The Best Meal Delivery Services Of 2022
Meal delivery services are all the rage these days. You no longer have to shop at the grocery store for ingredients if you want to cook meals at home. Instead, you can save time and money by purchasing a meal delivery service that delivers pre-portioned ingredients and recipes, or even pre-made meals prepared frozen or fresh, right to your door. This not only saves money and time but also can prevent a lot of food waste. We aren't the only ones with good intentions for that bag of spinach that sits in our crisper drawer all week, are we?
When choosing a meal delivery service, there are many features to consider. Some of these features are how many people you are intending to serve (just one, a couple, a family of 5, etc.), how many meals you want per week (2 meals, 5 meals, 18 meals, etc.) what sort of dietary preferences you require (gluten-free, low carb, vegan, etc.), how much money you want to spend, whether you want to cook the meals or just heat them up, how easy do you want the recipes to be to prepare, etc.
Luckily for you, even the most complicated circumstances will likely be solved by one of these meal delivery services. Thank goodness they've truly thought of everything. We now live in a world where if you never want to go to the grocery store again, you won't have to.
How we selected our picks
The sheer number of meal delivery services out there can be daunting. Each one offers something a little bit different, and it's hard to tell which will be best for your needs. We've done the research to come up with a list of top picks for various situations. After evaluating review sites, each delivery service website, general press about each meal delivery service, and even our personal opinions on meal delivery services we've tried, we've decided on the following choices.
You can trust that the recommendations we laid out are the best for the following product categories: families, couples, advanced cooking skills, simple cooking skills, premade meals, vegan meals, vegan and gluten-free meals, organic meals, low-FODMAP meals, budget-friendly, quality-sourced ingredients, convenient meals, all-inclusive, dietitian-designed, personalized, and even every possible dietary preference.
Read below for our individual product category recommendations. Let's get started and dive into the specifics of each service.
Best for families: Home Chef
Home Chef is a meal delivery service that allows you to personalize your menu. You first decide how many servings you need, what tastes you are looking for, and how many meals you need per week. Then you can customize each meal with protein swaps. Say you want to make one of the menu items but it calls for chicken and you'd rather have shrimp. You can simply substitute the protein and otherwise, the meal stays exactly the same.
Home Chef offers a few categories of meal types including 15-minute meal kits, oven-ready, grill-ready, culinary collection (which is a line for special occasions), and fast and fresh prepared meals, according to its website. According to the review on Cnet, Home Chef is a great meal delivery option because it has easy to prepare, delicious, and uniquely flavorful meals. It's ideal for families because of the many flexible options and ways to customize the food you receive. Also, if you are having guests over for dinner one night, Home Chef allows you to double the portion without altering your subscription.
You order food from Home Chef on its website.
Best vegan meal delivery service: Purple Carrot
If you are a vegan or trying to eat more plant-based meals, Purple Carrot is for you. This plant-based meal delivery service offers meal kits as well as prepared meals. You can choose from two or four servings per meal and three or four meals per week. At $11.99 per serving, these meals are not the cheapest on our list, but they definitely will save you time shopping at the grocery store and are healthier than takeout. While the menu rotates weekly, some of the meals offered when we were writing this up included tahini bulgur bowls, sticky apricot seitan, and spicy pan braised fennel.
According to the review on The Spruce Eats, Purple Carrot is a great option for those trying to increase their plant intake through unique flavors and recipes. With healthy ingredients and a great online interface, Purple Carrot is our top recommendation for vegan meal delivery services.
You can sign up for Purple Carrot on its website.
Best advanced meal delivery service: Blue Apron
Calling all the foodies: If you love cooking and are looking for meal delivery kits that provide a challenge, Blue Apron is for you. Blue Apron offers a signature line, a wellness line, and a vegetarian line. The signature line includes meat, fish, Beyond meat, and WW options. The wellness line offers meals that are nutritionist-approved and carb-conscious, including some that follow the WW diet. The vegetarian line offers meatless meals with a strong emphasis on seasonal produce. When ordering your Blue Apron meals, you can choose to serve two to four people and order two to four meals per week. While you are at it, you can also order wine subscriptions.
According to a review on Cnet, Blue Apron was the original meal delivery kit and it is doing a great job keeping up with the competition by offering beverage pairings and selling cookware and other supplies on its marketplace. While Blue Apron does a great job providing recipes that are comforting and that incorporate international flavors, it does not allow for much customization and includes more plastic than other brands.
If you want to try out Blue Apron, visit the company's site.
Best premade meal delivery service: Daily Harvest
Daily Harvest is one of the healthier lines of meal delivery services. They deliver prepared meals including smoothies, harvest bowls, flatbreads, soups, oat bowls, chia bowls, scoops, bites, lattes, plant milk, and harvest bakes. These meal options ship frozen so you can store them for a long time and pull them out when you are ready to eat. All of these meals are offered in single portion servings except for the harvest bakes, which are aimed to feed families of four.
We should also mention that all of these meals are plant-based, gluten-free, and free of artificial ingredients. According to a review by The Clean Eating Couple, these meals are very simple to prepare. Depending on the meal type, you need to add water and heat, add milk and blend, or just add milk. However, these meals tend to be low in protein.
You can browse through Daily Harvest's offerings on its website.
Best for couples: HelloFresh
HelloFresh is one of the more popular meal delivery services available. The company offers plans for meat and veggie, veggie, family-friendly, fit and wholesome, quick and easy, and pescatarian eaters, according to its website. Similar to other meal plans, you select how many servings you need (between two and four) as well as how many meals you need per week (up to six). With the service's HelloCustom offerings, you can change, swap, or upgrade any proteins, regardless of the meal plan you're signed up for. The ability to choose only two servings as little as two times per week is a great option for couples.
Per the review on Cnet, HelloFresh has a huge selection of meals and is fairly budget-friendly. However, shipping is $10 per week, and the recipes are not the most creative or unique. If you are a simple eater, this may be the best meal kit for you.
Go to the HelloFresh website to look at its food delivery plans.
Best organic meal delivery service: Green Chef
The best organic meal delivery service goes to Green Chef. Green Chef offers many types of meal plans for many dietary preferences including keto/paleo, vegetarian, Mediterranean diet, fast & fit, vegan, and gluten-free, according to its website. You can choose from two to six servings and three or four meals delivered per week.
Green Chef is best known for its exclusion of any GMOs, pesticides, or antibiotics. This completely organic meal delivery service is perfect for those that are strict about eating organic. According to the review from The Spruce Eats, Green Chef provides a well-balanced variety of animal and plant-based protein options as well as unique flavors and cuisines. However, Green Chef does not offer large portion sizes, it does not allow you to customize your meals, and it has meal options to choose from. If eating organic is of great importance for you and your family, Green Chef is the meal delivery service for you.
Browse meal plans from Green Chef on the company's website.
Best simple meal delivery service: Dinnerly
Many people choose to order a meal delivery service if they need a little extra help in the kitchen. For these people, meal delivery kits with multiple steps and complex cooking techniques are not ideal. This is where Dinnerly comes in. Dinnerly is the best simple meal delivery service. You can choose between 2 or 4 servings and order 3-6 meals per week. The recipes are tasty, include fresh ingredients, and taste like home cooking. The meals are incredibly affordable due to their inclusion of fewer ingredients and simple packaging.
According to the review by The Spruce Eats, Dinnerly is affordable, eco-friendly, and offers very easy-to-prepare meals. However, because the company focuses on less packaging than other brands do, ingredients are not separated by meal and instructions are provided digitally instead of printed, which may not be preferred by all customers. Additionally, some of the meals can be rather bland.
You can select a meal plan on the Dinnerly website.
Best budget-friendly meal delivery service: EveryPlate
EveryPlate is the best budget-friendly meal delivery service. At $4.99 per serving, you can save a lot of money by going with this meal delivery option. The company offers four types of meal plans including classic, family, veggie, and easy, according to its website.
You select two or four servings, then you can select three to five meals per week. With many recipes taking 30 minutes or less, this meal service is not only very affordable but also incredibly easy. The recipes rotate weekly and while writing this some options included gravy lovers meatballs, Dijon mushroom pork chops, and hotel butter steak.
According to the review on Cnet, EveryPlate not only offers simple meals at low prices but also includes less packaging than other brands and allows for the ability to swap proteins and sides if necessary. However, EveryPlate does not offer a large variety of plant-based proteins and charges $9 for shipping fees.
You can customize a meal plan on the EveryPlate site.
Best quality sourced ingredients: Sunbasket
Sunbasket wins our best quality sourced ingredients meal delivery service. The company offers meal kits or fresh and ready prepared meals. It has a variety of meal plans including paleo, vegetarian, lean and clean, gluten-free, carb-conscious, Mediterranean, diabetes-friendly, pescatarian, and fresh and ready, according to its website. Not only does Sunbasket provide meals using organic produce, but it also takes pride in working with farmers, ranchers, and fishermen to encourage sustainability. Meals range from $9.99 to $11.49 per serving. You can choose either two or four servings and two to five meals per week. You can skip or cancel anytime.
According to the review at Real Simple, Sunbasket is a great option for those that are interested in eating healthy foods and saving time by avoiding going grocery shopping. If organic produce or healthy meals are not important to you, we'd recommend choosing another meal delivery service.
Visit the Sunbasket website to check it out.
Best convenient meal delivery service: Freshly
Freshly is known for its prepared pre-portioned meals. All meals require a simple microwave preparation for three minutes or less, making this ideal for those that want a convenient solution. Some meal options include Steak Peppercorn, Homestyle Chicken, and Sausage Baked Penne, according to the company's website. You can choose to order between four and 12 meals per week, with each one costing about $8.99 per serving. Meals are delivered fresh to your door and not frozen. Freshly also caters to various dietary preferences including gluten-free, dairy-free, plant-based, and low-calorie.
Per the review on Cnet, Freshly provides very satisfying and hearty portions, the service is rather affordable, and the company offers tasty options that will likely please even the pickiest eaters. However, some meals are not the healthiest and not all that creative. If you are looking for seafood, Freshly does not offer a ton of variety.
Best all-inclusive meal delivery service: Marley Spoon
Yep, that's right: Martha Stewart has a meal delivery service called Marley Spoon. This service offers simple meal kits with recipes only requiring 6 steps, so even amateur cooks can feel confident cooking these meals. Marley Spoon has more than 30 recipes to choose from that rotate out weekly. With seasonal ingredients and curated spice blends, the meals end up tasting very fresh. You can order two or four servings and between two to six meals per week. While many meal delivery services include the necessary ingredients, Marley Spoon takes it a step further by including some background on various rare ingredients that customers may not be familiar with, such as miso.
According to Cnet, Marley Spoon is great for its unique recipes that won't leave you bored, extremely fresh ingredients, as well as not a lot of plastic waste. However, please note that shipping costs $9 per shipment and the meals are rather expensive unless you order in bulk.
You can sign up for Marley Spoon on the company's website.
Best dietitian-designed meal delivery service: Factor
If you want a healthy meal delivery service that includes prepared meals that only require heating, Factor may be for you. All of its meals are dietitian-designed, meaning a nutritionist has reviewed the nutritional facts and deemed them healthy and balanced. With no-prep, ready-to-eat options such as Jalapeno Popper Burger, Keto Chorizo Chili, or Tuscan Tomato Chicken, these meals are varied and tasty. They are rather expensive, coming in at about $11 per serving, but you can skip or cancel at any time. Meal plans available include calorie smart, chef's choice, keto, and vegan/veggie, according to Factor's website. Feel free to choose between four to 18 meals per week
According to the review on Cnet, Factor is a great meal delivery service if you are looking for interesting, flavorful, and healthy prepared meals. However, the reviewer does note that some of the meals were inconsistent and the meats were often tough, as opposed to tender.
You can try out Factor for yourself here.
Best meal delivery service for every diet: Territory Foods
Territory Foods is another meal delivery service that offers a line of prepared foods that are ready to eat in less than 2 minutes. The company offers a huge selection of items to choose from each week, totaling about 90 items. Because all meals are fresh, you are able to order up to two times per week, delivering either Sunday, Wednesday, or both in order to ensure freshness. Each delivery day can supply up to 12 meals. By default, all of the meals are gluten-free, dairy-free, and are free from refined sugars. Territory Foods offers many meal plans including the Mediterannean diet, paleo, vegan, Whole30, and keto-friendly, according to its website.
According to the review on The Spruce Eats, Territory Foods is great because the macronutrients are clearly marked on each meal for those interested in making informed nutritional decisions. Additionally, local chefs create meals and the company sources some ingredients from local farms. However, some meals may need more sauce and they are not delivered nationwide.
If you'd like to try Territory Foods, you can sign up on its website.
Best vegan and gluten-free meal delivery service: Sakara
For the best vegan and gluten-free meal delivery service, look no further than Sakara Life. This plant-rich meal delivery service offers three types of programs: the signature nutrition program, the level II detox, and the bridal program, according to its website. Each plan includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and supplement offerings. You can choose if you want to sign up for weekly shipments of two to five days of meals or simply a one-time delivery. Sakara is the most expensive meal delivery service on our list with starting prices at $349 per week.
According to the review on Cnet, these meals are really healthy and really delicious, meaning they may be great options for those that want to eat healthy, but typically don't like "healthy" food. However, these meals are really expensive and you cannot choose your meals like other services offered.
You can go to Sakara's website to order food or sign up for a program.
Best personalized meal delivery service: Hungryroot
Hungryroot is a little different in that it is not only a meal delivery service but also a grocery delivery service. It offers a variety of meal plans including vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, pescatarian, dairy-free, gluten-free soy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and shellfish-free, according to its website. By taking a quiz online, you get personalized recipes just for you. Deliveries start at $65 and include all types of meals such as stir-fries, pastas, tacos, grain bowls, as well as mains and sides. As far as the grocery options, you can purchase pastas, grains, plant-based proteins, sauces, dips, produce, meat, and seafood. There are options that are good for single servings or feeding families.
According to the review on The Spruce Eats, Hungryroot offers very flavorful veggie-forward meals with quick-cooking recipes. However, some of the meals are overly simplistic and lack diversity.
If you'd like to try Hungryroot, visit its website.
Best low-FODMAP meal delivery service: Epicured
Epicured is the best meal delivery service for those with medical nutrition therapy needs requiring a low-FODMAP diet. All of its meals are low-FODMAP and gluten-free. In addition to these dietary preferences, Epicured also offers meals for other dietary preferences including vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, or medical diagnoses including IBS, IBD, or exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, according to its website. On top of this, customers can select meals by allergies or nutritional needs such as low-fat, low-saturated fat, low-carbohydrate, low-sodium, low-added sugar, high-protein, or low-calorie. We've never seen such customizable meal plans. These are ideal for anyone on a strict medical nutrition therapy diet. All meals are freezer friendly and ready to microwave to heat in a matter of minutes.
According to the review by The Spruce Eats, Epicured offers many meals for a variety of diets and dietary preferences, but the recipes do not rotate, and instead are static. They also are very expensive.
You can order food at the Epicured site.