prepared meal delivery services offer a variety of low-effort, ready-to-eat meals that you can pop in your oven or microwave throughout the week. These services can be a sigh of relief after a long and busy day: prepared meals not only allow you to avoid crowded supermarkets, but also allow you to avoid cooking altogether. They can also be much more convenient than meal kits, which come with individual ingredients that you cook and prepare yourself. And unlike the boring TV dinners and frozen dinners of the past, many prepared meal delivery services offer unique, customizable food options to fit your personal food preferences (from serving size to amount of protein), while also catering to certain dietary restrictions such as gluten-free, vegetarian, and low-carb.
We talked to chefs and nutritionists about their favorite meal delivery services that offer prepared meal plans, and compiled a list of their recommendations below along with pricing, serving size, and plan details. We’ve also listed a few select staff favorites to consider.
best food delivery services to try in 2022
We talked to experts about their favorite prepared meal delivery services, including options for certain dietary restrictions like gluten-free and vegetarian, and highlighted their recommendations below for budgets and diets. all of the meal delivery services below offer single-serving, ready-to-eat meals; some also offer meal kit options.
kitchen unit
- Cost: Starting at $10 per meal with free shipping
- Number of meals: Four to 16 meals per week
cookunity offers multiple plans based on how many meals you want to receive, with subscriptions ranging from four meals to 16 meals per week. you can personally choose your meals from a rotating menu of ready-to-eat meals each week or have them chosen based on your preferences, including your protein choices and any dietary restrictions such as vegetarian, vegan, low-carb, and gluten-free. free.
You can also mark any allergies or foods you don’t like, and cookunity will notify you if they appear in any food on the menu. “I appreciate that you provide full ingredient lists, right down to the individual cheese ingredients,” said Ariane Resnick, special diets chef and registered nutritionist. meals come fresh and have a refrigerated shelf life of about four to seven days, according to cookunity.
sun basket
- Cost: Starting at $10 per meal with $6 shipping
- Number of meals: Four to 10 meals per week
sunbasket offers prepared meals (in addition to meal kits), which according to the brand consist of high-quality ingredients and organic products. the cool & ready plan includes individual meals to heat in the oven or microwave, according to sunbasket. These meals don’t come frozen, but you can freeze most of them to cook later (those that can be frozen have specific cooking instructions).
sunbasket “has a variety of options that can be modified for both carnivores and strict plant eaters,” said lisa moskovitz, registered dietitian and executive director of ny nutrition group. each meal indicates if it accommodates certain dietary restrictions, including gluten-free, soy-free, and vegetarian meals. and if you don’t feel like committing to the cool & amp; plan ready, the service lets you mix and match with more than a dozen meal kits from its weekly rotating menu.
factor
- Cost: Starting at $11 per meal with free shipping
- Number of meals: Four to 18 meals per week
factor offers a weekly rotating menu of more than 27 prepared meals designed by dietitians, depending on the brand. lisa young, assistant professor of nutrition at new york university, recommended this service because it caters to a number of diets and dietary needs, including ketogenic, paleo, low-carb, vegetarian, plant-based, and high-protein. “[It offers] healthy, freshly cooked meals that can be adapted to different eating styles,” Young said. She can choose from five plans, ranging from four meals per week to 18 meals per week.
Select writer justin redman called the factor a “gift from heaven” after trying it out and praised its convenience factor. “The quality of the food has been excellent, and while your options are a little more limited if you have a nut allergy like I do, I still find great options on the menu every week,” he said. Our experts also like the price of quality-prepared meal delivery: “The factor is incredibly reasonably priced for the quality of health-oriented food they offer,” Resnick noted.
just
- cost: starting at $10 per meal with shipping starting at $10
- number of meals: four to 12 meals per week
freshly offers between four and 12 convenience meals per week, all of which, depending on the brand, are single-serving (with a few multi-serving sides and protein to share) and prepared by a chef. You can choose from more than 30 menu items that cater to various dietary restrictions, such as gluten-free, dairy-free, plant-based, and carb-conscious diets. Moskovitz praised freshly’s flexible plans and easy, reliable meals, which “score high in the flavor department.”
freshly says its particular meals are not frozen and typically have a refrigerated shelf life of three to five days. certain items that the brand suggests should be eaten first (such as shellfish) will have a badge on the package.
splendid spoon
- Cost: Starting at $14 per meal with free shipping
- Number of meals: Five to 20 meals per week
splendid spoon offers more than 50 ready-to-use gluten-free meals and snacks ranging from smoothies and soups to cereal bowls and noodles. You can choose from multiple meal plans, including a breakfast plan that includes five shakes, a lunch option that includes five soups and grain bowls, or a combination of the two. the service recommends freezing food when unpacked, which they say will last one to three months. “I recommend a splendid spoon for anyone who wants healthy meals in an instant – they taste as healthy as they are, which is a downside for some and a plus for others,” said Resnick, who was sent a few boxes by the brand to try out. .
While you can’t customize how many meals you get per plan, Splendid Spoon allows you to choose how often you want to receive your meals: weekly, every other week, or once a month. you can also choose the box on demand, which allows you to order food in bulk.
house cook
- cost: Starting at $9 per meal ($50 minimum weekly order value) with $9 shipping
- number of meals: two to six meals per week
home chef is best known for their meal kit delivery, but also offers fresh, fresh food. easy plan with multiple oven-ready and grill-ready meals designed with minimal prep and cleanup in mind, according to service. Within its weekly rotating menu of more than 30 dishes to choose from, home chef will offer about 10 prefabricated options.
Before ordering, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire that customizes your menu based on your taste, portion size and delivery preferences. when looking at the individual menu options, each meal shows the estimated time it takes to heat up. Since the home chef is one of the most customizable options with a variety of selections, it’s probably best for “families, children, or those with dietary restrictions,” according to Ben Leonard, a chef with an online home cooking class platform. That said, it may not be the best for people who are indecisive or who aren’t as picky about their options, according to Leonard.
plantable
- Cost: Starting at $14 per meal with free shipping
- Number of meals: 12 meals per week
plantable offers vegan, plant-based meals that are prepared from scratch in the company’s kitchen in brooklyn, new york, according to the brand. “The meals are completely prepared with real, whole food ingredients and are designed to fill you up while also tasting amazing,” said dietitian Abby K. cannon, founder of abby’s food court. The meals, which include breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, are delivered frozen, and Cannon noted that they come in a compact container, so “they’re easy to store in the freezer for when you need a delicious meal fast.”
plantable offers two meal delivery programs to choose from: the Reboot, which is their signature 28-day program offering your choice of 48 chef-prepared entrees, and the Quick Start, a seven-day reboot program with up to 12 entries. The service also offers an a la carte program that allows you to create a personalized box of your 12 favorite foods on the menu; is designed for those already following a plant-based diet, says plantable.
bistromd
- cost: starting at $150 for lunch & dinner 5-day plan and $190 for the full program 5-day plan with $20 shipping
- number of meals: five to seven meals per week
bistromd lets you choose from over 150 chef-prepared meals based on your dietary needs. Moskovitz recommended this service because it offers several healthy plans: You can choose from five different programs: Signature, Gluten-Free, Heart-Healthy, Diabetic, and Menopause. each week, you will be able to customize which meals you receive. but please note: bistromd is an individualized single serve plan, so this may not be a good option if you’re looking to feed a family or yourself and your partner.
The service also offers an eats (tasty essentials) program that provides healthy snack options for an additional charge: the men’s snack program is an additional $53 and the women’s snack program is $35.
purple carrot
- cost: starting at $13 per serving with free shipping
- number of meals: six to 10 meals per week
purple carrot offers prepared meals (as well as meal kits), which it says are plant-based and have several gluten-free options. “Because it is completely plant-based, the purple carrot is an easy way for people to add more plant-based foods to their diets without having to fully convert to veganism,” Resnick said. he called the meals a perfect mix of “familiar and innovative,” with options like grilled cheese kimchi and baklava overnight oats.
you can customize the number of dinners you get per week; these range from six to 10 frozen meals. deliveries are made on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, depending on your shipping location, and you can choose to skip a delivery in a given week.
spicey
- cost: Starting at around $15 per meal with $10 shipping for orders under $100
- number of meals : as many as you want
epicured presents you with a rotating menu of more than 50 prepared foods that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts. the service even offers select meal packages including a brunch package, taco night package, freezer-filling package and more. once you choose your meals and sign in, each weekly order automatically renews (if you don’t choose your meals manually, last week’s meals will be selected).
epicured says that all of their meals are gluten-free and low-food, meaning they don’t contain certain carbohydrates and food additives that can be difficult for some people to digest. This makes them a great choice for those with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or a generally sensitive belly, Moskovitz said.
sakara life
- Cost: Starting at $28 per meal with free shipping
- Number of meals: Two to 15 meals per week
sakara life is on the more expensive side of meal delivery services, but it offers a wide selection of ready-to-eat meals, all of which are gluten-free, organic, dairy-free, and plant-based, depending on the service. it also allows you to choose the number of days you want to receive meals (two, three or five days) and you can check any combination of breakfast, lunch and dinner to receive the number of days you selected.
programs include the exclusive nutrition program, which includes up to three meals per day and your choice of two, three or five days, and the 30-day reset, a four-week program that allows you to choose at least two meals . (breakfast, lunch or dinner) up to five days a week. You can choose to do a one-week trial program if you’re just starting out, or you can choose a recurring subscription program that automatically renews each week with a fixed menu of meals that rotates weekly and seasonally. “Sakara is very popular with my customers because of [its] diverse menu, premium ingredients, and delicious taste,” Moskovitz said.
Catch up on select’s in-depth coverage of personal finance, tech & tools, wellness and more, and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter to stay up to date.