Let's face it—we've all let left-overs linger in the back of the fridge a bit too long. Portion control isn't everyone's strong suit, but you might be wasting more money than you think.
July 8, 2024
The American Journal of Agricultural Economics recently revealed that the average US household wastes nearly 32% of the food it buys. Imagine tossing out a third of your groceries just after buying it. That's why relying on portion-controlled meal delivery services can keep your conscience clear and your wallet fuller.
Using my experience as a wellness and nutrition expert, I looked into the most affordable meal delivery services that are also healthy and sustainable. With her help, we handpicked the best meal delivery kits that cater to a broad range of preferences and needs without asking an arm or leg in return.
We thoroughly reviewed each option to ensure you know exactly what you're getting. Explore our expert picks below.
» Find out just how important portion control can be.
Led by an experienced health and fitness expert, our team directly tested multiple meal delivery brands. These evaluations involved exploring meal delivery websites, utilizing trusted third-party platforms, and researching users' experiences of the services.
EveryPlate is a convenient way to make affordable home-cooked meals in just 30 minutes. The company vets its suppliers thoroughly, guaranteeing that every ingredient, including sustainably sourced seafood, meets the highest quality standards. Plus, its 650-calorie options mean you can indulge guilt free.
Dennis Littley, a fine-dining chef with 40 years of experience and owner of AskChefDennis.com, remarked that he saved more money using EveryPlate than by "dining out or grocery shopping for ingredients" himself. He believes "EveryPlate is a top contender in the meal kit market—the perfect solution for anyone looking to save time and money without sacrificing flavor or quality."
Why we chose EveryPlate: This service is the most budget-friendly meal delivery service we tried. It's 30% cheaper than buying groceries and beats the average fast-casual meal by 56% in cost.
Our experience: EveryPlate's easy-to-follow recipes significantly boosted our cooking skills and confidence in the kitchen. We learned how to make true comfort food, like pulled pork tacos and mushroom and zucchini lo mein, with just a few ingredients—and while on a tight budget.
Pros
Cons
Read the full EveryPlate review
Dinnerly prioritizes customer savings by using simple packaging and minimizing fancy marketing campaigns. It guarantees the freshness and quality of each meal kit for four days after delivery. So you can have peace of mind about the ingredients as you prepare the simple five-step recipes.
Chef Dennis describes the recipes as "straightforward and designed with busy home cooks in mind." He's impressed by Dinnerly's global cuisine inspiration and "loves that it allows [him] to explore new flavors and cooking techniques."
Why we chose Dinnerly: Its unique Market service provides an affordable assortment of in-season grocery items, desserts, and snacks. It's the perfect one-stop shop for upgrading your weekly meal recipes and adding some variety.
Our experience: We appreciated that Dinnerly had our backs during special holidays like Easter, Mother's Day, and Thanksgiving. It offers brunch and dessert options to elevate these occasions, ensuring memorable meals with our families without the hassle.
Pros
Cons
Simplifies sticking to a plant-based diet with quick, ethical meals
Mosaic Foods provides convenience with its zero-step prep meals that require no chopping, cooking, or cleanup. It vets each meal to ensure it's free from animal products. It even uses organic sugar to avoid bone char bleaching—guaranteeing zero risk of cross-contamination.
You can microwave Mosaic's meals in just five minutes, and they stay fresh for up to a year when frozen. Plus, Mosaic Foods backs its quality with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you don't love your meal, it promises a full refund, no questions asked.
Why we chose Mosaic Foods: Mosaic Foods' friend referral program caught our interest with its generous offer of $20 off for both you and a friend. This feature is particularly valuable in the vegan community, where a general lack of options can make plant-based eaters more willing to try new things.
Our experience: We learned a lot from Mosaic Foods' meal replacement guide. It teaches you how to substitute ingredients or replace entire meals with vegan options. It was an invaluable resource for those of us new to veganism.
Pros
Cons
Daily Harvest's chef-curated menu features smoothies, soups, pasta, harvest bowls, and flatbreads. It crafts every item using sustainably sourced fruits and vegetables, ensuring nothing artificial ever makes it into your meal.
Daily Harvest's appealing corporate program of 11 custom bundles is designed to fit different budgets. Its services include flexible plans, on-site freezer stocking for easy access to healthy meals, and wellness-related content to enhance employee health and satisfaction.
Why we chose Daily Harvest: It drew our interest with its Individual Quick Freezing (IQF) technology, which freezes produce at peak ripeness. This method ensures its products are fresher and more flavorful than typical alternatives.
Our experience: We loved Daily Harvest's Mylk product: triangular just-add-water frozen wedges that turn into almond or oat milk. Each wedge makes about a carton's worth of Mylk, enough for eight smoothies. This helped us stock up on milk alternatives without having to worry that they might spoil quickly.
Pros
Cons
Read the full Daily Harvest review
Home Chef delivers versatility right to your door, offering everything from meal kits and oven-ready options to fresh meals. Each order includes step-by-step recipe cards that make it easy for even novice cooks to achieve delicious results.
Home Chef's Culinary Collection helps you elevate your cooking with premium ingredients, adventurous flavors, and advanced techniques. This plan is perfect for those looking to improve their skills on a budget.
Why we chose Home Chef: Home Chef caught our attention with the "Customize It" feature, allowing easy recipe adjustments straight in its app. This flexibility helps keep the menu exciting and prevents the inevitable monotony of flavors common to many other meal delivery services.
Our experience: We appreciated how Home Chef fosters a vibrant online community of health-conscious individuals. Many customers actively share Home Chef recipes on fitness tracker apps, allowing you to calculate and track your macros.
Pros
Cons
Read the full Daily Harvest review
HelloFresh provides farm-fresh foods, with nutritional specialists carefully crafting recipes that meet diverse dietary needs. Subscribers can personalize their dining experience by mixing and matching recipes and ingredients directly in the HelloFresh app.
HelloFresh contributes to community enrichment with student specials and a Heroes discount for medical personnel and military veterans. Additionally, it supports food security by donating a portion of its surplus to Philabundance, a Feeding America food bank based in Philadelphia.
Why we chose HelloFresh: It piqued our interest with its dedicated meal delivery plan for singles. This single-serving option helps individuals avoid excess food and the need for extra fridge space, ultimately saving money and reducing food waste.
Our experience: HelloFresh takes meal planning convenience a step further by providing meal kits, ready-made options, and general grocery items. So, with access to its recipe archive, we could easily recreate our favorite meals from past deliveries.
Pros
Cons
Read the full HelloFresh review
Blue Apron supplies a range of meal kits and ready-made options. Each ingredient is perfectly portioned, helping to reduce food waste and save on unnecessary costs. It also sources high-quality produce through sustainable farming practices.
Blue Apron supports the community with a Heroes meal discount, offering senior citizens (55+) 40% off their first four weeks. To ensure your meals reach you in optimal condition, the packaging is specially adapted to seasonal and regional weather conditions.
Why we chose Blue Apron: Its diverse menu boasts recipes from around the world, including Asian, Cajun, Greek, Moroccan, and standard Western cuisines too. Its adventurous meal plans make it easy to discover various new cooking techniques and ingredients without spending extra money on dining out or purchasing exotic ingredients.
Our experience: We found Blue Apron's app exceptionally user-friendly. Its interface was easy to navigate, simplifying meal selection and order management. We didn't have to worry about any complications with cancelations, making the whole experience stress-free and convenient.
Pros
Cons
Read the full Blue Apron review
Fresh N Lean delivers locally sourced, never-frozen meals free from artificial preservatives and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). With a track record of 25 million meals delivered and 400,000 donated, you can rest assured about its quality and reliability.
It offers granular control over meal customization, making it an affordable option regardless of your preferences. You can adjust every ingredient to suit your taste, from picking out foods for your dietary needs to cranking up the spiciness levels.
Why we chose Fresh N Lean: If you forget to pick your meals for the week, a chef will curate your next delivery according to your preferences and dietary exclusions. This adds a layer of convenience and ensures you always get dishes you'll enjoy.
Our experience: Fresh N Lean won us over with a surprising combo. First, we discovered its irresistible coconut almond buttercups. Then, we realized that it delivers anywhere—even at your office building.
Pros
Cons
Read the full Fresh N Lean review
Splendid Spoon offers ready-made, 100% plant-based meals designed to nourish and satisfy. Each dish, crafted in partnership with expert chefs and nutritionists, boasts a balanced mix of protein, fiber-rich complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats.
It also commits to using only non-GMO produce, prioritizing its customers' health and environmental sustainability. And with its affordable wellness shots coming in packs of 14, you can always be stocked with tasty treats that help with digestion, detox, and immunity.
Why we chose Splendid Spoon: Splendid Spoon impressed us with its rigorous safety standards. It maintains strict allergen cross-contamination protocols, conducts regular product testing, and completes annual compliance audits to ensure reliability.
Our experience: Its protein-rich smoothies kept us filled up and satisfied until our next meals. Whether it was chocolate cherry or mint chip, the smoothies meant that grabbing a nutritious, on-the-go snack didn't feel monotonous.
Pros
Cons
Read the full Splendid Spoon review
Diet-to-Go is one of the few meal delivery services that offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner—all ready to eat in just two to three minutes. Expert dietitians design each meal to ensure healthy portion control for you.
With its free diet analysis, you'll know exactly how to choose the best meals for your nutritional goals. This integration of convenience, variety, and personalized care makes it a top choice for maintaining a balanced diet. And since it eliminates grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooking, it can save time and money spent on groceries you might not use entirely.
Why we chose Diet-to-Go: It simplifies the keto diet with fresh, delicious, portion-controlled meals made solely from ketosis-approved ingredients. This setup removes the hassle of meal planning, letting you focus on achieving your weight loss goals without compromising on taste or freshness.
Our experience: We appreciated that Diet-to-Go backs up its weight loss promises with actual support. It offers access to a dedicated team of health professionals, including dietitians, nutritionists, and health coaches, all committed to advising you.
Pros
Cons
Read the full Diet-to-Go review
Best Cheap Meal Kits
Best For
Price
What's in the Box
Special Diets
EveryPlate
Student discounts
From $4.99/serving
2, 4, or 6 servings of 3, 4, or 5 meals/week
Vegetarian, low-calorie
Dinnerly
Picky eaters
From $4.99/serving
2 or 4 servings of 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 meals/week
Vegetarian, vegan, low-carb, dairy-free, gluten-free
Mosaic Foods
Health-conscious meal choices
From $5.99/serving
6, 12, or 18 meals/week for first order, thereafter custom meal amounts
Vegan, vegetarian
Daily Harvest
Fresh frozen meal options
From $5.99/serving
9, 14, or 24 meals/week
Diabetes-friendly, gut-friendly, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, vegan
Home Chef
Meal option customizability
From $7.99/serving
2, 4, or 6 serving options of 10 meals/week
Low-cal, vegetarian, keto, gluten-smart, paleo, pescatarian
HelloFresh
International orders
From $8.49/serving
2 or 4 serving options of 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 meals/week
Low-carb, low-calorie, vegetarian, pescatarian
Blue Apron
Experiencing foreign cuisine
From $7.99/serving
Single servings of 4, 6, 8, or 10 meals/week
Keto, low-calorie, low-carb, vegetarian
Fresh N Lean
Delivery option flexibility
From $7.93/serving
1, 2, or 3 meals for 5 or 7 days/week
Mediterranean, keto, paleo, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free
Splendid Spoon
Quick, on-the-go meal options
From $9.99/serving
1 or 2 servings of 7, 14, 21 meals/week
Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, low-carb, low-calorie
Diet-to-Go
Weight loss
From $6.80/serving
3 meals for 7 or 5 days/week
Keto, diabetes-friendly, vegetarian, low-carb, low-fat
Portion Control: Meal delivery services precisely portion ingredients, which reduces food waste and helps manage consumption, directly impacting food expenses.
Bulk Discounts: Many meal delivery companies offer lower prices per serving when ordering more servings or meals per week.
No Dining Out Costs: By providing everything needed for a meal, these services cut down on the frequency and expense of eating out.
Reduced Impulse Savings: Shopping online for meal kits can minimize the costly impulse buys that often happen in grocery stores.
Utilize Online Reviews: Reading reviews on websites like ours can provide insights into cost-effectiveness and customer satisfaction.
Search for Online Complaints and Experiences: Understand common issues and user complaints to gauge potential concerns and the true value offered by the service.
Consider Your Dietary Restrictions: Look for services that cater to specific dietary needs without premium pricing.
Evaluate Portion Sizes and Meal Variety: Ensure the service offers sufficient portion sizes and a variety of meals to keep the diet both interesting and within budget.
Stock up on Spices and Sauces: Elevate the flavor of any meal kit by adding diverse spices and sauces.
Use Fresh Herbs and Aromatics: Incorporate fresh herbs like basil or cilantro and aromatics like garlic or onions to enhance taste and freshness.
Experiment with Textures: Add nuts, seeds, or crispy toppings to introduce textural contrasts.
Use Various Cooking Techniques: Try different cooking methods such as grilling, roasting, or stir-frying to change the flavor profiles.
Read Online What Users Did: Find inspiration from how other users modified their meals to improve or personalize the dishes.
We took care to include services that cater to a wide range of dietary preferences. You'll be able to cut down on your grocery costs whether you're vegan, have children running around, or just can't go near dairy.
Sign up for special discounts, manage portions, save on gas, and freeze meals for later—our affordable meal delivery services offer multiple ways to stretch your dollar.
» Learn more about how meal kits are cheaper than groceries.
Do meal kits actually save money?
Yes, meal kits can save you money. They reduce food waste with portion control, helping you throw away less food. You avoid impulse buying and unnecessary grocery purchases. You also save on gas and time by not making frequent trips to the grocery store. Overall, cheap meal delivery services offer a cost-effective solution for meal planning.
Are meal delivery services cheaper than eating out?
Yes, meal delivery services are often cheaper than eating out. They provide meals at a lower cost per serving compared to restaurant prices. And by purchasing ingredients in bulk, meal delivery services can pass on savings to customers. Additionally, preparing meals at home reduces the cost of beverages, desserts, and other extras that quickly add up when dining out.
Is a meal kit worth it for one person?
Affordable meal delivery services like HelloFresh offer convenience and variety for singles. They help you enjoy fresh and diverse meals without overspending.
What is the difference between meal kits and food delivery?
Meal kits include pre-measured ingredients you cook yourself, offering a fresh, home-cooked experience. In contrast, food delivery services bring you prepared meals from restaurants.
Tracy, a two-time Olympian, brings two decades of professional sports experience to her writing. As a dedicated health and fitness expert, she contributes to Top10.com, sharing her passion and insights on wellness, nutrition, and peak performance to inspire readers on their health journeys.
