I hate cooking, but Hungryroot made eating at home feel doable

As someone who really struggles to cook and actively hates cooking, grocery shopping is the bane of my existence.

Most nights, I’ll order in or convince my partner to do the grocery shopping and cooking because it’s the absolute last thing I want to do after a long day. That’s where a meal subscription service like Hungryroot comes in, making it easy to plan your weekly meals without any of the hassle.

The question was not just whether Hungryroot could save us a trip to the grocery store, but whether it could actually make eating at home feel convenient on busy workdays.

Three other members of Post Wanted and I had a chance to try Hungryroot, and here’s what we thought.

Hungryroot

Will Kenton

Hungryroot offers ready-to-eat meals you just need to heat up, easy-prep meals, and snacks. You can choose how much cooking you want to do, and the subscription service modifies your cart depending on your preferences. My box was admittedly on the lighter-prep, less-cooking side, which I really appreciated.

Hungryroot’s plans are completely customizable, from the number of servings you want to the kind of meals you prefer. For example, our commerce editor, Will Kenton, decided he wanted dinner servings only, whereas I chose both dinner and breakfast servings for my box.

To get started, you need to share everything from your food tastes to the number of people you’re feeding. From there, Hungryroot will build your box, considering your taste profile.

For example, I hate raw onions and do not eat seafood. I was able to modify my meals by telling Hungryroot exactly what I like to eat.

Unlike a traditional meal kit, Hungryroot feels more like a hybrid between grocery delivery and meal planning. You’re not just getting pre-portioned ingredients for a few set dinners; you’re getting a mix of groceries, snacks, ready-to-eat items and easy recipes that can be adjusted around your actual habits. That made it feel a lot less rigid than other meal subscription services I’ve tried.

If there was a meal in my box that I didn’t like, I could easily edit it out, replacing it with something new. The whole thing was very straightforward, making it simple to shop and plan my meals.

There are options for everyone, too. For example, if you’re vegan, you won’t be confined to eating just vegetables. Options include imitation chicken tenders, zesty salads, arepas and more. Hungryroot also offers global cuisines, and I was able to pick a bunch of Indian dishes for my box.

Here’s what was in my box:

Hungryroot delivery and packaging

A Hungryroot review. (Nishka Dhawan) Nishka Dhawan

Each order arrives bright and early on Monday and comes stuffed with freezer packs to protect your food from going bad. Kenton even recycled the freezer packs as fertilizer for his garden, calling it “plant plasma.”

Another plus point of using Hungryroot? You reduce food waste. Hungryroot delivers exactly as many groceries as you need. For example, we received four bagels, two for each person, instead of a whole pack that would have then gone to waste. Everything was thoughtfully packed, keeping the number of people and mealtime in mind.

What we thought of the meals

One thing we all thought across the board was that Hungryroot truly makes mealtime easier. We all found the meals quick and easy to make, and incredibly delicious.

Matt Levy, our live events reporter, said, “My first meal was a delicious zesty super black bean and avocado salad — pre-cyclospora outbreak, of course — which hit the spot … Truly delicious and didn’t feel like a healthy compromise in any way.”

My personal favorite meal was the pizza bagels. The bagels were soft and chewy, and the creamy mozzarella and delicious pepperoni really hit the spot. I even modified one of my bagels by adding corn.

Other favorites included the butter chicken meatballs, which were rich, flavorful and high in protein, and cavatelli pasta with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes.

I ordered enough for two and found the meals were perfectly sized and healthy. I opted for a high-protein, low-fat diet and loved that Hungryroot provided that. I personally also loved all the included snacks, all of which were built for healthier snacking. My favorites were low-sugar gummies and pink salt popcorn. Hungryroot also adds freebies to your box.

Left: My teriyaki tofu | Right: Our Senior Editorial Director’s salmon dish.

Our verdict: Is Hungryroot worth the money?

Finally, it does indeed save money. My first box was valued at around $117 for two people for an entire week’s worth of dinners and a bunch of snacks, plus a breakfast option. This included five recipes that required some cooking, plus three ready-to-make meals.

Give or take, this meant my per-meal cost was under $10 per person, which is a real deal, especially considering I was ordering in food almost every day of the week. Even when I did go shopping for groceries, my total for the week was closer to $150, and that didn’t include the hassle of carrying everything home — plus, I definitely skimped on snacks.

For its ease of customization, manageable pricing and the fact that Hungryroot even provides you with recipes to make, this is a subscription box I’ll definitely be going back to.

I was always skeptical about these services, wondering whether deliveries would be on time or whether the food included would actually be delicious. Surprisingly, Hungryroot was great on both counts. Yes, there were some meals I didn’t enjoy that much, but the great part was that I could thumbs them down in my order, and that would automatically inform my future deliveries.

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