Dietitian Review of Green Chef (2025)
Too busy to plan your own healthy meals? Is it possible to balance healthy eating with convenience? Green Chef is a meal delivery service that claims they make it easier to eat better. So, as a registered dietitian (and a busy, working mom), I decided to do a review of Green Chef myself.
In full disclosure, Green Chef did send me samples, but I was not compensated to write this review. All opinions are my own!
What is Green Chef?
Green Chef is a meal delivery program that a company that is U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified organic, which means that everything in your meal kit is organic, unless stated otherwise. Green Chef also has an organic handler certification from California Certified Organic Farmers.
It’s a subscription-based model with weekly meal deliveries, flexible cancellation, and the ability to easily select which meals you’re most interested in that week.
How Do You Set Up Green Chef?
You can get started with Green Chef by using their website or their app. (Full disclosure, I did not use their app, so I can’t speak to it.)
You’ll select your lifestyle preferences (i.e. plant based, calorie smart, quick and easy), as well as which size box you’d like (2, 3, or 4 recipes with 2, 4, or 6 servings).
You can also select which day of the week that you’d like to receive your shipments on. Green Chef will give you a weekly deadline based off that day, and you can elect to swap recipes or skip an order by that deadline each week. You can skip up to four consecutive weeks, if needed.
Note that USA-based Green Chef is not currently available for delivery in Alaska or Hawaii.
Choosing Your Meal Options
Green Chef Meal Options are pretty straightforward, and even enjoyable to make. When selecting your box, you first start by selecting lifestyle preferences, which include:
- Mediterranean
- Keto
- Protein-Packed
- Calorie Smart
- Plant-Based
- Quick & Easy
- Gluten Free
- Gut & Brain Health
From there, you can browse their flexible meal plan, with over 80 options every week that you can customize or switch to. Additionally, there are allergen and dietary filters that can be applied to those who need it (like myself!).
Green Chef Packaging & Sustainability
In general, the packaging tries to use eco-friendly, recyclable materials, but, as to be expected, there is some plastic involved with individual ingredients (i.e. individual sauce and seasoning packets, plastic-wrapped garlic, herbs, and vegetables, etc.).
That said, per Green Chef, they offset 100% of their delivery emissions and plastic in each box. They aim to use sustainable ingredients and 100% renewable energy at their production sites. They claim that their meal delivery kits have a 25% lower carbon footprint than store-bought groceries. When it comes to looking for a sustainable and environmentally-conscious meal delivery company, it does not get better than Green Chef.
Also – I LOVE how organized their kits are, down to all ingredients (except proteins) in individual bags, making it incredibly easy to grab a bag to make dinner and not search for different ingredients.
If you’re curious about the entire packaging of a Green Chef meal delivery, as well as quality of ingredients and organization, check out this Green Chef unboxing video I made:
Green Chef Cooking Experience
Is the cooking experience with Green Chef user-friendly? Simple? Enjoyable? Obviously the latter especially is subjective, but here are my thoughts:
- Recipe Instructions: Generally I found them to be appropriately detailed and beginner friendly. My sous chef (ahem, my husband) has far less experience in the kitchen than I, and he assisted me in making the recipes. There was only one instruction step in one recipe that he felt unsure about and googled an answer (whether or not he should cover the pan while the couscous was cooking).
- Time: Generally the time listed on the recipe sheet was a fairly accurate portrayal of time we spent on the recipe, although I could see some recipes taking longer than listed for beginners/ those not comfortable in a kitchen.
- Cooking Skills Required: I truly felt like all of our recipes were straightforward, yet detailed enough that even novice cooks could duplicate the recipes successfully.
- Cleanup effort: While some recipes required more pans than I prefer to use for a busy weeknight dinner, cleanup really wasn’t overly complicated.
- Family/ Kid-Friendly: This one is a toss up, as it’s completely dependent on your family and kids. My young kids were all about some steak and mashed potatoes, but kale with couscous and dates was a bit too out of their comfort zone for them personally.
Green Chef Taste Test
Of course, one of the most important qualities of a meal delivery kit is taste. So, how does Green Chef taste?
Honestly – fantastic. And I was super impressed with the variety of tasty meals they offer, too.
As Green Chef sent me the meals to sample, I let them choose the meals they were sending. (Also note, that I forgot to include a family food sensitivity initially, and when I notified them, they easily swapped that meal and accommodated it.)
The meals I received were:
- Monterey Jack Smothered Chicken with creamy mushroom sauce, roasted summer squash, and tomato.
- Salmon with Red Peppers & Olives, almonds, and couscous with kale & dates.
- Beef Tenderloin with Porcini Cream Sauce, Parmesan mashed potatoes, sauteed broccoli, onion, & peas.
They were all delicious. My personal favorite was the Monterey Chicken (I LOVE a good mushroom sauce). I’m not always the biggest fan of briny, olive dishes, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the salmon dish, too. The beef tenderloin was also delicious, although neither my husband or myself were fans of the adapted mushroom sauce. It was either the dried porcini mushrooms, or (more likely) the umami seasoning, but it was too salty for our preferences.
Portion Sizes
I would say generally that the portion sizes are fairly accurate for an adult meal, but it ultimately depends on your personal appetite.
If you’re trying to extend the meal with leftovers or perhaps get two nights out of it, you can add double protein from Green Chef. You could also add another side or two of your own, (even something basic like a salad kit), which could also help stretch the number of servings out.
Green Chef Nutrition & Health Claims
Interestingly, Green Chef recently conducted a randomized, controlled eight-week clinical trial for their calorie-smart recipes, as well as a randomized, controlled clinical trial with self-reported results for their gut & brain recipes. The results support these claims:
Weight Management
- Eat healthier, lose weight with Green Chef*
- Clinically proven to help you lose weight*
- Clinically proven to support healthy weight management*
- Lose weight with Green Chef*
- Feel healthier, lose weight with Green Chef*
- Lose up to 3x more weight than on your own*
*Disclaimer: with Green Chef calorie smart recipes, in a randomized-controlled eight week clinical trial: results will vary depending on diet and exercise.
Processed Ingredients, Gut Health, Healthy Habits
- Consume less processed ingredients with Green Chef**
- Clinical tested to reduce fast food consumption**
- Green Chef customers report consuming less processed ingredients**
- Green Chef customers report better gut health and less bloat**
- Manage your weight with Green Chef**
**Disclaimer: with Green Chef gut & brain recipes, based on self-reported results in a randomized-controlled clinical trial.
Additional Nutrition Support
At the time of writing this review, there’s a bonus perk of being able to book a free one-on-one nutrition coaching session with a Registered Dietitian to help reach your goals. While I did not choose this, as a Registered Dietitian myself, I think it’s fantastic that Green Chef is supporting their clients in their health goals by connecting them with credentialed nutrition experts.
Green Chef Pricing
- Price Per Meal: $11.99 per serving
- Shipping Cost: $10.99/ delivery
Pros and Cons
PROS:
- High-quality organic ingredients
- Supports multiple dietary needs
- Eco-conscious packaging
- Straightforward recipes
- Lots of variety
- Delicious!
- High focus on sustainability
- USDA Organic
CONS:
- More expensive than some other kits (but that trade off is to be expected with the focus on organic ingredients)
- Potential shorter shelf life of some fresh produce and protein options sent — you need to make sure you have a plan to make your meals within a few days of receiving your meal delivery shipment.
Who is Green Chef for?
Green Chef is perfect for busy professionals who value high quality food, with an emphasis on organic choices. It’s also a great resource for
- families with dietary restrictions
- health-conscious individuals
- those looking for home-cooked meals without the mental load of actually planning, sourcing, and shopping for said meals
Final Verdict
As a Registered Dietitian, my final verdict of Green Chef is that it’s an amazing option — for the right person. We used two of the meals as meal prep, and it was SO seamless. There was zero mental load when it came to figuring out what to make, shopping for it, etc. Everything simply showed up at my doorstep, and then my husband and I got to spend some time together preparing a couple of meals for ourselves.
I am impressed with their focus on quality ingredients, as well as the variety of meal options they have that are tailored to many difference lifestyles and food allergies. Plus, the meals are delicious!
In short:
- Would I reorder? Yes.
- Did it meet my expectations? Yes.
Try Green Chef Yourself
If you’re curious to try Green Chef yourself, Green Chef has offered a special offer for my readers — 50% off on your first box + 20% off for two months with voucher code FIT50FB.
If you’ve tried Green Chef before, please let us know below about your experience in the comments below!
Dear Lindsey, this review was really well written and helpful for us. We have tried 2 other services for extended lengths of time and got tired of the choices, thought there was too much salt in many, fresh produce did not survive well even though we were conscientious about eating them by the date stated. They were good though just looking for a change.
Thank you, Kathleen! I hope Green Chef or a similar service works well for you soon!