Almost everyone has heard about dinner subscription boxes, but you might be surprised by just how many options are out there. The huge number of options can make it pretty challenging to narrow down which brands will work best for you and the people you dine with. Nonetheless, it is certainly possible to narrow down the best food subscription boxes that are simple and straightforward for less stress and hassle.
Below, we’ve reviewed the 18 top subscription boxes for meals and explained what makes them stand out above the competition. We also compiled some of the things you should consider when deciding on the right meal subscription box so you can make sure you prioritize the things that matter most. Start by looking at our list, and we’ll get into everything else you need to know at the end of the article.Quick Comparison: Top 18 Best Meal Subscription Boxes
Product Name | Grade |
---|---|
HelloFresh | A |
Blue Apron | B+ |
Home Chef | A- |
Marley Spoon | A- |
Green Chef | A |
Veestro | B+ |
Purple Carrot | B+ |
Sakara | A- |
Dinnerly | A |
Gobble | B+ |
MealPro | B+ |
PlateJoy | A- |
Sun Basket | A |
Freshly | A |
EveryPlate | B+ |
Daily Harvest | A- |
FreshDirect | A- |
Snap Kitchen | B+ |
1. HelloFresh
HelloFresh ships you ingredients for healthy meals straight to your door so you can quickly and easily prepare meals for yourself and your family. There are several meal kit options available through this company, including Veggie, Meat & Veggies, Family Friendly, and Low Calories. They offer meal plans for two or four people, and you can choose between receiving two, three, or four recipes a week.
You get to choose from a variety of options for meals each week so you can choose things that appeal to you. You’ll also have the chance to see allergens, ingredients, and nutritional information in the process. Recipes come in levels based on difficulty so you can select Level 1 simple meals, Level 2 intermediate meals, and Level 3 expert meals.Highlighted Features
Cost
Meals from HelloFresh start at $8.99 per serving for a couple and $7.49 per serving for a family of four, plus $7.99 shipping
Availability
HelloFresh offers meal kits to individuals in the 48 continental states and may deliver to Hawaii and Alaska in the future.
2. Blue Apron
Blue Apron is best known for offering meals designed by chefs to be delicious but also simple and easy to make in your home. Creating an account is easy and will give you the option to choose between three meal plans: the Vegetarian for two, the Signature for two, and the Signature for four. The menu is constantly changing and includes Weight Watcher approved, Beyond Meat, and diabetes-friendly recipes.
One of the perks is that there are many diverse vegetarian meals and the meal service also has a wine delivery attached that can be paired with your meals. This is an excellent option for those who want fast foods that taste good, as most of the recipes take 30 minutes to make at most. It mainly caters to beginner to intermediate level cooks.Highlighted Features
Cost
Meals for families of four start at $8.99 a serving while meals for couples start at $9.99 a serving
Availability
Blue Apron offers meal kits to all states in the lower 48 of the United States at this time.
3. Home Chef
Home Chef starts you out by filling out a taste profile that will recommend dishes that fit your palate and adhere to any dietary restrictions that you might have. Each Monday, you’ll get an email with 21 meal options to choose from and you have until midday Friday to make your final decisions. Some of the dietary restrictions catered to by Home Chef are vegetarian, non-dairy, non-nut, carb-conscious, non-soy, carb-conscious, and non-wheat.
A highlight of this food box delivery is that you can make changes to the protein to meet your needs, such as swapping out the chicken for beef or even tofu. It also includes clear instructions that are categorized by the level of difficulty so you can choose meals you are capable of making quickly and easily. In addition, all ingredients come fresh and measured out, so all you have to worry about is the cooking.Highlighted Features
Cost
Dinners are $9.99 a serving, while lunch is $7.99 a serving with free shipping on orders over $40; optional additions like smoothies or fruit cost $4.95 per serving
Availability
Home Chef offers delivery to all 48 of the lower states in the United States.
4. Marley Spoon
Marley Spoon (also known as Martha & Marley Spoon due to the addition of recipes by Martha Stewart) is a subscription box with more than 20 meals a week that can be created in under six steps taking no more than 40 minutes. Many of the recipes include labels such as “under 30 minutes,” “low-carb,” and “dairy-free” to ensure you select meals that work for your household. You can also count on having unique dishes most weeks like broken noodle paella, saucy enchilada chicken breast, and Cajun andouille skillet pizza.
Every meal includes a colorful recipe card with step-by-step photos, estimated cooking time, and nutrition facts. There is also an app you can download to keep track of all your favorite recipes so you can order them again in the future. The meals also come in packaging made of mostly recyclable materials for a little extra eco-consciousness.Highlighted Features
Cost
Meals for couples are $8.99 per serving, meals for families of four are $7.49 per portion; all meals have a shipping cost of $8.99
Availability
Marley Spoon delivers to most of the lower 48 U.S. states.
5. Green Chef
What Green Chef does well is offering lifestyle meals that focus on various diets. Since it can be stressful and challenging to shop for a specific diet, Green Chef helps you handle that by delivering meals that you simply have to cook. The menus from this box meals delivery include: Keto, Paleo, Balanced Living, Plant-Powered, and Family Plan.
While all of the meals you receive are centered around a particular diet, all of them are geared towards the health conscious. Only non-GMO, organic ingredients are used so you can be sure all the ingredients going into your body are good for you. With this cooking box, you choose the number of dishes you want a week and whether you are feeding two or four people with each of them, which affects the cost of each serving.Highlighted Features
Cost
Servings of meals range from $10.99 to $12.99 depending on the number of portions and diet chosen
Availability
Green Chef delivers to most of the continental United States, excluding parts of Louisiana and all of Alaska and Hawaii.
6. Veestro
When you go with a Veestro box, you’re going to have three choices: a Weight Loss plan, a Chef’s Choice plan, or an A La Carte menu. No matter which of these you decide to go with, you can be sure that all meals will be fully prepared with organic ingredients and no preservatives. Another of the things that sets apart Veestro from other boxes on our list is the fact that all of the meals you can order are plant-based and suitable for a vegan diet.
Every Veestro delivery will come in an insulated box with dry ice to ensure ingredients stay fresh until you use them. In addition, rather than offering only dinner meals or a handful of lunch meals, there are also plenty of veggie-based breakfast meals.Highlighted Features
Cost
Weight loss plans range from $175.50 to $226.80 while chef’s choice meals range from $117 for 10 meals to $297 for 30 meals
Availability
Veestro ships to all United States addresses except for Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico.
7. Purple Carrot
Purple Carrot is a fully vegan delivery box based on the idea that consuming a plant-based diet can improve your health, assist with animal welfare, and have a positive effect on the environment. There are a few different plans to choose from, including Chef’s Choice, High-Protein, Quick & Easy, and Gluten-Free. Each of these comes in two or four-serving boxes and allows you to add breakfast, lunch, and snacks to your order.
Each box you receive comes with a recipe booklet that includes all the potential recipes for the week, not just the ones that you chose. This can be a great help if you want to make more vegan meals on your own when you aren’t using Purple Carrot. The ingredients come in a box with insulation to keep all the vegetables fresh until you use them.Highlighted Features
Cost
Meals from Purple Carrot are $9.99 per serving for a four-serving plan or $11.99 per serving for a two-serving plan
Availability
Purple Carrot offers subscription delivery to various areas in the contiguous United States with plans to expand over time.
8. Sakara
If you’re searching for a plant-based delivery service with prepared meals, Sakara might be just what you’ve been looking for. It offers fully organic food delivered to your door, and you can choose which meals come in every box. The idea behind this food box is to offer a way to eat healthily without spending lots of time on buying, prepping and cooking.
While Sakara is a premium lifestyle and wellness brand, it’s hard to find nutritional information due to the belief the calorie restriction isn’t the best way to lose weight. When choosing this subscription, you can choose a three or five-day choice, but there are no options for alternatives or substitutions other than allergy modifications, which cost an extra $60.Highlighted Features
Cost
Meal plans range in cost from about $56 to $80 per day, while allergy modifications cost an additional $60 a box
Availability
Sakara only offers shipping in the United States at this time.
9. Dinnerly
One of the biggest things that Dinnerly has going for it is that it costs under $5 a portion, no matter which plan you choose to sign up for. It offers a wide selection of simple dinner ideas and takes away from all the stress involved with planning meals and going shopping for groceries. Every week, this box also offers a selection of 16 kid-friendly recipes to ensure everyone in the family is happy with the meals.
Dinnerly is able to offer lower prices than other kits while using premium ingredients because it makes use of digital recipes instead of using paper, incorporates fewer ingredients in each dish, and placing the dishes in simple packaging. It is designed for use by those who want homemade meals but don’t want to overpay or spend tons of time in the kitchen.Highlighted Features
Cost
Servings range in price from $4.29 for six four-person meals to $4.49 for three meals a week for two or four people
Availability
Dinnerly is a cooking subscription box that is available in most of the contiguous United States.
10. Gobble
Gobble works a lot like other meal kits, allowing you to choose the meals you want and how many you want to receive. However, most of the prep work like chopping and dicing ingredients is done for you so you can get these meals on the stove and in your stomach as quickly as possible. The box comes with vegetarian meals as well as kid-friendly meals, including meals that are dairy and gluten-free.
Every box that is delivered to your house comes with nutritional info and recipes, as well as quality ingredients that are portioned and prepped. You’ll also have access to recyclable ice packs with every shipment to ensure the ingredients stay in great shape until you can get cooking with them.Highlighted Features
Cost
Both the Classic Dinner Plan and the Lean & Clean Dinner Plan start at $11.99 per serving
Availability
Gobble delivers meal kits across the United States, with the exception of Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, and North Dakota.
11. MealPro
Many of the food kits on this list are recurring as soon as you start a subscription, but MealPro gives you the option of ordering once or having meals shipped regularly. Regardless of which you choose, many of the meals are under $10 and include premium ingredients like lean red meat, chicken, and fish. You also get the chance to pick your meals every time rather than letting someone else choose what you should be eating.
When you do subscribe for a longer period, you can earn reward points for every purchase. These can be used to redeem free meals in the future. These meals will ship and deliver daily in the U.S. Mountain and Pacific areas, will deliver on Wednesday through Friday in the Eastern and Central U.S., and ship and deliver daily in British Columbia.Highlighted Features
Cost
Servings start at $9.99 and go up to at least $15.99 depending on the meal choice
Availability
MealPro offers deliveries to addresses in the continental United States and British Columbia in Canada.
12. PlateJoy
PlateJoy is slightly different from other options on the list in that it isn’t technically a delivery service. Instead, this service helps you create meal plans for losing weight, preventing diabetes, and planning meals. When you use the service, you answer questions about your dietary requirements, your goals, your budget, how long you like to cook, and other factors that are used to give you appropriate recommendations.
You’ll be provided with a list of meals that meet your requirements, and then you can add them to your menu, change ingredients, and swap out and change other items as much as you want. After this, PlateJoy offers a shopping list and you can shop on your own or use Instacart to request the groceries you need.Highlighted Features
Cost
Plans from PlateJoy start at $8 a month and can be charged at $69 for six months or $99 for yearlong plans
Availability
PlateJoy offers meal kit deliveries in various parts of the United States.
13. Sun Basket
Sun Basket is another subscription for meals that offer healthy diet options and that can be made in as little as five minutes. There are three types of meals you can choose from, including oven and microwave-ready meals, pre-prepped meals to save time, and classic cooking recipes where the prep and cooking is up to you. All of the meals incorporate fresh organic produce for a healthy dining experience.
Each subscription starts with two or more dinners, and you can then add on lunches, breakfasts, snacks, and other items. Some of the other things to be aware of with Sun Basket are that orders come cold packed to your door, and you can easily skip a week or cancel your subscription whenever you like.Highlighted Features
Cost
Each serving is $10.99, $11.99, or $12.99 depending on the number of servings and meals bought for the week
Availability
Sun Basket ships to most states except for parts of Montana, New Mexico, and North Dakota, as well as all of Alaska and Hawaii.
14. Freshly
Freshly is a bit unique in that it offers single-serving meals that come in four, six, nine, or 12 meals each week. When you sign up for meals, you can also narrow down your options with things like “home bistro,” “takeout twists,” and “feel better food.” In addition to that, the company allows you to set preferences, so you don’t see dishes that contain gluten or peanuts for those with allergies; some dishes are also free of dairy.
Since Freshly comes with pre-packaged meals, there’s minimal cleanup at the end of the meal beyond tossing the container in the trash. These work well as a time-saver and can help with easier meal planning in any household.Highlighted Features
Cost
Meal plans with 12 meals start at $7.99 each and can go as high as $11.50 for four meals a week
Availability
Freshly offers delivery in some parts of all states in the continental United States.
15. EveryPlate
EveryPlate is an inexpensive meal kit that offers simple-to-make recipes with pre-portioned ingredients to make cooking quick and easy. There are two plans available with this kit – one for couples and the other for four people. Their meal options are rather straightforward and may not appeal to everyone, especially those on keto diets, paleo diets, or other restricted diets that this meal kit might not cater to.
However, making an order is simple and easy, with deliveries on Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays based on where you’re located. Unfortunately, the ingredients are all placed together and it can be hard to determine what goes with each recipe.Highlighted Features
Cost
Every serving from EveryPlate is $4.99 per serving, regardless of how many are eating and how many meals are chosen a week. $8.99 is charged for shipping
Availability
EveryPlate offers delivery to most places in the continental United States.
16. Daily Harvest
Daily Harvest is a superfood based, farm frozen, pre-portioned food subscription service that offers items like bowls, smoothies, and soups right to your door. All of the items offered by the company are simple to prepare, such as the smoothies, which you just add milk to before blending, or the overnight oats, which you add milk to and let soak overnight before heating in the morning. These are also very convenient since the cups come frozen and you can defrost them as you need them.
If you are on a plant-based diet and looking for healthy meals that you can enjoy quickly, this is an ideal option, with several different choices for meals and snacks. While the company started out offering only smoothies, the menu has grown substantially in the last few years.Highlighted Features
Cost
Prices vary based on the types of smoothies, bowls, bites, and other meals and the number ordered
Availability
Daily Harvest offers delivery to over 30 states, but not all of them, so make sure it’s available in your area.
17. FreshDirect
FreshDirect is more of a grocery delivery service in the New York area, but it does include some premade meals that can be ordered like any other subscription service. All you have to do is sign up for the service, and your groceries will be delivered straight to your home or office. What sets this service apart is that it offers a wide variety of groceries, so you can find something for any taste or dietary requirements.
The biggest perk of FreshDirect is that it is convenient and can prevent you from needing to head to the grocery store on your own. Instead, you simply make a grocery list, select a time when you want it to be delivered, and checkout.Highlighted Features
Cost
Prices range from just a few dollars to over $20 but often offer at least two servings
Availability
FreshDirect delivers to most addresses in several counties in New York state as well as some parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Connecticut, and Delaware.
18. Snap Kitchen
When you use Snap Kitchen, you can order meals for three, five, or seven days. There are a huge variety of meal types to choose from, including paleo, keto, Whole 30, high-protein, low-carb, vegetarian, balanced, and custom. You can select whichever plan best fits your lifestyle and then choose the meals that appeal to you most while meeting your health and diet goals at the same time.
Rather than having to spend hours prepping and cooking yourself, this service preps, cooks, and delivers meals that you can heat up in your microwave in just a few minutes. Some of the meals you can expect to see on the menu include chicken piccata, banana pancakes, chicken chile enchiladas, and many more.Highlighted Features
Cost
Meal servings start at $9.58 each and go up based on the menu and number of dishes purchased
Availability
Snap Kitchen serves most of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Connecticut. It is also offered in parts of New York, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Virginia, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Kansas, and Louisiana.
Buyer’s Guide for the Best Meal Subscription Boxes
There are dozens of meal services today that deliver straight to your front door, and it seems like new ones are always popping up. They make an excellent option for those who don’t have time for meal prepping and shopping for groceries since all of that is handled for you. However, before you pick a meal kit for your household, there are a few things to be aware of.
What to Expect in Your First Box
Once you’ve chosen the right meal delivery service for you, you may be wondering what to expect from your first box. Every kit is going to be different, but many have things in common, such as:
- First Box Discounts – Most services offer a hefty discount on the first box to get you started with their meals. This is always worth taking advantage of so that you get some savings when you start out.
- Boxes Can Sit at the Door – Since your delivery can come at any point in the day, meal delivery services package ingredients to stay safe throughout the day until you can get to them. Most package items with ice packs and insulation to keep cold items at the correct temperature.
- Packaging Can Be Overwhelming – While some packaging is more eco-friendly than others, there’s often a lot of packaging to get rid of after you unpack things. This might matter if you already have overflowing dumpsters or trash cans at your home.
- Seasonal Recipes and Favorites Are Expected – All meal services have their own approach for repeating meals, but they often add seasonal items so the options don’t get boring and stale. However, the most popular meals will typically pop up time and time again so that you can try it again later.
- Meals Should Be Prepared ASAP – The ingredients in kits are often fresh and of a high quality, but they don’t have preservatives, so you want to cook the meals quickly. Items like fresh greens, seafood, and chicken should be the first items you cook.
Sizes of Meal Kits
Some meal kits are made for a single person, but most are created for a couple or a family of four. However, it doesn’t matter too much exactly how many people you’re buying for; there’s likely a meal option that fits your needs. Keep in mind that even if you’re alone or a couple, larger food kits can be useful for leftovers if you want to save money. The reality is that most companies have cheaper servings when you buy larger packages.
Consider Your Dietary Needs
You’ve probably noticed that some of these kits are designed for vegans, others offer keto or paleo dishes, and some are simple and don’t have special kits for different dietary needs. If you have a special dietary requirement, such as not being able to eat nuts or needing gluten-free dishes, make sure that the kit you go with has the options you need for your meals.