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I love cooking with my boyfriend, but alas, the broke college budget means we are mostly cooking chicken and pasta for dinner and eggs for breakfast. It’s still fun, but on the rare occasion that we do cook something exciting, like on Valentine’s Day when he surprised me with stuffed peppers, it is extraordinary. But it is expensive and there tends to be a lot of food waste.Â
So I thought, meal kits could be the solution. But potentially like many of you, I did not want to pull the trigger and subscribe to something I hadn’t tried yet. So, in order to give you all a proper review, HelloFresh gifted me a box with a couple of meals to try. But don’t worry queens, I’m going to be honest about what is and is not worth it from my perspective.
So I would say that my overall experience with the meal kits was great. I cooked a blackened chicken penne and a harvest chicken and spinach salad with feta. And they were truly some of the best meals I have ever had. Genuinely, they were so phenomenal, all my friends agreed and it really pushed me to try foods and cooking styles that I had never thought of. So I really learned a lot about cooking and expanded my palate during this experience.
I cooked the first one by myself and the second one with friends to see if they are manageable solo and in a group. Spoiler alert: both were very easy and fun to cook together. The only issue I came across is that one was missing a clove of garlic, but thankfully I had one already.
So the not so surprising conclusion is that the meal kits were delicious, healthy, easy to cook and came in large portions. They were nearly perfect. But are they worth it in terms of cost?
I can’t speak for all services like this, but HelloFresh meal kits come in a subscription box per week. You choose the meals you want and can purchase between two to six weekly meals for two, four or six people.Â
Since we are talking about date nights for college students, I am going to assume you are buying for two people, two to three nights a week. In this price range, meals end up costing about $11 per serving. I think this may or may not be worth it depending on your lifestyle.
If you are a single pringle who wants to take a date home every so often to cook a meal for them, this might not be for you. Unless of course you want to eat these meals solo, then go for it. But if you are only buying this for date nights, you would have to have a lot of dates lined up.
However, if you have a partner and you regularly cook or go out to eat together, I think this is a fabulous option. It is definitely more cost-effective than going out to eat, so you could potentially save money in that department. And it would be a great way to spice up something you are probably regularly doing together anyway, eating and cooking.Â
You also get the many benefits of cooking with a partner. One survey stated that 87% of adults felt like cooking was one of the top activities couples can participate in to strengthen their relationship. Why? Firstly because of the communication skills you build while working on a recipe with your partner. But also because cooking something for a loved one is an act of service and kindness. It is a meaningful gesture that people tend to appreciate.
So if you are in a steady relationship, I think meal kits are a great option for regular date nights. I know that after trying it for myself, my boyfriend and I are confident that we would like to get meal kits if we move in together. They’re a reasonable price and you get great bang for your buck as far as quality, quantity and experience goes!