A Dietitian's full review of the Hungryroot meal kit delivery service where health meets convenience, but is it worth the cost?
IMPORTANT NOTICE: I have paused my Hungryroot subscription after 5 years of personal use due to safety concerns I have with it. I will update this review when/if the safety issues get fixed. More about the safety issues in the first section below the summary pros and cons list.
In the past, I've reviewed many organic and fresh meal kit delivery services, including Sun Basket, Daily Harvest, Green Chef, EveryPlate, Home Chef, Blue Apron, HelloFresh, and Smoothiebox. So, I'm definitely not new to "meal kit delivery services" or what they typically offer and the minor nuances that differ between services.
For years, I've called Hungryroot the ONE I've BEEN WAITING FOR! To say I was impressed with this service is an understatement. I'm now a raving fan and have been using Hungryroot 1-2 times a month for a solid three years now. And each year I update this review, I find more reasons to love them. I swear it's like they read my review and eliminate the cons I post year by year. Hungryroot, are you reading? haha
I love them because they provide ultimate control and flexibility over what comes in your box. There are many filtering options, clean ingredients, ample portions, easy, no-fuss cooking, and great-tasting food. Plus, they add new products and recipes all the time, so you'll never get bored. I'm starting to think of them more and more as a guided grocery service as I fall in love with their pre-made sauces and specialty offerings. I add those items to the grocery section to stock them in my pantry. Hungryroot is like if Trader Joe's opened a meal kit delivery service. So, if you're a super fan of Trader Joe's, keep reading or sign up now.
That being said, it may not be for everyone, so let's jump into the full dietitian's review!
With that out of the way, let's jump in.
Note: I was gifted a free credit to try Hungryroot 3 years ago, and after trying it and loving it, I signed up to be an affiliate. I'm so grateful they offered to gift me that first box because I've now been ordering boxes 1-2 a month for five years, and it's still my favorite meal kit delivery service, no matter how many other services I review.
TOP 3 PROS OF USING HUNGRYROOT MEAL DELIVERY SERVICE
- Ample healthy meals and options
- Easy and quick recipes to prepare (4 Ingredients or Less, 30 minutes or less)
- Ultimate control and flexibility in your shopping experience.
TOP 3 CONS OF USING HUNGRYROOT MEAL DELIVERY SERVICE
- Increased cost compared to cooking from scratch
- Minimal-ingredient recipes may not be enjoyed by cooking enthusiasts
- You must dispose of large boxes and packaging each week
My Concerns with Hungryroot Box Safety
For the last year, I've noticed that Hungryroot boxes have not been packed appropriately. The way they are set up is that meat is on the bottom with a ton of ice packs. I've never had a problem with the meat being unusable, so that's good! Next are all refrigerated items, such as salad packs, dressings, etc. Next is a cardboard separation layer, followed by non-perishables. I started to notice that things like salad packs, which have nonperishable salad dressing in them , were above the cardboard layer, so I temperature-checked them, and they were often around 50-60 degrees. Ideally, food should be kept under 40 degrees at all times, but if it were to increase above that, it should be for no more than two hours. The problem with transit time is that you don't know when the food increased above 40 degrees. From 40-140F, it is known as the temperature danger zone. In this zone, bacteria can double within 20 minutes and then double again and again. See the problem?
I noticed the issue in Arizona and complained multiple times to the regular customer service. I was often provided refunds on my boxes, used what I could, and hoped they would fix the issue. I hoped it was just the distribution hub in Arizona, but when we moved to Texas, I had the same issue. As a longtime affiliate for Hungryroot, I reached out to my contacts there and got a very receptive response. They worked with me on several rounds to see if the boxes improved, and they did. There were fewer perishable items kept outside the danger zone, but inevitably, something always showed up in that top half of the box and way out of the temperature zone.
For reference, here is a photo that shows how the boxes used to come. This is from October 2023. As you can see, the nonperishables are above the cardboard, and the perishables are below with the icepacks.
Here is an example of some of the more recent boxes I started to receive:
They gave me several free boxes while they worked with their distribution department. As I said, fewer perishable items came above the fold away from cold backs, but still, some came. And I even verified against their own packing sheet, which stated what should be above and below the cardboard. Eventually, I told them I would put my service on hold while they figured it out, but there never was a full resolution, so I believe, as of now, the boxes are still being sent like that. Trust me, I love Hungyroot, and I understand that food delivery can be tough. I was one of Butcherbox's early customers, and I watched them go through a million box redesigns to get it right. I submitted many bad meat boxes in the middle of the summer until they got it right. So, I do believe Hungyroot can get this right. What irritates me is that they worked with me for improvement but then kind of fell off the wagon when it came to a total resolution. This means they were okay with sending unsafe boxes out, which is not cool. Especially because I think most people assume the way the box is sent is safe. As a dietitian, I have food service and food service management training that makes me more aware than the average person. This is why I don't actively promote it. Most people know that when meat is defrosted, it's bad, but I think most of their customers don't realize that they are sending unsafe foods.
I waited a few months to post this review because I didn't want to throw them under the bus. I love the service, but at this point, they've had over a year to fix it and haven't. But I'm going to go ahead and update the rest of this review because if you aren't in the southwest region, you may not experience these issues. Let me know!
Signing Up For Hungryroot
When you sign up for Hungryroot, they ask you a ton about how your lifestyle and preferences. They even go in-depth for each type of meal for the day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner.) This way, they can get a feel for how many servings of each recipe to recommend and how many snacks they will recommend you purchase.
This year, I noticed their questions are getting a bit more specific, so they can really hone in on your needs! Here is what the signup process will look like:
They will also ask:
- What cuisines do you like: Thai, Mexican, Classic American, Japanese, Mediterranean, Fusion, Korean, Chinese, Indian, and Italian
- What flavors do you like: Creamy and Rich, Bright and Zingy, Savory and Umami, Fresh and Herb-y, Cheese and Cheesier, Spiced and Aromatic, Sweet and Balanced
- What kind of meat do you like (if you are an omnivore)
- What kind of seafood you like (if you consume seafood)
- What kind of plant-based proteins do you like (I love this because I like rice and beans but not meat alternatives)
- If you dislike any commonly disliked foods such as potatoes, mushrooms, cilantro, tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic, eggplants, onions
- How much heat you like: none, mild, moderate, hot
- Specifics about different meals, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts
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This year I noticed you have to give them your email before you get to "claim your free gift."
At this point, you must enter your credit card to move forward with selecting a weekly menu.
Selecting The Weekly Menu
The recipe section is set up so you can browse by category, most popular, or dietary filters.
And the groceries section is set up so you can browse by aisle, category, or dietary preference. I've recently noticed a ton of new grocery items. And every time they add new grocery items, they ask you what your preference is on how often you would like the item included in your box.
So, I had seen advertisements on Instagram for Hungryroot before but wrote it off as "just another meal kit delivery service." I keep telling anyone who will listen (friends and family) that they should really up their advertising game to emphasize the convenience factor they offer combined with SUPER SUPER clean ingredients. It's impressive.
How Much Does Hungryroot Cost?
The amount charged per serving on Hungryroot varies on how many servings you order. The more you order, the less your cost per serving. This year, it varies between $9.69-$11.39/per serving. I max out the number of servings at 16.
The setup above brings the total to $155.04/week. Which is the same as last year's calculation, so they have not raised prices year over year. But if you decrease the number of servings of meals or change breakfast, fruit, snacks, sweets, or supplement servings, the amount will change. After you approve your meal setup, it takes you to the screen where you can make as many modifications as you want to your plan, recommend/feature meals, add/subtract sweets and snacks, etc. This changes the number of credits you get and the average cost per serving. When I played with the servings on average, here is what I roughly calculated the cost per category to be:
- Breakfast $3.30-5/breakfast item
- Fruit $2.28-3.42/ fruit item
- Snacks $2.5-5/snack item
- Sweets $3.30-5/sweet item
- Kids snacks $2.49-3.73/item
Here is my final setup:
It's a credit-based system, $195.11/week gives me 92 credits, and I can add on credits for 1.79$ per credit (again no price increase year over year.) Each recipe and snack is assigned a credit number. You can go over your credit number if you wish and pay the difference. It's not difficult to get your exact number of credits because many of the grocery items are just one credit. Here is my order for next week (as you can see, I rarely get snacks or breakfast items.) In the order below, the only groceries I got were 3 bags of carrots for one credit each. The rest all came with meals.
The french onion meatballs are listed twice because I doubled the recipe I wanted to receive.
Note the picture above is from last year. Their current view is blacked out on one side and I don't love it.
CUSTOMIZABLE VARIETY & DIETARY PREFERENCES
Pros: Within the signup process, Hungryroot asks questions about dietary preferences and likes and dislikes of certain food items. As shown above, it even asks you what types of meals you like for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. So, the system does a great job of getting to know you and making recommendations based on that. And if you are a current subscriber, you can go update your account like I did while doing this review with even more preferences.
Also, as they add new items, they constantly ask you to rate how often you'd like to receive them (often, sometimes, never.) They recently asked me a bunch of questions about kid foods they have to send since I updated my profile to send kid snacks.
Over the last year, they've added a ton of filtering capabilities. When filtering, you can now filter by your recipes, recent groceries/recipes, servings, dietary needs (vegan, vegetarian, food allergies), type of protein, nutrition (carb conscious, high protein, anti inflammatory), credits, spicy level, appliance, and cooking time.
Cons: You still can not filter by Paleo, Keto, Mediterranean, or other popular diets. Obviously, these are popular dietary patterns, so, unfortunately, these aren't available. If you have a food allergy or intolerance that isn't one of the major ones listed, hunting down all the ingredients that make up the ingredients in a recipe might be tedious. More on that below.
NUTRITION & INGREDIENTS
Pros: In the last year, Hungryroot has done a great job at providing clearer nutrition information and ingredient lists for their recipes (which used to be severely lacking.) When browsing a recipe, just click on it to see what ingredients it uses and what the nutrition facts are.
Hungryroot uses a ton of prepared items, like ready-made sauces, bean mixtures, etc. It doesn't list the exact ingredients of each item within the recipe card, but if you need to double-check them they must have read my review from last year because you can now just click on the item you want to review and it will take you to the nutrition facts for that item.
Click on kale pesto and it takes you to the ingredients!
And they made it even easier this year to swap out ingredients if you need to from your cart. You can swap or remove an ingredient if you don't like it! So cool!
One thing you don't need to check for is a clean ingredient list because they always have that covered. Real, whole food, no hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, or artificial preservatives. This is an old screenshot that they no longer have on their website or at least I couldn't find it.
Looking through the recipes, most of the recipes have a reasonable calorie level of 400-600. Some are upwards of 850. Most recipes are balanced with protein, fat, healthy carbs, and veggies. We found the portion sizes to be ample, even when I was pregnant, and Mr. Hungry, who, as I've mentioned in the past, definitely eats HEAFTY portion sizes (6'2" and very active.) Typically, meal kit delivery services overload the carbs and provide very little protein and veggies, but I didn't find this to be the case with Hungryroot. Every time I review another service, I'm always disappointed with the amount of protein and veggies, especially compared to Hungryroot.
Cons: I don't have any cons this year. Every time I have a con in this section they fixed it, they've now fixed all the issues I've stated.
PORTION SIZES
We've always found Hungryroot portions to be ample, especially when it comes to protein and veggies. Occasionally, I do order an additional protein or veggies in the grocery section. For instance, if we are making carnitas, I know that we usually eat more meat than the standard serving, so I order another carnitas package instead of doubling the entire recipe. The reason I can do that is because Hungryroot does not pre-portion their ingredients themselves.
They never send just one tiny tablespoon of something; they always send full-size containers. For instance, if the recipe has cheese slices, they send you a cheese slice container of 8-10 slices, even if you only need 4 for the recipe. I love this; I can then use them for grilled cheese, etc. Most things are the right amount for the recipe, so it's not like I have so much stuff left over that it goes bad. Still, I occasionally have leftover cheese or an additional sauce that I can repurpose because of this, and I love it! That's why it's similar to making a low-ingredient recipe from Trader Joe's; you get everything you pay for, and there is always enough.
DELIVERY & PACKAGING
Pros: Deliveries are available four days a week in Texas, whereas when I was ordering in Phoenix it was only two days. In the past four years, I've only ever had a box delayed once (and it was not this past year.) I was sent multiple notices about the delay and given information on what to do should any of the items be out of the temperature range (they weren't.) The packaging comes separated with cold items separated from shelf-stable items. This allows them to use smaller boxes and less insulation. Compared to other meal kit delivery services, there was less plastic packaging of food items to dispose of overall.
Cons:
There may be limited delivery day options in your area. Like any meal kit delivery service, there is a ton of packaging to dispose of (compared to going to the grocery store), including ice packs and a big cardboard box. On occasion, I get an out-of-stock notice, at which point the system automatically changes to substitute for the item out of stock. I can also go through and change this myself, but I'm adding it as a con because it's slightly irritating.
Occasionally, items come that have gone bad or are missing. I've mostly seen this issue with a couple of key items that I now steer clear of, such as the bell pepper and onion mix and sometimes the seven veggie stir fry. Inevitably, the pre-cut onions don't make the journey, making everything else slimy and gross. I've noticed they've shifted away from even offering these items, likely do to this problem. However, when it did happen, Hungryroot was happy to issue a credit immediately, with almost no questions asked. Same thing when items are forgotten or mispacked (meat packed on the top that should have at the bottom covered in ice packs. I know this drives some people nuts enough to cancel the service, but their quick offer of credits or refunds keeps me happy. And it only happens in less than 10% of the boxes I've received.
And of course as a con, there is the safety issue mentioned earlier in this post.
Cooking & Clean Up
Pros: Easy, uncomplicated directions. Superfast recipes, all with four ingredients or less. For example, for the grain bowl, no spending 45 minutes is boiling brown rice. Instead, they send pre-cooked brown rice and quinoa blend to use. For the black bean corn salsa, they send that pre-assembled. So, it's not like the recipes only use four ingredients total, but you only have four packages to cook with. Usually, a grain or a healthy carb, a protein, a veggie or veggie blend, and a pre-made sauce. Recipes usually take 30 minutes or less to make, and because of the minimal ingredients, they require little cleanup. And for a nice little touch, they have a wonderful Hungryroot playlist on Spotify.
Cons: The biggest con with this service would be that this may not be for you if you LOVE to cook. Since many items are sent pre-assembled, the cooking is minimal. If you are a person who loves to cook, you may miss the process of cooking or the ability to free-hand substitutions as you see fit.
Is Hungryroot Good For Weight Loss?
I always get one question regarding meal kit delivery services: will it help me lose weight? Keep in mind Hungryroot does not market itself for weight loss. Instead, they focus on providing healthy, balanced, and convenient meals, so if your main goal is to lose weight, will Hungryroot help you do that? The answer? Probably, let’s dig in.
Here’s how Hungryroot might help you lose weight:
- Most recipes are low to moderate calories (about 400-600 calories) and appropriate for some people's weight loss goals. Many high-protein recipes are available, as well as moderate to low carb.
- Hungryroot recipes are mostly balanced and follow the protein, healthy carb, healthy fat, and veggie meal components I would recommend for weight loss. But there are high-carb recipes as well, which may not lend themselves to weight loss if you don't get enough protein throughout the day.
- The easy recipes will help eliminate the stress of making meals and keep you out of the drive-thru line most nights. One thing I love is that the recipes are so easy. My husband can jump in and help cook them if I'm running behind, not feeling good, or whatever.
Here’s how Hungryroot might not help you lose weight:
- You likely aren't going to order all your meals through Hungryroot, so you may have difficulty prepping other meals not ordered through the service.
- Relying on any meal delivery service means you aren’t developing the cooking skills yourself and will need to continue to rely on that service to continue to get results.
Taste
Mr. Hungry and I agree that of all the meal kit delivery services we've tried. We enjoyed Hungryroot the most. (Although I would exclude Smoothiebox and Daily Harvest from that statement, those serve a slightly different purpose than traditional meal kit delivery services.)
We like it enough that we've been ordering from them 1-2 times a month for a year. We ordered a ton when I was pregnant, about once a month when not pregnant, or PP to give me a break from the meal planning and cooking grind.
I especially love ordering Hungryroot when we go out of town on weekends. It's my number one secret to staying on track after traveling! It's easy to skip a delivery up to a month in advance, which I appreciate.
The Hungryroot App
There is also an app available, the user interface is great, and it's really easy to use, just like the website. To be honest, though, I mostly access Hungryroot on my computer.
One Week of Meals
You can also check out my Instagram highlights (@hungryhobbyRD), where I share many of my Hungryroot boxes there. You can also check out my Friday Favorites, I share many of our favorite meals and grocery items from HR there!
Breakfast & Snack Options
Above, you can see the items that were sent to me for my breakfast and snack options. They weren't a surprise; I got to choose what I wanted, and everything was delicious!
I added a scoop of almond butter to my cherry chia oatmeal.
The Almond Chickpea cookies could be eaten as cookie dough or cookies. They were DELICIOUS! The tub made 10 cookies.
Grain Bowl
Here is what came with the grain bowl - brown rice quinoa blend, sweet baby broccoli, spinach feta turkey patties, and lemon tahini sauce.
Everybody LOVED this meal! (Mr. Hungry, my MIL, and I all tried it) We had some tahini leftover we used on our chicken shawarma over the weekend as well. It was really delicious and took less than 20 minutes to prepare.
Classic Fish Tacos
I switched the protein to wild-caught cod from chicken in this meal since chicken isn't really my first pregnancy choice. My aversion isn't as strong as last time, but still. There were four ingredients to this meal: the wild-caught cod fillet, the cucumber corn black bean salad, the avocado crema, and the white corn tortillas.
Again, a huge crowd-pleaser (my mom, Mr. Hungry, and I) all ate off this one, and it was delicious! I probably could have added some veggies to it, like cherry tomatoes or a side salad, but the black bean mixture with the cod was seriously SOOOOOO good! I would DEFINITELY order this one again in a heartbeat, especially if I were serving dinner guests.
Cheesy Alfredo Tortelloni with Rainbow Veggies
I ordered this one thinking KJ would eat some of the tortelloni, but alas, toddlers are picky. I wasn't sure how I would feel about the combo of four cheese tortelloni, alfredo sauce, and butternut squash cubes together, but I figured I'd give it a try! It also came with a rainbow root veggie mix.
What was the verdict? It was actually really delicious! I'd put butternut squash in Alfredo sauce again, for sure. The rainbow veggie mix was a little bland, so I added some garlic salt and vinegar to liven it up a bit. Overall the meal came out delicious. I love Alfredo sauce, and I loved that this one had all good quality ingredients, no preservatives. I wish the meal had a protein component, but this one was obviously supposed to be plant-based.
Is Hungryroot Worth It?
If you couldn't tell, yes, I absolutely believe it's 100% worth it and tastes DELICIOUS. For me, Hungryroot ticks all the boxes in a meal kit delivery service:
- Healthy meals and clean ingredients
- Fast and efficient recipes
- No cooking skills required
- Delicious tasting food
- Ample portion sizes
- Range of cuisines and tastes offered every single week (you like a recipe, then you could order it every week if you wanted)
- Reasonable pricing on par with most meal kit delivery services
- Filtering options to meet your needs
- All meal types are offered, so you don't have to do additional shopping
Hungryroot offers exceptional convenience and tastes that no other traditional meal kit delivery service (that I've tried) provides (and I continue to do reviews frequently). I also love services Smoothiebox for this same convenience reason. However, those services provide 100% frozen foods (nothing wrong with that, but freezer space may become an issue.) Hungryroot is the next most convenient thing and my number 1 recommendation for a meal kit delivery service for busy people who want healthy meals without fuss.
I hope that helps. Let me know if you have more questions!
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Larrisa Borquez says
Just to clarify, did the safety issue get resolved? I could t quite tell from the timeline if your subscription is still paused. Thank you for this review as I’m determining if this will work for my family.
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Yes, it's still paused. I will update if anything changes. After I posted this they did reach out to me to tell me the issue had been resolved, but they said this before so I'm not holding my breath. I'm going to reorder at the end of the month and will definitely update my review with whether it was resolved. I'll likely share on stories first if you follow on IG, otherwise check back in a few weeks. I'll try to remember to reply to this comment with what happened too!
Elka Burkestone says
Just wanted to thank you so much for an absolutely top notch review. You gave me everything I needed to make an informed, intelligent decision and choice. I too am a medical professional and spent 11 months in an inflight Kitchen for a very popular Airline…. what an education that was. The knowledge I received was invaluable throughout my life and I am 75. Again ty for you hard work and dedication to this subject… fabulous. Not sure how I follow you, but will figure it out.
Momster49 ,
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
You are very welcome!
Michelle says
Have you reordered? Is there any good news? I've tried several others, and all have failed me. I'm hoping this could finally be the one.
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
I did reorder last week. Box was still packed incorrectly but it was 25 degrees most of the day in Dallas that day so there were no temperature issues. But, as soon as it gets hotter outside I'm not sure if it will be safe still. I sent an email with the video of me unpacking it to my affiliate manager who was asking for an update, hopefully they can fix it.
Katie Chin says
Hi! Would you recommend hungry root if I'm pregnant (considering the food safety issues)?
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Absolutely not considering the food safety issues, but I ordered again for next week. I'll update this review either way. If the issues are fixed it's great for pregnancy, it was a life saver for me before the issues!