With the sheer volume of meal-kit options now on the market, it’s not enough to just be delicious or convenient — we are looking for minimalism, too. Really, it was only a matter of time before we decided that having ingredients delivered to our doorsteps complete with recipes and step-by-step instructions was too complicated. So here to accommodate our increasingly demanding needs for ease of use is HelloFresh, which has recently launched Dinner 2 Lunch, a new set of recipes that allow you to cook once, but eat twice.
With these new recipes, you can turn dinner from one night into lunch for the next day. And we’re not just talking about leftovers that you reheat and resign yourself to — rather, with these Dinner 2 Lunch options, HelloFresh is giving you just a few additional ingredients that lend your meals a new twist for a new day.
“Despite our best attempts, it’s too often that lunch means the same thing every day or, worse, we choose to eat poorly to quickly satisfy our hunger,” said Claudia Sidoti, head chef and recipe developer at HelloFresh. “A few simple twists can easily bring new life to leftovers, adding some variety and freshness back into lunchtime.”
Dinner 2 Lunch features recipes like Chorizo Beef Chili, that you’ll then turn into a fully loaded Chili Burrito for lunch. Or, there’s the Sausage and Zucchini Pizza that becomes a Gemelli Pasta Salad; Honey Sriracha Pork Chops that transforms into Bahn Mi Sandwich; and BBQ Chicken and Poblano Quesadilla that becomes Chicken and Rice Bowl with Black Bean Salsa. The Dinner 2 Lunch option is now being offered once a week to HelloFresh customers, and will cost an additional $5 per portion as part of the Classic Plan.
The introduction of Dinner 2 Lunch comes just a few months after the company launched its 20 Minute Meals. Introduced as part of the company’s commitment to responding to customer feedback, these 20-minute meals promise minimal prep and cleanup time, and maximum enjoyment. Noting that many of their subscribers wanted even faster and simpler recipes, HelloFresh looked into decreasing prep time, while maintaining the same standards in terms of taste and quality. That means that no matter how tired or short on time you are, you will be hard-pressed to find an excuse not to cook.
“We know that every minute counts, and with 20-Minute Meals, we’re giving customers back precious time on the busiest of nights,” Stacy Gordon, chief product officer of HelloFresh U.S., said in a statement. “We have deconstructed the preparation process step-by-step from cutting board, to saucepan, to cleanup, and as a result, we are offering customers our most efficient recipes yet, without forgoing flavor. Our 20-Minute Meals involve less chopping, less mixing, fewer pans, and that means more time around the dinner table.”
Of course, if you are still in the market for more leisurely recipes for those days when you have more than 20 minutes to devote to the kitchen, HelloFresh will maintain its collection of standard recipes, which means that you can continue to choose recipes that best suit your lifestyle and needs. But for those days that you would rather make use of ready-made sauces, pre-chopped vegetables, and fast-cook ingredients like premade rice and fresh pasta, these quick meals can save your stomach.
The 20-Minute Meals were made available to Classic plan subscribers on September 9, with recipes like steak and nectarine salad with arugula, pecans, and feta cheese; butternut squash agnolotti with kale in a sage brown butter sauce; and sesame beef tacos with quick-pickled veggies and spicy crema making their debut.
Updated on May 25, 2018: HelloFresh now offers Dinner 2 Lunch recipes so you can cook once but eat twice.
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