Chef’d Review

Important update: On Monday, July 16, 2018, Chef’d meal kit service ceased operations. Its founder and CEO Kyle Ransford cited unexpected circumstances with funding for the business. We are sad to say that the company will no longer be processing orders and that the world of meal kits has lost a true giant, well-loved by numerous home cooks across America.

Chef’d is meal kit delivery service that is known for its incredible variety of recipes and high quality of ingredients. It operates in partnership with famous chefs, great culinary brands, popular food media, and the best restaurants, bringing you perfect meal ideas for nearly every taste. Join us as we explore its exquisite offer in this objective Chef’d review.

How Chef’d Works

Chef’d is a candy store for lovers of good food. You can browse and shop commitment-free, as it does not require a subscription. There are hundreds upon hundreds of meal kits at your disposal, curated by some of the best chefs in the country. Pick the ones you want to cook, throw them in the cart, and just proceed to the checkout, like in any other store.

In order to help you choose the perfect meal kit more easily, Chef’d has introduced the Personalize option. It allows you to state your preferences, so Chef’d can suggest the best meal kits for your taste, skills, and needs.

Apart from a la carte ordering, Chef’d also allows you to pick a meal plan and receive weekly deliveries of meal kits of your choice. All plans are designed in cooperation with its famous partners. Read more about them in the Meals and Recipes section of this Chef’d review.

What Makes Chef’d Different

It would not be wrong to say that everything about Chef’d is different, starting with the very concept it employs. It does not force you to subscribe to its services but allows you to order as often as you want, whenever you want, whatever you want, and as much food as you need. If you prefer getting meals on a weekly basis, this option is available as well.

Some meal deliveries work on their own, some partner with one famous chef to make their offer pop, and Chef’d partnered with dozens of them, along with renowned food brands and associations, making its offer unparalleled in the industry.

What also makes it special is the unbelievable number of different dishes on its menus, which has already gone north of 400. These dishes differ in every possible aspect, from preparation time and complexity to cooking method, ingredients, and their suitability for different tastes and dietary needs. It is virtually impossible not to find something you like and want to recreate in your kitchen, using the high-quality, excitingly fresh, pre-portioned ingredients handpicked by the Chef’d team.

It also has a great referral program that lets you receive gifts while giving. Every time you send a friend $10 to spend at Chef’d and this friend makes a purchase, you get $10 as a thank-you gift.

If you want to send a gift worth more than $10, without expecting anything in return, you can opt for one of the gift cards at your disposal. You can send gift cards worth $25, $50, $75, $100, $150 or $200 and let someone enjoy the benefits of shopping at Chef’d without spending a dime. There are three options at your disposal: e-mail gift cards, when you are in need of an instant gift, physical gift cards if you feel like paper is more personal, and group gift cards if you want to spend big.

Meals and Recipes

When shopping for meals a la carte, picking the meals you like without limiting yourself to only one plan, you can take a look at all of them in one place and decide which ones you want to try out. However, with hundreds of dishes at your disposal, it takes a lot of time to check out the entire offer. Luckily, you can sort them by 5 categories: New Arrivals, Best Sellers, Price – Low to High, Price – High to Low, and A-Z.

If sorting by categories does not help, you can take a look at the featured dishes and menus, narrowing your choice down to chefs’ recommendations. Still, our favorite way of shopping at Chef’d and the one we used most while writing this Chef’d review is by browsing the Collections section.

Collections feature recipes for nearly every occasion and mood. There are as over 50 collections at your disposal, ranging from 10 Minute Meals, 500 Calories Or Less, And Quick And Easy To Around The World, Fusion Foods With Flare, and Kids In The Kitchen.

As we have mentioned before, although you do not have to subscribe to its services, Chef’d offers this option as well. You can choose from 5 different plans, which include American Diabetes Association, Atkins, Weight Watchers, The New York Times Cooking, and Spoon University meal plans. The recipes are created in accordance with the philosophies and criteria of the eponymous brands.

What is wonderful about Chef’d is that it can help you realize any culinary idea you have in mind. You can prepare a great dish in just 10 minutes or spend 12 hours making the perfect grilled ribs. You can choose between meals for true carnivores and those for vegetarians. It offers a world of possibilities and allows you to pamper your senses and take care of your health at the same time.

Pricing

The prices at Chef’d are not exactly low, but considering the quality, we can honestly say that they are rather reasonable. There are hundreds of meals in the offer and just as many prices that vary depending on how fancy the meals are, what kind of ingredients they require, and of course, the number of servings. The most inexpensive meals are breakfasts such as almond butter toast, kale scramble, and overnight oats with berries, which all cost $10 per 2 servings. The priciest items on the menu are, for example, Australian Prime Wagyu Filet, which costs $149 for 4 servings, and Prosciutto Wrapped Sea Bass, which costs $117 for 4 servings. However, these are not the priciest meals per serving. Most of the time, the most expensive meals cost around $20 per serving.

If you opt for a meal plan, you can save some cash on your orders. With recurring orders of 1-2 meals, you save 5%, with 3-4 meals per week you get a 10% discount, and all ongoing orders of 2 or more meals come with free shipping.

For Two People (2 servings)
Meal type	Meal kit price	Price per serving
Breakfast	$10.00 - $36.00	$5.00 - $18.00
Lunch	$9.00 - $48.00	$4.50 - $24.00
Dinner	$9.00 - $80.00	$4.50 - $40.00
For Four People (4 servings)
Meal type	Meal kit price	Price per serving
Breakfast	$23.00 - $63.00	$5.75 - $15.75
Lunch	$11.00 - $86.00	$2.75 - $21.50
Dinner	$11.00 - $149.00	$2.75 - $37.25

Delivery Areas

Chef’d delivers throughout the contiguous United States via OnTrac and FedEx. Unfortunately, it does not ship to Alaska and Hawaii. You can choose the delivery day that suits you best. The usual delivery days are between Tuesday and Saturday, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. You do not have to be at home at the time of the delivery, as long as there is a safe place for the driver to leave your food.

For orders that cost less than $40, the shipping costs are $10. Every delivery over $40 comes with free shipping.

Chef’d Pros And Cons

To make sure Chef’d meets all your standards and expectations, it is important to know its biggest advantages and disadvantages. With a short overview of its pros and cons, you can easily decide if Chef’d is the right meal kit service for you.

Sample Dishes

If you subscribe to Chef’d, you can easily prepare culinary masterpieces using only the ingredients and recipes found in your meal kit box. You may not be a pro chef just yet, but with Chef’d, you can easily make restaurant-grade meals. You don’t have to take our word for it – check out the images below to get a better idea of the types of dishes you can enjoy with Chef’d.