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Prepared plates, a hand holding a phone displaying a meal kit app, and a meal kit box on a green background Credit: Hello Fresh / Home Chef / CookUnity / Sunbasket

The Best Meal Kit Delivery Services of 2024

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Prepared plates, a hand holding a phone displaying a meal kit app, and a meal kit box on a green background Credit: Hello Fresh / Home Chef / CookUnity / Sunbasket

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Editor's Choice Product image of HelloFresh
Best Overall

HelloFresh

Check Price at HelloFresh

HelloFresh offers affordable meal kits with big portions and straightforward recipes. Some may take longer to prepare than the recipe states. Read More

Pros

  • Large variety of appealing dishes and extras
  • Big portions
  • Straightforward recipes

Cons

  • Recipe timing can be inaccurate
  • Vegan offerings are limited
2
Editor's Choice Product image of Dinnerly
Best Value

Dinnerly

Check Price at Dinnerly

An affordable meal kit brand under Martha & Marley Spoon, Dinnerly offers low-cost meals with big flavor. But packages tend to be disorganized. Read More

Pros

  • Affordable meals
  • Easy prep and clean-up
  • 100+ meal options to choose from

Cons

  • Organization is lacking
  • Navigating the website can be challenging
3
Editor's Choice Product image of Home Chef
Most User-Friendly

Home Chef

Check Price at Home Chef

Home Chef delivers meals with fresh, high-quality ingredients and well-written recipes that break down the cooking methods into digestible steps. Read More

Pros

  • High-quality ingredients
  • User-friendly recipes with accurate timing
  • Large variety of options and extras

Cons

  • Lots of packaging
4
Editor's Choice Product image of Gobble
Best Pre-Prepped Kit

Gobble

Check Price at Gobble

The meal kit delivery service provides quick, easy, creative dinners thanks to pre-prepped ingredients and sauces. Read More

Pros

  • Balanced flavors
  • Quality ingredients
  • Quick and easy
  • Creative recipes

Cons

  • Some recipes fall short
5
Editor's Choice Product image of Purple Carrot
Best Plant-Based Kit

Purple Carrot

Check Price at Purple Carrot

Purple Carrot's menu is filled with inventive, satiating, and tasty plant-based meals. Recipes were confusing at first, but worth the learning curve. Read More

Pros

  • Fully plant-based
  • Tasty , unique meals
  • Premade meals offered

Cons

  • Learning curve with recipe cards
  • Best Overall HelloFresh
  • Best Value Dinnerly
  • Most User-Friendly Home Chef
  • Best Pre-Prepped Kit Gobble
  • Best Plant-Based Kit Purple Carrot
  • Best Prepared Meal Delivery Service CookUnity
  • Other Meal Kit Delivery Services We Tested
  • How to Choose a Meal Delivery Service
  • How We Test Meal Kit Delivery Services
  • Are Meal Kits Worth It?
  • More Articles You Might Enjoy

Meal kit delivery services are a saving grace for so many people who want fresh home-cooked meals without having to think about recipes, quantities, and a precise grocery list. ​​However, with so many options on the market, it can be tough to choose the right one.

Unlike many products we test at Reviewed, a meal delivery service isn’t something you buy once and use for years. It’s a subscription service that asks you to make choices each week from different menu options. It changes how you cook—and it needs to align with your needs.

Luckily, after years of testing more than a dozen meal kits, we're here to guide you through choosing the best meal delivery service for your family. Our pick for the best meal kit delivery service is HelloFresh. It delivers big flavor and consistently excellent recipes with fresh ingredients, and enough variety to satisfy most diets.

For specially curated kitchen deals, cooking and hosting tips, and product recs, follow us @reviewedkitchen on Instagram!


A professional and tester's side-by-side photos of rice, meat, and veggies.
Credit: HelloFresh / Reviewed / Madison Trapkin

HelloFresh has great flavors and fun recipes that are easy to learn.

Best Overall
HelloFresh

The wallet-friendly HelloFresh has become one of the most recognizable names in meal kit delivery services, and it’s easy to see why. Big portions, affordable prices, and straightforward recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner make the service our top recommendation.

HelloFresh also offers a large variety of add-ons from desserts and snacks to side dishes and charcuterie boards. The service has expanded over the years and we've tried many of the offerings with great success.

For those who are uncertain in the kitchen, we found that meals marked 'Fast & Fresh' or 'Quick & Easy' delivered the kind of frustration-free experience people look for in a meal kit delivery service.

If you're looking to learn new recipes or kitchen skills, there are many classic and premium choices, but they'll require a bit more time in the kitchen (so choose them if you enjoy the cooking process). We were especially impressed with the variety of international flavors on offer.

Recipes we've requested multiple times include the za'atar-crusted grilling cheese served with lemony couscous and roasted veggies, and the bánh mi burger, which puts an American twist on the classic Vietnamese sandwich with lightly pickled veggies and sriracha mayo.

Our main gripe about HelloFresh is the relative inaccuracy of the recipe timing—we found that HelloFresh recipes were rarely on the table in the amount of time the recipe cards promised. However, we were consistently impressed by the flavor, which often made the extra time worth it.

While HelloFresh offers a wide variety of dishes, it still lacks many vegan offerings. But it does offer a variety of meal options for other specialty diets, like vegetarians and pescatarians. HelloFresh has made strides over the years to improve its variety as well as its ordering interface. With so many choices, meals are categorized effectively and you can use either the website or the app to change your meal selections, add items, skip deliveries, and manage your account.

Our only ongoing complaint with the ordering process is that you have to pay close attention to your email, or schedule your own reminder, so you don't miss the deadline to customize your order each week. If you do miss it, HelloFresh sends you its selections for you according to the preferences you set in your account.

If you set those preferences with intent, you should always get meals you'll like, but it's still nice to tailor your selections to your mood or plans for the week.

Its packaging is some of the most sustainable on this list in that it’s largely recyclable, which is a plus. We love the clearly labeled, recyclable paper packaging used to contain each meal. But you'll still have to dispose of the large ice packs and cardboard boxes each week.

Favorite meal: Za’atar-crusted grilling cheese with sumac roasted veggies over couscous

Cost: Visit HelloFresh for updated pricing. When we tested, meals ranged from $7.99 to $11.99 per serving depending on the number of meals and servings selected per week. You can choose your combination of desired servings and recipes each week. There is also a $9.99 shipping fee for each delivery.

Pros

  • Large variety of appealing dishes and extras

  • Big portions

  • Straightforward recipes

Cons

  • Recipe timing can be inaccurate

  • Vegan offerings are limited

Buy now at HelloFresh
Left: Dinnerly box on an outdoor front stoop. Right: Plated dish of sesame tofu and rice
Credit: Reviewed / Monica Petrucci

Dinnerly offers the best value-friendly meal kit delivery service we've ever tested.

Best Value
Dinnerly

The valuable convenience of most meal kit delivery services come at a price—but not at Dinnerly. This meal kit service offers meals that start at just $4.99 each, which is less than half the price of most competitors.

But cutting down on price doesn't mean cutting down on quality. When we tested Dinnerly, we were taken aback by the flavor and portion sizes of each meal. Dishes with global flair like chicken satay and Moroccan-spiced chicken soup felt akin to ordering takeout from an international restaurant.

Better yet, Dinnerly is devoted to simple, fuss-free prep. That means every recipe has just five steps or less, and uses minimal pots and pans so post-dinner clean-up is a breeze. And a lot of the dishes we tested were actually ready faster than the estimated recipe time.

There are a few minor downsides we found, though, like disorganized packaging and fewer included ingredients. The ingredients are not organized according to each recipe, which means you'll have to sift through a pile of produce and packaged spices before cooking each meal. Dinnerly also doesn't deliver printed recipe cards, so you'll have to refer back to your email as you cook.

We also found that you may need to have some staples on hand before your package gets delivered, like fresh garlic and apple cider vinegar. But don't worry: Dinnerly will send you a list of ingredients via email before the box arrives.

Despite these minor hiccups, we think Dinnerly delivers major value for the price, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better meal delivery service with such excellent value.

Read the full Dinnerly review.

Favorite meal: Soy-ginger pork tenderloin with garlic rice and green beans

Cost: Visit Dinnerly for updated pricing. When we tested, meals started at just $4.99 per serving, depending on the number of meals and portion sizes selected. Subscriptions can serve two or four people, and you can choose anywhere from two to six meals per week.

Pros

  • Affordable meals

  • Easy prep and clean-up

  • 100+ meal options to choose from

Cons

  • Organization is lacking

  • Navigating the website can be challenging

Buy now at Dinnerly
Left: The Home Chef binder with recipes. Right: A plate of salad and salmon with a bowl of salad and recipe in the background.
Credit: Reviewed / Danielle DeSiato

Home Chef has great flavors, the best recipes, and tons of options.

Most User-Friendly
Home Chef

Like its name suggests, Home Chef provides customers with the tools necessary to become true masters of the kitchen.

From Home Chef’s fresh, high-quality ingredients to well-written recipes, everything about this service made us feel like we were preparing restaurant-worthy (or at least guest-worthy) meals without too much fuss.

Home Chef also offers oven-ready meals (which come with their own cooking trays) and the option to swap out proteins, making it appealing to an even wider swath of busy cooks.

Aside from classics like the farmhouse fried chicken with mashed potatoes, green onion gravy, and corn, Home Chef also offerings meals that are diverse enough to include healthy meal options.

It also accommodates almost any dietary preference, including vegetarians and vegans. The menu offers at least 25 dinner options per week, as well as a handful of oven-ready meals. There are also some lunch and snack choices as add-ons to its main menu.

We were impressed by the depth of flavor in the yang-yang beef with shishito peppers, a lighter alternative to traditional American Chinese food, and loved the hot honey salmon with zucchini and tomatoes for its summer simplicity.

What we love most about Home Chef is its organization. Ingredients are divided per meal into labeled bags that easily slide into the fridge, recipe instructions are consistently clear, and time estimates are always accurate. Plus, the website is easy to navigate, allowing you the freedom to choose what you want and skip delivery weeks at will.

One of its only downsides is the lack of variety on the weekly menu. We would describe most of Home Chef's recipes as American-style, with a few Italian or Mexican-inspired options each week. HelloFresh, on the other hand, offers a wide range of dishes with international flair every week, like Peruvian chicken and Indian-inspired curry. Home Chef would be also wise to incorporate more biodegradable packaging into its existing model.

Read the full Home Chef review.

Favorite meal: Farmhouse fried chicken with mashed potatoes, green onion gravy, and corn

Cost: Visit Home Chef for updated pricing. When we tested, meals were $11.25 per serving, including the shipping fee. Subscriptions can serve two, four, or six people, and you can choose anywhere from two to six meals per week.

Pros

  • High-quality ingredients

  • User-friendly recipes with accurate timing

  • Large variety of options and extras

Cons

  • Lots of packaging

Buy now at Home Chef

Left: Packaged and pre-prepped ingredients arranged on a cutting board. Right: A light green ceramic bowl with rice as a base for super savory paneer tikka masala.
Credit: Reviewed / Madison Trapkin

Paneer Tikka Masala was our favorite dish we tested from Gobble, our pick for best pre-prepped meal kit.

Best Pre-Prepped Kit
Gobble

Unlike Home Chef, which can require chopping, the ingredients in Gobble’s meal kits are almost entirely pre-prepped. That means your box will contain pre-portioned ingredients, pre-made sauces, and partially-cooked starches that require simple reheating, plus pre-sliced, -diced, and -minced veggies. We were pleasantly surprised by the ingredients' freshness, and found that everything survived a day or two in the fridge before cooking.

Every Gobble meal we tested came together in 15 minutes or less, as promised by the brand’s website. The recipe cards for each dish include fun facts about the dish, supplies to gather, what’s included in your dinner kit, calorie information, and easy-to-follow cooking instructions. We appreciated how the ingredients are bolded within the instructions, so it’s easier to spot these at a glance if you’re reading whilst cooking.

Our biggest qualm with Gobble is that not all recipes are created equally. While some dishes were inventive, balanced, and super flavorful, others had us wishing we tweaked some of the ingredients ourselves. That said, most of what we tried was very tasty and we would definitely make most of the dishes again.

Gobble’s packaging is almost entirely recyclable, which is amazing! But because Gobble preps most of the veggies for you, there's unnecessary (albeit recyclable) packaging for things like chopped onions, which means more stuff for you to dispose of. Read the full Gobble review.

Favorite meal: Paneer and cauliflower tikka masala with garam masala basmati rice

Cost: Visit Gobble for updated pricing. When we tested, meals were $12.99 per serving for two people, $11.99 per serving for four people, for four meals per week. Different plans are available, including Classic, Vegetarian Only, and Lean & Clean.

Pros

  • Balanced flavors

  • Quality ingredients

  • Quick and easy

  • Creative recipes

Cons

  • Some recipes fall short

Buy now at Gobble
On left, Purple Carrot box outside. On right, bowl of buffalo tempeh with quinoa and veggies.
Credit: Reviewed / Monica Petrucci

Purple Carrot is our favorite vegan meal delivery service.

Best Plant-Based Kit
Purple Carrot

Although we found some flaws with this fully vegan meal delivery service a few years back, our second time testing proved most (if not all) of our issues had been remedied.

We tried Purple Carrot for two weeks—trying meals from both the meal kit menu and the prepared meals section—and were impressed by the results.

Previously, we found the brand to suffer from confusing recipes, bland flavors, and unsatisfying portions. This time around, we were excited by the menu's international variety, protein-packed ingredients, and overall tastiness.

Standout plant based meals included the tamarind cauliflower with gingered fried rice and cashews, which was addictively tasty, and the buffalo tempeh quinoa bowl, which had a satisfying balance of heat and freshness.

We also tried the brand's single-serve prepared meals, which arrive ready to eat after a few minutes in the microwave. These meals weren't to the same level of deliciousness as the freshly made stuff, but they were still hearty, balanced, and decently tasty. We were happy enough to take them to work on in-office days.

Subscribers to Purple Carrot can choose between either two or four servings a week for a meal kit subscription, or three or four meals a week for a prepared meal subscription. (You can also add prepared meals to your meal kit subscription for an additional cost—that's what we did.)

There are about a dozen meals to choose from each week, and several are conveniently labeled for folks with dietary restrictions, like Gluten-Free or Nut-Free. There are even a few Less Prep options, which feature pre-mixed sauces, pre-cut veggies, and recipes that require fewer pots and pans.

The service also offers breakfast and lunch dishes, plus add-ons (think snacks and pantry staples) from the cleverly named Plantry.

There were still a few minor hiccups during testing, like an unusual recipe card format and slightly inaccurate cook times. But once you get used to this learning curve it's not a dealbreaker.

Whether you're a longtime vegan or just someone looking to add more plant-based ingredients into their life, we recommend subscribing. Read the full Purple Carrot review.

Favorite meal: Tamarind cauliflower with gingered fried rice and cashews

Cost: Visit Purple Carrot for updated pricing. When we tested, meals were $13.25 per serving for two people, $11 per serving for four people, for three meals per week. Prepared meals were $13 per serving.

Pros

  • Fully plant-based

  • Tasty , unique meals

  • Premade meals offered

Cons

  • Learning curve with recipe cards

Buy now at Purple Carrot
A person holding CookUnity packages and a plate of colorful food.
Credit: Reviewed / CookUnity

CookUnity is the best pre-made meal delivery kit we tested.

Best Prepared Meal Delivery Service
CookUnity

CookUnity has taken over Freshly's previous title as the best pre-made meal kit delivery service, after our Kitchen & Cooking staff writer fell in love with its chef-crafted meals. Unlike the other services in this roundup, CookUnity delivers fresh, fully prepared meals directly to your door—no cooking required.

CookUnity wowed us from the moment we created an account and started browsing the hundreds—yes, hundreds—of meal options that are offered in any given week. Each dish on the website is curated by one of CookUnity's featured chefs, who typically specialize in a certain style of cooking.

Subscribers can choose to filter the overwhelming number of offerings by anything from diet type (think vegan and keto), ethnicity (think Mexican, African, or Mediterranean), or by featured chef (once you become familiar with them).

When we tested these meals, it felt like we were dining at a restaurant. Each dish was flavorful, fresh, and enticing; they felt like they had been cooked fresh—but the prep took mere seconds.

The meal packaging prompts you to choose between a typical pre-made meal preparation (read: microwave) or a chef-suggested preparation. The latter requires popping the tray into the oven or transferring the food into a pan. (We opted for the chef's suggestions—and it was worth it.)

A few of the dishes we tried had smaller portions and left us craving more of a balance of protein, carbs, and veggies. But this issue can easily be avoided by reading the in-depth meal guides on the website to see what's featured in each dish and what its nutritional information is. Read the full CookUnity review.

Favorite meal: Sesame-ginger tofu poke bowl

Cost: Visit CookUnity for updated pricing. When we tested, meals ranged from $11.09 to $12.29 per meal.

Pros

  • Tasty meals

  • Countless options

  • Personalized menu

Cons

  • Ranging portion sizes

Buy now at CookUnity

Other Meal Kit Delivery Services We Tested

A professional and tester's side-by-side photos of cast iron egg and vegetable meal.
Credit: Blue Apron / Reviewed / Monica Petrucci

Blue Apron has tasty recipes, but packaging and time estimates fall short.

Blue Apron

Despite the success of its competition, the original meal kit service still has some fight left in them. Time and experience has allowed Blue Apron to keep prices low, perfect time estimates on recipes, and offer fun wine-pairing and gift options.

When we originally tested this service, we had problems with flavors and ratios being off. Oregano overpowered orecchiette, jalapeño overwhelmed peach salsa, and my polenta was in desperate need of salt, spice, or anything to make it more than a bland mush.

But when we tested it again in 2022, we found that the menu offered much more variety. Flavorful meals like Mexican-spiced shrimp bake and shawarma chicken and currant rice had us enjoying every last bite.

A few details continue to fall short, though, like disorganized packaging and inaccurate time estimates. There's also a lack of vegan offerings with this meal kit.

But if you're someone looking for dietician-approved meals, tasty recipes, and options for wine and breakfast, you might be very satisfied with this kit. Read the full Blue Apron review.

Favorite meal: Crispy skin salmon with salsa verde and farro salad

Cost: Visit Blue Apron for updated pricing. When we tested, meals were $9.99 per serving for two people, $8.49 per serving for four people ordering three meals a week. Different plans are available.

Pros

  • Affordable

  • Accurate cooking time estimates

  • Quick and easy

Cons

  • Flavors and ratios sometimes off in recipes

  • Disorganized packaging

  • Limited menus

Buy now at Blue Apron
A professional and tester's side-by-side photos of a Mexican-inspired rice and veggie bowl
Credit: EveryPlate / Reviewed / Monica Petrucci

EveryPlate meals are super affordable, although their menu is limited.

EveryPlate

If you’re looking to dive into meal kits for the first time or take a break from your usual routine, EveryPlate is a solid option—especially if cost is your primary concern. Other companies can become prohibitively expensive, and EveryPlate’s affordable, no-frills approach is certainly refreshing.

The HelloFresh-owned brand offers meals priced at just $4.99 per serving. Those are remarkably low prices—most other services in this roundup cost anywhere from $7.99 to $11.99 per serving for two people.

Each dish we tested, from hibachi-style steak and rice bowls to apricot dijon chicken legs, was quick and easy to prepare and used high-quality ingredients. While we were disappointed by the recipe for creamy peppercorn chicken with roasted potatoes and carrots (chicken breast can easily dry out when baked, and the sauce was overwhelmingly peppery), we found the other meals satisfying.

However, EveryPlate is focused on affordability and not specific diet plans, which means its recipes may not suit everyone. Its weekly menu has 21 rotating options to choose from, with three or four “premium” options included, at least five vegetarian options, and limited vegan options.

In testing, we found that EveryPlate’s portion sizes are sometimes too small for people who need more than the average calorie intake, and the vegetarian options especially can be lacking in protein value. But if you're looking to subscribe to a meal kit on a budget, EveryPlate just might do. Read the full EveryPlate review.

Favorite meal: Apricot dijon chicken legs with roasted carrots and lemon garlic couscous

Cost: Visit EveryPlate for updated pricing. When we tested, most meals were $4.99 per serving regardless of frequency, with $9.99 for shipping on all boxes. Different plans are available.

Pros

  • Affordable

  • High-quality ingredients

  • Quick and easy recipes

Cons

  • No recipes for special diets

  • Limited meal options

Buy now at EveryPlate
Left: A top-down image of a professionally styled dish comprised of rice, shrimp, and cucumbers. Right: Rice, shrimp, and cucumber slices on a white plate.
Credit: Martha and Marley Spoon / Reviewed / Cassidy Olsen

Marley Spoon is eco-friendly and unique, but portions are small.

Martha and Marley Spoon

The oddly named Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon is a partnership between the German company, Marley Spoon, and lifestyle mogul Martha Stewart—and her influence over the brand is evident. Meals like chipotle-spiced steak with potato salad were simple, sophisticated, and downright American, just like the homemaking queen.

While we were consistently impressed by the flavor and inventiveness of Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon’s side dishes, we found less to celebrate in the mains, which were typically plain animal proteins.

The service is also far from ideal for those with dietary restrictions—in typical American fashion, every recipe revolves around an animal protein or heavy carbs. (Since we originally posted our review, Martha and Marley Spoon has added more vegetarian and low-carb options, but we haven't tested them yet.)

The service did score points with us for its eco-friendly packaging, made almost entirely from biodegradable materials. Most of its recipes were also easy to follow for new cooks.

If you’re looking for classic American flavors and high-quality ingredients, Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon might be a good option for you. Want to learn more? Read our full Martha and Marley Spoon review.

Favorite meal: Chipotle-spiced steak with potato salad and charred snap peas

Cost: Visit Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon for updated pricing. When we tested, meals were $10.99 per serving for two people ordering three each week, $9.49 per serving for four people ordering at least three each week. Different plans are available.

Pros

  • Flavorful dishes

  • Inventive recipes

  • Eco-friendly packaging

Cons

  • No recipes for special diets

  • Smaller portions

Buy now at Martha & Marley Spoon
A professional and tester's side-by-side photos of rice and veggies.
Credit: Green Chef / Reviewed / Monica Petrucci

Green Chef's menus are healthy, but ingredients can often be wilted at delivery.

Green Chef

Like Sunbasket, Green Chef promises organic ingredients and a variety of different diet-based meal plans (think keto, paleo, and vegan) at different price points, with about eight options to choose from per week.

What sets Green Chef apart from other services is its commitment to organic and ethically sourced ingredients. The company is USDA-certified organic, meaning that customers are buying certified ingredients from suppliers that follow strict standards.

When we tore open our bags for dishes like red-miso steak stir-fry and chicken with harissa apricot sauce, we were surprised to see that many of the ingredients were pre-prepped. The carrots and cabbage were already chopped, the miso sauce was already prepared, and there was a baggie of finely minced garlic and ginger that was almost a paste.

All these pre-prepped ingredients made preparing our food very speedy and simple. Most were plated and ready to eat in 30 minutes, and we only dirtied a handful of prep bowls, one pan, one pot, and a cutting board.

However, convenience has its drawbacks. Many of the pre-chopped veggies were brown or wilting by the time we went to cook with them. This, of course, is what happens when ingredients (especially organic ingredients) are chopped well before they’re prepared.

But otherwise, we quite enjoyed Green Chef. Read the full Green Chef Review.

Favorite meal: Red-miso steak stir-fry with udon noodles, carrots, edamame, pickled ginger and carrots

Cost: Visit Green Chef for updated pricing. When we tested, meals were $11.99 to $13.49 per serving, depending on your plan.

Pros

  • USDA-certified organic ingredients

  • Offers different diet-based meal plans

  • Includes some pre-prepped ingredients

Cons

  • Limited weekly menus

  • Higher prices

Buy now at Green Chef
Left: A top-down photo of two bowls of pasta with pesto, accompanied by a serving bowl filled with more of the same. Right: A top-down photo of a black and white speckled bowl filled with pasta with pesto, peas, and topped with parmesan.
Credit: Sunbasket / Reviewed / Madison Trapkin

Sunbasket has a large menu, easy recipes, and organic ingredients.

Sunbasket

This meal delivery service offers a wide variety of recipes that will satisfy omnivores and vegan customers alike with its certified organic produce.

Fresh pappardelle verde with sweet pea pistou and sugar snap peas and crispy tempeh tenders with barbecue sauce and lemon-shallot green beans were among its standout offerings when we tested.

We were impressed by how easily our Sunbasket dinners came together, relying on just a few key ingredients and spice blends to do most of the heavy lifting. That meant spending less time cooking and more time enjoying the food.

We particularly loved the flavorful veggies and non-meat protein options, making Sunbasket perfect for people who avoid eating meat.

You can easily skip weeks, adjust delivery frequency, pause your account, or cancel your subscription entirely by easily navigating the Sunbasket website.

The biggest downside to this meal subscription as it stands is that the portions aren’t big enough to have leftovers for eating later.

Favorite meal: Fresh pappardelle verde with sweet pea pistou and sugar snap peas

Cost: Visit Sunbasket for updated pricing. When we tested, meals were $11.99 per serving for two people, $10.99 per serving for four people, regardless of frequency. Different plans are available.

Pros

  • Great for vegetarians

  • Wide variety of meals offered

  • Easy recipes

Cons

  • Portions not big enough for leftovers

Buy now at Sunbasket

How to Choose a Meal Delivery Service

There are several options to choose from when it comes to buying a meal delivery kit. To help make your selection a little easier, here are some of the most important factors to keep in mind before you subscribe to a delivery service:

Cost

As with any subscription service, the price is one detail that should not be overlooked, especially since you'll be paying for the delivery on a weekly or monthly basis. Meal kit delivery services tend to cost about $7 to $13 per serving, with some dishes going significantly higher for premium meals.

As a rule of thumb, stick to the basics when you first start out with a meal delivery service. See what it has to offer at a price point that matches your budget, and then weigh your options if you decide you want to switch things up.

Time and effort

Not everyone is a connoisseur in the kitchen, and some folks may want their dinner to be prepared more quickly or easily than others. Certain recipes can take longer to prepare, while some may be less labor intensive. Before ordering your meal kit, check to see how long each recipe is intended to take, as well as how much additional chopping, cutting, or prepping you may have to perform.

If you find yourself having little to no time to cook, then a pre-made meal kit like CookUnity could be your best option.

Dietary restrictions

Meal delivery services tend to offer a variety of options to meet a wide range of dietary needs, whether it be low calorie, vegan, or gluten-free dishes. There's also the benefit of customization, which allows consumers to change some of the ingredients within the meal kit to suit their needs. This is particularly useful when it comes to protein options or excluding a particular ingredient due to an allergy or taste preference.

Delivery timing

Before you select your meal kit delivery service, check to see what delivery days or times it offers. Some may vary based on your location, but you'll typically be able to select a delivery date for Monday-Friday, with some services offering weekend availability. This is important to keep in mind as you sign up for your first delivery to ensure you are receiving your meals at the most convenient time for you.

How We Test Meal Kit Delivery Services

We’ve been testing meal delivery services for the past six years, trying out everything from well known meal kit companies that have been around for a while to new entries on the market.

For each service, we ordered at least one box of three or four meals worth two to four servings each. Using the service's website, we chose a diverse variety of meals when available.

We prepared the food on a weeknight for ourselves and our partners or families, and evaluated the quality of ingredients, recipe accuracy and variety, difficulty, speed, cleanup, taste, and more.

We also considered cost, how eco-friendly and user-friendly the kit’s packaging was, and how easy (or difficult) it was to navigate the website and cancel the service after we were done testing. We scored and compared each meal and kept detailed notes like true food nerds.

Are Meal Kits Worth It?

Meal prepping and grocery shopping can feel overwhelming. Meal kits are a great way to expand your tastes and eat healthier, bringing you through the cooking process one step at a time and slicing the time it takes to prepare your food in half. We found many recipes that only took 15 or 20 minutes, and oftentimes less!

If you’re overworked and frequently grabbing fast food after late nights at the office, a meal delivery service may be for you. One study found that popular restaurant meals can have a whopping 1,500 calories on average per serving. Using a meal kit service can help you better manage your portions and ingredients to eat more nutritious meals and lead a healthier lifestyle.

Meal kits can also be a good option if you’re following a specific diet, whether it’s for weight loss, diabetes, or personal preference. They can also help you control grocery costs because you won't have excess food going bad in your fridge before you can decide what to do with it.

What Your First Meal Kit Will Include

Recipe cards scattered across a kitchen counter covered in dishes containing the ingredients to make dinner.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

There's some things you should know about meal kits before choosing one for you.

Even if you’ve already decided which service is right for you, chances are you’re still confused about what your first box actually entails. While each service has different approaches to ordering, packaging, and delivery, we’ve found that most services have some baseline similarities.

  1. You’ll get a discount on your first box. Almost every service we tried offers a large discount on the first box. While this is an awesome benefit for new customers, don’t let it fool you into thinking one service is much cheaper than the others. Our price breakdown for each service reflects the price you’ll be regularly paying per meal, disregarding initial discounts.

  2. Your box is good to sit on your doorstep until the end of the day. Because delivery windows for these services are as broad as a full day, they package ingredients to last outside your actual refrigerator until the end of the day. Most often, produce and dry ingredients will be grouped in bags above ice packs, and any meat will be fully insulated below ice packs.

  3. The packaging is going to be bulky and cumbersome. As much as certain services pride themselves on eco-friendly boxes, there’s no way around the massive amounts of packaging.

  4. Recipes are usually seasonal, but favorites are often repeated. Every meal kit service has a different approach to repetition, but most try to make recipes as seasonal as possible to keep you from getting bored and to guarantee fresh, sustainable produce. That being said, most companies make note of the most popular dishes and offer them many weeks a year, regardless of the season. If you really love one of your meals, hold onto the recipe card for future reference so you can request it again—or make it yourself using store-bought ingredients.

  5. Cook your meals soon after receiving them. Meal kit ingredients are typically fresh and high-quality, but there’s nothing special preserving them—they’re just like what you buy from the grocery store. Because of transit times, they might actually be older than what you buy from the store. Use common sense when approaching certain dishes—seafood, fresh greens, and chicken should be prepared first, while red meat, pork, and harder produce can last a few more days. Freeze any meat you won’t be eating in the first few days after receiving your box.

  6. Cancel at least one full week before you want your last box. Most meal kit companies have solid customer service and flexible cancellation policies, but it’s important to consider the long-term logistics that go into assembling your box. If you’re interested in canceling your subscription service, make sure to do it at least one full week before you want your last box. If you want to skip a week or take a break from deliveries, most services allow you to make those selections, too.

  7. Many meal kits are now offered in grocery stores. To combat the high operational costs of delivery-only services, many companies have partnered with (or been acquired by) major food stores and are now offering its kits in the grocery aisles. While we only tested delivery services, many of the recipes we tried are also available in stores for equal or lower prices.

  8. Some meal kit companies now offer prepared and heat-and-eat meals. We've noticed a recent trend toward speed and convenience in the meal kit world, both with traditional companies and with frozen and ready-to-eat brands. Home Chef now offers at least two oven-ready dishes per menu every week, and Sunbasket has introduced both oven-ready and pre-made options.

We recommend having a good cast iron pan or a Dutch oven handy.


Meet the testers

Cassidy Olsen

Cassidy Olsen

Contributor

@olsencassidy

Cassidy covered all things cooking as the kitchen editor for Reviewed from 2018 to 2020. An experimental home chef with a healthy distrust of recipes, Cassidy lives by the "Ratatouille" philosophy that, with a few techniques and key tools, anyone can cook. She's produced in-depth reviews and guides on everything from meal kits to stand mixers and the right way to cook an egg.

See all of Cassidy Olsen's reviews
Madison Trapkin

Madison Trapkin

Contributor

Madison covered all things cooking as the kitchen editor for Reviewed in 2021. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Culture Magazine, Madison is the founder of GRLSQUASH, a women's food, art, and culture journal. Her work has also appeared in The Boston Globe, Cherrybombe, Gather Journal, and more. She is passionate about pizza, aesthetic countertop appliances, and regularly watering her houseplants.

She holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia and a Master's of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy from Boston University.

See all of Madison Trapkin's reviews
Monica Petrucci

Monica Petrucci

Editor, Kitchen & Cooking

@monicatpetrucci

Monica is Reviewed's Kitchen & Cooking editor and an avid home cook; she's been testing a wide range of kitchen products at Reviewed for two years. Previously the Digital Editor at Culture Cheese Magazine (and a former barista), she's also had her work published in The Boston Globe, Modern Luxury, Boston Magazine, and more.

See all of Monica Petrucci's reviews
Danielle DeSiato

Danielle DeSiato

Managing Editor, Kitchen & Appliances

@kissthecake

Managing Editor, Kitchen & Appliances. Danielle has a B.S. from Syracuse University and a AAS in Culinary Arts from Newbury College. Previously, Danielle was a Test Cook and Associate Editor at America's Test Kitchen, as well as a freelance recipe developer and food writer. She’s the mom of two boys and loves making pizza on Friday nights.

See all of Danielle DeSiato's reviews

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