The first big decision you'll make is whether you want meal kits, which require some prep and cooking, or a prepared meal service that sends fully cooked meals that are ready to heat and eat.

After you've picked between meal kits or meal delivery, you'll want to find a service within your budget. Here we've outlined all the best cheap meal delivery services for Our list of the healthiest meal delivery services for is a good place to find all the most nutritious options.

Lastly, you'll want to hone in on exactly how much food you'll want sent to you per week. Most services allow you to change the number of meals or servings in your plan even after you've started. With nearly every service, the more meals your order per delivery, the cheaper it is per meal.

All the meal delivery services may look delicious in their website glamour shots, but that's certainly not enough to convince me. To settle on this list of the best meal delivery service I tried as many as we could get our hands on, noting everything about them from freshness and flavor to ordering, packaging and delivery.

Testing meal kits for CNET means rolling up our sleeves and cooking at least one week's worth of meals from each service, often more. How each meal kit tastes, how easy it was to prepare and the portion sizes are all considered. We also evaluate the website and how easy it is to navigate along with determining how easy it is to pause, cancel or change your order at any given time.

To learn more, we have an in-depth look at how we test meal kits here at CNET. To test each meal delivery service, we tried at least five and sometimes as many as 10 meals from any given service.

I choose a range of meals from the various menu and meal plan offerings and took note of the ordering process, recipe variety and information available. I reheated meals according to the instructions. If there were none, I heated them the way I would if left to my own devices. Often that meant warming gently in a nonstick skillet or reheating in my air fryer.

Many of the meal delivery services offer a microwave heating option, but I almost always found that produced worse results than my trusted methods, even if they typically take a few seconds longer. Not all meal kits are created equally.

Some services are much better depending on your dietary preferences, budget and culinary skill level. If you're looking to cut some of the legwork out of dinner, meal kits and prepared meal services are definitely worth it. The most budget-friendly services cost about the same as buying all the groceries you'd need to make the same meal, with the convenience of having all the ingredients or a box of fully prepared meals sent to your home each week.

That's definitely cheaper than eating out or getting restaurant food delivered, and about the same cost as buying the groceries needed to make the same meals.

In a previous story, we crunched the numbers to find out how much meal kits cost versus buying the same groceries. In reviews and best lists, Blue Apron and HelloFresh are two of the most popular meal kit services for Fresh N Lean and Factor are some of the most popular options for prepared meal subscriptions.

Wellness Nutrition. Best Meal Delivery Services of We've tested and reviewed more than two dozen meal delivery services. Written by David Watsky. Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks.

If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement. David lives in Brooklyn where he's spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips.

Since earning a BA in English from Northeastern in Boston, he's toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom.

Right now, he's likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or researching the best way to make bacon. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week. Expertise Kitchen tools, appliances, food science, subscriptions and meal kits. See full bio. Why You Can Trust CNET.

Table of Contents Top. Best Meal Delivery Services of What's the best meal delivery service? Best meal delivery services of Home Chef. Meal delivery services compared. Factors to consider when choosing a meal delivery service.

How we tested meal kit services. Other meal delivery services we tested. Meal delivery service FAQs. See at Blue Apron. Best for meal kits. See at Fresh N' Lean. Best prepared meal delivery service. See at Pete's Paleo. Best for gluten-free meal delivery service. See at CookUnity. Best meal delivery with a variety of recipes.

See at Mosaic Foods. Best for prepared plant-based meal delivery. See at HelloFresh. Best meal delivery service for families.

See at Factor. Best meal delivery service for weight loss. See at Purple Carrot. Best plant-based meal kit service. See at Green Chef.

Best for organic meal kits. See at EveryPlate. Cheapest meal kit service. See at Home Chef. Best meal kits for eating keto. FILTER BY all Meal Kit Prepared Meal. Showing 11 of 11 Results. Show less. Pros Steak and seafood options are included in a standard meal plan Affordable if you choose more than two recipes per week.

Cons Fewer recipe options than other services Doesn't allow for much customization. Type Meal kit. Recipes per week Good for Vegetarian, pescatarian, diabetes-friendly, low-calorie, picky eaters, quick meals. Diet types: Vegetarian, diabetes-friendly, wellness, family-friendly, fast and easy.

See at Blue Apron Best for meal kits Blue Apron. Show expert take Show less. Editors' choice. Pros Most of the food we tried was good or great Healthy options to service many eating plans. Cons On the pricey side of average No family-sized meals making it expensive to feed a crew.

Type Prepared meal. Meal options per week Good for Keto, paleo, Whole30, gluten-free, Mediterranean, vegan, vegetarian, high-protein. Full Review Read full review. See at Fresh N' Lean Best prepared meal delivery service Fresh N Lean. Pros Quality ingredients including mostly organic meats and produce Great for those avoiding gluten or empty carbs No subscription required.

Cons No real discount for ordering a larger volume of meals The website isn't the best. Good for Healthy, paleo, keto, low-calorie, diabetes-friendly, gluten-free, Whole30, high protein.

See at Pete's Paleo Best for gluten-free meal delivery service Pete's Real Food. Pros Tons of healthy menu options per week Healthy food to service most diets and nutrition plans. Cons Expensive if you only choose a few meals per week Quality was somewhat inconsistent. Good for Gluten-free, dairy-free, keto, paleo, vegan, low calorie, low carb, plant-based.

See at CookUnity Best meal delivery with a variety of recipes CookUnity. Pros Nearly all the meals I tried were good or better Interesting use of global recipes and flavors Affordable, especially for the family plan.

Good for Vegan, vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free, low-calorie. See at Mosaic Foods Best for prepared plant-based meal delivery Mosaic Foods. Pros More than 50 weekly recipes Good for keeping to specific diets or eating plans. Good for Vegan, vegetarian, keto, gluten-free, low-calorie, Whole30, families, picky eaters.

See at HelloFresh Best meal delivery service for families HelloFresh. Good for Healthy, low-calorie, pescatarian, vegetarian, keto, paleo, diabetes-friendly, gluten-free, Whole See at Factor Best meal delivery service for weight loss Factor. Pros Interesting and filling vegan recipes Extremely fresh and high-quality ingredients.

Cons Limited to eight recipes per week Expensive. Recipes per week 8. Good for Vegan, vegetarian. See at Purple Carrot Best plant-based meal kit service Purple Carrot. Pros Healthy recipes and mostly organic ingredients Allows you to swap the protein in certain recipes.

Cons On the expensive side Premium recipes incur major upcharges. Good for Organic, healthy, low-calorie, pescatarian, vegetarian, keto, gluten-free, Whole30, gourmet. See at Green Chef Best for organic meal kits Green Chef. Pros The most affordable meal kit service Most recipes were either good or better Not a ton of plastic waste.

Cons Some produce was past its prime Recipes are somewhat basic Very little customization allowed. Good for Healthy, family-friendly, comfort food, picky eaters, quick and easy. See at EveryPlate Cheapest meal kit service EveryPlate.

Pros Good selection of keto-friendly meal kits Recipes are simple and fast Budget-friendly if you choose a larger plan. Cons Some recipes were clunky and bland Too much plastic used in packaging. Good for Keto, low-carb, healthy, families, picky eaters, low-calorie, vegetarian. Our meal service is just right for your needs - affordable meals delivered to your door!

Try our frozen prepared meals delivered nationwide. Order chef-prepared meals online and have them shipped to you at home or the office! com will make sure that your meals are delivered on time right to you or your friends and family. Mark Twain once said, "Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.

With all of life's demands; from working overtime to taking care of the kids, it's just much more tempting to buy ready-made food. Luckily for you, Magic Kitchen has affordable premade meals for everyone. Our affordable food delivery options are limitless.

Whether you are trying to improve your nutrition or stick to a healthier diet, our delivered meals are full of nutrition and flavor. No more shopping for fresh ingredients and standing in line.

com ensures you receive balanced and varied meals delivered to your door so that you can skip the trip! Our meals also include diabetic meals , portion controlled meals and senior meals among many others.

With two menus, a la carte and complete meals, you have plenty of options to please everyone. We don't deliver a package of ingredients that you have to cook and then clean up after.

Our meals are fully cooked, and you heat them up in the containers they come in. Ten minutes from fridge to table. Browse our two menus: A LA CARTE and COMPLETE MEALS.

We cover a great variety of diets. You can place a single order or set up a MEAL PROGRAM with no commitment and no contracts. The meals are delivered to you packed in reusable, recyclable Styrofoam containers filled with dry ice.

Read more about our affordable meal programs. com offers 3-day ground nation-wide deliveries- Delivery anywhere in the Continental US. However, the food is not shipped on weekends to ensure the meals are in good condition. We do it all for you: create recipes and plan meals delivered.

Our chefs create amazing, easy to prepare meals to be delivered to you. They make it interesting yet simple. We're on a mission to prove that healthy can taste good.

We offer food to suit your lifestyle-you would think it's custom-made. We are certain that after your first bite, you'll stick to our menu. There's no looking back. For the first time, you can shop with confidence.

Blue Apron Dinnerly is the affordable meal delivery service on the market. Open the door to unfussy, affordable weeknight cooking Get $/meal and $1 steak (limited time only!). Enjoy affordable meal kit delivery and easy recipes with America's Best Value Meal Kit service

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Affordable food packages - HelloFresh Blue Apron Dinnerly is the affordable meal delivery service on the market. Open the door to unfussy, affordable weeknight cooking Get $/meal and $1 steak (limited time only!). Enjoy affordable meal kit delivery and easy recipes with America's Best Value Meal Kit service

Our meal service is just right for your needs - affordable meals delivered to your door! Try our frozen prepared meals delivered nationwide. Order chef-prepared meals online and have them shipped to you at home or the office! com will make sure that your meals are delivered on time right to you or your friends and family.

Mark Twain once said, "Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. With all of life's demands; from working overtime to taking care of the kids, it's just much more tempting to buy ready-made food. Luckily for you, Magic Kitchen has affordable premade meals for everyone.

Our affordable food delivery options are limitless. Whether you are trying to improve your nutrition or stick to a healthier diet, our delivered meals are full of nutrition and flavor.

No more shopping for fresh ingredients and standing in line. com ensures you receive balanced and varied meals delivered to your door so that you can skip the trip! Our meals also include diabetic meals , portion controlled meals and senior meals among many others. With two menus, a la carte and complete meals, you have plenty of options to please everyone.

We don't deliver a package of ingredients that you have to cook and then clean up after. Our meals are fully cooked, and you heat them up in the containers they come in.

Ten minutes from fridge to table. Browse our two menus: A LA CARTE and COMPLETE MEALS. We cover a great variety of diets.

You can place a single order or set up a MEAL PROGRAM with no commitment and no contracts. The meals are delivered to you packed in reusable, recyclable Styrofoam containers filled with dry ice. Read more about our affordable meal programs. Only being able to choose six meals at a time with limited variety might not be what some are looking for; still, with a decent amount of protein in each meal and delicious ingredients, Clean Eatz provides good value at a pretty low price.

Busy parents will rejoice in picker-eater approved menu items with hidden vegetables and wholesome ingredients from Little Spoon, a kid-specific meal delivery service. Little Spoon has meal options for babies who are not yet eating solid foods, little ones moving to bite-size pieces, toddlers eating finger foods, and smoothies for on-the-go snacks.

Subscription plans offer biweekly delivery cadence that can be skipped, paused, or canceled at any time. For the picky eaters in your household, we suggest Little Spoon.

Providing meals for all age ranges, from infants to toddlers to young kids, Little Spoon exposes kids to a variety of flavors and ingredients at a young age. Dietitian Perry Nix, RD, speaks on the importance of diversifying the foods a child is exposed to early on.

Senior editor and certified nutrition coach Nicole Davis tested out these meals directly with the source: her two oldest children. The kids, being moderately picky in their foods, had mixed reactions to some meals.

Whether or not Little Spoon is right for you and your children will mostly depend on how your children like it. However, with organic ingredients that are non-GMO, this is a great meal service for kids.

You can read our in-depth thoughts in our Little Spoon review. Not every meal service we tried made our top picks; here are a few honorable mentions we tested:. Obviously, one of the biggest factors we accounted for on these meal delivery services was the price that these meal services brought to the table pun intended.

There are more benefits to an inexpensive meal service besides the money. You can still have many of the benefits of meal services while staying on budget. Finding a meal delivery service that fits in your budget will help you save money.

You buy just the meals you need at affordable prices, and can save on the cost of a grocery run in many cases. Meal prep for the week can take up a lot of time, which is a huge perk of meal delivery services.

Meal kits provide just the right amount of ingredients for your meals, with many ingredients prepared already, so it minimizes the time needed to prepare and cook meals. Additionally, prepared meals can just be put in an oven or microwave to heat up, virtually eliminating prep time completely.

Many meal services provide plans and options for people with specific dietary restrictions or needs. Also, anyone following keto, low-carb, paleo, vegan, or pescatarian diets will often find options through meal delivery services. This takes out a lot of the hassle of having to find the right meals for your exact needs.

Often at the grocery store, you may have to purchase more food than you want or need for the week, like purchasing a bag of onions when you only need one. Plus, many meal services source their ingredients sustainably through local organic farmers, which also impacts the environment in a positive way.

With trying to be frugal with your money, here are some things to look out for:. Many meal delivery services offer a first-time discount, which can vary depending on the company. These discounts can be substantial, although prices may jump back up after a bit of use.

Here are a few of our best picks for meal services that offer consistently inexpensive meal options:.

Many meal delivery services have smaller minimums and meal plans to cater for just one person. The cost of HelloFresh varies depending on the number of meal portions you order each week.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.

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Learn more about our experts. GGR Score: 4. Check Price. Cons Fresh ingredients need to be cooked within 4 days of delivery Meal selection only after signing up and entering payment information.

Bottom Line Skip the food shopping and the chopping—Dinnerly is a meal kit service that sends you fresh ingredients right to your door with most of the food preparation already done.

Low minimum of meals Over meals to choose from. Cons Very little customization when choosing meal plans Meals can be pricey. Bottom Line Fresh N Lean is a prepared meal delivery service that has a variety of meal plans to choose from.

Overall, I highly recommend this recipe. Just be sure to read the recipe closely! To keep costs down even more, you can add a few Saver dishes to your order each week.

I check for these all the time. Dinnerly delivers to most of the contiguous US states, though your delivery options may be more limited depending on your location. Check your zip code to see what days are available to you. As Dinnerly grows, so does its delivery map.

Dinnerly does a good job of making sure the food is delivered fresh and on time. You can track your Dinnerly order via your account page or the app. Pick your plan: Choose how many people you need to feed and how many meals you need each week. You can also make your box vegetarian on this screen by checking the box.

Enter your zip code and your email address: At this stage, Dinnerly will check it delivers to your address. Complete your delivery details: Next, you can choose your delivery day, pick the date for your first delivery, and fill out your address details.

Input your payment information: You can pay via PayPal or by credit card. If you have a coupon code, this is where you can apply it. At any time, you can go to your Account Settings and click on Edit Taste Profile.

Dinnerly will stop recommending meals containing any ingredients you don't check off. You can also easily add extras to your order.

Just sign in to your account and head to Orders. Click the orange Edit Recipes link. In fact, you can skip deliveries as early as 4 weeks in advance or up to 6 days before a scheduled shipment. You can make any changes you want from the Settings page. Every meal delivery service is going to hit you with a questionnaire or try to tempt you with a discount, but Dinnerly is on the friendlier end from my experience.

For a budget service, Dinnerly's customer support stands strong. Yet, for urgent account-related inquiries, a phone call is likely your best option.

Dinnerly promises an "automated support sous-chef", but this feature fell short on answering many of my questions.

While the future may bring us flawless AI-based customer service, we're not there just yet. After the chatbot fell short, the next thing I did was send an email.

I tried Dinnerly's phone line with a question about recycling. I was talking to someone in less than 10 seconds. My call lasted under a minute, and I was happy with the way the friendly and professional agent helped me. Based on my experience, I recommend calling Dinnerly for any information that isn't in the FAQ.

Dinnerly is a great choice for anyone in search of budget-friendly meals. I think the trade-offs are worth the low price. These include things like fewer and more pared-back ingredients, a lack of step-by-step images on the recipe cards, and minimal packaging. People with specific dietary requirements will likely prefer a different meal kit service.

I encourage you to check out the menu to see what your options might be. If its meals suit your needs, I think Dinnerly is a real gem that can fit into almost any budget. If you want more options, check out our list of the cheapest meal delivery services — complete with the latest active deals! Dinnerly employs a few cost-cutting measures in order to keep its prices low, but I found that the quality of its meals and ingredients were still impressive for the price.

Dinnerly offers amazing value for people without dietary restrictions. If you have a serious gluten allergy — or any food allergy, for that matter — you may want to look elsewhere for your meal delivery needs, like Green Chef. Dinnerly is unrelated to EveryPlate.

Both services offer amazing prices on meal kits but are separate companies. EveryPlate is owned by HelloFresh, while Dinnerly is a subsidiary of Marley Spoon. Dinnerly keeps its prices low by simplifying its recipes, packaging, and more.

We rank vendors based on rigorous testing and research, but also take into account your feedback and our commercial agreements with providers.

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