Without wheat, Pork, Carb-conscious Calorie conscious | Vegan, Vegetarian, Omnivore, Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Soy-free, Nut-free, Egg-free, Shellfish-free |
| No. of choices | 13 per week | Differs from person to person |
| Introductory deal | $20 off in first box with free shipping | 30% off on first order + free gift with every delivery |
| Avg. shelf life | 3-5 days for meat, 1-2 days for seafood | 14 days |
Types of Plans: Home Chef vs Hungryroot
| Home Chef | Hungryroot |
| Oven Ready meals $13 per meal serves two Only needs to be heated in the oven | 6-Serving Plan 3 recipes, $9.99 per serving |
| 15-minute meal kits $9.95 per serving, Requires very little cooking time | 8-serving plan 4 recipes, $8.99 per serving |
| Entrée salads $9.95 per serving, No cooking required | 10-serving plan 5 recipes, $8.75 per serving |
| Standard Meal Kits $8.89 per servingMinimum 30 minutes prep time | 12-serving plan 6 recipes, $8.49 per serving |
| 14-serving plan 7 recipes, $8.49 per serving | |
| 16-serving plan 8 recipes, $8.49 per serving |
Home Chef offers a number of solid meal plans for its customers to choose from. The meal plans here not only cover every type of recipe imaginable but even come in various sized boxes to accommodate various sizes of families. Home Chef also offers very easy-to-cook recipes that can be prepared within 15 minutes.
Hungryroot allows its customers to place orders for not only meal kits but even groceries. The recipes in Hungryroot come with health and taste packed into one box. The customer can choose the number of recipes that they want to receive in a week through the various meal box options presented here.
Winner: Hungryroot wins the Types of Plans segment.
Types of Ingredients: Home Chef vs Hungryroot
| Ingredient type | Home Chef | Hungryroot |
| Produce | Not always organic produceMore of seasonal produce | OrganicNon-GMO |
| Meat, eggs, fish | USDA FSIS approved | Antibiotic-freeHormone-free |
| Other ingredients | SeasoningsSpicesSauces | CondimentsSauces |
When it comes to ingredients, Home Chef as well as Hungryroot, provides very safe products for their meal kits. In Home Chef, the ingredients are safe and come from local vendors. However, they are not guaranteed to be organic all the time. The meat in Home Chef meal kits is USDA FSIS-inspected and approved.
Hungryroot brings very safe and tasty ingredients to its customers. The produce in Hungryroot is organic and GMO-free and thus quite safe to consume long-term. The meat in the Hungryroot meal kits is free of antibiotics and even hormones. Hungryroot also provides safe and nutritious condiments and sauces.
Winner: Hungryroot is the winner in the Types of Ingredients segment.
Add-Ons: Home Chef vs Hungryroot
| Home Chef | Hungryroot |
| DessertSaladBreadFruitSmoothie | All types of grocery items |
Home Chef customers can add many items to their meal kits in order to make their meals even more wholesome and complete. The add-ons in Home Chef cover not only desserts and sides but even bread. Furthermore, Home Chef offers an excellent range of healthy and tasty breakfast smoothies, which can help anyone start their day in the right manner.
Lots of customers love Hungryroot simply because they can not only add recipes to their meal boxes but also grocery items for everyday usage. The customer can even find add-ons for their specific meal, such as desserts and sides, in the list of grocery items available in Hungryroot. These add-ons are not only affordable but even very delicious.
Winner: Hungryroot wins in the Add-ons segment.
Packaging of Meal kit: Home Chef vs Hungryroot
| Home Chef | Hungryroot |
| Meal boxDividerProduce bags, Insulated linersIce packs, Plastic containers, Recipe cards | BoxPaper coolerFood protector, Ice pack |
| Fully recyclable | Fully recyclable |
Home Chef uses very sustainable and recyclable packaging for its meal boxes, and this is one of the main reasons why customers love this meal kit delivery service. The meal box in Home Chef is made out of recyclable cardboard. This includes the divers and the liners, which help in insulating the meal box.
Hungryroot also uses very environment-friendly packaging. The cardboard material used to make the box, the paper cooler, and the food protector can be recycled curbside. Furthermore, Hungryroot uses two types of ice packs, Envirolce and Earthwise. The Envirolce ice pack can be used to feed plants.
Winner: Both Home Chef and Hungryroot win the Packaging of Meal Kits segment.
Customer Support: Home Chef vs Hungryroot
| Feature | Home Chef | Hungryroot |
| Chat support | – | – |
| Email support | + | + |
| Phone support | + | – |
| Availability | Monday-Saturday | All days of the week |
Home Chef allows its customers to contact the customer support team through emails or even through phone calls. The email support can be reached at any time of the day and the week, while the phone support can be reached from Monday to Saturday. Unfortunately, there is no chat support available in Home Chef.
Hungryroot allows its customers to reach through mainly emails. There is no phone support here, nor is there a live chat platform. However, there is text support in Hungryroot for those who might want a little faster response. The customer support in Hungryroot is available for reaching out on all days of the week.
Winner: Home Chef is the Winner in the Customer Support segment.
Sample Meals: Home Chef vs Hungryroot
| Sample | Home Chef | Hungryroot |
| Sample 1 | Name: Japanese BBQ Burger, Preparation time: 35-45 mins, Spice level: Mild, Difficulty: Easy | Name: Grilled Chicken Tahini Wrap, Preparation time: 12 mins, Calorie count: 540, Serving size: 2 servings |
| Sample 2 | Name: Korean Fried Chicken, Preparation time: 30-40 mins, Spice level: Medium, Difficulty: Intermediate | Name: Lemon Pepper Chicken + Broccoli Cheddar Baked Potato, Preparation time: 22 mins, Calorie count: 730, Serving size: 2 servings |
| Sample 3 | Name: Garlic-Parmesan Crusted Filet Mignon, Preparation time: 35-45 mins, Spice level: Not spicy, Difficulty: Expert | Name: Coconut Curry Chicken Power Bowl, Preparation time: 16 mins, Calorie count: 580, Serving size: 2 servings |
The meal kits in Home Chef are packed with enough goodies to create delicious and healthy recipes for the customers. The recipes cover different difficulty levels, from beginner to expert levels. Customers who are opting for recipes from the Culinary Collection will need to spend more time and effort as these meals require more intricate concentration.
Hungryroot not only offers meal kits for customers to cook from but also has grocery items for the customer to purchase from in the service. The meal kits in Hungryroot vary in their cooking time and even their difficulty levels. The customer is also free to add items to the meal kits from the list of grocery items in Hungryroot.
Winner: Hungryroot wins in the Sample Meals segment.
App rating: Home Chef vs Hungryroot
| Platform | Home Chef | Hungryroot |
| Google Play Store | 2.1 | Not available |
| Apple App Store | 3.2 | 4.9 |
| TWP Rating | 3.5/5 | 3/5 |
Final Verdict: Home Chef wins the battle, due to its variety and simple mobile app.
Home Chef is one of the most popular meal kit delivery services that brings a range of recipes for customers to choose from. The recipes in Home Chef are not only easy to follow but differ in difficulty levels. And thus, customers who want to learn new cooking techniques can opt for Home Chef.
In Home Chef, the recipes cover a range of cuisines and even diets. While there are no specific recipes related to certain diets, there are still many health-oriented recipes like low-carb and low-calorie diets. The customer can also easily create add-ons for the meal kits in terms of sides, desserts, and even bread.
Hungryroot is great for those who want meal kits as well as groceries for their household. The recipes in Hungryroot cover a range of dietary requirements and even difficulty levels of cooking. In terms of add-ons, the customer can add more items to their meal kit from the list of groceries on the platform.
Hungryroot also uses very eco-friendly packaging and even provides plenty of instructions for customers to reuse or recycle the elements of the packaging. In Hungryroot, the customer can also choose their recipes based on their specific diets, such as vegetarian, seafood, or even plant-protein based requirements.
When we compare Home Chef and Hungryroot in terms of meal-kit delivery, the former certainly wins the game. Home Chef not only takes a lot of effort to bring variety and health to the customer, but also is better in terms of customer service. On the other hand, Hungryroot does not have an app for Android devices and even lacks phone support.
Methodology
To provide you the best reviews of all the meal delivery companies, we looked at the information each one of them provided on their own websites, reviewed user reviews of these platforms on several social media sites, spoke with testers and actual users, and conducted main research on social media platforms. Additionally examined utilizing the relevant Google and Apple applications are reviews from past users of these services.
As we proceed with our internal review, images and videos of our experiences will be added to this page. Should they differ greatly from those of our outside reviewers, we will update this page to offer you both points of view. This helps you to select the service provider most appropriate for your requirements by use of the above mentioned facts.
The simplicity of the recipes, the variety of meals provided, the variety of diets and cuisines, and even the supporting documentation define our main standards for assessing these meal delivery companies.
We also have taken into account the recyclability of the packaging for these goods. At last, we have considered the customer service and shipping these websites offer.
FAQs on “Home Chef vs Hungryroot”
Is Home Chef owned by Kroger?
Yes, Home Chef is owned by Kroger. After being purchased by Kroger, Home Chef meal kits are sold in these supermarkets as well. Home Chef was purchased by Kroger mainly due to the customer satisfaction of this meal kit delivery service.
Does Hungryroot have pre made meals?
No, Hungryroot does not have pre made meals. Instead, the meal kits in Hungryroot need to be fully cooked by the customer after they receive them. Hungryroot gives the customer groceries along with recipes so that they can cook their desired meals in a fast and easy manner.
How many meals do you get with Hungryroot?
With Hungryroot, you can get six servings per week for a price of $60. You can also add more meals to your meal kit for an increased price.
