Home Chef: plans, prices and cutoff

How much Home Chef costs

For three dinners for two: from $47.94 for the food, $7.99 a serving, before shipping (Home Chef’s stated $7.99 a serving × 6, before shipping and tax; $7.99 is its lowest advertised dinner price; its homepage gives $9.99 as the Standard average, its help page says Standard meals start at $9.99, and meal types vary in price; its $50.95 minimum order includes shipping, so you pay at least that).

Checked 8 Oct 2026 on Home Chef’s own page. First-box deals are not included.

The first-box deal is a separate, lower number that applies only at the start. Work out your own cart after the deal.

How Home Chef works

Meal kits plus oven-ready and prepared formats in the same service family.

Preparation types are choices on the weekly menu. Standard and Family cannot be combined in one week’s order.

Standard: boxes for 2, 4 or 6 people. Family: 4 or 8. Both: 2 to 6 recipes a week. You can change the servings on most single recipes, but that does not make a new box size.

Heat & Eat add-ons: Single meals to heat, added one at a time to a Standard or Family order.

Tempo, a separate menu: Tempo is Home Chef’s separate prepared-meal service, with plans of 4 to 20 single meals; it has its own page here. It is not part of the Home Chef boxes.

What each kind of preparation asks of your kitchen.

Menu and labels

Home Chef labels vegetarian, pescatarian choices on its menu. Preference and customization labels do not establish allergen safety.

See this week’s Home Chef menu

Choice each week

More than 35 meals and 18 extras a week on its how-it-works page; its home page says 20+ recipes. On Home Chef’s site: How it works and Home page

Changing a dish

Customize It swaps the protein on some meals. Vegetables and sides stay as they are, and Family menu proteins cannot be changed. On Home Chef’s site: What is Customize It?

Extra charges

Premium meals, such as the Culinary Collection, cost more, and add-ons (dessert, salad, bread) go on top; the pages we read give no amount. On Home Chef’s site: What are Add-Ons and Opt-Ins?

Labels and allergens on Home Chef’s menu

Gluten-free

Gluten-Smart meals, made with ingredients that contain no gluten. Home Chef says they are not suitable for celiac disease or severe gluten intolerance. On Home Chef’s site: What are Gluten-Smart meals?

Keto

Keto-Friendly recipes on its menu. On Home Chef’s site: Keto-Friendly

Allergens

Its facilities handle all nine major allergens, so its Gluten-Smart meals may carry traces of gluten. On Home Chef’s site: What are Gluten-Smart meals? and Are Home Chef facilities allergen free?

Other labels

Home Chef’s own pages also name low-carb, high-protein, low-calorie, pescatarian and Mediterranean dishes or plans.

Each label at every service: Gluten-free · Keto · High-protein · Low-calorie · Low-carb · Mediterranean · Pescatarian

What a menu label can and cannot tell you.

Home Chef delivery, storage and recycling

Where it delivers

About 98% of the US, by Home Chef’s count; its sign-up checks your ZIP code. It does not deliver to PO boxes or campgrounds, even where the ZIP code is accepted. On Home Chef’s site: Does Home Chef deliver to my area?

How it arrives

Insulated liners and ice packs, left at the door with no signature, so you don’t need to be home. On Home Chef’s site: What happens if I am not home when my order is delivered?

In the fridge

Each recipe card says how many days after delivery to cook it by. Cook fish and seafood first. On Home Chef’s site: How long do I have to cook the meals?

In the freezer

Home Chef does not recommend freezing the meals, though its storage guide says meat and seafood can go in the fridge or the freezer. On Home Chef’s site: Can meals be frozen? and How should I properly store and handle ingredients?

Recycling the box

The box and dividers go in curbside recycling. Cut ice packs open, put the gel in the trash and recycle the film with plastic bags; PET liners are recyclable. On Home Chef’s site: How do I dispose of the box packaging materials?

Something missing or damaged

Use the Help button in your account or contact support, with photos if you can; no time limit or credit amount is given. On Home Chef’s site: How do I report an issue with my order?

How every service arrives and how long it keeps · How to recycle every service’s box

Skip, pause or cancel Home Chef

1. Edit, skip or pauseAny time before the cutoff
2. Cutoff12:00 PM Central on Friday for the upcoming menu
3. LockedThe upcoming order is fixed after the menu closes.
4. DeliveredThe locked box arrives

Change, skip or pause by 12 PM Central on the Friday before your delivery week. Home Chef writes 12 PM CST on the Friday before your delivery week; your upcoming order shows the exact time. Why some times are approximate.

To skip or change a box:

1. Log in and open Your Upcoming Orders.
2. Scroll to the week you do not want and click Manage Delivery.
3. Choose Skip This Week’s Delivery. A confirmation email follows, and the week is marked as skipped.

To cancel:

1. Log in, click Account at the top right and open the Account Settings tab.
2. At the bottom of the tabs on the left, choose to pause your subscription: Home Chef calls cancelling “pausing”. In the app: Account, My Settings, then Pause My Account.
3. Give a reason and carry on until the cancellation confirmation screen. A confirmation email follows.

Home Chef’s own help page

• Skip a delivery: yes, before the cutoff.
• Longer break: pause, which cancels, with an optional restart date.
• Cancel: online, for future deliveries.

Miss the cutoff once and the box ships and is charged: from $47.94 for three dinners for two, plus shipping.

How to skip, pause or cancel Home Chef, step by step
Find your Home Chef cutoff and set a reminder

Compare Home Chef

• Sunbasket vs Home Chef
• HelloFresh vs Home Chef
• Factor vs Home Chef
• Blue Apron vs Home Chef
• EveryPlate vs Home Chef
• Home Chef vs Purple Carrot
• Dinnerly vs Home Chef
• Green Chef vs Home Chef
• Home Chef vs Marley Spoon
• Home Chef vs Tempo

Compare Home Chef with any other service for your household.

Questions about Home Chef

Every service’s answer side by side: EBT and SNAP · gift cards.