8 Recipe Meal Kit Delivery Services to Check Out

Blue Apron. Hello Fresh. Dinnerly. Freshly.

Do these names sound familiar? It’s likely that you’ve seen the advertisements, and are undoubtedly receiving the door hanger mailers. If you live in an apartment complex, you might have nearly tripped over the 30-plus-pound boxes in the hallway outside your neighbor’s door (the weight of ice packs and filler packing adds up fast).

With so many alternatives to select from, the direct-to-door meal delivery industry has exploded in recent years. Business have thrived due to the pandemic, as well as people becoming weary of going food shopping. If you’re seeking for a way to avoid trips to the store, consider ordering a low-cost dinner kit service.

Fresh Ingredients Delivered to Your Door

A recipe kit is a box or other container that contains everything you’ll need to make meals. You’ll get meals every week, unless you opt for another delivery option, depending on the plan you pick — most include a set amount of dinners each week for a specific number of people.

Meal kits generally come with ice packs and insulation to help keep food frozen until you can put it in the freezer. They may also include instructions on which dishes to prepare and consume sooner based on the freshness or best-by dates. Within the meal kit, you typically get a detailed recipe along with ingredients that may include vegetables, meat, and other spices.

The advantages of subscribing to such a service are that you may have meals prepared-to-order delivered to your home for a set fee on a regular basis.

Deals for New Subscribers And Why You Should Try Several Services

As you might have seen in plenty of advertisements, many companies offer steep discounts for new subscribers. For example, companies may provide a certain number of free meals or reduced costs before you start paying regular price. They are constantly advertising with new deals, trying to appease people that would helpfully become regular customers.

Don’t let the large number of choices scare you. I actually think you should take them up on their steep discounts and give every service a try. They all let you cancel at any time – even after 1 meal kit trial!

Let’s take a look at 10 of the most common meal kit services:

1. Blue Apron
2. Hello Fresh
3. Marley Spoon
4. Sun Basket
5. Dinnerly
6. Home Chef
7. Freshly
8. Every Plate

1) Blue Apron

Blue Apron is one of the leading brands that’s been around since 2012. Blue Apron has been featured on “Shark Tank” and raised more than $6 million to date as a result. In 2016, the company was even listed as an Inc. 500 company for growing over 1000% in 2 years’ time.

Blue Apron makes fresh meals accessible for everyone. The company provides 1-2 recipes per day, with 2 servings per recipe, to make a total of 4 meals per week. Blue Apron makes cooking fun and easy by delivering simple step-by-step recipes each week without the hassle of having to shop for ingredients or look up directions online.

Blue Apron also provides step-by-step video tutorials so you can see the ingredients, follow along with each step, and also share them with friends.

Blue Apron is one of the most affordable meal delivery services that offer a wide variety of choices. You can choose how much food to have delivered weekly based on your family’s needs.

2) Hello Fresh

HelloFresh is an international company that offers meal delivery services in the United States. They were founded in 2011 in Berlin, Germany. Today, HelloFresh operates in several countries throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Australia.

HelloFresh specializes in making balanced home-cooked meals with a mix of healthy ingredients from farm-fresh local produce to lean meats and fish, all through their custom recipe kits. You can choose from three different meal plan options: Classic Plan for two people consisting of 3 dinners per week, Garden Plan for two people consisting of 3 dinners per week with extra vegetables, or Family Plan for four people consisting of 4 dinners per week.

HelloFresh has the lowest price point out of all four companies mentioned in this article. At $69.99, you get 3 recipes every week with 3 servings each (one serving is approximately 1 cup) to make 6 meals every week. All recipes are made with fresh, high-quality ingredients sourced from local farms, so you’ll automatically be eating foods that are seasonal and sustainable.

3) Marley Spoon

Marley Spoon offers weekly recipe kits by mail for all types of family tastes and dietary preferences, including keto, low-carb, paleo, gluten-free, and vegan. Marley Spoon was founded in 2015 by a husband and wife team based out of San Francisco to help busy families cook fresh meals at home together. In the past few years, they’ve grown from a single city market to offering services across the United States.

Marley Spoon specializes in giving customers an opportunity to save time and money by shopping, cooking, and eating together as a family. Marley Spoon’s ingredients are chopped, prepped, measured, and ready-to-cook for you so your meals will be at least 30% faster than traditional recipes. You can choose between 3 different meal plans: Balanced, Vegetarian, and Family.

Marley Spoon has a slightly higher price point than the other companies at $9 per serving for small families and up to $12 per serving for bigger families, but it is one of the most affordable options in terms of recipes provided.

Marley Spoon offers a Free Two-Person Box when you sign up for a subscription .

4) Sun Basket

Sun Basket is the newest meal kit in this article, founded in 2015. Sun Basket started in San Francisco and has since grown to offer their services across the U.S. The company’s mission is to make cooking easy and healthy for everyone by delivering fresh, sustainable ingredients and chef-inspired recipes that you can easily cook at home.

Sun Basket is one of the most expensive meal kit delivery services with prices starting at $11 per serving for two people and reaching as high as $16 per serving for four people . However, they do offer 100% organic ingredients and non-GMO options to ensure your food is as fresh and healthy as possible.

Sun Basket provides 3 recipe options per week for either 2, 4, or 6 people. They specialize in regionally-inspired meals with ingredients sourced from local farms so their recipes are always fresh and sustainable. All recipes are handcrafted by Sun Basket’s own chefs rather than outsourced to third parties like many other meal kit delivery services.

5) Dinnerly

Dinnerly is a new company founded in 2017 as the first meal kit delivery service focused on families. They offer plans for 2, 4, and 6 people with 3 different types of recipes every week: Classic, Family Favorites, and Vegetarian. Dinnerly is unique from other meal kits because they believe that kids love having fun food shapes! Their kid-friendly recipes include fun cuts like smiley faces, teddy bear arms, and airplane parts to make cooking with kids even more fun.

Dinnerly is a cheap option at $39 for two people , $54 for 4 people , and $68 for 6 people . Their small family plan is the only one that’s cheaper than HelloFresh at $9 per serving for two people .

6) Home Chef

Home Chef is one of the largest meal kit delivery services, founded in Chicago. With 6 different plans to choose from with 2-6 people, you’ll be able to find the right fit for your family size and dietary preferences.

Home Chef’s plans range in price depending on how many meals you want per week but range from $9-12 per serving for most plans. Home Chef’s prices are a little lower than most meal kits on this list, making their service more accessible to families with smaller budgets.

Sun Basket, Dinnerly, and Home Chef all offer the lowest price per serving for small families, making them the best meal kit delivery services in terms of price.

7) Freshly

Freshly is another brand that was acquired by Albertsons, like Plated. Freshly offers 4 different meal kit plans for 2-4 people with prices starting at $10 per serving . Their recipes are all inspired by trips around the world to bring you authentic dishes that highlight global flavors. They also offer vegetarian and non-GMO options as well as gluten free and dairy free options.

8) Every Plate

Every Plate is a new company in 2018 and one of the cheapest meal kit delivery services, coming in at $9 per serving for two people . They offer 4 different plans: Classic Dinners, Healthy Favorites, Vegetarian Delights, and Gluten-Free Goodness.

Every Plate is unique from other meal kits because every recipe comes with several substitution options so each meal will accommodate your dietary preferences and restrictions.

Bottom Line

Meal kits are all the rage, but it’s important to not just pick one at random. Price is a big factor for many people when they’re choosing what meal kit service will work best for them and their family or friends. With so many options available, you can be sure that there’s something out there for everyone–whether you want healthy recipes with nutritious ingredients or international dishes from around the world!

Meal kits have come a long way in recent years, innovating new ways of cooking food while still being convenient enough to use on any night of the week. Whether you choose Blue Apron because its organic ingredients suit your dietary needs or Home Chef because its low cost fits your budget better than most other services, keep these considerations in mind before you choose a meal kit delivery service. And if you do have a hard time deciding, don’t worry! You can subscribe to more than one and cancel any that don’t work out for you before your trial period is over.