GoKawiilThe first time I bought a meal kit was during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was living alone in my first solo apartment and my job at a local magazine had gone temporarily remote. Restaurants in the area were starting to shift to takeout-only, so I thought, "Well, I guess I should learn how to cook."
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.
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