The first time I purchased a meal kit was during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was living alone in my first solo apartment after moving out of a cushy home that I rented with roommates.
My job at a local magazine had gone temporarily remote, and restaurants in the area were starting to shift to takeout-only. At this time, I did what I always do in times of stress: I picked up several new hobbies that kept me busy at home. Then I decided, “Well, I guess I should learn how to cook, too.” So, I ordered my first HelloFresh box.
I remember making a chicken dish with a homemade white sauce, but I dried it out, because I was worried it wasn’t cooked all the way through. Later in the week, though, I nailed a super-simple stuffed ravioli dish and made my way through a handful of other tasty meals.
I loved not having to brave grocery stores (which, if you remember, were not enjoyable), and the kit gave me each ingredient I needed, since my kitchen cabinets were pretty bare with only a few takeout sauces in sight.
Plus, the introductory box prices were impossible to beat. I ordered a few more around that time and always kept the recipe cards in case I wanted to recreate the dishes in the future. Although I had dabbled with Instant Pot meals before trying HelloFresh, I wasn’t a regular cook by any means.
At the time, I was living in a bit of a foodie town, so eating out was always welcomed, but I did feel a sense of pride after cooking dinner. I occasionally ordered meal kits again, but I still wasn’t a regular cook. That is, until last year.
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Testing meal kits at CNET
Frank’s RedHot-Spiced Crispy Chicken from HelloFresh was one of my favorite meal kit meals.
Corin Cesaric/CNET
Fast forward five years, and now I enjoy reviewing meal kits for a living at CNET. Along with testing kitchen gear and digging into everything related to home, health and the kitchen, meal kits have become a huge part of my job, and one of the most fun parts, too.
Read more: How We Test Meal Kits at CNET
I’ve still whipped up incredibly easy dishes that are perfect for a novice cook, but I’ve also spent more time in the kitchen making homemade empanadas, shepherd’s pie, seared salmon and more tasty, photo-worthy dishes. But the best part is that I’ve found genuine joy in cooking for the first time, something I don’t think I would have discovered without meal kits.
These beef empanadas from Marley Spoon were fun to make from scratch and a new experience for me.
Corin Cesaric/CNETMeal kits make cooking easy
Keep your recipe cards so you can re-create the meals on your own in the future when you have the confidence to do so.
Anna Gragert/CNET
If you’re learning how to cook, meal kits are a great place to start. The provided step-by-step instructions have photos to help guide you through the recipe, along with every ingredient you’ll need.
Hints and tips are also included, such as lining your baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup or starting slow when adding spicy ingredients to your dish.
One of the best parts is that you can choose your meals based on skill level. If you only want to start with simple sheet-pan meals or pasta dishes, you can. Then, when you’re ready to level up, more challenging meals await you.
One-pan meals save precious time in the evening.
Corin Cesaric/CNET
No matter which type of meal you try, though, you’ll learn essential cooking skills along the way, such as dicing and chopping vegetables, searing meat, salting pasta water, and more.
Meal kits have made cooking feel easy and approachable for a once-timid cook like me, and they’ve inspired me to turn on my stove’s burners more regularly, with or without a kit.
Dining and Cooking