How to use Huel

One of our priorities when designing Huel was that it should be simple to use. We hope you’ll agree we’ve succeeded.

To learn all you need to have a great first experience with Huel, read on, or download our Quick Start Guide. Enjoy the ride!

How to prepare a Huel meal

The “standard” way to prepare your Huel is:

• Add 400ml cold water
• Add 3 level scoops of Huel
• Add 3 ice cubes (optional)
• Blend or shake vigorously for 10 seconds
• Top up with approx. 170ml cold water
• Reshake

You can of course tweak this and adjust to your liking, for example by simply using a different amount of water. Adding more water makes your Huel thinner and less sweet, and less water makes it thicker and sweeter.

What percentage of your diet will be Huel?

This is entirely up to you. Probably the most popular approach is to replace time-pressured weekday meals like breakfast and lunch, then sit down for a traditional meal in the evening. This gives you the best of both worlds.

But you can also use Huel as a snack, and make sure to check out our Huel Bars and Huel Granola. 

Whatever you do, make sure to gradually build up your Huel intake. Your body needs time to adjust to change in your diet, so start with 1 Huel meal a day, and add 1 more every 3-5 days until you reach your ideal balance. 

How many calories do you need?

We’re all different and all have slightly different calorie requirements. Below are two broad examples, but work your own out at calculator.net/calorie-calculator.

Seth 2,454kcal per day

Seth, 25, male. 6ft (1m 83cm) and 12st 0lbs (76kg). Exercises 3x per week. Maintaining weight needs 2,454kcal. To lose it, we recommend a deficit of 500kcal per day. To gain weight, a 500kcal daily surplus.

Melanie, 1,908kcal per day

Melanie, 25, female. 5ft7inches (1m 70cm) and 10st 0lbs (65.5kg). Exercises 3x per week. Maintaining weight needs 1,908kcal. To lose it, we recommend a deficit of 400kcal per day. To gain weight, a 400kcal daily surplus.

If you want to learn more about how to gain weight or lose fat, you can read our guides, written by our Nutritionist, James Collier:

• Huel Guide to Gaining Weight
• Huel Guide to Fat Loss

How to measure and weigh Huel

A scoop is provided in the box with your initial order, instead of inside every pouch, to cut down on waste. A level scoop of Huel holds roughly 38g which is about 153 calories.

If you want to weigh your Huel more accurately, we recommend using some simple kitchen scales. For example, add the water to your shaker, then place on the scales and zero them. Then add your Huel for a precise measurement.

See below our charts indicating the amount of calories in Huel by scoop and by weight to help you with your calculations:

Calories by scoop

Calories by weight

Powder Hacks

In pure form, Huel offers precise nutrition, but you don’t have to be obsessive to benefit from it. The base flavour is fairly neutral, so you can play and experiment with different flavours and techniques to find your perfect Huel, or simply to discover new ways to enjoy your Huel.

You can also see what others are doing on our forum, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Post your own progress and tag us @huel.

Blend

Blending Huel can greatly improve the texture and consistency of Huel. If you want your Huel to be smoother and creamier, there's no better way to ensure this than using a blender.

Chill out

The temperature of your Huel can also affect its sweetness and texture. Adding ice, or leaving your Huel to chill in the fridge, can reduce the sweetness and improve the texture, according to some of our customers.

Flavour Boosts

We have developed a range of Flavour Boosts: Chocolate, Banana, Strawberry, Mocha, Mint Chocolate, Apple Cinnamon, Salted Caramel, Peanut Butter, Berry, Pumpkin Spice, Vanilla, and our limited-edition flavours, Chocolate Cherry and Gingerbread. These are designed to work with both Vanilla Huel and our Unflavoured & Unsweetened version.

Change your liquid

Replacing water with milk can also affect how thick and smooth your Huel is, and it can also make your Huel much creamier. However, with milk come more calories, so make sure you take these into account.

Mix your Huel

Mix Vanilla and Unflavoured & Unsweetened. The usual amount that is combined is 2 parts Vanilla to 1 part Unflavoured & Unsweetened. But you can mix as much or as little as you like, for example adding a little Vanilla Huel to slightly change the taste of Unflavoured & Unsweetened Huel.

Get cooking

Use Huel as flour. Of course Huel is 100% complete nutrition in itself, but it also works great as an ingredient for sweet and savoury recipes, bakes and more! Find out more about cooking with Huel.

Consume or store

You can drink your Huel immediately, or if you prefer, you can store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. If you want to have it on the go, you can keep it at room temperature for a couple of hours, or longer if you use a thermos flask. Your Huel may separate after a while, but don’t worry, this is completely normal. Just give it a nice shake to re-mix it and you’re good to go.

Clean

To avoid Huel setting in your shaker once you're done, we advise you to clean your bottle as soon as you can. If this isn't possible, leave some water in it to stop it drying out. It will make it easier to clean once you get a chance to wash up.