Meal delivery kit services are everywhere (and for good reason!). they make preparing breakfast, lunch, and dinner so much more convenient, especially if you’re trying to lose weight. food is delivered right to your door with pre-portioned ingredients and step-by-step instructions for a healthy, balanced meal.
meal kits get you in the habit of planning ahead and cooking your own meals—a proven weight-loss strategy, according to samantha cassetty, rd, nutrition counselor and communications consultant.
But not all programs are created equal, especially those designed to help you lose weight, so before you start getting meals delivered to your door, you need to figure out which program is best for your goals.
here, dieticians narrow down the best options that provide the most personalized and health-conscious eating plans to aid weight loss. From Hello Fresh and Blue Apron to Purple Carrot and Bistromd – these easy meal delivery kits will make cooking and losing weight so much easier, all while channeling your inner chef. Options range from anyone who can barely boil water (no judgement) to those of you home chefs who just want the ingredients so you can cook for yourself.
See below for the best meal delivery services approved by dietitians, nutritionists, and women’s health editors to help make weight loss easier.
1. hungry root
There’s a reason hungry root has become increasingly popular with meal planners: it’s so easy. all you need to do is answer their quiz, and then the site will fill your cart with all kinds of ~healthy~ groceries. when the box arrives at your door, it’s not only filled with the food your test indicated you might like, but also recipes curated by the chef using the groceries in your cart.
nutritionist anita mirchandani, r.d. he’s a fan of hers, too. “I like that hungry root helps you plan your total intake based on your preferences,” she says. “It’s also well-priced with high-quality ingredients that accommodate a variety of dietary restrictions.”
2. fresh and lean
Attention keto and paleo dieters: you’ll love fresh, lean produce. The company claims to be an alternative to the processed foods that are sometimes present in many people’s diets, so it offers pre-made protein-based, gluten-free, high-fiber meals and delivers them right to your door.
There are a ton of different meal delivery plans at your disposal here (including keto, paleo, low-cost, vegan, etc.), and one option even allows you to order in bulk, if you’d like. (Plus, the company says fresh, lean foods will keep you full for a long time.) Everything they deliver is approved by their dieticians and prepared from scratch in Anaheim, California.
3. bistromd
Created by a real MD as a weight loss service to help patients, bistromd is the perfect hybrid between meal delivery and a personalized health plan. choose from 4 different weight loss programs: standard, gluten-free, diabetic and menopausal.
Your weekly box will include five or seven full days of breakfast, lunch and dinner, or five or seven days of just lunch and dinner. Once your plan is chosen, the RDS of the Bistromd team will create a personalized diet plan based on your taste preferences and weight loss goals. Plus, you can update your profile with likes, dislikes, and health changes at any time and your meal plan will adjust.
4. just
If you really hate cooking, you’ll definitely be interested in freshly, the delivery service that focuses on shipping pre-made, reheatable foods directly to you. company meals (like pepper steak, cauliflower bolognese, chicken tikka masala, and al pastor pulled pork) come ready-to-eat. mirchandani loves how convenient it is and that while everything comes fully prepared, all meals are made with fully prepared ingredients.
all you have to do is pop them in the microwave and boom, you have a complete and healthy meal at your disposal. (You can get four to 12 meals per week.) freshly even has a freshlyfit option, giving you over 15 paleo and keto inspired menu options and giving you all the low carb, protein, and calorie facts about your meal.
5. sakara life
if you’re on instagram, chances are you’ve seen an ad (or an influencer post) about sakara’s life at least once in your life. The meal delivery service focuses on “eating clean” and “feeding your spirit,” which to them means plant-rich meals for weight loss, improved digestion, increased energy, and more.
Here’s how it works: Sakara meals come weekly, meaning you can cancel your meal plan any week you don’t feel like receiving orders or credit card charges. While the menu is usually set each week, so you can’t choose your meals (they offer up to three a day plus snack options), the delivery service actually changes what they serve every seven days. Check out our full sakara review here.
6. daily harvest
love organic fruits and vegetables? I totally feel you there. That’s what makes Daily Harvest’s fully plant-based, gluten-free meal plan great for people who want to easily incorporate more whole, plant-based foods into their diet.
Nutritionist and author of The Flexitarian Diet, Dawn Jackson Blatner recommends that all of her clients keep some of the daily harvest meals in their freezer at all times. “It’s perfect for days when my clients may need help including more nutritious fruits and vegetables into their diet in a delicious way,” she says.
The daily harvest plan is super customizable, so you can choose how many items you want to order and how often you want them delivered. Whether you’re looking for smoothies, soups, flatbreads and more that you just have to blend or reheat, you can probably satisfy your cravings with the daily harvest. A sweet bonus: they even have scoops of daily harvest, plant-based ice cream, in delicious flavors like Cold Brew + Pistachio Roasted Coffee Bean Chips + Buttery Roasted Hazelnut Crunch.
7. blue apron
The blue apron is the food delivery kit loved by many. Their health-conscious eating plans are diabetes-friendly and, a quick announcement, they’re also WW (formerly Weight Watchers) approved. This means the company now offers a suite of recipes associated with the WW program, and they even come with all the information you need to know about how many WW points are in each meal.
If you’re looking for alternatives to meat, blue apron offers several non-meat dishes and a full vegetarian meal plan. weekly boxes include portioned ingredients for two or four servings so you can cook healthy meals for yourself or the whole family.
8. nutrisystem
nutrisystem’s meal delivery service focuses on eating smaller, more balanced meals throughout the day. their personalized plans will give you breakfast, lunch, and dinner options with healthy snacks in between, meaning you can eat six times in a day without wondering if you’re going overboard with your portions. You can also adjust your meal plan to focus on your specific health needs, whether you need to reduce your sodium intake or have been advised to become a vegetarian.
9. factor
If you’re working on portion control, you know how difficult it can be to do it at home. Although, of course, it’s always important to listen to your body and what it needs, Factor’s delivery service works with dietitians to create a variety of portion-controlled dishes as an expert-approved guide. But what makes Factor really unique is that when you sign up for portioned meals, you also get free consultations with registered dietitians.
nutritionist brenna wallace points out that one of the most common mistakes when using a meal delivery service can be ordering meals that don’t fit your lifestyle. “That’s why I would recommend factor to my clients,” she says. “Regular visits can seriously help you adjust to your lifestyle.”
10. hello fresh
Known as the simple and easy-to-follow meal delivery service, Hello Fresh is also quite weight loss conscious. “Her personal dietitian evaluates meals before they’re on the menu to make sure they’re healthy and balanced,” says nutritionist leah kaufman, rd, cdn.
another bonus: each dish is low in sodium and oil and comes with a nutrition label that can be found on their website. Knowing that information can help you stay within the proper number of calories per day if that’s something your nutritionist has recommended you monitor to stay on track with your weight loss goals.
11. chef’d
Renowned chefs (like alex guarnaschelli, for all you picadas fans) and wellness experts joined forces to create fan-proof, weight-loss friendly recipes for this food delivery service. In addition, the company has also partnered with the American Diabetic Association and Atkins so subscribers can create goal-focused meals, such as low-carb dishes that focus primarily on protein, says Kaufman. so yes, you could say that chef’d is a good option for people who want to lose weight.
12. purple carrot
Vegans (or just veggie lovers!), step up. An all-vegan food delivery service, Purple Carrot creates healthy, plant-based recipes that are great for weight loss, particularly as their dishes are always packed with fiber from the produce. And a pro tip: all that fiber from vegetables keeps you full longer.
Each meal comes with nutritional information (key to staying on track) and serves at least two people. And if you’re cooking for one, that leaves you with a balanced lunch for the next day, says Sharon Palmer, RDN, author of Plant-Powered for Life. It’s priced a bit higher than some of the other services out there, but it’s a great option if you can afford it.
13. green cook
This USDA Certified Organic Meal Kit offers tons of options for a variety of different dietary needs and preferences: vegetarian, omnivore, carnivore, gluten-free, and paleo.
Many dishes come with prepared sauces and dressings, which can save a lot of time. (But Kaufman suggests scanning the Nutrition Facts for the sugar content of your meals, as dressings are often full of this weight-loss spoiler. And if sauce isn’t vital, cut it out to save calories.)
As a whole, Kaufman gives this service his nutritionist seal of approval for offering a variety of plans that “fit each person’s dietary needs and restrictions,” all while being relatively low in sodium, high in protein. and packed with healthy foods. satiating fats, such as olive oil.
14. veestro
veestro offers prepared meals, which generally get a bad rap health-wise, but just because you don’t have to chop and skip them doesn’t mean they’re bad for your weight loss goals. They’re actually a big step up from most frozen entrees found in the freezer aisle, Palmer says. “They’re plant-based foods that are moderate in calories and great for weight loss,” she says.
Because they’re packaged and microwave-ready, veestro plates are basically calorie-controlled, making it easy for you to control your intake and stay on point. veestro meals are also quite balanced, especially for vegetarian cuisine (which can be very carb-heavy), giving you the nutrients you need to stay full longer. Another advantage? veestro also offers three different meal delivery services focused exclusively on weight loss.
15. sun basket
With a plethora of different meal plan options, including gluten-free, vegan, diabetic-friendly and Mediterranean kits, there’s something for everyone with sun basket. In addition to that diversity, Sun Basket also offers high-quality organic produce and responsibly sourced meats and seafood (such as antibiotic- and hormone-free meats and wild-caught fish), according to Mirchandani. They also allow you to mix and match meals within your plan with a “build your own basket” option, so you only get the meals you really like in each delivery.