I was excited to try Green Chef because all the ingredients were organic, the meat was produced without antibiotics, etc. My first disappointment was when I realized that I could not pick which of the 6 recipes offered that week that I wanted. You set your meat preferences and the company picks based on those preferences. I selected the ‘omnivore’ meals, but they also offer vegetarian, gluten-free, carnivore, and paleo (meat and veggies, no processed foods). The omnivore meal gets two recipes with meat, and one vegetarian recipe. Two of the three meals I received were ones that I would’ve picked anyway. The third meal, BBQ cauliflower ‘wings’, was not one I would’ve picked. When I received the box, I found that the three meals were color-coded, so it was easy to sort all the ingredients. There were a ton of ingredients, and all ingredients were of the highest quality and well-packed for safe shipping. I started the Caribbean chicken meal, but soon found out I was missing an ingredient – coconut milk. As you might imagine, coconut milk is not a staple in my household, so I had to quickly switch to the Berbere lamb-burgers until I could get some. Green Chef has reimbursed me the cost of one meal for my inconvenience of forgetting my coconut milk. I loved the lamb-burger and Caribbean chicken recipes. They had unusual, but delicious flavors. The BBQ cauliflower fell short of our expectations. The slaw and cornbread in the recipe were delicious, but the peach BBQ sauce used for the cauliflower was too sweet. I’m glad I bought some fish to go with this meal, or we would’ve been left hungry.
So, Green Chef has top quality ingredients, and their commitment to sustainable farming practices is to be admired. However, the lack of flexibility in choosing meals, and the high cost ($12/meal + $9 shipping) will keep me from ordering from them again.
