If you aren’t exactly the best cook, you might find it stressful to try to plan out healthy meals for yourself or your family. While cooking at home is a great way to save money and eat healthy meals, it can be hard to find the time or know what ingredients to use. Plus, if you combine the time spent buying the ingredients, prepping the recipes, and actually cooking– that’s a lot of precious time you could spend on other important things.
This is where meal kit delivery services come in. These services provide all of the ingredients you need to make healthy meals, so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying your food and other things. Here are 7 of the best meal kit delivery services for healthy and delicious home cooking.
Many of the services on this page are our partners. This may impact which brands we discuss and how they appear on a page, but it has no bearing on our views. We only show things that we believe will be beneficial to you.
1
HelloFresh
4.6
/5
America’s most popular meal kit that guarantees fresh meals daily.
- Over 25 different recipes every week
- Measures nutritional and caloric content
- 25% cheaper compared to grocery items
2
Home Chef
4.5
/5
Feel like a bonafide chef with these easy-to-prepare meal kits.
- Customize your own box
- Choose from 5 to 30-minute meals
- Different options to fit your diet
3
Green Chef
4.5
/5
#1 Meal Kit for health buffs who want premium and organic meals 24/7.
- Certified organic company by CCOF & USDA
- 10 delicious recipes every week
- Offers meal plans for special diets
4
EveryPlate
4.5
/5
America’s best value meal kit that is both healthy and delicious.
- Choose from 17 recipes per week
- Recommended by over 9000 families
- Save money on groceries
5
Gobble
4.4
/5
These kits only take 15 minutes to cook. Gauranteed fresh!
- Diverse weekly menu
- Offers Classic or Lean & Green meal kits
- Save time while cooking healthy meals
6
Purple Carrot
4.2
/5
Delicious plant-based meal kits. Easy to prepare.
- Good for your health
- Clinically-proven diet for weight loss
- Offers meal kits and ready-to-heat meals
7
Splendid Spoon
4.2
/5
Whole-food plant-based meals that are prepped, cooked and delivered daily.
- 4 starter plans to choose from
- Over 50 meal options per week
- Eat well and feel great
Meal Kit Delivery Service Reviews
With so many meal kit delivery service options out there, it can be difficult to figure out which one would suit your lifestyle, diet, and needs best. While it is completely possible to try out every option to see which pleases your palate the most, we’ve broken down each meal kit service in detail to help you make an informed decision right off the bat.
1
HelloFresh
HelloFresh makes mealtime easy and keeps things fresh.
One of the most popular meal kits in America, HelloFresh offers affordable meal plans and a lot of new recipes every week, ensuring that you never get sick of mealtime. By affordable, we mean they’re 25% cheaper compared to store-bought groceries!
Each kit comes with meals that are properly packaged, proportioned, and ready to cook. They are also fun, easy, and quick to make. In fact, in less than 30 minutes, you can already have a meal ready that you – and your entire family – will love.
2
Home Chef
Home Chef will make you feel like a real chef without breaking a sweat.
If you have an entire family to feed, Home Chef would be a good option for you as families are exactly who they cater to. No fancy and complicated gourmet recipes here – just plain ol’ good food (and we think that’s a good thing).
Home Chef aims to make family mealtimes easy and quick with their crowd-pleasing recipes and flexible customization. You can tailor your recipes based on your family’s lifestyle and preferences, and even swap out ingredients as needed.
3
Green Chef
For organic meals and special meal plans, Green Chef has got you covered.
If you’re incredibly health-conscious or follow a very strict diet, you might have trouble finding meal kits that cater to your needs. Green Chef will definitely be able to give you what you need. Specializing in niche meal kits, Green Chef offers certified organic ingredients and three special meal plans – Balanced Living, Keto + Paleo, and Plant-Powered – all of which have a wide variety of recipes for you to choose from.
Green Chef also lets you check out upcoming menus – complete with photos, ingredients, and nutritional facts – without asking for an email address like many other meal kit delivery services do.
4
EveryPlate
Save money while staying healthy with EveryPlate.
Want to eat healthy but are on a budget? EveryPlate offers some of the most affordable meal kits out there. Despite its extremely low prices, however, they by no means compromise on quality. Their food is healthy, delicious, and satisfying; and they even offer lower prices for your first few deliveries so you can get a taste of what they offer before you make a long-term commitment.
Once you’re ready, you can look forward to choosing meals kits from a menu that changes weekly and often brings back crowd favorites. You can also view upcoming menus in advance if you like to plan ahead.
5
Gobble
No need to waste time in the kitchen. Gobble only needs 15 minutes to give you delicious meals.
As quick as it might be to prepare and cook Gobble’s meal kits, you won’t be disappointed by their quality. Gobble offers gourmet meal kits with intricate recipes that can be ready in just 20 minutes – and without breaking the bank, either.
If you want to indulge in gourmet meals or impress your family every mealtime, Gobble is a great delivery service to turn to. Choose from three plans – Classic, Vegetarian, and Lean & Clean, let them know how many people you will be serving, and look forward to healthy yet fancy meals every time.
6
Purple Carrot
Focus on greens or train to eat green with the help of Purple Carrot.
Having difficulties coming up with plant-based meals every time? Whether you’ve been following a plant-based diet for a while now or are just looking to start, Purple Carrot offers delicious plant-based meal kits that can train you to eat more greens.
These meal kits are good for your health and are even clinically proven for weight loss. Get several benefits in one go with Purple Carrot’s wide array of recipes!
7
Splendid Spoon
From smoothies to healthy meals, Splendid Spoon aims to help you eat well and feel great.
Splendid Spoon believes that in order to feel great, you have to eat well. Because of this, they offer smoothies and healthy meals filled with guaranteed fresh and handpicked ingredients.
With more than 50 meals to choose from, you’ll never have to worry about cooking your food. Their whole food plant-based meals are prepped, cooked, and delivered to your doorstep daily. All you have to do is choose your meals and heat them up.
How Do Meal Kits Work?
With work, travel time, chores, and family duties to think about; it’s not surprising that many people aren’t able to put much thought into cooking their meals anymore. What’s more, ordering out can be expensive and will definitely compromise your health.
Meal kit delivery services know exactly how busy people can be nowadays so they aim to provide healthy and easy meals to anyone who needs it.
These meal kits typically come in a box filled with pre-measured ingredients and easy recipes so anyone can prepare the meals at home with ease. Some meal kits even allow further customization based on your dietary habits, personal preferences, and other needs. These meal kits are then delivered straight to your doorstep for the utmost convenience.
Pros and Cons of Meal Kits
Meal kits are popular nowadays for good reason. They’re quick and easy to prepare, and there are many options to choose from nowadays. If you’re wondering whether you should start looking into meal kit delivery services, you should learn about their pros and cons first.
Pros of Meal Kits
If you are busy with a ton of work, chores, and other tasks on a daily basis; meal kits can be your saving grace. With your everyday demands in mind, meal kits allow you to prepare and cook meals in no time at all. They also eliminate the need to think about what to cook every single meal.
Meal kits can also help you save money. If you don’t believe us, just do a quick search on the Internet. Plenty of people have already done the math and proven that you can definitely save a ton of money by making the switch. Just think about how much food goes to waste when it goes bad in your fridge and you’ll know this is true.
Additionally, meal kits ensure you get the proper nutrition despite the short time it takes to prepare them. What’s more, you can discover new foods in the process and widen your culinary knowledge at the same time.
Cons of Meal Kits
One con of a meal kit delivery service is that you have to get used to eating on a set schedule. This might not be a big problem but if you tend to eat at random times during the day or even the week, you might have trouble getting used to this kind of setup.
Another con to meal kits is the extra packaging waste you’ll have to deal with. Since all of the ingredients are usually individually packed and are all sent in a box, you’ll end up with more packaging to get rid of than you might be used to.
Tips on Choosing the Right Meal Kit Delivery Service
If you’re tired of having to come up with meals three times a day or simply need more time for other things, a meal kit delivery service is definitely a great option for you. If you still don’t know where to start, here are some top tips on how to find the perfect service that will be beneficial for you.
Set a Budget
Since meal kit delivery services all have different price ranges, it would be smart to sit down and calculate how much you normally spend on groceries when you cook for yourself or order out. That way, you’ll know how much you should be willing to spend on meal kits. It’s important to choose one that doesn’t break the bank and that is flexible enough to take your daily needs and activities into consideration.
Make Sure the Recipes are Doable
Recipes provided by meal kit delivery services are usually easy to follow but it’s also important to ensure that their recipes are actually doable. When it comes to this, make sure to check if you have all of the equipment needed to whip up their food. It would be pointless to sign up for a service that requires baking if you don’t have an oven at home.
Make Sure the Food Suits Your Diet and Taste
You obviously know by now what kind of food you prefer so check out the recipes of the meal kit delivery service you are eyeing to see if they suit your tastebuds. If you follow a special diet, make sure to choose a service that caters to your needs as well.