In spite of all the advances in gluten free products, eating out is the one thing that everyone living gluten free agrees is still stressful, risky and often difficult to navigate. That’s why I was so excited about certified gluten free Green Chef Meal Kits* — a meal kit that is itself certified gluten free, and then is delivered to your gluten free home. It is about as close to the perfect dining experience as I can imagine, since it not only takes most of the work out of food preparation, it also takes the worry out of mealtime.
While those without dietary restrictions are free to eat at any restaurant they choose, we are limited by what a restaurant offers, and also by how safely it can be prepared if the kitchen is using gluten as an ingredient in any other foods.
Green Chef is the first meal kit company to receive Gluten Free Certification through the Gluten Intolerance Group’s (GIG) Gluten Free Food Service program, meaning that Green Chef’s policies and procedures for preventing cross-contact have been reviewed and approved, and that an on-site audit confirmed the gluten free status of their ingredients and preparation.
I had never used a meal kit service before because I was unsure of the gluten free safety of the ingredients and preparation, but certified gluten free meal kits from Green Chef open up so many more options.
Now I can prepare a restaurant-quality meal with ingredients and a recipe I trust, and cook it in my own kitchen where I have control of how gluten free it really is.
Those of you who have followed me and my recipes for a while know that while I do truly love to bake, cooking isn’t my first love. The savory stuff just doesn’t come as naturally to me as does the sweet. With baking, I usually have an innate sense of what a recipe needs to make it just right, and thankfully, it often works out! With cooking … well, not always so much. Another reason why I was excited to have Green Chef do the recipe writing and idea generating for me.
Around the same time that I first learned about Green Chef becoming certified gluten free, I also had a health scare that put me in the hospital and then on the couch afterwards for several weeks. Meals for my family were a real issue. Me planning, buying, prepping and making dinner was just not happening, yet no one else could really do it for me in their kitchen if they weren’t gluten free (and most of my friends are not). It would have been so great to have had ingredients on hand and easy recipes at the ready, because my husband or son could have made our meals, and I could have started cooking again sooner than I did, since most of the work would have already been done for me by Green Chef.
Whether it’s because you don’t think you’re as skilled a cook as you’d like to be, you need some recipe inspiration, you want to explore more adventurous recipes and flavors, you don’t have time to gather all the ingredients for the week’s meals, you don’t have hours to devote to making dinner, or you are not feeling your best, there are so many great reasons to look to a meal prep service for help. It’s good to know that Green Chef offers premium quality, certified gluten free meals whenever you might need them.
One more thing about Green Chef before I show you how I made this delicious Green Chef dish from their meal kit. Green Chef isn’t just known for gluten-free, it is also the first national meal kit company to earn USDA certified organic status and serves more organic ingredients than any other company in the industry. Organic status also means that the ingredients used by Green Chef are non-GMO, and are free from synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones or steroids. It’s also the first to launch specialty vegan, keto, and paleo options, too.
Especially at this crazy time of year, it’s good to prioritize and reduce stress wherever possible. We could all use a little help in the kitchen now and then, so Green Chef may be a healthy way of simplifying your life without compromising on your nutrition or the gluten free safety of your food. It would also be a great gift for someone this holiday!
Comparing & Trying Meal Delivery Services
If you’re in the market for meal delivery services and want to compare Green Chef to others, I highly recommend this article from Consumers Advocate which compared 20 different meal delivery services according to their ingredient quality and variety, convenience, shipping expense and eco-friendly packaging. Of note, Consumers Advocate found that most services are not recommended for those with food allergies, but the brands may be worth comparing if your are in the market for this service.
If you’d like to try Green Chef for yourself, scroll to the bottom of my post for information on how to get $40 off your first order. And be sure to enter to win a FREE meal kit valued at approximately $80, depending on the meals you choose. To enter, follow the Rafflecopter instructions below, and leave a comment on this post telling me the main reason why you need a meal kit service like Green Chef. Contest ends on December 20, 2017 at 12:00 am EST. A winner will be chosen at random at that time. You must be 18+ to enter and have a U.S. Shipping Address. CONTEST CLOSED
How Green Chef Works
YOU choose what meals sound good to YOU and order them with the frequency that makes sense for your budget and your family. There are no commitments and you can change delivery dates or even skip weeks. The boxes arrive insulated in eco-friendly packaging, so you don’t even need to be home when they arrive.
Once you receive your kit, refrigerate the ingredients until you’re ready to cook; each meal should take approximately 30 minutes to make. Each comes with color-coded recipe cards with photos and 8 steps to prepare the recipe.
The meals that were sent to me were Chicken Waldorf Salad, Teriyaki Pork Burger and Curry-Roasted Cauliflower. While my husband, daughter and I do not eat meat, my picky son does, and he was very happy with this kit! In fact, I have never cooked chicken or pork before (I haven’t eaten meat since I was 15 years old – a very, very long time ago!), but even I was able to prepare these dinners for him without issue.
The directions are totally clear and easy to follow, so don’t worry if you have similar hesitations about your cooking prowess.
My teenage son ate the other two dishes too fast for me to photograph them, so I’m showing you the dish my husband and I enjoyed: Curry-Roasted Cauliflower with pistachios, black quinoa and tamarind-glazed bok choy.
It was a breeze to cook, since all the vegetables came in separate bags; all I had to do was boil the quinoa and cut the cauliflower, bok choy and red peppers before sautéeing and roasting. Then I sprinkled on some coconut and pistachios (they came with the meal).
And lastly, I drizzled on the dressing from the packet that came with the meal kit.
It was really that simple. The spices and sauces that came with this meal were incredible. Honestly, I’d like to have a whole bottle of the Malaysian-style curry seasoning – I would put that on almost anything!
The meal came together beautifully in about 35 minutes (even with me stopping for a picture!), and it was totally delicious. It actually inspired me to think about other recipe ideas with similar flavor combinations. And after my son was so happy with the chicken and pork dishes I made, I’m really thinking that Green Chef may be the easiest way for me to feed him meals he likes with the nutrition he needs. I don’t know how to choose meats or to select cuts or certainly to figure out a recipe for cooking them, but Green Chef does. Definitely food for thought.
*Green Chef sent a box of 3 meals for me to sample and is sponsoring my review, but if I didn’t like the meals or believe in their safety, I would not have agreed to provide a review. I will never compromise my standards to recommend a brand or product I don’t love to my readers, and my review is entirely my own. Read my full disclosure policy here.
I hope that by sharing my experience, you are as interested in this service as I was. After all, a certified gluten free gluten free meal kit option provides another way for those of us living gluten free to put dinner on the table with creative new dishes. If you are interested in trying Green Chef certified gluten free meals, they’ve generously offered my readers a $40 discount off your first order. Place your order through this link for the discount to apply.
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I have Celiac disease and I’m 9 months pregnant so this would be a dream to me. It’s so pricey to only buy labels that say gluten free but it gives me peace of mind. Fingers crossed!
Having a gluten free meal delivery option would be fantastic for me. I very seldom eat out any longer as not only do I have a gluten allergy, I have developed many other food sensitivities over the years and dining out is too risky now. In addition, there are only two people in this house – only one of us has food allergies – the other absolutely refuses to share my “special” meals; this means double the meal preparation for me. I can’t wait for the chance to eat something that was prepped “just for me” – what a treat!
This would be great because I’m not a huge fan of cooking either and this would take the guesswork out of it. I also think it would help me be more confident in the kitchen.
I am a mom of a 4 year old, 3 year old and 9 month old. I have Celiac disease and my daughter has a sensitivity to wheat. I need help finding meals that are delicious and gluten free.
This kits are something I’ve wanted to try as well, but have not felt I could because of the presence of gluten. If I won this kit, I would use it for my Celiac mother who struggles to be successfully gluten free. I worry about her health due to her difficulty avoiding gluten. She is usually symptom-free when she does consume gluten-containing foods and has convinced herself it’s not a big deal. Having a house full of people who are non-Celiac makes it seem even more overwhelming for her to avoid it!
We got the same menu! I was addicted to the Waldorf salad. SO good. I liked Blue Apron/Hello Fresh pre-diagnosis, so I love that this is an option for me now.
looking for some new menu ideas!
Thanks for sharing this! My boyfriend is gluten and dairy free and we’re experiencing some menu burnout. This will be fun to try!
Sounds interesting. I am always up for trying new gluten free meals.
I would like to try something new and not get sick afterwards because of cross contamination. Eating out is not an option with having gluten, soy,and dairy allergies, I always end up sick for days afterwards.
This sounds perfect for a busy Mom but I had not tried because of gluten free meal concerns
Because I respect and trust you, I took a look. I was all, like, sure it’s GF and celiac safe (freakin huge yay) but I’m veg*n, so you had me at veg*n! Thanks for the review Jules!!!
I think meal kit delivery is a great idea in theory, but there are too many negatives for me to be able to consider using a service. I have been told by friends who do use meal kit services that Green Chef food is tasty and the recipes easy to follow.
My negatives are:
No gluten free vegan options
Cost per serving $12 -$15 for Ingredients that still need to be prepped and cooked and a recipe (about what you would pay in a restaurant for a cooked meal, including service and clean up)
Too much packaging materials to deal with. Not all communities have recycling
I’m beyond the age of stress-free cooking and entertaining. I can really see how super it would be to have a G-Free meal delivery. No worrying about whether I have the ingredients, and no worries about preparation with easy recipes.
It is so difficult to eat out now. Most of my hesitation comes from not trusting the ingredients and preparation. I really freak out when the wait staff has no idea what I am talking about! Disc it would make it so much easier.
I have wished for safe gluten free meal delivery options. This sounds safe and exciting!
This looks like something I can get behind. My husband finally went GF because of food allergies. Oh, but does he love to eat out!!!! That’s Jules!
I am glad that you are feeling better. It would be great if my husband had easy items to cook for our family in case of emergencies like yours.
Aw, thank you so much, Leslie! You are sweet to be concerned. 2 1/2 months later I’m finally (mostly) back to normal! (but what is normal anyway? LOL!). Wishing you all good things in the coming year!
~jules
I sometimes work late hours and my husband has to get dinner made. He is not the cook in the family! Having meals that are ready to make with step by step instructions would be a blessing!
Great idea, but too many spices/other things I can’t or won’t eat. I’ll just buy my own–doing what I do now looks much easier anyway.