How Home Chef Helps Cut Food Costs • Everyday Cheapskate

If you’re looking for an easy way to save on food while still enjoying delicious meals, let me tell you about Home Chef. It’s the meal kit service that has helped my family and countless readers lower their grocery bills without sacrificing quality. From single professionals to large families, Home Chef has options that fit every budget, with meals that are quick, easy, and satisfying. Here’s why we love it!

Faithful readers will recall that over the years, I have tested a number of the most popular meal kit delivery services. As a result my husband and I now continue to enjoy the Home Chef service that for us, is far and away the best in terms of pricing, food quality, menu choices, alternative options for specific dietary needs, reliable delivery, and the best customer service team this side of heaven!

Since first writing about Home Chef I’ve received the most interesting feedback. But first, a quick review:

From the meal kit delivery services available at that time, I selected Home Chef because our zip code is in its delivery area—and now covers nearly 98% of the country.
It is the cheapest meal kit option.
I predicted it would be the most family-friendly. Turns out I nailed it on that score.
Home Chef beats take-out, curbside pick-out, DoorDash, and all other contactless, home delivery of food.
No tax or tip is added to the bill.

Home Chef meals are absolutely delicious and use normal, fresh food—not exotic fare or ingredients we’ve never heard of and can’t pronounce.

Each week users choose from over 35 meals and 18 extras based on preference and dietary needs including classic, calorie-conscious, carb-conscious, keto-friendly, vegetarian, and Mediterranean.

A Home Chef meal kit includes all the fresh ingredients and instructions needed to cook restaurant-quality meals for 2, 4, or 6 people in the comfort of your own kitchen, eliminating recipe searches and food shopping by sending everything required for that meal—perfectly portioned and ready to go.

MORE: Dinner-in-a-Box is Not What I Thought

Seriously, Home Chef is like having your own personal shopper and sous chef. The meals are wonderful, so easy to prepare—and versatile. And here’s the best thing: Everything I need to make that meal is included all portioned out and ready to go except for oil, salt, and pepper. And I can leave out or reduce items to taste, like the red pepper flakes; or salt.

Real Stories: How Home Chef Helps Save on Food Costs

Home Chef continues to be a godsend for so many families and individuals. Sure does beat take-out, pick-out, and other kinds of home delivery. We can make our meals when we want them, the way we want them at a predictable price, sans tax or tip.

I have enjoyed your feedback (much of it pre-quarantine era)—especially the creative, innovative, and clever ways many are figuring out how to enjoy Home Chef while at the same time making the service work to cut overall food costs:

Single professional

“Cooking for one is not an easy task. I’m not an experienced cook, which makes it even more challenging. I end up going to the grocery and leaving with half a dinner and $50 in snacks. Or if I do plan ahead and try to buy ingredients for a specific recipe, I end up with extra ingredients that expire before I use them. Eating in restaurants gets tiresome and very expensive.

With Home Chef, I choose three 2-serving meals per week (about $60). I’m single, but still, when I prepare one meal, I cook both servings at the same time for convenience. Then I reheat the second serving the following night. HC meals are so good, it doesn’t even seem like leftovers.

With some of the meals (for instance pasta dishes) I can stretch it out for a light lunch, too because the portions are large. I usually freeze the meat for the final meal then prepare for days 5 and 6. One night a week (usually on the weekend) I’ll eat out with friends or family.

What used to be multiple weekly grocery store trips plus ordering delivery or take-out, has now changed into a $60-a-week Home Chef plan—way less than I used to spend on food. I do make an occasional grocery store or Costco run every few weeks for some snacks, fruit, light lunches, and paper goods.”

–Asher

MORE: Highly Effective Food Cost-Cutting Strategies for Every Lifestyle

Single senior

“I am so pleased that I decided to try out Home Chef (thanks for the $35 coupon, by the way). I hadn’t planned to continue after that initial delivery, but I enjoyed it so much, I’ve discovered a way that even on my fixed income, I can make this work.

I order three 2-serving meals plus the 2-serving fruit option one week, and then I use the Skip [a week] option for the following two weeks.

That total cost is $70 or about $23 per week spread over three weeks. I freeze some of the meat and follow the instructions for where and how to store the other ingredients.

I divide the ingredients for each meal so I prepare just one serving at a time. Each 2-serving meal makes four meals for me because I’m a light eater and the portions are large. That’s how I get 12 meals plus fresh fruit almost daily from that one Home Chef delivery box!

Cooking has become enjoyable for me again, and the food is so delicious. I call HC my spark of joy.”

–Millie

Average Family

“We’re a family of four with two young boys. Home Chef is not something we would have thought we could afford, but when Mary asked us to be an EC test family, we agreed, happily. Now that the test period is over, we’ve figured out how we can continue without destroying our food budget. In fact, we are spending a bit less on food each week than we did before we had HC.

Each week we order three 2-serving meals (about $60)—three dinner meals. The portions are large enough that we share the meals four ways, with the adults getting larger shares.

The boys, ages 9 and 4, mostly enjoy the meals and are trying new things all the time. To stretch our HC meals, we supplement the boys’ plates with things they like such as carrot sticks, cheese, applesauce, or mandarin oranges.

No one leaves the table hungry and we are eating fresh, healthy food that is really delicious. HC is such a huge help for our busy lives.”

–Wendy

MORE: 13 Proven Ways to Slash Your Family’s Food Budget Without Causing a Revolt

Large Family

“We are a family of six (four teenagers) for whom it has become prohibitively expensive to eat out in a nice restaurant. Even limiting eating out to special occasions like a Birthday or to celebrate a big accomplishment takes a toll on the food budget. I used the $30 coupon you offered to try Home Chef just to see what it would be like. I loved it.

Because I discovered I could have a Home Chef account that we can use on and off (the Skip option lets me skip one week at a time, but the Pause option puts my account on hold and allows me to start it up and then pause again, anytime), our kids now have the option for their Birthday dinners to go out for fast food or to have a Home Chef 6-serving family meal at home ($60).

So far, it’s Fast Food: 0; HC: 3. The kids do the cooking for our Home Chef meals (super easy-to-follow instructions) and that’s continues to be a big hit.”

–Susan

Dinner Club

“My husband and I plus two other couples have over the years created our own Dinner Club, where we take turns hosting Friday night dinner for the group. The last two times we hosted, we ordered a 6-serving Home Chef meal kit ($60). We loved preparing the meals and everyone raved about the food.

Here’s the fun part: Without meaning to I think we’ve raised the bar for the Dinner Club. More than that, we used to spend a lot more than $60 for one meal—and it would take me all day to shop, prep, and cook. Now our friends think we’ve gone to culinary school because it’s so good and nearly effortless. We’re loving Home Chef!”

–Bob and Joyce

Why Home Chef Makes Sense for Your Budget

Let’s talk savings. Here’s a breakdown of how Home Chef can help you save big on meals, especially compared to dining out or grocery shopping.

For the Family Plan: Meals start at $7.99 per serving, which means for a family of four, you’re looking at about $31.96 per meal. That’s roughly the price of just one fast-food dinner for the whole family. Compare that to the $60-$80 you’d likely spend for a family of four to dine out at a mid-range restaurant!
For the Home Chef Plan: At $9.99 per serving, you’re still looking at a huge savings—around $39.96 for two meals for two people. Even if you eat out at a budget-friendly spot, you’re likely paying more than that, plus the hassle of waiting and the inconvenience of traveling.

In total, by choosing Home Chef, you’re saving time, money, and energy on meal planning, shopping, and cooking.

How to Get Started with Home Chef

Here’s something great for 2025: if you sign up today, you’ll get 18 free meals, free shipping on your first box, and a free dessert item for life with every active subscription order. Click the button below to enjoy this delicious offer.

Home Chef now makes it easy to gift meal kit service, too! Takes no time at all (order your gift card right at the Home Chef site, and they’ll take care of the rest.

Just give it a try, and if it’s not for you, cancel anytime—easy peasy.

Question: What’s your go-to trick for saving money on meals at home? Do you have a favorite meal kit or a clever hack to cut costs without sacrificing taste? Let me know down in the comments below.

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Please keep your comments positive, encouraging, helpful, brief,
and on-topic in keeping with EC Commenting Guidelines

Laura Edwards says:

April 8, 2025 at 6:20 am

I noticed this article was written 5 years ago. A lot has changed since then. There are the delicious ‘regular’ meals and then the mouthwatering ‘premium meals which can cost anywhere from $11.99 up to $15.99 for one serving. Then the shipping price. The portions seem smaller than what they initially were.

I understand the cost of food has escalated since this article was written, and good business measures (shipping) have to be in place, but I would like updates to see if Home Chef (and the other ones) is still saving you money.

Ruthann says:

March 17, 2022 at 1:48 pm

It a shame that those of us who prefer to eat as healthy as possible don’t find that “organic” doesn’t seem to be an option for us.

Cally Ross says:

March 17, 2022 at 9:33 am

I’ve been a Home Chef since the first time you posted about them. I’ve been disappointed to see the shipping to to $13.99 and the “free shipping with orders over….” is gone. I also haven’t seen any fruit baskets like there used to be. as a widow, i’m skipping more weeks due to the cost. I agree with the opinion that the food is great! I may have to check other services though for less expensive options.

Mary Hunt says:
March 17, 2022 at 4:56 pm

No doubt all of the same food shortages and inflation challenges are hitting Home Chef as they each of us. I will be posting a source for fruit, very soon. Stay tuned!

Dorothy says:

March 17, 2022 at 9:30 am

I so wanted to like Home Chef. Although I think it is a little pricey, it was less than eating out and the meals were delicious. The problem for us was all the packaging waste. The cardboard is easy to recycle, but the gel packs that keep it cold are not in our area, and believe me, after a few months of the service these were really stacking up. We can’t empty the inner contents into our septic tank. They said we could just cut them open and pour them out on the ground, but this got so tedious. This has been a couple of years ago and I’d be interested to hear if they’ve solved that problem.

Mary Hunt says:
March 17, 2022 at 5:02 pm

How would you suggest doing that? As the packaging states, the gel substance once thawed out is harmless and can be disposed of down a sewer line or into your garbage can. Just bag it first to avoid a mess 🙂 then into your garbage can. Consider the challenge of keeping all of that food cold so that it is safe to eat once it reaches you. I think Home Chef does a great job in getting those meal kits to our front doors in safe, edible condition. You might want to reconsider?
Don says:
March 17, 2022 at 6:27 pm

You could try to give away the freezer packs online (Nextdoor.com, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Freecycle, etc) or maybe donate them locally to churches, food pantries, and organizations that feed people free meals.

Nina T says:

January 5, 2021 at 12:47 pm

Thanks for this overview of Home Chef, Mary. It is true the affordability and practicality of a meal delivery service is relative; I have always been interested in trying Home Chef, however, my inner Frugal Fran and Workaholic Professional would not allow it. Now, with targeted offers and available Home Chef promotions AND free shipping, I am able to try Home Chef for a VERY LOW price per box. My inner Frugal Fran is satisfied. Working from home during the pandemic also facilitates making more meals at home. Looking forward to my first box. What I appreciate about Home Chef is they allow you to donate meals (vs. skipping) if you aren’t interested in the meal plans offered in a given week; it is notable when a company has incorporated social impact into their strategic plan.

aardyce bartels says:

December 27, 2020 at 4:22 pm

how to order Home Chef?

Jean Christoffel says:

December 24, 2020 at 9:56 am

I don’t understand the math exactly. With the $7 shipping fee and $9 per meal, for 3 meals (6 servings) it’s $61 which is over $10 for each serving and that’s if I only ate one meal per day for six days. If I plan to eat more than one meal per day, or eat on the 7th day of the week, over a month’s time, it would cost me about $20 per day for 30 days. That would be a $600 in groceries per month! As a single person on a fixed budget I think that’s an outrageous amount of money to pay for food. My current grocery bill is about $60 per week for all of my meals and I rarely eat out so my monthly groceries cost about $240 or less than half of what this service would cost me. Am I doing the math wrong?

Mary Hunt says:
December 24, 2020 at 10:01 am

Free shipping over $45. Most people do not order a meal kit for every meal—two to three dinners a week is typical.

Richard Rorex says:

December 24, 2020 at 9:35 am

All of these delivery options are fine for those who have someone to eat dinner with. As for me, I go to restaurants so there are people around me. After losing my wife of 58 years, I look forward to going out to restaurants. This mandated isolation has been hard to abide seeing those who mandate apartness do not seem to live by their own rules. I do not think most people understand loneliness until it happens to them. Also, I have found that except for pizza, most restaurant carry-out meals do not travel well.

Kay Seiler says:

December 24, 2020 at 9:18 am

I’ve tried at least three services, and I disagree that Home Chef is the cheapest. Every plate is cheaper and the meals are the best of all I’ve tried.

How Home Chef Helps Cut Food Costs While Enjoying Delicious Meals