Green Chef Keto Diet Meal Kit Review 2023: All Your Questions Answered
/Updated February 7, 2023.
Green Chef is a meal kit service that delivers fresh proteins, produce, and ingredients to create delicious keto (and also paleo, vegan, or gluten-free) meals straight to your doorstep. They are a USDA-certified organic company and work with farmers to source sustainable, delicious ingredients.
If you follow a keto diet (or if you just want delicious chef-inspired meals) and are considering trying Green Chef I want to share my experience with you.
I am a Green Chef subscriber and will give you the lowdown on how exactly Green Chef works, how much it costs, how easy the meals are to prepare, how many carbs are in each meal, some popular keto dinners, how they taste, and more. I've done my best to answer all the questions I had before I subscribed.
In this blog post, I am specifically reviewing Green Chef's keto-friendly recipes and meals. Let's take a low-carb culinary tour of Green Chef, shall we?
Table of Contents
What is Green Chef?
How exactly does Green Chef delivery work?
Are Green Chef meals truly keto-friendly?
Do the Green Chef keto meals taste good?
How long do the Green Chef keto meals take to prepare and are they complicated to make?
What are some of the Green Chef keto meals?
Pros and Cons of using Green Chef
How much do the Green Chef meals actually cost?
Can I easily skip a week or cancel my Green Chef subscription?
This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. This means if you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, see my disclosures here.
What is Green Chef?
Green Chef is a New York-based company that provides high-quality, fresh organic produce, proteins, and herbs, spices, and sauces direct to your door so you can prepare delicious, keto meals at home in about 30 minutes. You choose meals from their weekly menus so the dinners are not just healthy and low-carb, but also suit your personal tastes.
Green Chef uses high-quality, organic ingredients.
If you’re looking for sustainably sourced meal kits with select organic ingredients, look no further than Green Chef. All ingredients are sustainably sourced, non-GMO, and free of toxic pesticides, irradiation, sewage sludge, antibiotics, growth hormones, and steroids.
The ingredients are pre-portioned and many are pre-prepped so you spend zero time grocery shopping, and less time in the kitchen washing, measuring, and chopping ingredients. Most meals can be prepared from start to finish in 30 minutes or less.
Green Chef features keto, paleo, balanced living, vegetarian, and vegan recipes.
While I’m specifically reviewing Green Chef’s keto-friendly meals, they do offer three lifestyle plans:
Balanced Living
Plant-Powered, and
Keto
How exactly does Green Chef delivery work?
If you’ve never tried a meal kit delivery service before you may have questions about how it works. Here’s the lowdown…
Start by telling Green Chef your preferences.
When you first log in (with no commitment to purchase, btw) you will select a type of meal plan (I have the keto + paleo plan), a dietary preference (specify if seafood, pork, or beef-free), the number of servings, and the number of recipes you want each week (3 or 4, though you can choose more if you want).
I chose the keto plan for 2 people, with 3 boxes per week.
Click on the button below to create a no-obligation Green Chef account and, if you choose to order, you will get save $135 across your first 5 boxes, plus free shipping on your first box.
You can also specify a delivery day. Where I live, I can choose Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. I have delivery on Saturday so my meals are ready to go for the week ahead.
Each week choose meals from the Green Chef website or app.
Using the Green Chef app or their website browse, review the meals available for upcoming weeks and choose which ones you want to order. You will see the name of the recipe with side dishes, a photograph of the meal, how much time it takes to prepare, and more.
I love that you can see everything about the meal you will receive. I like to click on the recipe card PDF to see EXACTLY what ingredients are included, the macros for that meal, and the step-by-step directions.
You can see all the ingredients included in your meal and there is a link to see the PDF instruction card. But don’t worry, a full-color recipe card is included in your Green Chef order.
Each week there is a Chef Select recipe that uses upscale ingredients like beef tenderloin, or it might be a surf ‘n’ turf meal that includes both seafood and steak.
The Chef Select meals are clearly marked and they do have an upcharge. (I ordered the Surf ‘n’ Turf with Sun-Dried Tomato Butter which featured steak and shrimp, plus tomatoes, green beans, and mushrooms. It was a huge portion of delicious food and well worth the extra $8.99 per serving.)
This is one of the chef select meals I ordered. As you can see from the photo, it is clearly marked “Chef Select” and the additional price is specified.
What is NOT included in your Green Chef box.
All ingredients to make your meal are in your cute little Green Chef recipe paper bag EXCEPT salt, pepper, cooking oil, and butter.
Look forward to your delivery day!
Your Green Chef box is well-insulated and kept cool with ice packs.
Each meal is individually packaged in a labeled paper bag, so I just open the box and place all my bags in the fridge. The proteins are individually packaged in the bottom of the container, and I store those in the meat drawer of my refrigerator.
Your Green Chef order comes with labeled paper bags to hold all the produce, sauces, and seasonings. The proteins are packaged individually, and you also receive full-color recipe cards with photos.
You can save the ice packs to use another time, and recycle the Green Chef box and paper bags.
All of the packaging materials are eco-friendly. They are made from recyclable, reusable, and/or compostable materials, except when the packaging has to be a vacuum-sealed plastic wrapping for tofu, beef, and chicken to ensure you get the freshest experience possible.
Green Chef is an auto-delivery subscription service but you can easily pause or skip a week (or weeks) when you don’t feel like cooking.
Unlike ordering bone broth or keto bread mix on Amazon whenever you need it, Green Chef is a weekly auto-renewing subscription service. However, you can always modify, pause, or cancel your delivery any time before 11:59 PM PST, seven days prior to your scheduled order.
Want to skip a week? No problem.
You can choose to skip a week or multiple weeks right in the app or online.
PRO TIP: An easy way to remember to choose your meals or skip a week is to set up a recurring task in your Google calendar or on your phone.
Are Green Chef meals truly keto-friendly?
Because I’m writing this review specifically focusing on Green Chef meals for someone following a ketogenic diet, it’s important to know if the recipes truly are keto-friendly.
All of the Green Chef keto recipes support a low-carb lifestyle, use organic produce, and are also free of gluten.
Since a keto diet is high in fats, moderate in protein, and low in carbohydrates, you’ll find the Green Chef keto meals include:
Proteins like beef, pork, poultry, and lamb
Wild-caught and sustainably raised fish and shellfish
Leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale
Other low-starch veggies like broccoli and cauliflower
Nuts and seeds, like macadamia nuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds.
Healthy fats like avocados
Low-sugar fruits like raspberries and blackberries
Dairy and eggs
RELATED: Want chef-prepared, keto-friendly meals WITHOUT cooking? Try Factor Meals which are prepared fresh and delivered straight to your doorstep. Learn more: I Ate Keto Factor Meals for 7 Days and Lost 5 Pounds: 2022 Review
Green Chef keto meals have NO:
Grains like wheat, corn, or rice
Refined sugars like honey, agave, maple syrup
High-sugar fruits like bananas, apples, oranges
High-carb root veggies like potatoes and sweet potatoes
Gluten
Peanuts
Soy
Each Green Chef keto meal lists the net carb count so you can make wise food choices.
As a keto dieter, you likely know that net carbs are the total carbs in a recipe minus the fiber.
Net carbs for the Green Chef keto recipes vary. I’ve noticed that most of the low-carb meals range from 8 net carbs up to 18 grams of net carbs.
if you look closely at the recipe card on the right of the photo, you can see the net carbs are clearly marked. There are 8 grams of net carbs in the Parmesan-Crusted Chicken with roasted green beans and tomatoes recipe.
Note that the Green Chef recipes are complete meals with protein, vegetable side dishes, and sauces. The carbs mainly come from low-starch vegetables which make for a super healthy, and low-carb meal.
How many carbs do Green Chef keto meals contain?
Carb counts vary for the Green Chef keto-friendly meals, but most have between 8 and 18 grams of net carbs. (Total carbs minus fiber grams.)
RELATED: Eating lots of veggies is a good thing, even on a keto diet! Learn how to incorporate more low-carb veggies in your life… How to Eat More Veggies on a Keto Diet - Free Low Carb Eat the Rainbow Tracker
Do the Green Chef keto meals taste good?
I love the convenience of using a meal kit delivery service like Green Chef, but there is no way I am spending my hard-earned dollars on food that does not taste good. Let me tell you about my experience…
I have liked some meals more than others, but the Green Chef keto meals are truly restaurant quality. Even with little ol’ home-cook me preparing them.
All of the meals feature high-quality protein like beef, chicken, pork, or seafood, lots of low-carb veggies, and sauces or seasonings.
Because the recipes are created by CHEFS and not some random blogger, the flavors are bold, there are a nice variety of textures like creamy and crunchy, there is a nice balance of flavors like meaty, tangy, sweet, and salty.
The Green Chef recipes also use high-quality organic ingredients like fresh produce, seasoning blends, and prepared keto-friendly sauces.
If you don’t love salmon you probably won’t love Honey-Glazed Citrus Salmon with mangos, jerk-spiced carrot fries with almonds, and roasted broccoli. But someone who likes salmon will likely enjoy the bold Caribbean seasonings, variety of textures, and perfectly composed meal.
I don’t know about you, but when I am left to my own devices cooking dinner on a keto diet, often I will throw chicken thighs in the air fryer and serve with a simple salad. It’s a quick meal and it’s certainly keto, but it is not brilliantly seasoned, or what I would consider a “restaurant quality” meal.
Contrast a “throw it together keto meal” with one of my favorite Green Chef meals, the Surf ‘n’ Turf with Sun-Dried Tomato Butter.
Green beans and cherry tomatoes are oven-roasted with extra-virgin olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.
The oven-roasted green beans and tomatoes added beautiful color, lots of nutrients, and hardly any carbs to my Green Chef meal.
You prepare a simple sun-dried tomato butter using sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and softened butter which will be used to flavor the wild-caught shrimp and to finish the steak.
Searing the steaks for dinner.
The steaks are seasoned with an oregano-garlic seasoning mix, salt and pepper, and pan-seared to your desired doneness. You’ll spoon a little sun-dried tomato butter on top to finish the steaks while they are resting.
Mushrooms and garlic are sautéed in olive oil.
The shrimp are pan-seared with salt and pepper and then some of the delicious sun-dried tomato butter is stirred in to elevate the flavor.
Whether or not you love steak, shrimp, roasted green beans and tomatoes, and sautéed mushrooms, know that the flavors are complex and chef-quality.
You get the same type of complex flavor combinations in every single Green Chef keto meal.
This may not look like a Gordon Ramsay steak dinner, but it looked elegant on my plate. (And this low-carb Chef Select meal tasted amazing too!)
RELATED: I love a good steak on a keto diet and ALWAYS top my KC strip steak or filet with a homemade herb butter while it’s resting. See my go-to recipe here: Rosemary Garlic Compound Butter Recipe - Perfect for Meat, Seafood and Veggies (Keto | Low Carb)
Another one of my favorite recipes is Creamy Mushroom & Meatball Soup. It made two large portions (perfect for my husband and me) and was sooooo creamy, delicious, and satisfying. Best of all, it took less than 30 minutes to prepare. The pork meatballs were moist and flavorful, and were served in a creamy mushroom broth seasoned with cremini mushrooms, onions, carrot, celery, garlic, and coconut milk along with rosemary, basil, and sage. Fresh chives are sprinkled on top.
It’s so quick and easy to pull out your Green Chef bag and have everything you need to create a tasty keto meal right at your fingertips. I save so much time in the kitchen.
Not only was this another delicious meal but Green Chef pays close attention to all of the details, including garnishes and chef-worthy plating.
This Creamy Mushroom & Meatball soup is one of my favorite Green Chef keto meals. It looks beautiful as well!
In my opinion, the Green Chef keto meals don’t just taste good; they taste GREAT.
How long do the Green Chef keto meals take to prepare and are they complicated to make?
Most of the Green Chef keto meals take 30 minutes or less to prepare.
With Green Chef you can go from grabbing ingredients from the fridge to a hot, cooked meal on the table in about 30 minutes. The time includes any chopping, prepping ingredients, as well as cook time. Some of the meals might take a bit longer, but you definitely won’t spend hours in the kitchen.
I love that the organic produce is measured and sometimes is even chopped and ready to add to a recipe. Fresh garlic, which I LOVE, is already peeled which saves so much time and food prep aggravation.
It takes longer to order online and pick up a to-go meal than it does to cook a Green Chef keto meal.
You do NOT need to be a contestant on Top Chef to prepare the keto meals.
The recipes are truly beginner-friendly. Even if you have very little experience in the kitchen you will likely turn out a great low-carb meal.
The instructions on the recipe cards are very clear, they tell you EXACTLY what to do and when, and there are color photographs to guide you
Green Chef recipes use basic kitchen equipment you likely already own.
No instant pot, spiralizer, or backyard smoker are required when preparing and cooking Green Chef keto meals! The recipes use standard kitchen equipment like a sauté pan, baking sheet, a cutting board and knife, and measuring cups and spoons.
Each recipe card (which can also be found online or in the Green Chef app) has a “What You’ll Need” section right on the front that tells you EXACTLY what is needed.
For example, the Pork Chops with Tzatziki require:
Oven-safe sauté pan
Baking sheet
Mixing bowls
Measuring spoons
Thermometer
Oven mitt
Green Chef gives you instructions on how to professionally plate your meal.
I LOVE cooking shows like Top Chef, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Master Chef.
Professional chefs say “you eat with your eyes first.” How your food appears on the plate is important. This is something I definitely notice when dining out at a nice restaurant, but it’s not a skill I practice at home.
Usually, I just throw a pork chop on a plate and add a scoop of cauliflower rice. Or ladle some low-carb chili in a bowl and top with cheddar. There is no rhyme or reason to how my plates and bowls look and, as a home cook, I don’t really know how to make my plate look visually appealing.
See the perfectly plated meal in the recipe card photo? You too can perfectly plate your Green Chef keto meals!
With Green Chef, not only do you have a color photograph of how the recipe is supposed to look, but they give you instructions to perfectly plate your meal. Like these instructions from the Pork Chops with Tzatziki recipe:
Cut pork chops into 5-6 slices each.
Divide pork chops between plates. Drizzle with Tzatziki-style sauce to taste.
Top with garlicky roasted tomatoes.
Serve chard salad with artichokes and feta on the side.
Sprinkle remaining feta over salad. Enjoy!
I feel like the Pan-Roasted Cotija Chicken looks professionally plated! I could not have done that without specific instructions - and PHOTOGRAPHS - from Green Chef.
What are some of the Green Chef keto meals?
You can easily explore the Green Chef website to see several weeks of keto meals, but here are some of the yummy low-carb options you will find:
Roasted Fennel-Cumin Shrimp with sun-dried tomatoes, cauliflower rice, bell peppers, and olives
Pork Chops with Basil Pesto, sauteed broccoli with sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, and feta
Mediterranean Chicken with artichokes and roasted red peppers, pepita pesto, and Brussels sprouts
Parmesan-Crusted Chicken with marinated tomatoes, green beans with hazelnuts
Spicy Kimchi Beef Patties with cabbage, carrot & chard stir-fry with cashews, fried eggs
Sausage & Zucchini Peperonata with red bell pepper, fried eggs, Parmesan, and pesto
Shrimp Scampi with spaghetti squash noodles, basil pesto, Parmesan, and hazelnuts
Creamy Mushroom & Meatball soup with onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and chives (my favorite meal of all!)
Surf 'n' Turf with Sun-Dried Tomato Butter with roasted green beans & tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms
Lemon-Basil Pork Salad with kale, hazelnuts, lemon-basil caper sauce, and Parmesan frico
Boom Boom Shrimp Bowls with green leaf lettuce, stir-fried cabbage, and red bell pepper
All these meals feature protein, lots of low-carb veggies, and flavorful sauces or seasonings.
I love the convenience of using a meal kit service like Green Chef.
Pros and Cons of Using Green Chef Keto-Friendly Meal Kit.
Before we go any further I want to jump right into what I consider to be super important information if you are considering trying Green Chef keto meals. And that is the pros and cons of this service.
Pros of using Green Chef:
You will receive all the ingredients to create delicious, nutritious, keto-friendly recipes delivered right to your door.
Each week you can select from 10 different low-carb meals and choose your favorites.
You see the exact ingredients and can view the recipe instructions before you even order.
You can check the macros and nutrition information for your Green Chef meal to pick ones that are best aligned with your personal keto guidelines.
The meals are easy to prepare and most take under 30 minutes from start to finish.
Green Chef uses organic ingredients.
Your recipe's ingredients are prepared and portioned out ahead of time. This means most of the vegetables are chopped, sliced, or diced ahead of time. Even the meats are trimmed and cut in advance. I love this feature because it brings recipes together quickly, usually in less than 30 minutes.
You will save a TON of time because meal planning, shopping, and much of the meal prep are already done for you.
You can choose your recipes weeks in advance.
No more buying full-size containers of expensive spices when you only need a little bit for a recipe.
You don't waste food ingredients. Ever buy a package of celery when you only need 1/4 of a cup?
Your meals will be nutritious, restaurant-quality, AND keto-friendly.
The portions sizes are very generous. I have a hearty appetite and I have always been satisfied after a Green Chef meal.
You can choose just 2 meals a week, or order up to 7.
You can easily pause or skip meal boxes. It's all done online or through the Green Chef app.
Not confident in the kitchen? All the Green Chef recipe cards have step-by-step instructions with photos.
You can try recipes and flavors you might not normally prepare - get out of your culinary comfort zone in a good way!
Your first 3 Green Chef boxes are discounted by $20!
You can choose a delivery date that works best for you. (I don't cook on the weekends so I have my box delivered Saturday and I'm ready for the week ahead.)
You might be making meals fancier (but not more difficult!) than you are used to. You will seriously feel like a Top Chef. Maybe invite Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons over for dinner?
You will learn new cooking skills and flavor combinations you can use anytime.
Green Chef has a no-hassle cancellation policy and you can cancel with a few clicks online. (This is huge! I was a Fabletics member for far too long because I didn't want to make a phone call to cancel.)
Green Chef has a Hero's Discount for Military & Veterans, First Responders, Nurses, Medical Providers, and Teachers are eligible. Please visit here to confirm if you are eligible.
Boom Boom Shrimp featured a flavorful sauce and lots of fresh veggies. Plus it’s low carb!
Cons of using Green Chef:
The Chef Select meals (featuring prime ingredients like beef tenderloin) are a few dollars more per serving. But the extra charge ($8.95 per serving as an example for the beef tenderloin meal) is made clear before you add the meal to your box
A wide variety of veggies are used in the meal. This is a pro for me, but a con for my husband who will not eat cauliflower rice, kale, or butternut squash.
Picky eaters might not enjoy some of the more "foodie" meals.
You are obviously paying for the convenience of having your ingredients packaged and prepped for you.
I forgot to sprinkle hazelnuts on top but this Lemon-Basil Pork Salad was truly delicious. I love that it includes so many veggies, plus quality protein, and healthy fats!
How much do the Green Chef meals actually cost? (And is it worth it??)
If you're considering trying Green Chef for the keto meals (or any of their other meal plans) price is definitely a consideration.
Try Green Chef and save $135 across your first 5 boxes.
Green Chef has an offer for new customers where you will save $135 across your first 5 boxes ($27 savings off each one plus free shipping on your first box!) I love this deal because you can try the meals and decide if it’s right for you without paying full price.
Click the button below (or any of the buttons on this page, to save $135 across your first 5 Green Chef keto boxes. That’s $27off each box.
Green Chef keto meals are $12.99 per serving.
Green Chef keto meals are $12.99 per serving, plus a flat rate of $9.99 shipping and handling per box. Prices of the other plans - Balanced Living and Plant-Based - vary slightly.
Without any discounts (like the first 3 weeks when you try Green Chef) the total price, including shipping, for the keto meals is:
2 people x 3 meals = $87.93
2 people x 4 meals = $109.91
4 people x 2 meals = $109.91
4 people x 3 meals = $153.87
4 people x 4 meals = $193.83
6 people x 3 meals = $216.87
6 people x 4 meals = $285.75
Chef Select meals have an additional cost.
Each week features a special Chef Select meal on the menu. These recipes use premium ingredients like filet mignon, or steak plus shrimp, and are perfect for celebrations, date night, or when you want to treat yourself. The meals are clearly marked and do have an extra charge which is displayed on the website (between $6.99 and $9.99 more per serving).
Even though it's a bit of a splurge, I love Chef Select meals because they taste delicious, they get me out of my culinary comfort zone, I can always recreate the recipe on my own in the future, and it's cheaper than buying a similar meal in a restaurant.
Some of the Chef Select meals (and prices) are:
Beef Tenderloin with Shallot Pan Sauce, creamy kale, roasted mushrooms & tomatoes, chives - additional $8.99 per serving
Steak & Shrimp in Creamy Chive Sauce, cheesy mashed butternut squash, and roasted broccoli - additional $9.99 per serving
Beef Tenderloin with Truffle Cream Sauce, cheesy cauliflower, and roasted tomato wedges - additional $8.99 per serving
Bavette Steak with Creamy Blackened Shrimp, cauliflower “rice” with collards & bell pepper, pecans - additional $8.99 per serving
Italian Surf 'n' Turf, creamy kale with sun-dried tomatoes & mushrooms, hazelnuts - additional $9.99
Delivery is a flat fee of $9.99.
Green Chef charges a flat fee of $9.99 per box for all shipping, packaging, and handling. This fee is added to the total cost of your box.
Is the cost of Green Chef keto boxes worth it??
Let's look at the non-discounted price of $12.99 per serving for a Green Chef keto meal.
Can you make a yummy keto meal at home for less? Yes.
Can you order a keto restaurant meal for $12.99 per serving? If you're eating fast food and ordering a McDonald's double cheeseburger without a bun, or a Wendy's Southwest Avocado Salad, likely you can have a meal for less than $12.99. The Green Chef meals stand head and shoulders over a bunless Whopper though.
Moving up the fast food chain to a restaurant like Chipotle, their Keto Steak Lifestyle bowl in my city is $11.35 before tax. So the Green Chef meal is very close in price for what I believe to be higher quality food.
It is rare for any sit-down restaurant to have a full keto meal (protein and sides) for less than $12.99, especially because you'll need to add the cost of a drink, tax, and tip.
“The majority of meal kit customers say that getting our home meals delivered helps them save money vs. going to the grocery store, getting food delivered, or take out. While we make it easy for you to budget your monthly spending for food, our pre-portioned ingredients prevent you from over-buying and wasting ingredients.”
Can I easily skip a week or cancel my Green Chef subscription?
I personally won’t sign up for a subscription service of any kind, unless it is easy to cancel. In other words, I want to cancel with a click of a mouse or in an app… don’t make me have to pick up my phone and make a call!
I still have PTSD from when I was a Fabletics member. I kept my subscription (even though I didn’t buy anything) for way too long because it required a phone call to cancel. And then the friendly customer service agent tries to guilt you into keeping their service which I don’t enjoy, but I digress.
Canceling your Green Chef subscription is effortless and takes just a few clicks.
Just log into your account, go to SETTINGS, then ACCOUNT, and click DEACTIVATE YOUR PLAN. Enter the reason why you are canceling and click DEACTIVATE NOW.
You can easily cancel your Green Chef subscription online with just a few clicks.
Just be sure to cancel at least 7 days prior to your next delivery.
And remember, you can always skip weeks right on the app or online if you don’t want boxes for now, but intend to order in the future.
My recommendation. Should you try Green Chef keto meals?
By now you know I'm a big fan of Green Chef for their easy-to-prepare, tasty keto meals. I recommend trying Green Chef if you are a person who loves to eat flavorful, restaurant-quality, low-carb meals using organic, sustainable, and delicious fresh ingredients.
I love that Green Chef gives a discount for your first 3 boxes so you can try the meals at a reduced cost. Choosing your meals online is simple (or use their app), and you might find you save lots of time, effort, and aggravation in the kitchen.
If your cooking skills are not quite Top Chef level, you might be surprised at the gourmet meals you make in your own kitchen using organic, quality ingredients.
—The Keto Minimalist
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