I have been trying to find a way to make meals easier on me. I LOVE to cook and meal plan but lately… I don’t know… I am tired. My brain needed space for other stuff so I started looking into meal planning boxes. Hungry Root ($50 referral link!) has fit the bill for us so far. I have been using it for 6-ish weeks and plan to keep it up for a while. We started out with four servings for four meal, 7-10 breakfast servings, 8-12 snack, and 0 desserts. After 2 weeks I realized we just needed meals so I stopped the snacks and breakfast stuff. It wasn’t that we didn’t like the options, just realized we didn’t really need them.
We have liked all the meals so far. There was one meal that came with red lentil pasta. We tried the pasta, then put it in the worm bin and made regular pasta.
Here’s my pro/con list
Pros:
-meals are more complete than other boxes we tried. Occasionally I need to add a side to round it out but we get a free veggie every week and we have a garden so that usually takes care of it.
-super easy. Like REALLY easy cooking. I have had meals ready in 10-30 minutes. Only one (that I remember) took longer than that. The hardest thing I have had to do was pan sear chicken thighs on each side then cook in a sauce.
-VERY customizable with an extensive preference quiz.
-Credit based system so you can buy more credits for snacks but use them on meals.
-Meals are pretty healthy overall. No added crap.
-Packaging is more environmentally friendly than other boxes we tried.
-Meals are pretty filling. I think this is because they use more veggies than other boxes we tried.
-they send full packages of stuff like bread, spinach, cheese, tortillas, etc. So you can use them for other meals. We have used the spinach as sides for other meal or in smoothies, Cheese and tortillas for quesadillas. Bread for PB and J lunches. Avocado crema in smoothies.
-If you don’t want to think about it, you can fill out the preference quiz and never look at the menu plan/grocery list. Zero thinking if you do it this way. Great for brain space/mental load.
-You can change your plan at any time.
-You still have access to all the snacks, breakfasts, and sweets even if you don’t have that in your plan. I love looking for new stuff when I have a few extra credits to use up.
-we get to try new things!
Cons:
-I don’t think it’s saving us any money. We don’t eat out a ton but if you were, I could see this helping with cost
-If you really LOVE cooking, it’s not going to help you with that. This is really quick, almost heat and eat, cooking.
-Only come in 2 or 4 serving options. BUT I have a friend with a family of 5 and she can easily stretch the meals with stuff she keeps around the house (like extra sides, another chicken breast) or you can buy more of the ingredients from Hungry Root.
-We don’t typically have a lot of left overs. We have 4 peeps but the kids probably eat one serving between the 2 of them. We might have a small serving left over for a snack later.
-The protein sizes are about 4 ounces a person. I know that’s what’s recommended but it always seems so small to me. But this is how other meal plan boxes work, too.
Tips:
-Really look at all the options on the quiz and be honest but willing to try new stuff.
-Purchase bigger packages that you need and use the credits for more meal, sides, proteins, or whatever else you think looks good.
-Stick with lower credit meals and you can get more meals or other goodies.
-If you have recipes that share something like spinach and you know you are getting a lot from the one recipe, don’t get the second recipe as a package. Get them as individual items and you might save credits and fridge space.
-We have frozen sauces, spinach, and bread with no issues. Then look through the recipes and find something that looks yummy. Purchase just the groceries you need to finish the meal.
Overall, I really like Hungry Root. It’s been a good fit for our family. Try it and let me know what you think!
