Huel Hot & Savory Review: Buy It or Skip It?

I never thought I’d be doing a Huel Hot & Savory review. I’ll admit, when Huel offered to send me some bags to try, I was skeptical. However, I had been skipping lunch because I was overwhelmed with work projects and just not motivated to get up and make anything.

I hit a point where I was so sick of thinking about planning meals, shopping for food, then making the food, I just didn’t plan well.

This post is not sponsored, but the Huel was sent to me for free.

How Huel Saves the Day

You know what happens to your mental health when you don’t eat enough, or not enough nutritious things, right? Don’t eat enough, feel awful; feel awful, fail to prepare healthy food. Yeah… It’s a vicious cycle.

(My Huel Hot & Savory review has more to do with the effects it had on my mental state than my physical one, but it’s all tied together anyway, you know?)

So Huel contacted me at the perfect time. It’s easy to make (it takes like 8 minutes), a no-brainer (scoop and pour water), and it’s also healthy enough to help my brain and body keep chugging along. Okay, I’m down!

Above is a photo that shows how Huel Hot & Savory looks when you open the bag. A picture of it after the hot water’s been added and it’s had a few minutes to “cook” are a little further down.

Is Huel actually healthy?

I’m not a nutritionist or any kind of diet expert even though I’ve been paying attention to ingredients for years because I was trying to figure out how to feel better, have more energy, and control anxiety, but everything checks out to me.

The ingredients are good, there aren’t a lot of common allergens or ingredients people tend to be sensitive to. I felt like I’d consumed something healthy after I ate it, too. There was a noticeable difference between that and some of the other things I might grab to eat in a hurry.

(FYI, from the Huel website: Huel Hot & Savory is a delicious nutritionally complete food that is high in protein, fiber and essential fats and contains a balanced macro split of 38:30:25:7 (net carbohydrate, fat, protein, fiber), phytonutrients and all 27 essential vitamins and minerals.) Read more about the macro breakdowns and nutrition at the Huel website.

How many meals are in Huel Hot & Savory?

You get seven meals (two-scoop meals) per bag. That’s about 400 calories per meal, and plenty of protein and fiber to make you feel full.

Can Huel help you lose weight?

Probably, if you eat it several times per week, consistently. I noticed a few things (besides the nutrition alone) that could contribute to weight loss, but I was mostly interested in Huel for the convenience and the mental clarity I hoped to get from making better midday food choices.

I couldn’t eat Huel every day for too many days in a row just because I’m sensitive to pea protein, an ingredient in most of the Hot & Savory flavors, so I wasn’t able to track inches or weight and say those changes came from eating Huel for lunch each day or anything like that.

On the days I did eat it, I noticed that my energy levels felt more stable. I felt more awake, alert, and more able to get things done without too much of a struggle. The more awake, alert version of me moves around a whole lot more and might even feel more motivated to work out, so there’s one way Huel could help with weight loss.

My cravings for sweets seem to subside when I eat Huel Hot & Savory, too, though that could be a side effect of eating real food instead of trying to fight an afternoon crash with sugar.

Either way, I didn’t hit up the pantry for cookies or candy nearly as often as I’d gotten in the habit of doing.

It was nice to get the day-to-day comparison as I worked my way through the flavors without having it every day, back-to-back. Huel days: energetic and okay skipping sweets; non-Huel days: more lethargic and wanting all the cookies.

You can check out the ingredients and specific nutritional facts for each flavor at the Huel website’s Hot & Savory page.

Huel Hot & Savory Flavor Reviews

I was able to try four of the six flavors Huel offers in their Hot & Savory line (I did not try Tomato & Herb or Indian Curry, but the Indian Curry sounds amazing): Yellow Coconut Curry, Mexican Chili, Thai Green Curry, and Sweet & Sour.

The ones I didn’t expect to enjoy very much ended up being some of my favorites, so that was a pleasant surprise!

What Does Huel Hot & Savory Taste Like?

Think stew, but less chunky. Or soup, but thicker. Everything’s chopped pretty fine and I’d say it’s like a soup, but if you follow the guidelines for how much water to add, it’s thicker than that. Here’s a photo of Huel after I added the hot water and covered it for about five minutes:

Here are the notes I took as I worked my way through the flavors. I was literally eating and typing between bites so I wouldn’t miss any details:

Yellow Coconut Curry

This one smells weirdly sweet when the bag is opened. I’m not so sure I’m going to like it, but I usually eat green curry and don’t really know what to expect from yellow. Of course, I would choose the one with raisins first. Lol

Thoughts at first bite (of Huel in general): Kind of dry…I can tell it was dehydrated food, but I’m relieved to know that it is, in fact, savory and not sweet.

The flavor is subtle, but good. I personally think it could use some pepper or hot sauce, but that’s just me. I like spicy foods and lots of flavor.

Would I buy a whole bag? Probably not, but I could see myself randomly wishing I had some, so maybe.

Mexican Chili

I could see this one being my favorite overall. There’s a lot of flavor. It’s warm, slightly earthy, and the texture is nice. It doesn’t have the same dryness the Yellow Coconut Curry did (and no raisins, that I know of…I’ll need to check the label). This one would be especially delicious in the fall. It’s still hot here, but I’m enjoying it anyway.

Thai Green Curry

Thai green curry is one of my two go-to dishes at our local Thai restaurant, so I was excited to try this one. Unfortunately, this is my least favorite (though I will admit, I may have added too much water). It doesn’t have as much flavor as I expected.

What is there tastes fresh (like bell peppers and cilantro), but it’s nowhere near the delight I expected it to be.

Then again, my local Thai restaurant’s food is mind-blowing, so I could just be hard to impress here.

The texture is what’s to be expected from brown rice and quinoa, so that’s fine. I’ll probably finish the bag, but I wouldn’t order another one. If you like mild flavors, I could see this ending up as your favorite, so take my opinion with a grain of salt here.

Sweet & Sour

Sweet & Sour: I tried this one last because I didn’t expect to like it. I loved it, though. The pineapple and bell peppers really stand out and give it a lot of flavor. It also makes the texture different–a little chunkier–than the others. I wouldn’t normally order Sweet & Sour anything from a restaurant, but this impressed me. I’d order another bag.

Pros of Huel Hot & Savory

There’s a lot to love when it comes to Huel Hot & Savory.

• Convenience
• It’s easy to travel with. Take the bag or just take two scoops in a travel mug as long as you’ll have access to boiling water. I haven’t tried making it ahead of time in a quality travel mug that’ll keep things hot for hours and hours, but if you do, let me know how it works out.
• Most are flavorful, and there’s variety–some spicy, some not
• Plant-based
• Gluten-free
• More protein than you might expect (around 25 grams in a two-scoop serving)
• Slow-release carbs so your energy levels don’t spike and fall
• Takes almost no time, so if you’re trying to squeeze in a meal between meetings, to-dos, or during your kids’ naptime, this will help
• Manageable even if you’re not feeling your best mentally or physically and just know you need to get some real food (no more cookies or chips!) into your body
• It’s warm–something quick and easy meals that actually fill you up and are good for you often are not
• You get a free pot, scoop, and t-shirt with your first order of at least three bags, so you’re all set! (I love using the pot and scoop and the shirt is actually really comfortable, not one that’ll immediately be added to the “frumpy pajamas” pile)
• You can save 10 percent if you subscribe
• May help with weight loss, depending on what you’ve been eating for lunch, whether it curbs your cravings like it did mine, and whether you can eat it every day

Cons of Huel Hot & Savory

Though I enjoyed having Huel around as an option, there are some things that aren’t so great, and it’s only fair to point those out:

• You have to buy more than one bag to get started
• If you’re sensitive to pea protein, you probably won’t be able to enjoy this every day (I wasn’t)
• It’s not exactly inexpensive (though it may still be cheaper than going out to lunch every day, and don’t forget you can save 10 percent with a subscription), at around $80.00–that’s $3.65 per meal–for three bags. Each bag contains seven meals, so you’ll need more to cover the whole month if your plan is to eat it every single day, though it’s fine if you’re only having it on workdays.
• You really need to pay attention to how much water you add so you don’t dilute the flavor too much.

Who Is Huel Best For? (And Who Wouldn’t Like It)

My first impulse is to say: Huel is best for everyone! That wouldn’t exactly be true, though. Here’s who I think can benefit most:

• People looking for a healthier lunch alternative
• People who don’t eat lunch, forget to eat lunch, or make not-great/convenient choices that are too high in fat, sugar, or both and lead to feeling sluggish and/or crashing in the afternoon
• Moms who tend to eat whatever’s left on their kids’ plates in the middle of all the chaos and call it good
• People looking for something easy and convenient, yet healthy, so they get the best of both worlds
• People whose work schedules (at home or an office) rarely leave time to go make or buy something

So who wouldn’t necessarily love it?

• People who need variety in texture and can’t eat similar things day after day (of course, you could always buy a few bags to keep around the house or office without subscribing so they’re there for occasional lunches when you need something quick and convenient–they have a one-year shelf-life)
• People who can’t handle pea protein well

Do I Recommend Huel Hot & Savory?

Yes, I do. I don’t eat it every day and there are some flavors I recommend more than others (like the Mexican Chili), but it is SO nice to have something simple to throw together when I don’t feel like making a more complicated lunch or I’m just too busy.

I love that it works almost as well as afternoon coffee to power me through the rest of the day. It’s a boost that keeps me chugging along without feeling like I need a nap later.

Plus, the way it keeps me from craving and eating sweets also helps with not desperately wanting/needing a nap in the afternoon (no sugar crashes). It’s helped with my productivity and mental health. I’m sure I’d see more of a change in my physical health and waistline if I could eat it daily, too.