Can I Customize My HelloFresh Menu? A Comprehensive Guide

December 27, 2025 •

4 min read

According to a recent company survey, over 70% of HelloFresh subscribers actively use the platform's customization features to personalize their weekly meals. The answer to "Can I customize my HelloFresh menu?" is a definitive yes, and the process is flexible, offering multiple ways to tailor your delivery to your exact needs and tastes.

Quick Summary

HelloFresh offers significant menu customization, allowing users to swap dishes, upgrade proteins, and manage dietary preferences to personalize their weekly orders. Customers can also adjust serving sizes, add extra meals from the market, and skip deliveries easily through their account settings or app.

Key Points

Extensive Menu Swapping: You are not locked into the automatically selected meals and can freely swap them for any of the other recipes available on the weekly menu.
Ingredient-Level Changes with HelloCustom: A specific feature called HelloCustom allows for deeper customization, enabling you to swap proteins, upgrade ingredients, and add extra items on certain recipes.
Add Extra Meals and Market Items: Beyond your weekly box, you can include extra meals, snacks, breakfasts, and other market products in your delivery.
Set General Preferences: You can set overarching meal preferences like 'Veggie' or 'Calorie Smart' in your account settings, which will automatically suggest and prioritize certain meals for you.
Adjust Subscription Details: It is easy to change your box size (number of servings and meals), skip a week, or pause your subscription from your account settings.
Act Before the Cutoff: All weekly menu changes, swaps, and additions must be finalized by the designated cutoff time, typically five days before your delivery.

Your HelloFresh Menu: Beyond the Standard Plan

For many, the appeal of a meal kit service like HelloFresh lies in its convenience and variety. However, for a meal plan to truly fit into a modern lifestyle, it must also be flexible. Thankfully, HelloFresh has evolved its platform to offer substantial menu customization, moving far beyond simply choosing a basic meal plan. Subscribers are not locked into the pre-selected meals; they can actively manage their weekly choices, add upgrades, and even include extra items from the HelloFresh Market.

How to Change Your Weekly Menu Choices

Making changes to your HelloFresh order is a simple process, typically done via the website or mobile app. The key is to act before the weekly cutoff date, which is generally five days before your scheduled delivery.

Log in to your account: Access your account through the HelloFresh website or app.
Navigate to 'My Menu': Find the upcoming delivery you wish to change.
Click 'Edit Delivery': This opens up your customization options for that specific week.
Swap Your Meals: Browse the full weekly menu, which includes a much wider selection than your default plan may suggest. You can swap any of your pre-selected meals for a different recipe from the available options.
Look for Customization Labels: Certain recipes will feature a 'Customise' label or an icon indicating that they can be further modified. This is where you can take customization to the next level.
Review and Save: Once you've made your selections, click 'Save' to confirm your choices. The new recipes will appear in your 'My Menu' section.

HelloCustom: Expanding Your Options

HelloCustom is a feature designed to provide even deeper levels of personalization for your meals. Instead of just swapping out an entire recipe, HelloCustom lets you make specific, granular changes within certain dishes, often for a small additional fee.

Here's what HelloCustom enables you to do:

Swap Proteins: For many recipes, you can swap a featured protein for an alternative. For example, a dish with pork strips might be swapped for chicken strips instead.
Upgrade Ingredients: For a more premium dining experience, you can often upgrade a standard protein to a more luxe alternative, such as swapping chicken for salmon.
Add Extras: Enhance your meal by adding extra portions of a certain ingredient, or even adding a protein to a vegetarian dish to create a 'flexitarian' meal for different diners.
Change Sides: Some recipes allow you to switch out a standard side dish for another option, such as swapping sweet potatoes for broccoli.

Managing Your Meal Plan and Account Settings

Beyond week-to-week selections, HelloFresh offers broader customization through your account settings. This allows you to set long-term preferences and manage your subscription more flexibly.

A list of plan customization options:

Select a Meal Preference: You can choose a menu preference like 'Veggie,' 'Family-Friendly,' 'Calorie Smart,' or 'Pescatarian.' This does not restrict your menu but pre-selects meals that align with your choice, putting them at the top of your weekly menu for easy selection.
Change Box Size: Easily increase or decrease the number of servings per meal (e.g., 2 or 4 people) and the number of meals per week. This can be a temporary change for one delivery or a long-term adjustment.
Skip a Week: If you are going on vacation or have a busy schedule, you can easily skip a delivery without canceling your subscription.
Add Extra Meals and Market Items: In addition to your standard meal box, you can add extra meals or items from the HelloFresh Market, which includes breakfasts, snacks, sides, and quick lunches.

The Customization Comparison: Standard Selection vs. HelloCustom


Feature	Standard Weekly Selection	HelloCustom (select recipes)
Availability	Available for all subscribers every week	Available on specific, marked recipes each week
Flexibility	Swap one recipe for another from the full menu	Make specific, in-recipe changes to protein or side
Protein Options	Choose between different recipes featuring different proteins	Swap protein type (e.g., pork for chicken) or upgrade protein quality
Cost	No additional charge for swapping meals	Small extra fee for upgrades or additions
Side Dishes	Choose different recipes that include a variety of side dishes	Change the side dish for a different option within a single recipe
Best For	Routine variety and changing up your meal choices weekly	Fine-tuning recipes for picky eaters or special preferences

The Final Word on Customization

The customization features offered by HelloFresh are robust and cater to a wide range of needs, from simple menu swaps to specific ingredient modifications. By utilizing your 'My Menu' section and the specialized HelloCustom feature, you can take full control of your meal delivery experience. HelloFresh proves that a meal kit subscription doesn't mean sacrificing personalization for convenience, offering a truly flexible and user-centric service. HelloFresh Menus and Meal Plans

Frequently Asked Questions

To swap a recipe, log into your HelloFresh account, navigate to the 'My Menu' section, and click 'Edit Delivery' for the upcoming week. From there, you can view the full menu and choose to swap your selected meals for others from the list.

Yes, you can add more meals than your standard plan size. When you edit your delivery for a specific week, you have the option to add extra meals to your box from the weekly menu and the HelloFresh Market.

HelloCustom is a feature that allows you to make specific changes to certain recipes, such as swapping proteins (e.g., pork for chicken), upgrading ingredients, or adding extra portions. You can identify customizable recipes by a special icon on the weekly menu.

Yes, you can change your dietary preferences, such as selecting 'Veggie,' 'Pescatarian,' or 'Calorie Smart,' in your account settings under 'Plan Settings.' This influences which meals are suggested to you but does not restrict your choices.

Standard meal swaps typically do not incur an extra cost. However, upgrading to premium proteins or adding extra ingredients via the HelloCustom feature usually comes with a small, additional fee.

You can easily skip a week by logging into your account, finding the delivery date on your calendar, and selecting the 'Skip Week' option. This must be done before the weekly cutoff to be effective.

Yes, you can change your plan size and the number of servings per meal on a week-by-week basis. This is done by editing your delivery for a specific week and adjusting the box size options.