HelloFresh alternative
HelloFresh is convenient but expensive. If you've found your favourite meals and you're just reordering the same ones, you're paying a premium for recipes you already know. Basket List lets you save those recipes and shop for the ingredients yourself.
At first it's brilliant. New meals, no planning, everything pre-measured. But a few months in, you realise you're picking from the same corner of the menu every week and the bill is higher than an actual food shop.
At £4 to £5 per serving, a family of four is spending £80 to £100 a week. That's a lot for meals you could cook from supermarket ingredients at half the price.
That's what a family of four pays for five HelloFresh meals. Over a year, you're looking at £4,000 to £5,000 on weeknight dinners alone.
About 50 recipes a week, and you can't add your own. No nan's shepherd's pie, no recipes from that cookbook you got for Christmas.
HelloFresh picks the suppliers. You can't grab the Aldi deal, use the farmers' market, or choose a brand you actually prefer.
HelloFresh starts at about £4.50 per serving for a couple. A family of four doing five meals a week? £80 to £100. That's £4,000 to £5,000 a year on dinners.
A chicken pasta bake that costs £4.50 per HelloFresh serving costs under £2 with Tesco or Aldi ingredients. Same recipe, same result, different price tag.
For most families, the saving works out at £30 to £50 a week. Over a year, that's a holiday.
HelloFresh (2 people, 4 meals)
Around £35 to £40 per week. Works out at £4 to £5 per serving.
HelloFresh (4 people, 5 meals)
Around £80 to £100 per week. Costs rise as you add meals or servings.
Supermarket shop with Basket List (4 people, 5 meals)
Around £40 to £55 per week for the same meals. You choose where to shop and what to spend.
Typical saving: £30 to £50 per week
That is £1,500 to £2,500 per year for a family of four.
You know what your family likes. You just need a faster way to get from “what are we eating?” to “here's the shopping list.”
Step 1
Add whatever your family actually eats — HelloFresh hits, cookbook finds, your own inventions. Include the ingredients so you don't have to look them up again.
Step 2
Choose what you want to cook, set how many people you are feeding, and Basket List builds your shopping list. Shared ingredients are merged so nothing is doubled up.
Step 3
Take your list to Aldi, Tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury's, or wherever has the best prices. Tick items off as you go and share the list with your household in real time.
The useful bit of HelloFresh isn't the cardboard box or the ice packs. It's having your meals sorted and knowing what to buy. That part stays.
You still pick meals, still get a full ingredient list, still know exactly what to buy. You just buy it at Tesco instead of paying HelloFresh to post it to you.
No more delivery slots, no more plastic sachets, no more paying £4.50 for a serving of pasta bake.
Meal planning
HelloFresh: picks meals from a set menu each week. Basket List: you pick from your own saved recipes.
Shopping list
HelloFresh: no list — ingredients arrive in a box. Basket List: builds your list in seconds from your chosen meals.
Where you shop
HelloFresh: their suppliers only. Basket List: any supermarket, market, or online shop you like.
Cost (family of 4, 5 meals)
HelloFresh: £80 to £100 per week. Basket List: £40 to £55 for the same meals.
Your own recipes
HelloFresh: limited to their menu. Basket List: add any recipe you want, from any source.
People who've been on HelloFresh long enough to know what they like. The novelty of new recipes has worn off, they're just reordering the same meals, and the price feels hard to justify.
£80 to £100 a week is a big grocery bill. The same meals from a supermarket cost about half. Over a year, the difference pays for itself many times over.
If you already know your top 10 HelloFresh meals by heart, you don't need the box anymore. Save them, shop yourself, keep the money.
Picking your own veg, choosing brands you trust, spotting a deal — some people just prefer shopping in person. Basket List gives you the list to take with you.
The ice packs, the plastic sachets, the cardboard. When you shop yourself, you buy what you need without all the single-use wrapping.
Try it free for 14 days
Cook the same meals, shop at normal prices, keep the difference. For most families that's £1,500+ a year.
No card needed. One plan covers everyone in your household.