Home Chef can be your solution to starting and staying on track with your Weight Watchers PersonalPoints plan this year! The vast amount of meal subscription kits that are out there can be overwhelming. Check out this post for my thoughts and tips on how you can incorporate Home Chef into your life. They can be a wonderful choice to help you create healthy, affordable and delicious meals that your entire family can (and will) enjoy without sacrificing your points.
Using Home Chef for Weight Watchers
Navigating the grocery store and making new recipes can be daunting when you first start your MyWW plan. Did you choose Green, Blue or Purple? It can be a matter of finding healthy meals the whole family will enjoy and while maintaining your point balance that determines your success with MyWW. Meal subscription boxes can be a great jumpstart on the road to a healthier new you by inspiring your cooking creativity! In fact, several of my recipes like Baked Salmon, Chicken Fajita Lettuce Wraps, and Avocado Tuna Salad are inspired by meals that I have made from using Home Chef's recipes.
*Update for 2021 — Have You Seen The Changes For WW for 2022?
The new PersonalPoints plan means that Home Chef is an even better option than ever. You can customize your proteins to suit your zero points list!
Why should I use Home Chef to lose weight?
One of the most obvious reasons to use Home Chef is that it is already preportioned, which greatly increases your knowledge of portion control. By learning better habits when you are cooking, you are going to build your brain to create similar recipes to add to your arsenal! Here are 5 Reasons why you should use Home Chef with weight watchers or any other healthy eating lifestyle!
- PORTION CONTROL – The box comes with pre-portioned ingredients so you are not tempted to make multiple servings causing you to overeat. Too often when we are cooking meals for our family, we are tempted to take seconds or even thirds when a dish tastes good just because it is sitting in front of us. When the portions are restricted, the temptation isn't there!
- PROTEIN CHOICE – Many meals have the ability to swap out proteins. That means that if a meal is offered for pork, you can choose to swap it for boneless, skinless chicken breast as a healthier and potentially zero-point option.
- DELIVERED – We all have that moment in the grocery store where we start piling things into the cart to make recipes and then end up with half-used containers of spices and condiments. By having the ingredients delivered to your door, you won't have unnecessary items just lingering in your pantry and fridge.
- CRAVING TAKEOUT – We didn't gain weight because we hate food. More than likely, it's a love of food and going out to eat often that sparked our unhealthy eating habits. Using Home Fresh gives you the quality and tastes of restaurant meals without the added junk that comes with it. When is the last time you went to a restaurant, ordered a filling, healthy meal, and paid less than $10 a person? Most upscale places will charge between $11-$22 a plate for a meal consisting of fresh vegetables and quality pieces of lean meats and seafood.
- TAKE CONTROL – Then, to make matters even more complicated, the dishes on the menu that seem to be the healthy choice often have hidden calories, fats and sugars from marinades, cooking oils, butter, dressings, etc. When you are cooking in your own kitchen, you have control.
When is the last time you had a gourmet meal… for less than $10 a person?
Home Chef has a new program called Fast & Fresh
If you are still relatively new to cooking, Home Chef now has a meal plan called Fast & Fresh. These meals are prepped, portioned and ready to cook! There are options for meals that are already in an oven-safe tray, an entree salad with no cooking required, and Express meals that can be ready in 15 minutes. All of these are perfect for busy weeknights when there may not be time to cook a meal.
Fast and Fresh
There are also these quick and simple meals that require very little effort. The one in this Tiktok below is so easy that literally all you are doing is dumping ingredients into a pan and stirring with a little oven time thrown in. These are Chicken and Feta Gyros, it says it's enough for 2 servings, but it was easily 4 for me.
Can Home Chef work for Weight Watchers plans?
The options available each week can vary, so just use the recipe cards and plug it into your calculator in advance. One of the best parts of using Home Chef is you do not need to order every week. In fact, you can choose how many meals you want each week, skip a week, or pause your subscription entirely. If there happens to be a week you don't like any of the dishes or feel like you can fit in your points allowance, just skip it!
The fact is, the meals aren't perfect for weight watchers but that's actually what makes it so great to use. You'll look at a recipe and realize where the higher points are coming from and learn what swaps you should make to balance it better. One of the options Home Chef offers is substituting proteins in the recipes. If there is a meal written for beef, you can easily request to substitute chicken or turkey in its place. If the recipe wants you to use olive oil in a pan to start cooking vegetables or meat, swap it for cooking spray instead. If a sauce used in the recipe is higher in points, keep it to the side and use less of it. Overall, this is teaching you how to compose a healthy, balanced meal that will still be absolutely delicious.
Frequently Asked Questions about Home Chef
- What is the weekly cost of Home Chef?
- Unlike other plans, the cost can vary depending on what meals you choose. The average cost is $9.95 per serving and orders over $40 receive free shipping.
- Is there a discount for Home Chef?
- In fact, there is! If you use my link or click on the image below, you will get up to $35 off your first box! This means you can get your first box at a HUGE discount with this coupon!
With Home Chef, You Could Be Eating Meals Like This
- How can I customize my Home Chef box?
- One of my favorite options with the Home Chef box is the ability to swap my proteins. This is FANTASTIC for Weight Watchers as some meals will be higher in points because it is beef or pork, but you can easily swap it out for 93% lean ground turkey.
- What would a typical week look like?
- I chose a random week of meals that were available on Home Chef and made selections based on what I would include:
What Other Extras Can You Purchase On Home Chef?
I'm pleasantly surprised to know that Home Chef deliveries now include a variety of popular proteins. With grocery store prices going up and protein sources getting scarce in many neighborhoods, it's good to know I can still get the food I need, delivered right at my door. In addition, there are other add ons such as breads you can bake in under 15 minutes, as well as quick grab, heat and eat meals.
My Sample Order of Home Chef:
In order to save on points, just use your cooking spray in place of the olive oil that is recommended!
How Many Points Are In These Recipes?
With the new PersonalPoints Plan, points can vary for each individual person based on their unique list of zero point foods. Points can also vary with different brands. Please use your recipe maker to determine your exact points.
Are You on WW Connect?
Find me on WW Connect @Sassycooking_Alyssa to see my full recipe list!
Apple Cider Chicken with Zucchini and Corn
This is a Home Chef Express meal, which means it will be ready in 10-15 minutes. This is a bit of an indulgence meal due to the butter and honey, but the point values when you swap out for light butter and olive oil spray. For me, it's still only a 10 point meal, which is definitely doable with personalpoints!
Turkey and Butternut Squash Chili
This chili is packed with good ingredients like ground turkey, butternut squash, tomatoes, cumin, shallots and cilantro. I would take the cheese and sour cream and pass it on to my husband, which will save on points.
Citrus Beet Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette and Goat Cheese
This is a Home Chef Entree Salad, which means there is no cooking required and takes about 5 minutes at most to prepare. This salad doesn't include protein, but you can add a roasted chicken breast for only $2.99 if you choose to. Keep your portions in mind for the dressing and go lighter if necessary (2 tbsp is one portion). If you would rather use your own dressing, you can deduct points. Personally, my husband overdresses his salad, so I would let him use the dressing created in this recipe and grab my favorite Skinnygirl Honey Dijon dressing instead.
What Did Your Box Cost?
The total cost was just over $50! Three complete meals with quality ingredients for my husband and I. If we were to order these same meals at restaurants in our area, we would easily pay twice that amount. Below is a short video of me opening our very first Home Chef box last year. The video cuts out after the recipe card, but it shows you how the box arrives! This first box we chose to start with only 2 meals, but quickly realized the value we were getting.
If I were you, I would head over to Home Chef and check out what meals are available this week. Not only will you get a discount on your first box, but you'll fall in love with a subscription box that will make expand your culinary prowess, teach you healthier habits and keep you on track with weight watchers.
Comment below and tell me what recipe you think you would try first!
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I think this website holds some really superb information for everyone. “Drunkenness is temporary suicide.” by Bertrand Russell.
How did you calculate your meal points? I’m starting with home chef and struggling to figure out how to find on WW app
I wish I had an easy answer, but I just used the ingredients and built the recipe. I plan on making the meals on my own again because I loved them, so it was useful to add it as a recipe anyway!