My Veggie Chef

I’ve tried this service for 3 weeks. I love the idea of this service but I wish there was an ability to customize the meals. Almost every meal had onions or sundried tomatoes, which I can not really eat. I love how all the meals took less than 30 minutes to complete. However, the meals were just ok in taste. Half of the meals I had to force myself to eat because I hate wasting food. I really wanted to love this service because It is an awesome idea and to be honest I need something like this in my life.

I am in LOVE with this service. It has made my life so incredibly simple, and the food is delicious. I had been eyeing Blue Apron and Plated for months, but something always kept me from ordering. My Veggie Chef showed up in my Facebook news feed as a sponsored advertisement. I would usually scroll right over the sponsored ads, but it got my attention. My husband and I are not vegetarians or vegans, but we do try to limit our meat consumption, and it is a challenge for me to come up with creative vegetarian recipes.
My Veggie Chef does a wonderful job of making great meals easy. They are usually all-​in-​one type dishes, but they don’t get old because the flavors are so unique. I love the international flare they have in their menu. Lots of Indian and Mexican inspiration, which my husband and I love.
The only 2 reasons I took away 1 star is the food does not arrive in refrigerated boxes like some of the bigger services. Luckily, I ended up being home for our delivery, but 12 – 6 PM, is a big window, much like waiting for the cable guy… The bag was insulated, but I wonder how long it would last if you weren’t home to receive it. They suggest you leave a cooler filled with ice if you won’t be home, which is a pain to me, so I don’t order on weeks I know we can’t be present when it is delivered. The other reason I removed 1 star is all essential ingredients aren’t always included. It’s not common, but if a recipe requires non-​dairy milk or an avocado, I still have to go to the grocery store which defeats the purpose of this service. It would be nice if they included all necessary ingredients. (Other than oil, salt and pepper. Those are definitely essentials.)
Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend this service, and I will definitely continue to use them. I’m proud they are local too!

I love this service. I’m not a vegetarian, but I used to be (for 10 years) and I still love vegetarian food. My Veggie Chef is very easy to use. They publish the menu for the next week 10 days or so in advance; you sign up for delivery (usually with a $ 10 early bird coupon if you sign up by Sunday night; the deadline to sign up for Sunday delivery is Wednesday); and the next Sunday, they drop off your food, frozen in Ziploc bags. The amount of cooking required on your part is minimal: sometimes just reheating everything together in a pot, sometimes you have to cook some rice, pasta or quinoa separately and add to the rest of the dish, which also has to be reheated, so you will dirty a couple of pots/​pans.
The food is delicious and it’s definitely enough for 4 meals. A prior reviewer commented on high sodium, but that wasn’t the case for my meals; each serving was ~400−500 mg sodium, which is slightly less than in most calorie-​equivalent frozen dinners and keeps you well under the AHA-​recommended 2300 mg/​day. Nutritional info, including calories/​carbs/​fat/​protein/​sodium/​fiber, is provided, which is a plus. They also have a gluten-​free menu each week, and since it’s vegan, everything is dairy free.
I would recommend the service to anyone, vegetarian or not (hey, you could always add some protein — chicken, fish, etc. — while you’re reheating and still save yourself a ton of time in the kitchen). The only downside for me is that the delivery window is kind of big: between 12 and 6 pm on Sundays. You can leave a cooler on the porch if you’re not going to be home, but it would be nice if they could give you a narrower window the morning of delivery when they have their routes (12 – 2, 2 – 4 or 4 – 6, nothing too rigid). I wanted to go for a walk this afternoon and felt kind of tied to the house. Just my 2 cents. Still love the service!

I love this service! My job is pretty labor-​intensive, so when I get home, I don’t want to think too hard about what I’m eating or doing. You just have to take the package of your choice out of the freezer and let it thaw, then just cook it. It only takes a few minutes, and you don’t have to chop anything or think about dinner too hard. There’s just me and one other person eating the food, and we always have plenty of leftovers for another two or three meals, depending on how hearty the food it.
The downside really is that you sometimes get food that you don’t like so well. Also, the sodium content is very high. Still, for what you’re getting, it’s wonderful, and it’s good for us to eat something we wouldn’t normally get.

I would really like to rate MVC 5 stars because of the concept, quality of the product for the value, friendly delivery lady, and ease of preparation… However, out of the five meals we received, the only one I would want to have again was the buffalo tempeh with greens and ranch dressing. It was really awesome the first time as well as reheated leftovers. The ranch dressing was incredibly watery but I guess that’s my fault for adding the maximum suggested amount of liquid right off the bat. I also felt like there was the least amount of food in this dish out of all the meals. We only got about 3 «adult servings» out of the tempeh but felt like the included rice was beyond plentiful. But that would really be my only complaint for that dish. I wish that we had been able to order 5 days worth of it. Ha. Otherwise, none of the other meals were super impressive to me and I actually thought the one pot mac and cheese was kinda gross. I didn’t finish that one. I had high hopes for my veggie chef, this particular menu especially, but I don’t love it enough to order again. I will say that I do think $ 90 + tax ($ 108) for one week of vegan and gluten free dinner and leftover lunch the following day is a really good deal. You can also get $ 10 off for ordering early. It’s worth a shot if you would like to save some time prepping veggies and measuring ingredients. It’s all done for you.

I’ve ordered My Veggie Chef on three occasions so far.
PROS: The delivery is consistent on Sundays with friendly drivers, the recipes are easy to follow, and if I ever have a question or problem, the owner is quick to respond. The serving sizes are listed for 2 – 3, and in my house there is enough for both of us to have lunches the next day. If you sign up for the newsletter you can see the menu before you order. The website sometimes has a $ 10 coupon for liking on Facebook or whatever.
CONS: It can be a pricey to pay $ 87 for 5 meals upfront, The first time I ordered I thought I might be able to do better. Most of the dishes are based on legumes and whole grains. But the fact is, I don’t make the time to plan and prep and therefore end up eating the kids’ leftover mac n cheese instead of something thoughtfully planned like Veggie Chef. Second, the food isn’t all organic. When I asked the owner about it, she told me that she tries to buy as much organic as possible within her budget, and to avoid the «dirty dozen» as conventional veggies. I thought this was a problem so I tried to do the «Fresh20» vegan meal planning service instead, and buy all organic ingredients. I spent twice as much and still had to do all the prep work. Then I threw half the food away because I only used a portion of it or I was too busy to cook. At least with veggie chef, the meals are safe in the freezer until I decide to cook them.
VERDICT: I would definitely recommend trying it out for anyone that wants to «beef up» their veggie intake.

The term «chef» implies most of the work is done for you, and that the most you’ll need to do is some simple reheating… NOT the case at all. My veggie «shopper» would be a better term.
We ordered a week of these meals for our convenience, to save time, and ended up spending far MORE time preparing these meals than the 15 – 20 mins claimed on the website.
Ingredients are pre-​measured, but that’s about it. The quality of the ingredients isn’t all that great, IMHO, and certainly doesn’t justify the price when it’s not all organic, etc.
As far as seasonings go, they’re a 1 stop shop — SALT, SALT, and more SALT. Several of these dishes were too salty to eat.
So I guess if you don’t know how to go shopping and have unlimited cooking times (e.g. no kids or don’t work and/​or aren’t looking to get a meal ready in less than 30 – 60 mins), this is for you.

We just LOVE MVC.
We order almost every week, are never bored of the selection, and always have enough food for 2 adult evening meals, and 2 lunches the next day.
We save around $ 100 a month using MVC over grocery shopping, and the food is much better for you than frozen pizza and burgers!

Perfect for our busy family. We are not Vegan or Vegetarian, so I add lean meats to some of the dishes. I was skeptical, but I’m so glad I tried it because now I rely on these meals to help get me through the week. The food is fabulous. Second week in and haven’t had a thing we don’t like. My toddler eats most of the meals without a problem. The Tamale Casserole– Heavenly. I would eat it every day!

Yes, yes, yes! This team fully understands customer service. You will not be sorry if you are looking for yummy vegan creations at a fair price. Go Kristie, your business is wonderful!

Accidentally discovered My Veggie Chef just over a week ago, and decided to give them a try. Online ordering was SO SIMPLE and I was able to use PayPal for checking out which is, to me, always a plus when trying something new. The meals were delivered Sunday as promised and I was even given a phone call to let me know that the package was left on the front porch. I forgot to leave a cooler but they loaned one. All that is impressive enough… but…the meals are great! I feel so spoiled knowing that a healthy, tasty, easy to prepare meal is waiting in the fridge for me when I get home from work. The portions are spot on so far, with each meal allowing for four servings. We are now huge fans! Will definitely order again.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!
It’s easy and delicious! I would caution that not all of the recipes are «kid-​friendly», but mine are coming around!
I would HIGHLY suggest you try it for a week… you’ll be hooked!

I just started using their service and I can’t say enough good things about it. The food is amazing and the customer service (email correspondence) has been great. My pet peeve is people not getting back to me in a timely manner, that’s not an issue for them.
I’m not a vegetarian, but I try not to eat too much meat, however I wish they had some meals with meat options. I often mix in chicken with some of their dishes, but my guess is the back-​end of cooking meat in a vegetarian kitchen would cause some issues.

We live in Murfreesboro and have very limited vegan options. We have been using Veggie Chef for a month and love it. There has not been a duplicate meal yet, and our entire family of four enjoys the variety and quality of food. The delivery of the food and the price makes this a no brainer. Highly recommend!

I absolutely love My Veggie Chef! I changed to a mostly plant based diet last year, and although I’ve enjoyed learning how to cook vegan meals, it’s pretty labor intensive.
Enter My Veggie Chef!
I can still have delicious HEALTHY home cooked VEGAN meals without trying to decide what to make, chopping up all the veggies, gathering all the spices, etc.
The meals are scrumptious and easy to make. Plus, when I do want to cook my own meals, I’ve gotten plenty of inspirations from MVC meals.
My Veggie Chef meals are an absolute MUST in any respectable vegan’s freezer!

I’m not a vegan and i love the food. Its really good, fresh, and easy to make.

I love this service! I’m not a vegan but I wanted an easy, inexpensive way to get my family eating healthier, and this has been our answer. Each of our meals has been different and delicious, and each takes about five minutes to prepare. I love not having to grocery shop or chop anything up, but still have a healthy meal on the table. I also like that I inadvertently get to learn a lot about cooking just from seeing how Chef Kristie put these meals together. Lots of mental notes have been made! Plus, it also helps that the chef is a total sweetheart and very, very pleasant to interact with. My Veggie Chef comes highly recommended!

I’m Vegan.
I’m no chef.
Enter My Veggie Chef.
(Cue applause)
For $ 87 including tax, you can enjoy 5 entrée as week that will offer up 2 – 3 servings so in essence, if you keep it all to yourself… you can eat lunches and dinners throughout your entire week — no sweat! I zip around our fair city all the time and dining out can rack up some charges because I am super awkward in my kitchen. With My Veggie Chef, I come home and have a Vegan prepped meal ready to go. I usually just need to add some water and olive oil to a pan and do simple preparations that even I can complete. This past week, I enjoyed a delightful Aloo Gobi entrée, Chili-​Lime Tofu Tacos with Black Bean and Corn Salsa, Pasta Puttanesca, Seitan, Mushroom and Pineapple Stir Fr, and Creole Red Beans and Rice. Everything was filling and very tasty. The dishes come with suggestions for great side item pairings (your on your own to purchase and prepare) that have included items such as Coconut Rice, Sesame Green Beans, and Garlicky Broccoli.
A few things that I would love to see get updated:
Notate on the packaging what the nutritional information is for each entrée.
The Zip-​Loc bags could used to contain the entrees an upgrade too. What can I say? I am all about the packaging and the entrée bags didn’t showcase the quality of the food and didn’t make My Veggie Chef look like a professional operation. If the cost of packaging is the reason, perhaps offering an incentive program for consumers who return their packaging each week would help keep costs down?
The once a week delivery is between 3−7pm on Sundays and include a My Veggie Chef Cooling bag.
As someone who used to be on the Seattle Sutton food delivery service (very costly) and the food is pre-​made with 2 deliveries a week, My Veggie Chef is priced fair and will likely be something that I will continue to use in 2012.
TIP: Go to the website to join the My Veggie Chef community and to receive the menu emails!