LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Meal kits are a popular trend marketed as a way to make your life easier. Most of the kits even arrive at your doorstep as part of a weekly subscription. WHAS 11 Reporter Jonathan Wahl put four meal kits to the test to find out if they're really worth it for your family.
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Day 4: Home Chef
The fourth meal kit I'm making is a Pork Tenderloin with a Basil-Pecorino Cream Sauce from Home Chef. Home Chef had another great website with lots of dietary options (www.homechef.com). The packaging was beautiful and they even include a binder to hold all your recipe cards.
Cost
Per serving, this Home Chef meal cost $12.45. Comparing that the price of other meal kits we used, I'm giving it 3 out of 5 points for cost.
Time
The Home Chef meal took me 38 minutes to complete. The recipe card says it will take 30-40 minutes, so it does fall right in that window. 38 minutes still seemed a little long though when you're paying for convenience, so I rated this 4 out of 5 points for time.
Taste
The vegetables were delicious with great flavor. The pork was soft, tasty and the cream sauce on top was amazing. Home Chef easily gets 5 out of 5 points for taste.
Health
It tastes great, but is it good for my body? To find out, I enlisted the help of dietitian Chris Mohr.
"It’s a pork based dish. Pork is a very healthy source of protein," explained Chris. "It has a cream sauce on top, [which is] okay within reason. Love the colorful vegetables here with the green beans and the carrots. The pork is a lean source of protein, the cream sauce a little higher in fat for sure."
** In the on-air version we said the Home Chef meal didn't come with nutritional information. Later I did find it in small print on the recipe card. It didn't have the full nutritional table like the other companies, but it did include the basics.**
One serving of this meal contains 602 calories, 35g of fat, and 45g of protein.
Chris gave the Home Fresh meal 3 out of 5 points for health.
Overall
Home Chef had one of the best overall presentations and comes in at the top with taste. This company is going to cost you more than some others but has lots of great options to choose from. If you want your meal kit to arrive at your doorstep, this would be a top contender but does not rate as high as HelloFresh. In the end, we gave Home Chef 15 out of 20 points.
Did you miss our ratings of HelloFresh, Blue Apron, and Kroger Prep+Pared? If so, catch up here:
Watch GMK on Friday, February 23 as Jonathan wraps up this series with Renee Murphy. He'll be giving you more insight and other information to help you know what meal kit would be best for you.
