Hello Fresh might be the world’s most popular meal kit, but sadly, even in 2021, the company doesn’t cater for vegans at all! Whilst Hello Fresh does have a selection of what they call ‘plant-based meals’, these are vegetarian, not vegan.
Click here to see the Hello Fresh menu.
Luckily, there are some great alternatives to Hello Fresh which have fantastic vegan recipe boxes that can be delivered to your door. These are just like Hello Fresh, but suitable for vegans.
Does HelloFresh have vegan options?
Hello Fresh does not offer vegan options. The Hello Fresh Classic Box offers a choice of five vegetarian meals each week, but many of them contain milk, cheese or eggs.
The only way Hello Fresh could work for a vegan diet is if you live with a vegetarian. You could, in theory, take out any non-vegan ingredients and put extra in their meal. But really, that’s not the best idea.
If you’re considering trying the Hello Fresh vegetarian box, have a read of this review which is one of the most comprehensive reviews I’ve come across.
Another thing to consider with Hello Fresh is that the company uses non-recyclable plastic wrap, ice packs, sachets, punnets and pots. If you’re vegan for environmental reasons, there are certainly some more eco-friendly recipe kits that you might prefer.
Is there a vegan version of Hello Fresh?
Yes! In summer 2021, the Hello Fresh Group launched another brand of meal kits in the UK called Green Chef. Woohoo!
Green Chef offers a vegan version of Hello Chef meal kits. As well as being 100% free from animal products (including all of the packaging), these recipe boxes are healthy and certified organic.
If you like Hello Fresh, you’ll love Green Chef! Plus, you can get 30% off your first box when you click this link or when you use discount code ‘GCCHOOSE’.
The best vegan Hello Fresh alternatives
I’ve tried lots of vegan recipe boxes like Hello Fresh, but Green Chef is by far my favourite. The meals are incredibly tasty and I love that they include unusual ingredients that I’d never think to buy myself.
While Green Chef is the best, it isn’t the only vegan recipe box company that’s similar to Hello Fresh. I’ve compared the Hello Fresh vegan alternatives so you can choose the best one for your individual needs…
These are the 5 best vegan Hello Fresh alternatives:
Vegan recipe box comparison
The table below compares the 5 best vegan recipe box delivery services which you should consider as alternatives to Hello Fresh…
| Green Chef | Mindful Chef | Gousto | Feast Box | Riverford | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recipes to choose from | 4 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| Cooking time | About 30 mins | 10 to 45 mins | 10 to 50 mins | 35 to 90 mins | 30 to 60 mins |
| Minimum order | 3 per week | 2 per week | 2 per week | 2 per week | £15 |
| Servings per meal | 2 or 4 | 1, 2 or 4 | 2 or 4 | 2 or 4 | 2 |
| Delivery area | Most of UK | UK nationwide | Most of mainland UK | UK mainland | England |
| Packaging | Recycled denim | Recycled denim | Recycled paper | Recycled cotton | Includes wool |
| Price per serving | £4.70 to £5.95 | £4 to £10 | £2.98 to £6.25 | £3.90 to £7.40 | £6.25 |
| More info | Visit website | Visit website | Visit website | Visit website | Visit website |
Vegans should note that the Riverford recipe box comes packaged with re-usable wool insulation. Whilst people looking for a plant-based Hello Fresh alternative may find this acceptable, most vegans will wish to avoid wool.
The only 100% vegan Hello Fresh alternatives are Green Chef, Mindful Chef, Gousto and Feast Box.
The 5 best vegan alternatives to Hello Fresh
If you’re disappointed by the lack of a Hello Fresh vegan menu and wish to try some vegan recipes which are similar to Hello Fresh, here are your best options…
- Best overall: Green Chef
- Best budget option: Gousto
- Best for fancy dishes: Feast Box
Here are my full and detailed reviews of each of the vegan alternatives to Hello Fresh recipe boxes…
1. Green Chef
Made by the Hello Fresh Group, Green Chef offers the same high-quality meal kits as Hello Fresh, but with a vegan option.
In fact, Green Chef is actually a much better choice than Hello Fresh in a number of ways – the meals are all organic, nutritionally balanced and packed full of plant protein. Plus, Green Chef offsets 100% of their carbon emissions.
I was blown away when I tried Green Chef – both by the quality of the ingredients and the taste. I would 100% recommend this recipe box to anyone looking for a plant-based and eco-conscious alternative to Hello Fresh.
Read my full Green Chef vegan box review to see photos of the meals I’ve cooked.
Example Green Chef vegan menu:
- Aubergine caponata stew
- Turmeric and spinach dahl
- Chickpea salad with vegan aioli
- Ginger sesame tofu noodle bowl
Pros
- Delicious recipes
- Easy-to-follow instructions
- Healthy and nutritionally balanced
- Sustainable
Cons
- Can’t choose which vegan recipes you’ll get
- No boxes for one person
Price
Green Chef costs £1 to £2 per serving more than Hello Fresh, but that’s because the ingredients are all organic and include some fancy things like cashew butter which obviously costs more.
You can make your box cheaper than Hello Fresh when you use this discount code…
Use discount code ‘GCCHOOSE’ to get 30% OFF your 1st box & 15% OFF the next 3!
2. Gousto
A good vegan alternative to Hello Fresh is Gousto. This company has over 10,000 positive reviews on Trustpilot and offers a decent weekly-changing choice of plant-based meal kits that can be cooked in as little as ten minutes.
Gousto offers a combination of healthy vegan meals that have the backing of Body Coach Joe Wicks, as well as some indulgent meals like vegan cheeseburger nachos. So there’s no need to eat healthily every day with Gousto, you can mix it up.
Example Gousto vegan menu:
- Tangy vegetable Pad Thai
- Spicy rainbow veg and kidney bean curry
- Tomato and olive spaghetti with caper crumb
- Carrot and coriander soup with chutney twists
- Smoky aubergine, avo, lettuce and tomato sarnie
- Curried cauliflower, cashew and potato tray bake
Pros
- The cheapest vegan recipe box
- Caters for couples or families
Cons
- Some recipes are a little simple
- No boxes for one person
Price
Gousto is the best plant-based recipe box kit for vegans on a budget, with meals costing as little as £3 per serving when you order a family box. This is considerably cheaper than Hello Fresh.
The price is the same no matter which meal you pick. However, this doesn’t mean that you’ll pay the same for vegan dishes based on cheap ingredients like vegetables, lentils and potatoes as people are paying for meat-based dishes – there is a £2 supplement for meals that contain expensive ingredients like steak and prawns.
Get 60% OFF your first Gousto box when you click the button below…
3. Mindful Chef
Another of the best vegan alternatives to Hello Fresh is Mindful Chef. This recipe box company has outstanding reviews and is the UK’s number one rated recipe box company on TrustPilot.
Mindful Chef’s recipes are healthy and nutritious, with high-quality ingredients that are sourced from award-winning British farms. All recipes are gluten-free, approved by nutritionists and contain no stodgy fillers.
Plus, for every meal you buy from Mindful Chef, they will donate a school meal to a child living in poverty.
Read my full Mindful Chef review to see what I loved and didn’t love about this box.
Example Mindful Chef vegan menu:
- Mexican tofu, avocado and rice bowl
- Sesame maple tempeh with fresh mint and noodles
- Harissa cauliflower steak and lentils
- Spicy peanut and chickpea curry with black rice
- Hasselback squash and mushroom stroganoff
- Red pesto beans, artichokes and rocket
Pros
- Healthy, gluten-free recipes
- Caters for singles, couples or families
- Helps kids in poverty
- Climate-neutral
Cons
- Pricing can be confusing
Price
The price of Mindful Chef recipe boxes varies depending on the meals that you choose and the portion size – for one, two or four people. The vegan recipes are generally cheaper than those that contain meat. The recipe box for four people is the cheapest option.
Prices start at £4 per portion, based on a vegan recipe for four people.
Use discount code ‘VEGANISM’ to get £10 OFF two boxes
4. Feast Box
Another good Hello Fresh alternative for vegans to try is Feast Box. This option is best for people who like to try exotic dishes from around the world.
If you’re adventurous in the kitchen and want to try ingredients that you can’t pick up in the supermarket, then Feast Box is for you.
Feast Box likes to show off the versatility of ingredients like tofu, lentils and jackfruit. They see these vegan staples as ingredients that deserve to be enjoyed in their own right and not treated as ‘meat substitutes’.
Find out what I thought about the Feast Box recipes I tried in my full Feast Box review.
Example Feast Box vegan menu:
- Moroccan pastilla
- Tofu pad thai
- Roast cauliflower with tahini
- Persian roast aubergine
Pros
- Authentic recipes from around the world
- Helps malnourished children
Cons
- No boxes for one person
- Meals take at least 30 minutes to prepare
Price
The price of Feast Box recipe boxes varies depending on the recipes that you order and how many people you’re cooking for. Feast Box vegan recipes start at around £5 per serving.
5. Riverford
Riverford is one of the best plant-based alternatives to Hello Fresh, but vegans must be aware that their chilled food bags contain wool liners. These should be returned to Riverford as the company re-uses them.
Whilst it may be acceptable to people following a plant-based diet, the use of wool in packaging will be a deal-breaker to many vegans.
If you’re willing to tolerate the use of re-usable wool packaging, Riverford is an option to consider. The company partners with several charities and the meals are 100% organic and selected according to the season.
Example Riverford plant based menu:
- Aubergine, black garlic and carlin pea curry
- Cauliflower taco bowls
- Brocolli, almond and macaroni bake
Pros
- 100% organic ingredients
- Supports several charities
Cons
- Use of wool as packaging
- No boxes for singles or families
- Meals take at least 30 minutes to prepare
Price
The pricing of Riverford’s plant-based recipe boxes is simple – each recipe box for two people is priced at £12.45.
The best vegan versions of Hello Fresh
If you’re vegan, then Hello Fresh isn’t really an option for you. Luckily, there are several other recipe kit delivery companies in the UK that are more than happy to cater to your needs.
My top pick for vegan recipe boxes in the UK is Green Chef.
- Owned by the Hello Fresh Group
- Quick to cook
- Healthy, organic ingredients
If you’re on a budget, the cheapest Hello Fresh alternative is Gousto.
- Cheapest vegan recipe box
- Quick to cook
- Caters for couples and families
For special recipes you’ve never tried before, choose Feast Box.
- Exotic recipes from around the world
- 100% organic ingredients
- Supports several charities
Prefer not to cook?
If you love the idea of having meals delivered but aren’t that keen on cooking, then vegan ready meals could be a good option to consider.
Balance Meals offer healthy vegan meals that you can keep in your fridge and simply heat in the oven or on the hob for minimal mess and fuss.
Another option to look into is AllPlants. This 100% vegan company will deliver frozen vegan meals to your door. Use discount code CHOOSE15 to get 15% OFF your order.
You can read more about the various meal delivery options in addition to recipe kits here: The 7 best vegan meal delivery services in the UK