As a meal kit service that focuses on certified organic ingredients, Green Chef is one of the pricier options on the market. Its average price is a bit over $11 per serving, which is not too expensive in comparison to some of its main competitors but may still be significantly more than how much your average homecooked meal costs.
If you are wondering whether Green Chef is worth the cash or simply overpriced, we are here to solve your dilemma. Take a few minutes to read our detailed Green Chef cost analysis and get all the facts you need to decide if this service is worth splurging on.
What You Get In A Green Chef Delivery
When ordering from Green Chef, you can decide whether you want to cook for 2 or 4 people. If you choose the 2-person option, you get to cook with Green Chef 3 times a week. The 4-person option brings you 2 meal kits per weekly delivery.
Your order arrives in an eco-friendly insulated box made with recycled materials. You receive recipe cards and virtually all the ingredients you need to cook your meals. The only ingredients that are not included in the box are salt, pepper, and oil or ghee. In other words, the basics that you probably have in your kitchen at all times.
All the food you receive is pre-portioned and some items are pre-prepped as well. For example, you can get chopped veggies as well as premade sauces, marinades or spice blends, so you do not have to spend too much time on prep. On average, 90% or more of Green Chef ingredients are certified organic and if you do not eat gluten, you can get certified gluten-free ingredients. The service really does its best to source organic and only chooses high-quality alternatives when organic is not an option. For example, it may send you wild-caught fish, which is a premium-quality item but cannot be certified organic in the US. In any case, you can look forward to cooking with fresh, top-shelf ingredients.
As far as the recipe cards go, they are well-designed and feature detailed step-by-step instructions. For easier cooking, the cards do not only include a photo of the end result. You also get to see what your meal should look like at each step of the process. This is something that beginners are sure to appreciate.
How Much Does Green Chef Cost
Green Chef offers two meal plans – the 2-Person plan and the Family plan. With the 2-Person plan, you can choose between 7 meal programs: Balanced Living, Pescatarian, Gluten-Free, Plant Powered, Vegetarian, Keto, and Paleo. With the Family plan, you can opt for the Omnivore program or the Carnivore program.
The average price is $11.49 per serving and the prices range from $9.99 to $12.99 per portion, depending on which plan and program you opt for. Let us find out how much you would pay with each option available.
Green Chef 2-Person Plan Cost
With the 2-Person plan, you get 3 recipes per week, each yielding 2 servings, no matter which program you choose. Each program comes with a separate weekly menu featuring 4-6 recipes per week and you get to decide which recipes go into your box. The prices of 2-Person programs are as follows:
- Balanced Living program – $11.99 per serving, $71.94 per week;
- Plant Powered program – $9.99 per serving, $59.94 per week;
- Keto program – $12.99 per serving, $77.94 per week;
- Paleo program – $12.99 per serving, $77.94 per week.
The prices shown above do not include shipping costs.
Green Chef Family Plan Cost
With the Family plan, you get to choose 2 out of 4 recipes per week, each yielding 4 servings. The price of the Family plan is:
- $10.99 per serving, $87.92 per week.
Just like with the 2-Person plan, the price does not include shipping costs.
Green Chef Shipping Costs
Unfortunately, Green Chef does not offer free shipping, no matter how many meals you order. All weekly deliveries you receive from Green Chef come with a $7.99 fee. Costs do not vary depending on location – the same flat fee applies to all deliveries throughout the US.
It should be noted that $7.99 per delivery is $1 higher than what Sun Basket, HelloFresh, and a number of other Green Chef competitors charge for shipping.
Green Chef Coupons & Special Offers
Among the best meal kit delivery services in America, Green Chef is one of the most generous when it comes to coupons and special offers. There is always at least 1 active coupon available and quite often, you can get as much as $75 off your orders. To save you time and cash, we diligently collect coupons and promo codes that you can view and apply in a single click by visiting our Green Chef Coupons page.
The company offers another nice way to spend less on your orders. With its excellent referral program, you get a $25 credit every time you successfully refer a friend. Your friends get great gifts, too – once they sign up, they get 4 free meals in their first order. The only rule is that your friends need to be first-time customers.
Green Chef Returns & Refunds
Due to the perishable nature of its products, Green Chef does not accept returns, unless necessary to determine whether a refund request is fraudulent. However, it does promise to make it right if you receive damaged or faulty goods.
If your Green Chef shipment gets damaged during transit or you receive food of unsatisfactory quality or condition, you should get in touch with the company’s support staff via email or phone within 7 days after you receive your delivery. You can get a replacement or a partial credit equal in value to the purchase price of the damaged or unsatisfactory product.
Is Green Chef Worth It?
Since a meal kit service is only worth the cash if it is in some way superior to its alternatives, it is time to discover how Green Chef compares to other home dining solutions. These include other popular meal kit services, takeout, and traditional cooking with ingredients you purchase yourself.
Green Chef Vs. Competitors
Green Chef is more expensive than many meal kit services in America. Its average price per serving is the same as Sun Basket‘s and there are only a few services with a higher average price, such as Terra’s Kitchen and PeachDish. In comparison to less expensive top-rated meal kits, it charges about $2 more per serving, which is not an enormous difference, but it is not negligible either.
The question is whether it brings something extra to the table, thus justifying the relatively high price. To be honest, it does. Unlike most meal kit services currently on the market, it provides:
- USDA certified organic ingredients;
- Unparalleled range of options for special dietary needs;
- Certified gluten-free meal options;
- As many as 5 specialized meal programs;
- Semi-prepped ingredients and pre-made sauces, dressings, marinades, and spice blends for speedier cooking.
Since the service provides only the best, most expensive ingredients, pre-prepped by pro chefs, and brings you meal kits that can work for everyone from vegetarians and vegans to individuals on keto, Paleo, and gluten-free diets, there is no denying that its offer is superior to that of most of its competitors. Therefore, it definitely makes sense to pay a bit extra for Green Chef meals if you are on a special diet and eating organic is important to you. On the other hand, if you do not eat organic and you have no unique dietary needs and preferences, even the least expensive options like Dinnerly can work for you and you do not have to invest the extra cash.
In sum, Green Chef’s pricing is justified by the premium quality of its ingredients and the diversity of its offer. It has gone to great lengths to outdo its competition in more than one way. Whether it is the best choice for you depends on whether what it offers is what you need or you would gladly settle for less due to the absence of special dietary needs and ingredient preferences.
Green Chef Vs. Takeout
Green Chef does not necessarily cost more than takeout, especially if you are picky about where you get your meals. However, there are a couple of reasons why it is virtually always a better choice than takeout. First, it provides ingredients of far superior quality. Second, the meals you cook with Green Chef are much healthier and more nutritious than the standard carb-loaded, high-calorie takeout food. Third, whatever your dietary needs may be, Green Chef is much more likely to satisfy them than most takeout options. Therefore, Green Chef lets you enjoy meals that are far better for your health and often much tastier as well, without asking you to spend much more cash than you would if you ordered a decent takeout.
Green Chef Vs. Conventional Cooking
According to an internal test conducted by Green Chef, if you shop at a grocery store and purchase Green-Chef-quality ingredients to prepare Green Chef meals, you may pay up to 70% more in comparison to how much you pay if you subscribe to the service. This is a rather interesting claim that is not perfectly easy to test.
There is no doubt that you can make a nice meal at home and spend far less than you would if you ordered from Green Chef. However, it is also true that certified organic and certified gluten-free ingredients come with huge price tags. The service also sends pre-measured ingredients, allowing you to save money by eliminating food waste. Plus, since Green Chef kits often include hard-to-come-by ingredients, you are unlikely to find everything you need to cook its meals in a single store, so it makes sense to factor in gas money. Getting pre-made and pre-prepped ingredients is another extra perk that comes with extra costs.
While we cannot confirm that you would save 70% or more if you subscribed to Green Chef, simply because it all depends on where you live and where you shop, we can say that Green Chef makes cooking healthy, high-quality meals much easier and it does not overcharge for the service. In our opinion, all the time you save on finding certified organic ingredients for every dish, prepping your food, and searching for tasty recipes that suit your needs makes Green Chef more than worth the price. Conventional cooking can certainly cost less, but only if you opt for ingredients of lower quality.
Green Chef Is A Good Choice For…
Green Chef is not the best and most frugal choice for individuals who stick to classic omnivore dishes and conventional, non-organic ingredients. However, it is one of the top solutions for:
- Keto and Paleo dieters;
- Individuals allergic to gluten;
- People who eat organic;
- Vegans and vegetarians;
- Busy and inexperienced cooks who like their ingredients pre-prepped;
- Families who want to eat healthily;
- Eco-conscious home cooks.
Simply put, Green Chef is a premium choice for home diners with high expectations. If what you seek in a meal kit service is more than just conventional ingredients and ordinary recipes that you could easily get yourself, we warmly recommend giving Green Chef a chance. It is definitely worth it.