Home Chef vs Hungryroot (+3 Ingredient types)
This detailed article will compare the features of Home Chef and Hungryroot side by side. Home Chef is a popular meal-kit delivery service which operates in most of the areas in the United States. On the other hand, Hungryroot offers more than just meal kits and provides even groceries to customers.
At the end, we will give you our opinions on which of these two may be the better choice based on first hand experiences.
Home Chef vs Hungryroot
The following table will depict the main features which are present in Home Chef as well as those in Hungryroot. The limitations of both 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 descriptionNutritional factRecipe cardsMobile app | Recipe cardOnline information |
| Recipes supported | VegetarianPoultryWithout nutsWithout soySeafoodWithout wheatPorkCarb-consciousCalorie conscious | VeganVegetarianOmnivoreDairy-freeGluten-freeSoy-freeNut-freeEgg-freeShellfish-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 meat1-2 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 servingRequires very little cooking time | 8-serving plan 4 recipes$8.99 per serving |
| Entrée salads $9.95 per servingNo 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 which 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 in to 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 are 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 free from 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 cannot 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 bagsInsulated linersIce packsPlastic containersRecipe cards | BoxPaper coolerFood protectorIce 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 a 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 BurgerPreparation time: 35-45 minsSpice level: MildDifficulty: Easy | Name: Grilled Chicken Tahini WrapPreparation time: 12 minsCalorie count: 540Serving size: 2 servings |
| Sample 2 | Name: Korean Fried ChickenPreparation time: 30-40 minsSpice level: MediumDifficulty: Intermediate | Name: Lemon Pepper Chicken + Broccoli Cheddar Baked PotatoPreparation time: 22 minsCalorie count: 730Serving size: 2 servings |
| Sample 3 | Name: Garlic-Parmesan Crusted Filet MignonPreparation time: 35-45 minsSpice level: Not spicyDifficulty: Expert | Name: Coconut Curry Chicken Power BowlPreparation time: 16 minsCalorie count: 580Serving 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 only 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 bring 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 in 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 bring you the best reviews of each and every meal delivery service, we spoke to testers and real life users, reviewed the information provided by each service on their respective websites, carried out primary research on social media platforms and checked out the user reviews of these platforms on various social media sites. We have also used the reviews presented by current users of these services on their respective Google and Apple apps.
We are currently conducting our own internal review and we will update this page with videos and pictures of our experiences. If they differ extensively from what our external reviewers said then we will update this post so you get both points of views and can decide which service provider is more suited to your needs based on the information above.
The main types of criteria which we have used in order to assess and evaluate these meal delivery services is the simplicity of the recipes, the variety of meals in the service, the inclusiveness of diets and cuisines and even the supporting material.
In addition to these, we have also taken into regard the sustainability and recyclability of the packaging of these services. Lastly, we have also considered the delivery services and customer services of these platforms.
Frequently asked questions: “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.
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Other FAQs about Home Chef that you may be interested in.
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