

- Get a free Caraway pan + 10 free meals
- Create your perfect menu from 60 weekly meals
- Flavorful and nutritious menu
- As low as $4.49/serving
- Designed by professional chefs and nutritionists
- No commitments—skip or cancel any time



- 15 free meals + free dessert for life
- Flavor-packed, chef-designed recipes
- Fresh meals ready in 30 minutes
- As low as $4.99/serving
- Vegetarian, low-calorie, low-carb, & oven-ready meals
- Skip or cancel any time + free shipping on orders of $49+



- 18 free meals (45% off 1st 5 boxes) + ships free
- Flavor-packed, chef-designed recipes
- No prep, no mess
- As low as $4.99/serving
- Low-carb, vegetarian, pescatarian, & low-calorie meals
- Prepped and portioned recipes

- Save up to 40% on your 1st order + ships free
- 100+ recipes every week
- Pick meals, skip weeks, or cancel anytime
- As low as $4.99/serving
- Vegan, vegetarian, and low calorie options
- Flexible subscription service



- $130 off + free shipping on your 1st box
- 30+ dietitian-designed & chef-crafted meals
- Hormone and GMO-free meals
- As low as $5.50/serving
- A range of breakfast, lunch and dinner options
- Fresh, never frozen meals



- Save 50% on your high protein meal plan
- Enjoy 28 personalized, adaptable diet meals
- Get the nutrition and support to reach your goals
- As low as $9.71/serving
- Plans by gender and for diabetics
- Expert coaching, intelligent app



- Get a free Caraway pan + 10 free meals
- Create your perfect menu from 60 weekly meals
- Flavorful and nutritious menu
- As low as $4.49/serving
- Designed by professional chefs and nutritionists
- No commitments—skip or cancel any time

*The information on this site is based on research, but should not be treated as medical advice. Before beginning any new diet plan, we recommend consulting with a physician or other professional healthcare provider. Results may vary based on various health factors, individual weight loss plans and adherence to the meal plan.
How Do Meal Kits Work?
There’s nothing quite like a delicious, healthy home-cooked meal, but sometimes the hassle of grocery shopping and following complicated recipes can leave you heading for the drive-thru for another fast food dinner. Luckily for you, help is on the way.
With meal kit delivery services, you receive pre-packaged meals that are broken down into their individual ingredients and come with easy to follow recipes. Even if you’re a stranger to the kitchen, you can throw together fantastic meals that’ll have you forgetting about those pizza delivery magnets on the fridge.
What Types of Food Subscription Boxes Are There?
Vegetarian
Meal kits combine fresh, organic, and even locally-sourced produce which is sent directly to your door, saving you the trouble of trying to find a store with the premium produce you need.
Most meal kit delivery companies offer fairly extensive vegetarian meal options. These tend to cost the same or less than the meat meal plans, and can provide you with new and interesting ways to make tasty vegetarian meals. Some companies have more extensive options than others, for instance HelloFresh, which has a veggie plan as one of the 3 meal plans offered.
Check out our best vegetarian meal delivery kits
Vegan
When ordering from a meal kit delivery company, check if it has specifically vegan meal plans, and if not, read the fine print and see if you can get enough mileage out of the vegetarian options. As a vegan, it can at times be hard to find out new recipes to stretch your no-animal products diet - meal kits can help.
Check out our best vegan meal delivery kits
Gluten-free
Gluten-free menu options are a feature offered by most meal kit companies, which know how important it is to many consumers today, especially those with celiac disease or sensitivity to gluten. A number of companies also specially-wrap their products in order to prevent gluten cross-contamination.
If you’re trying to cut gluten out of your diet and are a bit stumped about how to fill that gap left by bread and pasta, meal kits are a great way to find new recipe ideas that can keep dinner-time interesting.
Check out our best gluten free meal delivery kits
Organic
The meal kit delivery industry has its finger on the pulse when it comes to organic food. Most companies tout their investment in finding sustainable, organic food, and this has become a major selling point for these companies.
Sun Basket, for instance, is a USDA-certified organic handler with over 99% organic produce, while Freshly has a list of 85 banned ingredients (like corn syrup and preservatives). Blue Apron is one of a number of companies that have partnered with Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch to make sure their seafood offerings are sustainable.
Check out our best organic meal delivery kits
Weight loss
Meal kits help you plan out meals ahead of time with interesting, healthy ingredients. In time, you will learn new recipes and cooking techniques that you can then integrate into your daily life. This can help you eat healthy at home more often, which can be a great way to lose weight, even without a rigid diet.
If you’re looking for a strict diet meal plan, there are a number of companies like NutriSystem or BistroMD that can provide you with dietitian planned meals sent to your door which are specifically designed to help you eat healthier and lose.
Lose weight with the help of meal delivery services
Paleo
For the most part, the paleo diet focuses on meat, fruits and vegetables, and cuts out breads, dairy and sugars. A number of meal delivery companies offer menu items which are suited to the paleo diet. SunBasket takes it farther, offering more than 120 Paleo meals that feature high-quality lean meats.
Even if a recipe doesn’t specifically say it’s paleo, you can look closely at the ingredients when placing an order to see how it matches up to your requirements.
Check out our best paleo meal delivery kits
Kid friendly
In a wider sense, all of the meal kit delivery industry is kid friendly. After all, these companies get you in the kitchen making home-cooked meals for your dinner table, and we all know that’s where the magic happens when you have a family.
More specifically, many companies feature family meal plans, as well as “kid-friendly” recipes. Kid-friendly recipes are dishes your kids may recognize and are typically not spicy. The family meal plans typically include meals that are designed for 4 people and are easier to make. The family plans often have a lower cost per serving as well.
With Marley Spoon, for example, you can order 2-person or 4-person “family boxes,” and you can filter the menu options specifically for ones that are “kid-friendly.” SunBasket offers a family plan and family menu, which features 6 “family-friendly” recipes per week.
Check out these tasty meal delivery services that your kids will love
Diabetic
For diabetics focusing on weight loss, dietitian-designed meal plans like South Beach Diet may be the right fit for you. Many companies have meal plans specifically for diabetics, while others will help customers design their own diabetes-friendly meal plan through consultation with a dietician.
If you’re going with the big name meal kit delivery companies like Blue Apron, you can speak to customer service to get assistance planning a diabetic-friendly plan, and also always remember to look closely at the menu list to make sure the offerings aren’t high in sodium, fat, and sugar.
Our Top 3 Picks
- 1A simple and healthy way of eating
- What's in the box - 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 meals with 2 or 4 servings each
- Special diets - Vegetarian, flexitarian, pescatarian, low carb, low calorie
A simple and healthy way of eatingDescriptionRead HelloFresh ReviewHelloFresh - Best meal delivery service overall
HelloFresh makes it convenient to enjoy wholesome, fresh meals with minimal prep. Ron Stewart, a former corporate executive chef at Pastini, tested HelloFresh and was "surprised at the quality of ingredients and ease of putting together exceptional meals," calling their recipes "delicious as well as nutritious and balanced."
Each week, HelloFresh lets you choose from over 100 breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes. Every kit includes straightforward, step-by-step recipe cards with fresh, pre-measured ingredients to help you get dinner on the table in under an hour.
This service is best for individuals and households without strict dietary requirements, though they offer low-carb and lower-calorie meals too. It's possible to separately review ingredient information for each meal before ordering, including nutritional value and allergens, and any additional items you may need.
Why we chose HelloFresh: You can easily adjust or cancel your food delivery and subscription at any time. Meals are not overly complicated and reduce the need to buy ingredients in addition to what's delivered for each recipe.
Our experience: We liked that HelloFresh lets you know ahead of time what cookware you'll need so you can get cooking as soon as your delivery arrives. It was extra convenient that their extensive menu also let us swap out proteins.
Pros & ConsHelloFresh Pros & Cons
PROS
Adjust, skip, or cancel your delivery and subscription at any timeChange, swap, or upgrade 12+ sides and proteins each weekCompetitive pricingCONS
No keto or paleo meal delivery plansLimited flexibility for individuals with allergies - 2Swap out or double your protein options
- What's in the box - 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 meals with 2, 4, or 6 servings each
- Special diets - Vegetarian, low-calorie, low-carb, nut-free, soy-free, wheat-free, dairy-free
Swap out or double your protein optionsDescriptionRead Home Chef ReviewHome Chef - Best for flexible plans
Home Chef is a meal service designed for cooks of any skill level. Each delivery provides recipe cards with step-by-step instructions and photos. Research by Hartmann et al. shows that enhanced cooking skills encourage healthier eating habits and thus improve nutrition. This makes Home Chef an excellent tool to achieve better health, by teaching you new recipes and techniques.
Choose from over 20 recipes each week and swap out proteins to your liking. Home Chef lets you filter and eliminate recipes with specific allergens, such as tree nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, mushrooms, fish, and shellfish. However, they can't guarantee their meals are entirely free of cross-contamination.
Why we chose Home Chef: Their pre-portioned, partially prepared ingredients simplify and expedite food prep and clean up, while eliminating food waste.
Our experience: We found Home Chef's recipe cards easy to follow and meals sizable enough to feed a hungry adult comfortably. We liked that we could save our recipe cards in a binder (included in your first order) for reference at any time.
Pros & ConsHome Chef Pros & Cons
PROS
Customize the type of protein you'd like in your dishFilter and eliminate recipes with specific allergensMeal kits available in Kroger-owned grocery storesCONS
Some ingredients may contain colorants, sulfites, and/or artificial sweetenersMinimum weekly order value of $47.96, excluding shipping - 3Fresh ingredients and easy prep
- What's in the box - 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 meals with 2, 4 or 6 servings each
- Special diets - Low-calorie, low-carb
Fresh ingredients and easy prepDescriptionRead Fresh and Easy ReviewFresh and Easy - Best for comfort meals with little to no prep
Fresh and Easy is a meal delivery service by Home Chef that provides ready-to-heat meals. Choose between oven- and microwave-ready meals made with the same fresh ingredients and standards that Home Chef is known for. You can also try a 15-minute meal kit, requiring quick assembly of pre-portioned ingredients.
Most meals are full entrees, though sandwiches, salads, and "extras" are also available. Fresh and Easy does not cater to special dietary restrictions.
Why we chose Fresh and Easy: They offer the same quality standards as Home Chef with less customization, aimed at providing value for consumers on a budget.
Our experience: We found Fresh and Easy perfect for speedily cooking wholesome meals and were delighted with how little clean-up was needed. We do wish they had more options for diets like vegetarian.
Pros & ConsFresh and Easy Pros & Cons
PROS
Same high-quality standards as Home ChefOven- and microwave-readyFully prepped and portioned meals ready in 15 minutes or lessCONS
Limited customization optionsDoes not cater to diets