Chef’d Review

This New Year’s Eve, my husband and I decided to enjoy dinner at home with a meal kit from Chef’d. We’ve tried a few other meal kit delivery services and we were curious to see how Chef’d compared.

Rob and I had just returned from our annual holiday travels and desperately needed a night in. Our fridge was empty, we were tired and our cupboards were bare, but we wanted to celebrate with a delicious home-cooked meal to welcome 2017 Rob & Laura style. Our solution was to try a meal kit from Chef’d.

Chef’d: a quick summary

Overview of Service

Chef’d has partnered with celebrity chefs, popular restaurants, culinary brands and food media to deliver fresh ingredients and world famous recipes to doorsteps throughout the USA.

Chef’d provides:

• Fresh ingredients
• 300+ easy-to-follow recipes (with meal plan options) that accommodate all dietary needs
• the ability to reorder favorite meals
• partnerships with popular brands like Weight Watchers, the American Diabetes Association, and more.

What makes Chef’d unique?

Chef’d does not require a subscription like other meal kit services. Chef’d states here, “…the choice is truly in the hands of the consumer. With no subscriptions, the ability to re-order your favorites, and a selection of over 300 meals, Chef’d is changing the meal kit landscape one delicious meal at a time.” Chef’d does not require a minimum number of meals to be purchased per week either – just order what you want, when you want. Meals arrive within 1-2 days from the online order date, Tuesday – Saturday, based on your zip code.

Recipes are created by well-known chefs, culinary experts and leaders in nutrition, including Chef Fabio Viviani, The New York Times Cooking and Atkins. Chef’d partners with many highly-respected brands such as Weight Watchers, Beyond Meat, Men’s Health, and P.F. Changs to deliver meal options for a wide range of tastes, skill levels and lifestyles.

Meals compliment vegetarian, vegan and gluten free diet needs while providing the ability to filter meals with preferences such as Family Friendly, Gourmet, Quick and Easy, Lighter Options and categories such as Breakfast and Dessert.

Chef’d has also partnered with Spoon University to create tasty and convenient meal kits for students (and student budgets).

My Experience

Meal Selected:

Seared Salmon with Roasted Cauliflower and Purple Potatoes

Cost:

$36, dinner for 2

Chef’d arrived at my doorstep the morning after my order was placed. I was busy cleaning up the house and climbing laundry mountain so I didn’t actually open the Chef’d box until mid-afternoon, once I’d finally showered…

I was pleasantly surprised. The vegetables were crisp and fresh, the temperature of the meats and dairy had been maintained and everything was organized beautifully. I also received a few additional food items at no charge from partners of Chef’d.

Check out my video below that highlights the receipt of my Chef’d meal kit, the food preparation, the meal itself and my overall thoughts.

Why would someone who loves to cook… order a meal kit?

I love to cook. I don’t have any formal training… heck, I don’t even have proper knives, but I do love to cook. So you might be wondering: why would someone like me who loves to cook, want to try a meal kit service like Chef’d? Isn’t that taking the easy way out?

First, one young housewife can only have so many culinary ideas and secondly, exhaustion from the daily grind takes over every so often. Sometimes, even someone like me that loves to cook, wishes “mom” would magically appear and make dinner or at least do the grocery shopping so I don’t have to.

Chef’d meal kits help young professionals like myself learn how to cook like the pros with meal ideas AND gourmet without the gray (ya, I found a few gray hairs this last year). Even folks like me who adore cooking, stress out every so often. Afterall, cooking requires ingredients, ingredients require a plan… and some days, there are bigger stresses than, “Is there any oregano in the pantry?” And yes, that’s exactly why fast food options are on every corner. Convenience. Chef’d keeps the nutrition facts frontal so it’s easy to stay on track with health-minded goals AND convenience.

Had Rob and I visited a restaurant, the same meal could have easily cost us $50+, before wine, tip and tax… (plus the Lyft ride $). $36 for two people to enjoy a delicious meal together on New Year’s Eve – that’s a steal! Meals and meal plans range in price so you can explore the website and choose a something within your budget.

By the way, the next time we have a friends over for dinner, I will seriously consider opting for a Chef’d meal kit. No stress, no mess. That’s my kind of entertaining!

Overall I was extremely impressed.

Who is Chef’d for?

After experiencing Chef’d, I think this meal kit service is perfectly suited for the young professional. Chef’d is gourmet enough to impress and comforting enough for a quiet night in. No grocery shopping, no list making, no worry… just a delicious meal you’re in complete control over.

Today, most young professionals pretty much live “on line” so the use of the website will be super simple however, with all the delicious meal options, it might seem be a bit overwhelming. Plan to spend some time exploring and wear a bib (you might drool a little).

Final Thoughts

The flexibility of being able to order exactly what I want is better than having to order through a meal subscription service where the overall meal selection is limited and number of meals/servings one must order each week is defined.

Chef’d has addressed all of my prior meal kit delivery concerns. They have gone a step above by partnering with groups like the American Diabetes Association to offer nutritionally balanced meals. Chef’d has also addressed specific needs such as gluten free, vegan and vegetarian recipes too.

I also love the way this company is heading with options like Spoon University and more!

Have you tried Chef’d? I’d love to year about your experience.

TheTable.tv makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of Laura Gee. This review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by Chef’d. However, the service did provide products for review purposes.