Which Meal Delivery Service Is Right for You?
This site contains affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. However, this does not impact my reviews and comparisons. I highlight products I use and recommend to friends.
If you have been wanting to try a meal delivery service but are a little overwhelmed by the choices, you’ve come to the right place.
Sometimes I’d rather just have three choices because things are a lot easier. And even though most subscriptions can be cancelled pretty easily, it still seems like a commitment! To help you feel more confident about that “commitment,” here are the details about some popular services (and some you might not have heard about yet).
Meal delivery services have understandably soared in popularity in the last ten years. And fortunately, we have advanced beyond Nutrisystem (which doesn’t fill you up, is high in sodium, and ultimate tastes gross).
Whether you are trying to eat healthily during a busy week or trying to learn how to cook without public embarrassment, they offer a solution to your problem. Offerings include the convenience of prepared meals (might I suggest packing some of those to take to the office for after a lunchtime workout?) and/or premeasured ingredients and step-by-step recipes for cooking an actual dinner.
In this post I will break down the overview, costs, and benefits of some popular meal delivery services to help you choose which is best for your preferences and lifestyle.
A couple of notes: for most of them, you can choose the number of recipes and number of servings of each recipe for week. Also, most offer some sort of discount for signing up (a percent off your first box, free shipping, etc.), so it’s important to look at ongoing charges should you want to continue with a subscription.
Hello Fresh: The One You Hear about A Lot
Hello Fresh is an industry leader, so I’m sure you’ve seen tons of ads on TV and social media. The benefit of that is that they’re always running a promotion for a discounted week or two and potentially free shipping.
Pros: has a new collaboration with Rachael Ray. Great option for novice chefs who want to branch out into a wider variety of recipes.
Cons: less options for certain diets (gluten-free, vegan, keto). Does not offer pre-made meals or add-ons (salads, desserts, extra protein, etc).
Costs:
Average price per serving: $10.
Shipping: $10.99.
Special diets: Vegetarian, pescatarian, low calorie. Some ingredients can be swapped out though.
Selection & Subscription: 2-6 recipes with 2 or 4 servings from 40+ options per week.
Home Chef: The Other One You Hear about A Lot
Home Chef is also an industry leader, and like Hello Fresh, you’ve likely seen their ads with discounts and free shipping on your first order(s).
Pros: The service offers both meals to cook (in either 15 or 30 minute preparation options) or premade.
Cons: Home Chef has less vegetarian options than you might want if you’re looking for a plant-based diet.
The company also owns Green Chef (which has more options for restricted diets, discussed later in this post).
Costs:
Average price per serving: $10.
Shipping: $12 average.
Special diets: Vegetarian, pescatarian, low calorie, low carb. Some ingredients can be swapped out though.
Selection & Subscription: 2-6 recipes with 2, 4, or 6 servings from 20+ options per week.
Real Eats: The Gourmet-ish One
This service is all pre-made meals that you reheat. Started by a Michelin-starred chef, all the ingredients are flash-frozen on a farm and delivered in sealed bags. You can mix and match proteins and sides to build meals you love!
Since everything is packaged separately in its own bag, you just microwave or boil and combine.
Pros: Highly customizable and delicious (I refer you to the fact that the founder is a Michelin-starred chef). Also, the sodium levels are reasonable for prepared food (thank you to the flash freezing and the sealed bags).
Cons: If you’re looking to learn how to cook, this isn’t where you’ll do it.
Costs:
Average price per serving: Just over $13 (depends on your number of meals per week)
Shipping: Free.
Special diets: You choose your proteins and sides, so you can customize to your dietary restrictions.
Selection & Subscription: Can choose dinner or dinner and breakfast (with some add-ons like extra sides, soups, and snacks).
Green Chef: The Organic One for Specialized Diets
Owned by Hello Fresh, this plan is targeted to those with more specialized diets (for example, you want to do keto instead of just low carb).
Pros: Most of the food is certified organic.
Cons: There is no flexibility here in terms of swapping meals – once you select a meal plan, you cannot mix and match recipes from other meal plans. This is because the price points are different for the different types of diets (i.e. vegetarian meals are likely going to be cheaper than paleo ones).
Costs:
Average price per serving: $12.50.
Shipping: Starts at $8.99.
Special diets: Mediterranean, keto, paleo, vegan, gluten-free.
Selection & Subscription: 2-4 recipes and 2-12 servings in the plan you selected.
EveryPlate: The Lower Price Point One
EveryPlate is the cheaper option from Hello Fresh. It is a great choice for getting started on a meal delivery service to see if it works for your lifestyle and schedule.
Pros: Cost effective and convenience is the perfect match.
Cons: More limited recipe options.
Costs:
Average price per serving: Starts at $4.99.
Shipping: $9.99.
Special diets: Some vegetarian options.
Selection & Subscription: 3-5 recipes and 2 or 4 servings from 17 recipes/week.
Blue Apron:
Pros: Box add-ons includes wine (in addition to common things like salads, snacks, etc.)
Cons: Does not include options for more specialized diets.
Costs:
Average price per serving: $10
Shipping: $9.99
Special diets: Vegetarian, low carb, low calorie, diabetes-friendly. Can swap out certain ingredients.
Selection & Subscription: 2-4 recipes with 2 or 4 servings.
Sunbasket:
Pros: Great options for a wide variety of specialized diets. Can often choose your own protein.
Cons: A touch more expensive than other services.
Costs:
Average price per serving: $13 (meal kits) or $11.50 (pre-made).
Shipping: $9.99
Special diets: Paleo, low carb, gluten-free, low calorie, diabetes-friendly, vegetarian, pescatarian, Mediterranean.
Selection & Subscription: 2-5 recipes with 2 or 4 servings from 20+ recipes (and 10+ premade options).
Purple Carrot: The Plant-Based One
Pros: If you’re looking to eat more plant-based, you’ll find nothing but that here. It’s a good option if you’re looking to do Meatless Monday or something of the like.
Cons: If you still want meat to up your protein, you’ll need to buy that separately.
Costs:
Average price per serving: $4.49 (breakfast), $8.99 (lunch), $11 (starting price for dinner).
Shipping: Free
Special diets: All vegan.
Selection & Subscription: 3-4 recipes with 2 or 4 servings. For prepared meals, each is one serving, and you get 6,8, or 10 dinners per week.
The next two are honorable mentions. They’re not the traditional meal delivery services, but they are attached to online grocery stores, so they are convenient and easy to add into your grocery order (and likely get free shipping).
Quicklly: The Indian Takeaway One
If you like Indian food, you’re in luck! If you live in the US, unless you’re in a big city, chances are you don’t have many Indian restaurants in your town. The frozen options at the grocery store are limited. Plus, it can be a little intimidating to learn to cook a different cuisine if you aren’t terribly versed in it (especially if you’re a novice chef).
This is a great option for vegetarians, people who want to try Indian food, or people who love spice!
You have two options: 5 meals for $54.99 (or $12/serving) or 8 meals for $84.99 (or $10.62/serving). You can select from over 12 options, including vegetarian, including things like chicken vindaloo, tofu tikka masala, and yellow lentils with basmati rice.
Since this is an online grocery store, they have free shipping over $30, so either package size is free to ship! And while you’re there, take a look around and pick up some ingredients to whip together an Indian feast when you have a bit more time!
Thrive Market: The One Attached to a Grocery Subscription
I’m sure by this point you’ve seen ads for Thrive Market around (I wrote about the value of the membership price here). Basically it’s an online health-focused grocery store that is really convenient (let’s not forget how we all lived on grocery deliveries during the beginning of the lockdowns).
Well, as it turns out Thrive Market also has prepared meals. So if you have been looking to outsource your grocery shopping to the internet fairies, it might make sense to consider Thrive Market and their premade meals (FYI, they even have wine).
And if you add this in with a grocery order, you’ll likely get free shipping!
I hope this helps you narrow down which service is best for you. In the meantime, if you are looking for some simple shortcuts using prepped food from the grocery store (think frozen cauliflower rice), sign up for my FREE Lazy Sunday Meal Prep Guide, where you spend an hour or two prepping for a whole week of healthy, whole foods meals!
