Lately I feel like there have been an abundance of commercials for home meal delivery services. Services that deliver a box of fresh, pre-portioned food and recipes right to your doorstep. I wanted to try them out, so…I tried 6 home meal delivery services, and I’m sharing what I thought and which meal delivery service is the best. Since posting this meal delivery services comparison review, I’ve added several services I tried and loved, I think up to date I’ve tried 14 services. I’ll keep updating this article as I try more (and I updated the post as a few companies have closed, so here is an updated 2024 meal delivery review – right now I am loving Home Chef– best all around tasting and easy options (they have Oven Ready meals where all you do is put things together and into the oven)!
With being so busy – between work, being a mom of 4 and just life in general, I was starting to really feel like I was in a cooking rut. I didn’t even want to think about what to make for dinner, I had zero inspiration, zero time to go to the grocery store, and zero motivation. When I kept hearing all the commercials for meal delivery services, I thought I’d look into them and give them a try. There are so many different companies out there! I made a list of all the different ones I wanted to try out, and each week tried a different service.
Here are some of the pros and cons, and at the bottom of the post I share a comparison chart to give an overview.
Pros:
- Loved that there were lots of meals to choose from
- Lots of delivery day options which is always nice
- Absolutely LOVE that besides the designated meal plans you can add additional meals (so if the plan is 3 meals for a family of 4, if that week you want 4 or 5 of the meals, you can add them on and not change your plan!)
- One can add on breakfast/fruit/smoothie/premium meals which is nice
- Food is really tasty – their flatbreads or meatball options, whenever I see them on the menu I order them because they’re so good. Honestly, their food tastes SO GOOD!
- A binder came with the first order so that one could put all the recipes in the binder
- Definitely most flexibility if you’re a family of 2, 4 or 6 or if there are vegetarians, you don’t have to completely change plans, you can choose vegetarian options. This is great for families
- All the ingredients for a recipe were in a bag, meat was in a separate, sealed bag!
- The food is so good, I got my sister hooked on this service after she tried two other services. They have the most ‘family-friendly’ meals too (meaning menu items that I think the whole family would enjoy!)
- I wrote another post about Home Chef and meal delivery for special occasions (like for example for Valentines Day!) and I wrote a Home Chef meal kit delivery review post!
- Home Chef also has ‘oven ready’ options where they send you everything (even the oven dish) to make a super quick meal and they have no cooking required salads! Also they just added slow cooker meals!
- The food is SO GOOD!
Cons:
- Their website was a little difficult to figure out at first (I had to email them to ask about how to ‘skip/pause’ weeks)
I was a little late to the game trying Sunbasket, but they have easily become my favorite (I should have listened to friends who had tried it sooner!) If you want to read a review of the best healthy meal delivery service I wrote about them, click here.
Pros:
- Healthy meals (that don’t taste ‘healthy’). I like that I don’t have to look at the calories per meal, because they’re generally all under 500-700 calories per meals (other meal delivery services per serving sometimes are 1200+ calories!)
- They let you preview the meals before you become a member
- Lots of options for different diet-friendly meals (like vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.)
- They include eggs! A lot of meal delivery services don’t include eggs for recipes that call for eggs, so I was very pleasantly surprised that they did.
- Their weekly box comes with a magazine which includes the recipes and also other helpful articles and recipes, it read like a magazine!
- They now include SNACKS and add on healthy grocery items that I love!
- They have Fresh + Ready meals where you heat and eat, they’re delicious!!
Cons:
- The meals are very healthy and delicious, but if you’re looking for something a little more on the indulgent side, this service is probably not for you. They have a lot of unique healthy recipes, so you don’t miss any of the unhealthy stuff. But if you’re a ‘steak & potatoes’ type of person, I’d try one of the other services.
- The magazine (which was listed in the pro section) is nice, but it’s a little hard to find the recipes that are in your meal kit – I wish they would list the page numbers on the ingredients to make it easier to put the ingredients together with the recipe.
Pros:
- Super healthy and delicious
- Very easy to cook meals (they have premade meatballs and then will send you a sauce and 90second rice, it so amazing)
- Very customizable and flexible if you want more or less meals
- They have groceries in addition to meals
- Their food tastes so good
- Very recycling friendly packaging
- I wrote a whole Hungryroot review with my love for them.
Cons:
- It is a little pricier, BUT I did a price comparison to Whole Foods with the same items and Hungryroot, delivered to my door, was cheaper, by $45!!!
Pros:
- Fresh n’ Lean offers already cooked healthy meals where all you need to do is heat the food up!
- Loved that they offer breakfast/lunch/dinner and snacks
- Especially loved their Protein + plan, the meals really filled me up!
- The food was really good, and again, really filling and it made me feel good if that makes sense (like my body loved how it felt after eating the food)
- The meals had a pretty long fridge shelf life – these are not frozen meals, so I liked that I didn’t have to eat it within a day or so of receiving it
- Major pro was not having to ‘prep’ or cook anything
- Really enjoyed that the food could be microwaved or cooked via stovetop or oven
- Loved that you could order a la carte meals or a whole plan/weeks worth
Cons
- If you order breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks for a weeks worth, the box is really big and the meals take up a lot of fridge space (but it’s not so much a con because you then have meals for the whole week)
- They are single serving meals so if you’re feeding a family you would need to order multiples.
I tried Martha & Marley Spoon after writing this review but had to add it in. It is Martha Stewart’s meal delivery program. The food is good, very family friendly. I liked that some of the recipes are from Martha’s cookbooks.
Pros:
- Very family friendly.
- Love that some of the recipes are from Martha’s cookbooks, and that there are adaptations and time saving tricks. For example if a recipe is made in a pressure cooker/Instant Pot, it will give directions for the pressure cooker and how to make it if you don’t have one.
- The food is super good, recipes the whole family would love. I’ve kept several of the recipes to make again.
- There are plenty of options.
- I felt like the portions were perfect.
Cons:
- I did feel like some of the recipes used a lot of dishes to make them, but I’ve come to find that a lot of meal delivery kits recipes do use quite a few dishes and kitchen utensils.
Pros:
- The meals are so affordable, the Every Plate slogan is “America’s Best Value Meal”
- Meals start at $4.99 per serving
- The food is good, pretty standard and same as other services
- I like that one could see the menu without being signed up to their plans
- The recipes were really similar to other services so that was great
Cons:
- All the ingredients came in one box. I know it probably really saved on costs, but having to sort for the ingredients to make a recipe is not great.
Pros:
- Healthy chef-cooked meals (already cooked)
- Loved that the calories per serving were listed big right on the front!
- All you do is boil and serve
- The food was very flavorful
- Would be good for one person
Cons:
- The bags are not that easy to open and are hot, obviously after being cooked, so it’s kind of hard to plate (I burned my fingers trying to squeeze the sauce out of a pouch)
- The meals were all kind of ‘saucy’
- Not ideal for a family (if you are more than 1 person or making more than 1 serving, the different bags get confusing in a pot, they’re not labeled), but the food itself is good and my kids did eat the food.
Pros:
- The food tasted really good
- Appropriate serving sizes, no extra portions
- Liked that one could choose between a few meals
Cons:
- Lots of chopping/prep work
- Lots of dishes/utensils required
- Lots of making sauces/different components of the dish
- Missing key ingredients (emailed their customer service and they immediately apologized and gave me a credit on our account.)
- Cooking instructions/times were wrong on 2 of the 3 recipes (example 6 minutes to cook an entire chicken breast – it was still raw on the inside)
- Cooking times varied and the dishes took a lot longer than expected to make, one 30 minute expected time ended up taking close to 50 minutes from start to finish.
- A lot of leftover ingredients (example: sent whole head of garlic when all one needs is 1 clove)
Yumble Kids-unfortunately they closed their doors!
And finally, notably missing is Hello Fresh, they are an awful company – you can read about why here.
Comparison:
After writing this post, several companies went out of business (Plated & Terra’s Kitchen) I got a lot of questions about meals that are already made (cooked) or servings for one – my recommendation for that would be Fresh ‘n Lean.
If you’re looking for smoothies and healthy snacks, try Daily Harvest!
Summary:
If you’re interested in home meal delivery services, the right one is out there for you!
I was pleasantly surprised that each and every one of the services I tried offered a ‘first time customer’ discount of some kind. I do need to mention -this post is not sponsored by any of the companies I mentioned in any way. I paid for all the services myself (some have referral programs where if you order using my code or special link, you’ll get a discount and I’ll get some kind of credit for future orders or a small amount from your first order.) All opinions are mine alone and based on my experience.
- My favorite service is Home Chef (they have the best options and the least amount of dishes and the family liked the food the best!)
- The best healthy meal delivery service is Hungryroot
- The cheapest option is Every Plate. Their food is pretty similar to others too which is nice.
- If you’re looking for healthy already cooked meals, Fresh n’ Lean is the one I’d recommend!
Have you ever tried home meal delivery services? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!
spotify downloader says
Thank you for sharing your experience with these meal delivery services! It’s always helpful to see a side-by-side comparison. I’ve been considering trying some of them out, so your insights on taste and convenience are super useful!
Sweetphi says
I think you’d love a service, they’re definitely super convenient!
Rick Jones says
I like how there are a lot of meals to choose from. That is what I would want most honestly. Now I just need to find a service I like.
Sweetphi says
Hope you found a service you love!!
Helena says
does the food delivery box feed only one person or does it feed a whole family and what is the price difference?
Sweetphi says
There are different size subscription boxes you can choose from, some are for an individual, some for 2 servings per meal or some for 4+, it just depends what service you are looking at 🙂
Kenny says
I like your post. Thank you for sharing. It is very helpful.
George Jefferies says
I mean this respectfully but how can you possibly review Home Chef without mentioning that their meals average 1500-1700mg of sodium per serving?
Sweetphi says
Thank you for your feedback. I believe the sodium they include accounts for every time they say ‘add a teaspoon or salt to taste’ in a recipe, which is up to the consumer, so if you’re not adding a lot of additional salt it’s not that high, but that is something you’d have to ask them. I don’t comment on the nutrition information because it is so variable service to service, and there are definitely services geared towards low sodium diets or healthy living (like Sun Basket which I love)
Cooking Pros says
This is a very great and resourceful site!
Sweetphi says
So glad you found it helpful.
Alex says
My mom tried Sun Basket. She loved it. She actually said it helped her try different culturally-inspired foods that she would not have tried otherwise. She also doesn’t cook much but she loves following recipes so this was the perfect recipe to “spice” up her home meals, pun intended!
Sweetphi says
Ha, love the pun!! And I’m so happy to hear your mom liked Sun Basket – I love it for all those reasons too, I love trying new things I normally wouldn’t. Thanks for commenting.
Lara Henry says
This is really helpful. I myself have been ordering Home Chef for a year now and I have not been disappointed once with their meals. Each one tastes so good and it actually helped me lose weight and stay healthy. However, I do need to be on a budget and their meals can be a little pricey, so I am so glad I found your blog because it breaks down the variety of homemade meals instead of having to try every single one of them. I am though going to give EveryPlate a shop since you mentioned they are cheaper.
I still love Home Chef and have recommended to many friends, and I won’t leave them completely, but will give EveryPlate a try.
Thanks!!!
Sweetphi says
I’m so glad you found my site and found this post helpful. Thank you for your comment. Meal delivery meals have actually helped me lose weight this year too!! I’ve found it so great to eat delicious food an then know the portions. I would definitely recommend EveryPlate. They’re so much cheaper, the packaging is just a little less, but that’s totally ok, the food is still good.
Maribeth says
Hi,
I am only looking for a meal once a week. Is there any plan that will do once a week meal?
Sweetphi says
With Home Chef you can select only 1 meal a week, hope that helps.
we sometimes won’t get around to eating both meals we get, and then I’ll make it and put it in the freezer – that way I have a meal made ahead, that’s been something I’ve really loved. Then I’ll just pause/skip a few weeks until I’m ready for another box.
Julie R Myers says
You didn’t fact check. Terra’s Kitchen filed for bankruptcy in Sept. 2019…. is this an old post that you changed the date on?
Sweetphi says
Hi there, thank you for the feedback. I definitely 100% fact checked (I tried every one of these services.) Several have come and gone and as I said in the post, I’ll keep updating as new information becomes available. I’ve updated the post through the years (Terra’s kitchen is no longer in business, also Plated closed down too!) I kept the original ranking in to show the evolution as well as included an updated one. Based on your feedback though I’ll take the older chart down in case someone else just skims and doesn’t read the post so there’s no confusion. I also just tried two new services I was going to add this weekend. Thanks again.
Richard Tunner says
Such a beautiful sharing. Always love your site.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much, appreciate the kind words!
Felipa says
That’s amazing information. Thanks for sharing and love your site
Sweetphi says
So glad you found it useful
L S says
There is one major thing you didn’t cover… cost. That is a huge factor for me and I’m sure for many others! Also I wonder which of these use the least packaging. I felt so guilty the first time I opened one up!
Sweetphi says
Thank you for your comment, it’s tough to touch on pricing, because it’s so variable based on the size of your plan/service you decide to go with per service. Usually they’re about (give or take a little) $9 per serving. The cheapest one I’ve come across (I mentioned this in my post) is Every Plate, and because they were the cheapest, they actually used the least packaging, so I’d give them a try. One service I reviewed that’s not even around anymore used to send containers/boxes that one would send back, it was great (I agree that there is so much packaging sometimes). Good luck, hope you find one you love!
Lisa says
Great! So informative to me. Thank for sharing me your experiences. Helpful!
Sweetphi says
So glad you found this useful, thanks!
Angelica says
That’s so so amazing list. I have to save it in my wall. Thanks for sharing and love your site
Sweetphi says
Thank you – so glad you enjoyed this
Kristin says
Love this segment was reading it to Al especially with everything that is going on. Thinking a lot about you this week. Love you, Rita
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much, so glad you enjoyed it!
Lesslie says
I like your post. It’s very helpful. Thanks for sharing!
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, so glad you found it helpful!
Michelle says
The Every Plate link is wrong. It takes you to a different service.
Sweetphi says
OMG THANK YOU so so much for telling me, I’ve updated it!
Dorine Emery says
I’m tempted to try another. Prior deliveries were so bad food was immediately thrown out. I would want one close to me, how can i find the nearest source? And are they delivered by UPS? UPS sat on my delivery until the food was inedible. They claimed attempt at dellivery at 11PM. I didn’t believe them and stayed up to watch. No delivery. So i don’t accept UPS.
Sweetphi says
I hope you find one that works. It just depends where you live, I know there are several around where I live (Milwaukee) that do delivery themselves, so I’d search for local ones. I know that right now a lot of restaurants are doing meal kits too (again, here in Milwaukee several restaurants are offering meals as meal kits!)
JoAnne Fletcher says
We tried Blue Apron and was pleased with the food. The only problem we had was with the delivery service with UPS. They would drop it off and never ring the door bell and also we didn’t know the exact date the delivery was coming. We had to report a spoiled box which was replaced.
Sweetphi says
So sorry to hear that, I hope you got that all taken care of. I too have sadly had to throw out a box or two when we weren’t notified of its arrival!
Pamela Avery says
I was wondering in all of your sampling have you found a company that sells pre cooked meals that can go right in the microwave. I have a 96 year old mother who hates the food she gets from Meals on Wheels and I am 175miles away. I wanted to find something quick for her. She cants stand and cook but she can put it in the microwave…… Any advice would be great. She is in the MA area
Sweetphi says
I haven’t personally tried one, but I was talking to one of my younger sisters because I know she had tried one, and she recommended I tell you Freshly, she said their food was good and already cooked (they didn’t deliver to my area, but maybe they deliver to MA!) Thank you for asking!
Nicole O’Shea says
How do you get the code to work through home chef? There’s nowhere to type a code in.
Sweetphi says
It should just automatically apply (there should also be a spot to enter the code at checkout, but if that doesn’t work, the link should just automatically apply it!) if not…I’d recommend asking their customer service. Thank you!
Shaun Berthelsen says
Excellent blog, good to see someone is posting quality information. Thanks for sharing this useful information. Keep up the good work.
Sweetphi says
So glad you enjoy this information, thank you!
Steve says
I’m guessing you have a voice of influence among the home food delivery companies.
Trust and transparency are not buzz words. These two important traits are developed through self-awareness by leaders of companies, not money grabbers.
People are over taxed (literally as well) with little time to take care of themselves and the last thing they want to do is give a web site their contact info., and credit card number before they fully understand what they are getting. Sun Basket gets it, but they are bit too foodie for our liking.
What are we looking for? Mostly plant based but we’d pay out the ying yang for wild caught Cod or Salmon, or no hormone open air, free range chicken. Zero Beef. Green and colorful veggies that are organic. Gluten Free. Nut based sauces. Healthy rice or plant based pastas. Do you have a small company we can review?
Sweetphi says
Hi Steve, thanks for the comment. I wish I had any voice with the companies but sadly I do not, I just did a review hoping to help 🙂
I definitely agree with you – it is frustrating that menus aren’t shown.
One plant based company I’ve heard about but haven’t tried is Purple Carrot, hopefully that helps!
Pleasantly Served Meal Prep and Meal Delivery says
Meal prep and meal delivery services are becoming the norm these days. I appreciate your comparisons, especially the pros and cons. This will help me understand what the big boys are doing well as I work towards launching a meal prep and meal delivery service in Baltimore, MD.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for your kind words!
Susan S says
This post is so helpful. Thank you so much for all the insight and effort. After reading it I decided to go with Plated but sadly they closed shop. Thankfully I saved this and referenced it for my next choice Home Chef. I have passed this along to anyone whenever the conversation about meal delivery services come up. Your chart was really helpful too!!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your kind words, and for sharing my site, I truly appreciate it!!
Candyce Kissiah says
Which one was cheaper?
Sweetphi says
They’re all pretty much the same at around $9-12 per serving
Megan Lailer says
Thank You for your hard work. I didn’t have a clue where to begin and you gave me a great direction. Happy Holidays!
Sweetphi says
So happy to hear this helped 🙂 Thank you for stopping by and commenting
AMBER R DONLEY says
Thank you so much, I wanted to change home chef to something else for variety, but I see that I need to stick with it! I used it all last winter but paused as we are busy and or usually bbq during the summer. It’s time to strart Home Chef again!! I love the prep and the options of many different plates- especially carb conscious….!!
Sweetphi says
Hope you enjoy it!
Linda says
I am not finding any of the companies that I have checked to be compliant with American Heart Association, even for children. At this time, We have settled on HOME CHEF. The down side, I leave out their high sodium seasoning packets and add my own, such as MRS. DASH SEASONING BLENDS, which takes away from the experience we had hoped for. HOME CHEF’s chicken breast is preseasoned with salt. Disappointing. Anybody with hypertension needs a reduced sodium diet plan.
I want to thank you for your review. I haven’t checked out a number of the companies you mentioned. I will be looking into a number of them. If you are aware of a company that offers the DASH Diet, recommended by AHA, I would love to hear about it.
Sweetphi says
So glad you liked the review! I’ll definitely keep my eye out and if I find any that offer those, I’ll let you know!! Have you tried ones like Sun Chef? I feel like they might be AHA!
Melody says
Thank you for all your hard work! I really appreciate you sharing!
Tracy says
I’m soooo thankful that I found your article!! I’ve heard so many different things, about the different meal kits. It was hard to choose. I started with Hello Fresh, because they advertise about the freshness of their products. After getting it, my daughter mentioned that some of her friends had started with them, as well, and they found that the produce wasn’t as fresh as it should have been. She mentioned that her friends ended up ordering from Home Chef, and were extremely pleased. My sister and a cousin have used Blue Apron. My cousin loves them. Although, my sister wasn’t very pleased with them.
With all that said, THANK YOU, for your comparisons!! I have made up my mind, and will be going with my daughter’s suggestion, as well as yours….Home Chef!!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment, I think you’re going to absolutely love Home Chef, I just ate one of their meals tonight!!
Tracy Sanders says
I can’t wait to get my first box!! It’ll be a couple weeks, since I’m trying to get moved. I love to cook. Although, it’s tough for one person. I thought this would be a great way to do that, and save a little money. Love the idea of portion control, also! Thanks, again!!
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, can’t wait to hear how you like it!
Edith says
Thanks for the great reviews and chart. I’ve been a Blue Apron customer for about 2 years (not so much in the last year). Agree there’s a lot of work to get the meals made, but I like to cook and I especially like trying new flavor profiles that I wouldn’t have otherwise made myself.
I’ve wanted to try some other options, especially fully cooked meals. I’m about to start a home renovation where I basically lose my kitchen for 2.5 months, so I’m glad you did the hard work for me. I’ll give The Good Kitchen and possibly Freshly or Home Chef a try after the kitchen is finished. Again, thanks for the great matrix and updated info since you first wrote the reviews.
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, hope you find another service you love!
Scott C says
My wife and I tried Hello Fresh for awhile until the food was arriving NOT fresh any longer. We then switched to Home Chef and liked them well enough to use them for the last several months. Its just the 2 of us so we would only get 3 meals a week. The recipes are very good and the directions easy to follow. The food itself tastes pretty good as well. Lately however the packages have been missing items and some of the vegetables were frozen and then thawed then partly rotted, unusable to say the least. Sad.
We live a very rural area but delivery to us has never been an issue. A few times Home Chef had credited us the whole week because the meals didn’t show up as promised. Lately our delivery has been getting more and more sketchy so we have decided to drop Home Chef.
Thank you for your in depth article, it will help us navigate to another service.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for your thorough comment, I agree with you about Hello Fresh, we started having some issues with quality of produce, but I’ve never had any issues with Sun Basket or Home Chef or Plated or Marley Spoon – I’d say give those a try, hopefully they work out better for you!
Cindy says
Great thoughts on your part. I am ready to start ordering.
Sweetphi says
So happy to hear how much you enjoyed the post – thanks for commenting, hope you find a service you love.
Gary says
You have done So very much work in examining and comparing food/drink services. I certainly do appreciate your work.
I personally was more interested in speed, cost and efficiency of the delivery of what I order. Possibly I wished McDonalds or really unhealthy foods. That would be MY choice of where I order. When I ready your review, it seemed to only be about ORGANIC or healthy foods. I suppose the services will bring you whatever you order, won’t they?
Once again, I appreciate your hard work and efforts. I’m still wondering what company I should call to deliver products that I order.
Sweetphi says
Hi Gary, thank you for commenting. I think we’re talking about two different things. There are meal delivery services that bring you finished/made food (like Grub Hub or Door Dash or Uber Eats) where they deliver food from restaurants. The meal delivery services I’m reviewing are meal kit deliveries where you order a meal to cook, and then the company sends you ingredients for that meal and you cook it up. Some are organic and healthy, but certainly not all by a long shot! Home Chef has some of the best tasting food but it’s not always the healthiest 😉
Faizan says
These Articles and websites are very good. I recommend Home Chef, their food is really good and the prep is not as intensive as Hello Fresh. Thanks you for sharing
Sweetphi says
Thank you, so glad you agree!
Eva says
You rated Home Chef pretty high. But have you used it lately? I have been with Home Chef for 4 years and LOVE it.
BUT, Kroger bought it around September 2018. My opinion IS that Kroger has lowered the quality of product that is sent. Food is still good but, steaks were Sirloin Tip now it’s New York with more marbling than meat. The asparagus was as thin as a pencil and only 8 pieces. Meal was for two people.
I worked for Kroger for 15 years. They have changed many of there benefits. One is no more pension fund for employees. Big company cutting costs to make more money. I could go on etc. So they are doing that with Home Chef. Really is sad.
I have checked out other Meal Delivery places and I agree with your comparisons.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for your comment and feedback. I actually do still use Home Chef, I just made two meals this week and both were super delicious…I actually really like some of the changes they’ve made recently…for example they have added a ‘customize’ option for recipes where you can swap out proteins (you can get chicken instead of pork or organic etc.) and they have these minimal prep dishes I really like. So personally I haven’t noticed anything except changes I enjoy. Hopefully there’s a different company that you’ll enjoy – I would suggest Sun Basket for some really tasty/high quality meals!
Joy says
You didn’t mention portion sizes. I have tried a local make-in-store meal prep service that was pretty good but we couldn’t get over the Tiny portion sizes. The 2-3 serving meal is more like 1-2 servings. We get one tiny chicken breast (2-3oz) per person and my husband could eat 3 by himself. I’m a small 125# female and i’d Say I eat fairly small portions. I would eat 2 by myself.
Anyhow, I was thinking of trying home chef but I would like to know what their portion sizes are like. Basically, is 2 servings really enough to feed an average appetite male and a small appetite female?
Thank you your reviews have been super helpful.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment. I definitely know what you mean about some services having odd portion sizes. I’d say with Home Chef you’re definitely set with 2 normal portion sizes, they’re one of the good/generous portion size companies!
darlita says
I am trying all just like you. Home Chef and Everyplate in my opinion, did not have great chicken, we could not even eat it. It reminded me of chicken I had bought in bulk once, it was so tough, like it was not natural or healthy. Hello Fresh has amazing recipes. Sensible meals which is not listed on here, has tasty food cooked and delivered to your door. Delivery service in USA is pretty bad lately, so I would be careful with any freshly cooked food delivered to your door.
Sweetphi says
Thanks for sharing your feedback/experiences. I have found that Hello Fresh is very repetitive and not a lot of selection, so I tend to really like Home Chef. They (HC) also has recently added ‘customize’ to a lot of their recipes, so you can sub out the protein in the recipe (so for example if you don’t want chicken you can try the recipe with beef).
Annemarie says
Thanks for this information. I am looking for a home delivery plan for my mother and your information is very helpful. She has mobility issue so prepared meals I plan on investigating the prepared meal services you reviewed, Fresh n/‘ Lean and Terra’s Kitchen.
I have been using Hello Fresh for the last 3 weeks and the meals are great, However,, I think the prep for some of the recipes takes more time than I would like. I am going to try some of the plans you reviewed to see if they take less prep time.
Sweetphi says
I’d definitely suggest prepared meal services. Also, for you I’d recommend Home Chef, their food is really good and the prep is not as intensive as Hello Fresh.
Theresa says
I’ve been using HomeChef for almost 3 months now, for myself, my husband and my daughter. My daughter is vegetarian so its great that I can order a meal for her and a meal for my husband and myself with meat. I generally order two days of meals and its worked out great! We haven’t had a meal that we didn’t enjoy, and it’s helping my daughter learn to cook as she prepares her meal while I prepare ours (she’s 18 and ready for college). When I looked at other plans this one seemed to have the most flexibility for how many meals, and meal selections you want each week, with the option to skip a week if you need to.
Sweetphi says
Totally agree!! Thanks for commenting
Marsha says
Great info sweetphi! Thank you! I want to have already prepared meals delivered for a co-worker who is ill and has to cook for grandchildren after a long day at work. I’m thinkinking maybe twice a week. I’m financially challenged and was wondering what your recommendation would be.
Sweetphi says
Prepared meals are unfortunately not cheap, I have not found any for financially challenged, sorry!
Larry Weaver says
Thanks for pointing out how there are food delivery options that can be pretty family friendly. My wife will be out of town this weekend, and I am left to figure out what to do for dinner with my kids. I’m not a great cook, so I will look into food delivery options in my area that can offer meals that my kids would enjoy.
Sweetphi says
Hope you find something you enjoy! Have a wonderful weekend
Ray says
This would be my first attempt at trying meal delivery services. I appropriate the guidance. Due to your high grading for Home Chef I really wanted to give them a try but their awful website turned me away. I don’t think you’ve take away enough points from them. The fact that they make you put your credit card going into without going into much of the details is pretty nervy. So they’re out. I think I’m going with Green Chef.
Sweetphi says
Hi Ray, all the sites make you input your credit card, but I hear what you’re saying. The food from Home Chef just tastes so good and they have a really great variety, that it makes up for any website things- their site actually is now one of my favorites to use because of its ease!
Richard Miller says
I would like a plan that allows me to select individual meals for two people, instead of 2 of each selection. I am diabetic and my wife is not, plus we have different tastes in some items, so I refuse to subscribe to a plan that forces me to select multiples of each item?
Sweetphi says
Completely understand, I’d suggest Fresh n’ Lean, you can order meals ala carte!
Gladys Mercer says
Hello, I was wondering if you’ve ever done any testing and reviews on prepared meals that are not kits?Sometimes our family is going in 20 directions and we still don’t have the time to prepare the meals that are in the kits. But we still want to be able to sit down and have a meal with the family after a busy day without placing a paper drive through bag down in the middle of the table. We were suggested a company called Flexpro Meals and we were wondering if you’ve ever reviewed them or perhaps could suggest one that would meet our family of 4’s needs?
Thank you, Gladys
Sweetphi says
I have not ever done any reviews on fully prepared meals for families (I’ve looked but haven’t found any yet…) Definitely will look into this!
Sweetphi says
I will add that I have reviewed two fully prepared meal delivery services (The Good Kitchen and Fresh ‘n Lean – both have new customer discount codes mentioned in my post and those look very similar to Flexpro, but offer more options).
Brandy says
Hello I too was needing a little inspiration, tired of having same ol thing. I gave hello fresh a try for about 2 months. Its just my husband and I so we did plan for 2 people 3 meals a week. In beginning it was pretty good, but then we started to have issues with missing ingredients and rotten produce. Atleast they did give credits for issues. Also the steaks were very tough. A few times we were still hungry. Im looking forward to trying home chef. Thank you for your reviews!
Sweetphi says
Completely agree with your comment, I think you’re going to LOVE Home Chef!
Daphne Gilpin says
I like how you explained that using meal delivery services helped you get out of your cooking rut from being so busy all the time. My husband and I have been a bit bored with the cooking we’ve been doing at home lately. I’m glad I read your article because I feel like trying a meal delivery service would help us get out of our cooking rut as well.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your lovely comment! It definitely helps getting me out of a cooking rut – I get into them every few months when I find myself just making the same things over and over, I know it’s time to order a few boxes lol! Hope you enjoy, I think you will – I’ve learned some really neat tips and have used ingredients I never would have purchased!
Jim says
My wife and I have tried Hello Fresh the meals were really good but the produce isn’t very fresh at all. Some it we had to through out and go buy more. Contacted them all I got was sorry to hear that and that was it so trying Home Chef.
Sweetphi says
Thanks for sharing your feedback. I think you’ll love Home Chef!
Sherry Luden says
I would like to try some of your recommendations, but they are too expensive for my limited income. I use Dinnerly, which is $5 per meal.
Their website is easy to use, and there are 6-8 choices per week. The ingredients, so far, have all been fresh. The meals are not bagged separately, and there are no printed cards. You have to use your computer or phone to read them.
Since there is only me, the 2 person plan gives me up to 6 meals, depending on how hungry I am. For me, Dinnerly works quite well. Each box is $38.95 including delivery. The meals are not really fancy, but are good. Eggs are not included. Prep is not excessive and most recipes are one or two pans.
All in all, for low income folk, it would recommend trying Dinnerly.
Kayla Shipp says
I have been using Dinnerly for about 2 months and more often than not there are ingredients left out of the box…including the meat! Two times the vegetables have not been fresh and in fact were unusable. Be careful if thinking about purchasing Dinnerly. You get what you pay for. Hopefully they will work on checking the boxes as they leave so that they can assure all the included items are in the box and are fresh. I used Hello Fresh for several months and had never had this problem. However, they started going up to over $65.00 for 3 meals (2 servings) which is why I tried Dinnerly.
Sweetphi says
Thanks for sharing that feedback, that does not sound like a good experience!
Diane Reed says
I cook for a senior citizen. Would like a meal once a week for 2, no dessert. Seems like all the services require at minimum 2 meals a week. It has taken a year for me to talk him into one weekly so we can have a little variety. Any suggestions?
Sweetphi says
Hi Diane, I too have come across where all the services where you cook meals do require a minimum of 2 meals. Do you mind me asking where you live? I know that several meal delivery services have partnered with grocery stores. For example here in Wisconsin Home Chef has partnered with a grocery store so you can walk into the grocery store and buy a Home Chef meal kit – so that would be an option for you. I know Plated partnered with Albertsons so they might offer that where you are.
Sheila says
I am on my first week of Hello Fresh and have only prepared one meal, thus far. It was very tasty! Will be trying another tonight.. can’t wait!
Sweetphi says
So happy to hear the feedback 🙂
Jeanette B says
Hello fresh is good, but so much chopping, chopping, chopping. Can be repetitive too. Trying Home chef now and alternating. Love Home chef now.
Sweetphi says
Totally agree, I too love HC 🙂
Barbara says
Thanks for sharing all of this information and your well researched, hands on knowledge! Great article!
My husband and I are retired and I love to cook. So far I’ve used 3 meal plans…Home Chef, Blue Apron & Martha’s Marley Spoon.
Home Chef is my favorite by far…tasty meals and I absolutely LOVE their packaging! Blue Apron is good too but I don’t like the produce individually wrapped and rolling around loose in the box. I used Martha’s Marley Spoon for 2 or 3 weeks; it’s is my least favorite and won’t use them again.
After reading your article, I’m going to try Sun Basket and Hello Fresh.
Sweetphi says
So glad you found the review helpful! Hope you enjoy trying the two new other services
Clare says
Started with Home Chef and really liked the plan and meals but the regional delivery service they use in my area was horrible. I don’t know how many refunds I received due to late delivery, wrong delivery and no delivery. Switched to Hello Fresh and UPS delivery has been spot on. Meals are good and I’m satisfied at this time.
Sweetphi says
So sorry you had issues in the past, but so glad you found a service you like!
Kay Lane says
I am very impressed with your recommendations and suggestions. I am a retired senior and was so pleased to see the single service Fit and Lean, that is already cooked. I am also interested in the Sun Basket, is that pre-cooked, I kind of got lost in the summary.
Must be age, LOLO
Sweetphi says
Hi Kay, sorry it can get a little confusing with all the different companies. Fresh n’ Lean has already prepared meals that one just needs to heat. Sun Basket sends ingredients that one then chops/cooks/etc. to make the meal. Hope that helps 🙂
Edith boyd says
I need salt free vegetable meals. Are they available.
Sweetphi says
Yes! I’d go with Sun Basket (here is a link to their plant lovers plan) the meals don’t come with salted vegetables, they come with ingredients and instructions for salting at home, so you could just not add any salt or tailor it to your needs.
Elizabeth Greiner says
Do any of these companies offer meals or one person? My husband had a massive stroke and is in a nursing home so I am cooking for one, I would love prepared meals in a single portion.
Sweetphi says
Sorry to hear about your husband. Yes, I would recommend try Fresh n’ Lean for one (I reference a discount code in my post as well). They offer meals a la carte or as plans. I’d recommend trying the a la option- their food is healthy, already made and I loved the taste.
Bill Lynn says
It’s less confusing to refer to services that deliver meal kits as “grocery delivery services” rather than “meal delivery services” like GrubHub or DoorDash (or even Meals on Wheels). When I think “meal delivery” I’m expecting a hot, fresh meal to show up at my door like a pizza. That’s how I planned my food delivery needs after I had surgery and was unable to stand in the kitchen cooking.
Sweetphi says
Thanks for the feedback, I see where you’re coming from, but it gets a little tricky because the serves are not really delivering “groceries”, they’re delivering ingredients to make a meal, and in some cases they’re delivering a meal already cooked. But I see what you’re saying 🙂
Easy Dine Kitchen says
Another benefit of using food delivery services is saving time. Not all of us have time to cook and prepare our own food. People who don’t have a lot of free time will definitely benefit a lot from food delivery services. Think of the things that you can do by all the time that you can save.
Sweetphi says
I completely agree – I love how meal delivery saves time 🙂
Steve P says
Thank you for this great review. I tried HelloFresh and found it great WITH ONE EXCEPTION which caused me to cancel the service. I noted that the average meal was about 1000 calouries, 50 grams of fat and between 1200 to 1500 mg of sodium!! Would not recommend because of that.
You mention the problem earlier in your review but would appreciate more nutritional disclosure and comparisons and perhaps have options like additional protein (for a teenage son) rather than a “one-size, fits all approach” to meal plans that seems to be the standard.
Sweetphi says
I completely agree Steve, there are definitely a lot of differences between meal delivery services. One I am really loving is Sun Basket because of the healthier food, I don’t think I’ve had a meal over 600-800 calories and the food is organic and tastes delicious still!
Patricia Williams says
Are any of the meals Gluten free?
Barb says
I have tried several meal delivery plans and hands down Home Chef is the winner!
The food is good quality and has always been fresh, easy to follow cooking directions.
The meats come inside a sealed plastic bag. Each meal is packaged and labeled in a easy store plastic bag. I have never had an issue with quality or delivery.
The only downside, which is also a plus is the amount of packing material. It is great in the Summer if the delivery comes when you aren’t home because the packing keeps everything cold….even in above 90 temps. I have used the packing materials to make door draft dodgers, pet crate liners, insulation under kitchen sink on outside walls to prevent pipes from freezing. Re-use the ice packs when fishing. It is a great program.
I find it is still cheaper than going to the grocery store and I am not throwing food away.
Sweetphi says
I love how you’ve recycled the packaging! Thank you for your lovely comment!
Alex says
Could you please make it clear which service has precooked meals you simply heat or ones that require full preparation?
Sweetphi says
Hi Alex, I’m going to be working on a post that shows precooked meals that you simply heat in the next few months (currently trying some services out). Right now in the post the only one (super delicious and healthy) I’ve tried that is precooked is The Good Kitchen. I mention a discount code for new customers, so you want to be sure to use that 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
Susan K. says
Hi Sweetphi,
I used Hello Fresh for many months but then they were sending me boxes on my skipped weeks. After that happened twice I cancelled them. I stayed out of the meal delivery for a few months and am now getting back in the game. I’m going to try Go Ready Made which makes single packaged meals that are heat and eat. I’m going to take them for my lunch. Their website is easy to use but when you first sign up you have to pay first before seeing their food offerings. I wasn’t to keen on that but their options look pretty good. The tell will be how they taste! More to follow!
Sweetphi says
Hope you enjoy them, thanks for sharing
Leilani Gray says
My husband and I have been using Home Chef for months now. All of a sudden the deliveries are late, they use Ontract . The meals have been arriving on Wednesday instead of Tuesdays. Last week one of the meals was way below their standards. I sent them an e-mail, and to this day, no response. This morning I canceled them.
Sweetphi says
I would definitely be unhappy about that, so sorry you had to go through that. Hopefully you’ll find a different company you love, and hopefully my suggestions will be helpful.
Patricia Williams says
I appreciate all the article. Are there any reliable Gluten free meals available in my area which is North Carolina?
Sweetphi says
Yes for sure! I’d recommend Sun Basket (<-$35 if you use my affiliate link) they have the best healthy and gluten free meals I've had!!
Richard Mize says
I am very impressed with your home meal delivery services. I am sure it is one of the best item.
Renee A Kaplowitz says
Hi Phi, I’ve tried Home Chef and have few meals in my fridge. The first one, salmon and veg. was exceedingly mediocre. I am single and I didn’t realize that I had subscribed so I had six more meals coming next week before I tasted the first one. Which service do you think has the best tasting meals. Is anyone of them considered gourmet?
Sweetphi says
Hi Renee, so sorry to hear about your first experience (I’m a little surprised to hear that because usually their meals are so tasty!)
For adventurous, more on the gourmet side I would definitely recommend Plated. Their meals are so good, and they often have chef collaborations! Hope you like their service better!!
Patricia Ayuso says
Hi Phi. I had a blast reading your post. I have tried almost all the services on your post and after a year or so, I agree with you Home Chef and Sun Basket are my favorites. But I can tell you, the customer service in Sun Basket is great. I usually get overbooked and I have to stop deliveries, so I contacted them and make me feel incredibly comfortable.
I tried pre-cooked meals delivery, but I love to select what I do with my food. I don’t like a lot of spices nor spicy so, this kind of services are the best for me.
I wish you could have a mix of everything, good taste, great selection, organic, possibility of selection between plans, flexible delivery dates, fast plates, and recycles reception. A dream come true, right? ?
Well, I hope you have a happy cooking.
Patricia Ayuso says
Sorry Phi, I get confused with the names. I just read your bio, congrats on your new baby.
Sweetphi says
Hi Patricia, thank you so much for coming back and commenting 🙂 Welcome 🙂
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your feedback, I am with you, I wish there was a dream plan lol!
Merilyn Roll says
Here I am back again Sweet Phi. I tried the Good Kitchen, so recommended by you. The first meal breakfast, was a disaster. I microwaved the meal which was several lumps of plastic. Couldn’t eat it, went into the trash. The following meals have been heated in a skillet and they turned out much better. I am very much afraid to heat any of those meals in the microwave.
So now I am on to trying fresh meals, and after Christmas will try “Freshly “. Any comment on this comany? Would be great if you would comment on the other 12 food companies you have sampled. Also, have you zeroed in on a favorite that you subscribe to on a regular basis?
Merilyn
Sweetphi says
Hi Merilym, oh my goodness, it sounds like something went terribly wrong. Did you contact the company? I would have! I didn’t get any breakfasts from the good kitchen, but I did get several of their meals, multiple times because I loved them so much – I got a burger with potatoes and the best steak ever. I also tried some of their kid lunch boxes which were very healthy and delicious. Oh, and we tried several of their chicken and fish options, all with rave reviews. Again, I’ve never had their breakfast option but it definitely sounds like something was not right. Freshly didn’t deliver to my area when I looked into them a while ago so I have no experience.
There are a few companies I use regularly, but they do involve cooking, the meals are not pre-made. I love Sun Basket (you get a discount on your order if you purchase through my links). Sun Basket does healthy organic meals that taste really good. I did a review of them here.
The other one is Home Chef Their food tastes delicious. It’s not a healthy meal delivery service, but if you’re looking for delicious meals, I’d recommend them.
Hope this helps!
cyndi says
To many reviews from non website customers who have tried Home Chef and had many problems with them with cancellations, etc. I found the info. online. I don’t understand why they are recommended from websites.
I totally agree with you on Sun Basket! To top it off, they are in an area in Sonoma Valley that has the best climate ever in the US for organic food.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment. I totally agree, I hate when I come across reviews from people who haven’t even tried the service!! I have tried all of the services I reviewed multiple times, I’m so surprised to hear you had a bad experience with Home chef, so sorry to hear that, I personally have had (and continue to have) great experiences with them, whenever I call customer service if there is a problem they fix it right away.
Also, so glad you hear you like Sun Basket, they have excellent organic and healthy food!
Faith Gustafson says
Thanks for doing this!
I have been using HelloFresh for 3 weeks now. We are on the classic “fit” plan Pros for our family of 4 (2adults , 2teen girls) include:
1)many meals have generous portions and can be used for lunch next day
2) directions easy and often our girls are the ones starting the meal prep! I like this as it is also teaching them different ways to cook!
Cons:
1) many of the meals are loaded with sodium. I have adjusted by not adding the entire amount of salt, soy sauce suggested and the meal turned out fine.
2) lots of carbs, even on the fit plan
3) they have you adding oil to the pan before cooking meat, which is generally unnecessary. For example, ground beef(85/15) definitely does not require added oil!
I was thinking of contacting customer service to let them know, with your positive experiences with customer service, I will!
Sweetphi says
I completely agree, thank you so much for commenting, so glad you liked my comparison 🙂
Merilyn Roll says
Thanks for all your hard work, it is very helpful for me. I am 88 & the worst part of my life is cooking for one. I have done some internet exploring & was happy to see you liked “the good kitchen” as that company right now is #1 on my list to try. I live in the south and that company is based in NC. They also list all their food sources which looks to me is about 85-90% in NC with the few others located all over the country. They have organic sources, meat sources that are free of all that bad stuff you read about. I thought I would like only fresh meals, but the keep-a-bility is worrisome unless the meals you don’t eat immediately you put in the freezer. Why, then, not just buy frozen to begin with!!!
Do you have an email program wherein you send out emails when you have tried another prepared meal company?
Sweetphi says
Hi Merilyn, thank you for your comment. I’m so glad you enjoyed this article. I think you’d enjoy the Good Kitchen, their food is delicious and very well sourced. I do have an email list, but I share about all new posts and recipes, not just new meal delivery companies I try. To sign up there’s a box in my sidebar or a pop up that shows up. It’s a free weekly newsletter and I’d love if you’d join (you can unsubscribe at any time if you’re not finding it useful).
John says
What does the $-sign in the chart equal in actual dollars? Also, are there meal plans out there that have already prepared food that can be microwaved and with a long shelf life before having to eat them?
Sweetphi says
Hi John, the dollar signs don’t equate to any specific dollar amount. I don’t know of any that have a long shelf life and can be microwaved, sorry.
Marie McAlear says
I’ve searched in vain for information in any of these sites for:
1) gift purchase (giving the service as a gift to another person)
2) service for a single person…two people seems to be the minimum size
3) delivery to small rural town in Montana
Can you help?
Sweetphi says
Hi Marie, thank you for commenting. Each of the services sells gift cards, so I’m surprised you weren’t able to find that! Unfortunately they do usually have a 2 person meal plan minimum, I haven’t come across any for a single person. And as for delivery, all of the services usually deliver to anywhere across the US. As long as FedEx services your area. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
Angie says
I am looking for a home delivery food service that is already cooked and is delivered daily. My aunt has cancer & it would be more beneficial to not have to cook – even the delivery services listed above.
She lives in Staten Island, NY.
Could someone recommend or direct me to a service like this?
Thanks for your help.
Angie
Sweetphi says
The one service I can recommend from personal experience is The Good Kitchen, they send fully cooked meals. You could order a lot of them and put them in freezer.
Sammie reed says
This is awesome that you took the time to do this. Its just me and my husband now, our kids are grown and all moved out, we are wanting to eat healthier, i don’t know much about cooking healthy. We are from louisiana, we eat lots of rice and fried foods, witch one would you recommend for healthy eating. Thank you.
Sweetphi says
For healthy eating I would wholeheartedly recommend Sun Basket
Veve says
Thank you for doing the work for me! I’m so busy with work, kids and just life itself I have no time! VERY helpful in making decisions for my family. We all love to cook together, so this is just one more way to have family time.
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, I love meal delivery services so I hope this helps you find the right one for you!
Deborah says
Thank you so much for doing this. Was thinking of giving my son and DIL a subscription to a meal delivery service for Christmas. This certainly is very helpful and narrows down the choices!
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, I love the idea of giving a subscription as a Christmas present, I think they’d love it!
Sandra Silvestri says
I just started with these meal kits. So far ive used 2. Hello fresh and home chef. Home chef made a couple mistakes and refunded my entire fee. I liked both and thanks to your review i will be trying some other meal kit companies. Ive researched myself but didnt find out anything close to what you provided. Thank you
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, so glad my review was helpful!
Bevo says
Thank you for the review. It is very helpful. I am considering trying one of these services and your input is very helpful.
Sweetphi says
So glad you liked the review!
Michele S says
Thanks so much for this helpful review! I have used a few of the services and found Home Chef superior, but I don’t like the waste with packaging. I am considering Terra’s Kitchen due to the vessel. However, I’m a little confused about the lowish (6) rating for Terra’s Kitchen in prep work. You wrote, “Loved the minimal prep- everything was chopped/ready to go.” Can you explain? Sorry if I missed something. Thanks!
Pam Danley says
Love your in-depth reviews, very helpful. I just have a small suggestion for your rating system. Rather than rating 1-10 I believe you could simplify to 1-5, since the degree of differences are not that extreme. The maximum score would then be 50 instead of 100 but the ratings would be more realistic. Just a thought, but please keep trying those kits and keeping us informed. Thanks!
Sweetphi says
So glad you enjoyed the review. Thank you for the suggestion. I’m going to be putting together another review with many more services I’ve tried so i’ll consider doing the 1-5 scale 🙂
Mai Cong says
Thank you for taking the time to do this ! It is extremely helpful!!
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, glad you enjoyed the review
Yolande D says
I have tried several of the competitors (Blue Apron, Green Chef, Marley’s Spoon, Sun basket etc) and Hello Fresh is by far the best. Their meal choices are great. I love that I can choose the meals that suit my families preferences. The quality is excellent and I also love that many recipies can be recreated at a later date by purchasing the ingredients myself. With other meal delivery companies they include premade sauces / mixed spices etc that you can never recreate.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for sharing your feedback 🙂 I do the same thing – I have been keeping some of the recipes we really love and have been recreating them!
Nonnie says
EXTRA garlic >> plant in dirt in the fall and next year you will have lots of bulbs and can make a garlic braid.
Sweetphi says
Thanks for that helpful tip 🙂
Nonnie says
Thanks for the evaluation … we are just starting to check these services out …. I like the recipe cards as I was tired of cooking the same foods and was looking for new foods/ flavor … I keep them in a plastic sheets in a three ring binder… So far, I am liking these services… Helps when you can not get out to shop due to illness.
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Sweetphi says
So glad you enjoyed the review. Meal delivery has definitely got me trying new foods and flavors!
Hails says
Thanks for posting! So well researched and easy to read. I do have an edit suggestion. Home chef is not currently offering *any* special preferences at this time. I found out the hard way, didn’t find this out until after I paid and felt like it was pretty deceiving to even advertise all over their website. Like why even get their clients excited if they didn’t intend to offer any options lol. I actually have allergies and require these companies to actually be held accountable to their claims or I end up with hundreds of wafted dollars on pre-paid food I literally die from. And yes they make you prepay before you get to choose your meals so I felt pretty cheated. Luckily their customer service was hassle free, but had no comment on when they would offer these so called preferences they advertise.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment, that’s definitely interesting to note…I’ve had several vegetarian friends and gluten free friends say that there’s always some they like on the options, but it’s interesting to note about the allergies, so glad their customer service was hassle free!
Karen Hautz says
I just tried Go Ready Made with a Groupon. Food was ok but nothing great. Then I looked at my credit card and saw a charge for $50 because apparently when you redeem your Groupon they set you up in a subscription and POW! You can’t get your money back because you have to cancel within 5 days of shipping. So I get 4 meals that I didn’t pick that I don’t like and no refunds. All customer service does is copy and past their terms in conditions into an email and say so sorry. I’d stay away from this one. It’s definitely not worth the aggravation of cancellation and you won’t get a refund.
Sweetphi says
Oh my goodness, that sounds like an awful situation, so sorry you went through that, definitely will not be trying their service
Kimberly says
Great feedback on your experience with food kits that you order and prep yourself.
I have a bit of a situation as to I am 62 female, lives alone and my energy level is difficult due to my Multiple Sclerosis.
Can you tell me is there a service that offers less prep time?
Thank you so much.
Emma says
Terra’s Kitchen! Food is super quick because veggies come pre chopped!
Sweetphi says
Agreed! I love their stuff, only wish there would be a little more variety to choose from, I feel like it’s the same things a lot.
Sweetphi says
Hi – thank you for your comment. So I’d have to say that a lot of the meal delivery kits where you cook the food yourself all involve prep of some kind.
My two recommendations would be Home Chef (their food is delicious and they have some quick and easy meals, this is if you want to still prep and cook). Or
The Good Kitchen (use code Phi15 for 15% off your first order, their food comes already made, it was quite good, it’s on the healthier side, but it’s already made so no prep!)
Zazi says
Thanks so much for this comprehensive comparison. I decided this morning to try one of the services and thought I’d better see if I could find some reviews. Yours was perfect. A big concern of mine is all the packaging, so I was pleased/surprised to hear about Terra’s Kitchen’s solution. I love that you covered amount of prep too, because I’m easily discouraged if there is lots of prep. This post was extremely helpful to me. Thank you!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much – so glad you enjoyed the comparison
Mr. Paul A. A. Pare says
I strongly do believe that this is A Superb Option for many folks out there, here to date in 2018, who either are too busy to find the time to prepare and eat properly on A Daily Basis, or for all those folks whom are not as ambulatory as they once were as well, too! These programs have most surely gotten better over the years, and I for one will surely be utilizing one, or perhaps even two of them very soon.
Do make a great day happen, whenever you possibly can, and Bon Appetit aussi! Enjoy~PAAP!
Bill says
Lots of comments left. That’s always a plus. I am the cook at the house. I don’t mind the prep work. We use blue apron. Their packaging is often wet from inner condensation. The price is right and the portions work well for us. We just do the 2 meal option. This is a great thread. Thanks for posting it 🙂
Sweetphi says
Thanks for commenting Bill, glad you came across this post.
Shaun says
I just signed up for Home Chef to try it out before reading your post. Sounds like I made a good choice. =)
Sweetphi says
So glad to hear that Shaun!
Chef Bob says
We’ve been getting Home Chef for several months now and I’ve put on 5 pounds! I wish someone would include a calorie count with the meal suggestions.
Sweetphi says
Hi Bob, did you know that the calorie information is on each of the recipe cards? And the nutrition information is online too, when you’re choosing which meals you’d like, just click on the picture and it will open up more information about the dish, scroll down a little and the information is on there on the right 🙂
Al Ha says
I’m looking for another meal delivery system and I came across your article. Having tried both Blue Apron and Hello Fresh (as well as Sun Basket), I totally agree with everything that you wrote about both Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. It’s kinda funny that our experiences were so similar, but I guess maybe it shouldn’t be all that surprising.
Sweetphi says
Hi Al, thanks for your comment, that is funny that our experiences were so similar, at least that shows consistency? lol. Thanks for your feedback, hope you find a service you enjoy (my fave at the moment is Home Chef).
Sue Tumlinson says
I would choose Home Chef based on the lovely looking meals, but most of the options contain wheat.
I don’t see any gluten free options.
Sweetphi says
Hi Sue, that is true, they do not have a lot of gluten free options. For gluten free I’d recommend Sun Basket.
Laura says
I am using Plated. So far I have really liked it. The recipe cards are large with pictures and step by step instructions. I found their times to be accurate. The flavors are what I really like. All the limes and lemons and all the produce has been really fresh. There are 20 meals to choose from every week, so lots of choices. Best thing for me is not stressing about whats for dinner and having all the ingrediets needed, no running to the store at the last minute.
Sweetphi says
I totally agree Laura, not having to think about what to buy is so nice every once in a while. Thanks for commenting!
Mel Lucke Halkyard says
Have you tried freshly? Just got a flyer.
Sweetphi says
I haven’t tried them. I was going to do because I got a flier too but they didn’t deliver to my area.
Brenda Mitchell says
I’ve tried several services, but like you, I like Home Chef the best. I like the food quite well. Their salads are a favorite of mine. The portions are huge. I like the fact that all the foods for one meal come in one bag. One con I am facing and I’d like your opinion. All the meals seem to have a high sodium content. Care to comment?
Thanks.
Brenda Mitchell
Sweetphi says
Hi Brenda, so glad you like their meals too! They’re my favorite, I make several things now I first tried through them. I would say that yes, they do tend to suggest heavily salting, and then include the salt you add at home in their sodium content. To reduce the sodium content, I’d cut the amount of salt down when adding, because they don’t send that. I once forgot to add salt to the recipe at the different intervals and found it tasted just as good at the end. Those are just my thoughts, hope that helps.
Jacqueline Lynch says
I am looking for only food meal delivery services that are produced and made only in the USA. Are all the ones you talked about are the company’s in the USA and made local.
Thank you
Jackie
Sweetphi says
Hi Jackie, that’s a great question I unfortunately don’t know the answer to, you’d have to ask the services where they source their ingredients from, sorry I can’t be of more help!
Susan Palmer says
Hi, I’ve only tried Hello Fresh & wasn’t too bad. Like that you can always get discounts. But have been researching other options because of recent health crisis, due to cancer diagnosis now looking for service that provides vegan/organic without alot of prep work as just don’t have energy & seems some say other companies are alot to do. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Sweetphi says
So sorry to hear about your health crisis and diagnosis, thoughts and prayers to you. I would give Green Chef a try, I really liked their food, and they offer Vegan/organic plans.
Linda Novak says
Really liked the comparisons. Have been looking for one by an “everyday” person. My problem is I am a very, very picky eater (and I’m 54). Beef, chicken, pasta basically it. Which do you think has the biggest selection on basic recipes?
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much, so glad you liked the comparison! I think my recommendation (and my favorite personally) would be Home Chef! They have the biggest selection of meals and food that tastes really good, and ‘normal’ meals too as my husband likes to call them.
Jerry Cusic says
June 25, 2018 at 8:51 pm
As an add-on to my comment on June 25 regarding Sun Basket- the portions are a bit on the “Slight” side. If you are feeding two and you are really hungry it is going to be stretch.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for the follow up!
Jerry says
Really enjoyed reading your reviews. I have begun with Sun Basket. Will give them a couple of weeks, but at not sure about them. We like the first two meals but the downside is there is a lot of trash, the insulation while biodegradable was torn open inside the box so there was a lot of lose filler. All vegetable items are tossed in paper sacks — a bit hard to sort out. They include a “go by booklet” but you have to go find your meal in the book –so had to look up the menu. Will see how my next order is.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for letting me know your feedback, and so glad you enjoyed the review 🙂
Curt J Preisser says
Great comparison with plenty of details! My wife and I cook for my dad who lives with us. He is type 2 diabetic so diet is very important, plus he is old school (meat and potatoes and love to put salt on everything). We’ve tried Blue Apron, Hello Fresh and Home Chef, all with mixed results. By far Home Chef offers the most choices of meals and delivery options. The ingredients are always fresh. Their prep time estimates are misleading though, with most saying the meal can be prepared in 30-40 minutes. I’ve timed many of them from opening the box to placing the meal on the table and I’ve found most are closer to 1 hour to prepare. Some also require cookware most people won’t have. Lastly, a few times the small plastic bottles containing oil, sauce, etc. have leaked all over the box during shipping (not fun). At the end of the day we are spending $60 a week for 6 meals that most of the time he likes (he still calls salad “grass” but he eats it). I may try Terra’s Kitchen based on the shipping containers (its a guy thing).
Sweetphi says
Hi Curt, thank you so much for commenting. I totally agree with everything you’ve said! The cook times especially. Sometimes…oof, they’re way off. My husband would also really really really agree with you on the Terra’s Kitchen packaging. That’s his favorite service because of the shipping container lol, he hates having to deal with all the boxes and packaging! LOL about your dad calling salad ‘grass’.
Cathy says
Enjoyed reading your reviews. We tried Hello Fresh about a year ago for the convenience. I wasn’t really happy with it either then we tried Plated. We have been getting Plated for several months…..love the variety, but there is sometimes more prep and use of dishes than I want to do after a long day at work. We did like the option of skipping a week (or more) whenever we wanted. I’m going to try Home Chef based on your reviews and maybe a couple of others. I just never thought of trying several for comparison maybe because we were happy with Plated.
Sweetphi says
So happy you enjoyed the review, thank you for reading!
Home Chef User says
Thank You for your reviews. We have been using Home Chef for several months now and have been really enjoying most of the meals. Until recently, everything was great, but we started having shipping and quality issues. Shipping boxes have arrived open or damaged and contents capsized and off of ice packs, some produce has also been wilted and unusable, recipe cards are soaking wet. We notified Home Chef and they are always very courteous and promptly credit our account. We have submitted several simple recommendations for improvements, but they don’t seem to do anything about the issues. Examples: Garlic arrives peeled and goes bad quickly. Suggested not peeling to extend shelf-life. Put the recipe cards in a plastic bag.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for your feedback. That seems so frustrating, I have never had those issues with them, but have had those with other services, and it’s always so frustrating to deal with! I like your suggestions too. Thanks again for commenting on my post!
DW says
I tried Hello Fresh for about 2 months now. I like the flavor, quality and portion size of the food. Con: Sometimes the lemons and limes are over-ripe and turning brown- and a bad ingredient can ruin the flavor of the meal. Prep work is really turning into the deal killer for me; they advertise that most of their meals should take only 30-40 minutes to make, but I find it actually takes easily an extra 20 minutes above and beyond what is called for. To be honest, it was the 30 minute complete meal preparation that helped me decide to try this program. I’m searching for a different meal plan delivery service now. Hello Fresh is anything but low carb and I would really like to find a reasonably-priced service that offers a Paleo menu.
Sweetphi says
Thanks for commenting, I think you’ll definitely find a good one. I’d suggest Sun Basket.
Ash says
Just wondering how/where Sun Basket falls on the ratings. I’m new to the meal delivery service and wanted to see how you would rank it in comparison to Home Chef.
Sweetphi says
I think it depends on what kind of food you tend to like. If you’re into healthier/organic options, I’d recommend Sun Basket. If you a great variety of good food, I’d suggest Home Chef 🙂
Amy Willard says
Thank you for your comparison. Last year I tried HelloFresh for several months and while I liked that it gave me new recipe ideas, it became routine for the produce to be spoiled upon arrival, particularly their spring mix which is in a lot of recipes. They credited my account every time without questioning it, but the problem became so common that I cancelled my subscription. I am excited to try some other services, particularly Home Chef because I racked up so many large recipe cards with Hello Fresh that I see the benefit of getting the binder with it.
Sweetphi says
YES!!! Exactly what you said here, thanks for commenting! I’d love to know how you like Home Chef, because I love it so much. Just made two of their meals this weekend!
Tasha B says
Awesome blog! Thank you!
Have you tried GO Ready Made?
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much. No I have not, but I’ll definitely look into that!
rpi says
Nice review. However, I didn’t see anything mentioned specific to food allergies (GF, egg, dairy, etc).
Sweetphi says
I didn’t rate them in terms of food allergies, but I will say that sun basket is very allergy friendly
Yolanda Smith says
I haven’t tried any home delivey services, I’ve been contemplating trying one of because I hate grocery shopping and running out of ideas of what to cook. Also I’m on the fence because I’m single and these home deliveries is for two or more, don’t want to be wasteful and order more than I need. I appreciate your opinion on six of the home deliveries. Still on the fence.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for commenting Yolanda, I totally hear you about running out of ideas. That’s what happens to me, or sometimes I just don’t have the desire to go to the store!
Jim says
Is there a service available that caters to one person?
Sweetphi says
Thank you for commenting on my site! The meal service I would suggest would be The Good Kitchen (they sell really delicious high quality prepared meals, my husband loved their backyard burger and steak options) but if you’re looking to actually cook then I would suggest Home Chef. They have a plan for 2 and then I’d just make the recipe and have delicious leftovers 🙂
Sandra Sims says
Sweet Phi…thank you so much for all of your research and for sharing the information. I have been curious about the different companies (there are many so a bit confusing) so you have made it so much easier for me! I def will try Home Chef first. I also appreciate the feedback and comments from others! Very helpful…thanks again!
Sandy
Sweetphi says
ou’re so welcome, so glad you liked my post!
Sweetphi says
You’re welcome, so glad you liked it
Ann says
I wanted a meal service with the meals already cooked for me and all i had to do was warm them up. Got my first delivery today from “FRESHLY”. The first meal was very tasty. Have you tried any of already cooked websites? If so or when/if you do, are there any more of this type already cooked meal service? Thanks
Ann
Sweetphi says
For finished already cooked meals where all you have to do is warm it up, I recommend The Good Kitchen, their meals are delicious!
Ann McGlashen says
Hello,
I wanted to thank you for your recommendation of The Good Kitchen for meals cooked and delivered. Their food is very good.
Thanks again
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for coming back and leaving a comment, I’m so happy you enjoyed their food – it’s delicious, isn’t it?! I just ordered some more for our fridge!
Laura Hiscock says
I tried Hello Fresh and the recipes were good, but you were exactly right about the lack of flexibility in meal options. I eat some meat but prefer mostly plant-based. The vegetarian menu is very restricted (and has a lot of tofu, which I don’t like). The regular menu is almost all meat. They need to let you mix and match! I am going to try Sun Basket based on feedback.
Sweetphi says
I think you’ll love sun Basket!
Alison Fritchie says
We have been ordering from Blue Apron for many months now and have been very happy with it. I have multiple food allergies yet I can find 3 meals a week easily with little or no modifications needed. When things have gone awry, such as less than stellar veg or missing ingredient, the customer service has been fantastic. My experience with Hello Fresh on the other hand was one nightmare after another with rotten customer service. I would like to try others but after that experience I’m a bit reticent. Again Blue Apron has been great for us.
Sweetphi says
So glad you’re enjoying their service!
Naomi Miller says
Receiving Home Chef for a few weeks. Excellent quality, amazingly fresh ingredients, wonderful customer service. After 50 + years of cooking, learning new techniques and about new ingredients. Recipe binder is great; appreciate the precise and accurate recipe directions.
My compliments to this exceptionally customer-oriented company.
Excellent packaging insulation for shipment to the southwest.
Sweetphi says
That’s so awesome to hear, they’re my favorite !!
Kathy says
Have you ever tried Gobble? If yes, how do you feel it compares?
Sweetphi says
I did not like the menu options of Gobble, there were only 6 I believe and we just never thought there was good enough variety. I did like that you could add dessert…but it doesn’t rotate (it’s always the same option), the services I mentioned with dessert in my post were far better 🙂
Lisa McDonald says
I was so pleased to find your blog. We started receiving Sun Basket meals about 2 months ago. It was my plan to try them for a coupkle of weeks, then try others to compare for quality, price, and variety. However, I didn’t see anything in your blog that sounded better than Sun Basket! I enjoy having some prep of food before cooking it. Sometimes the clean-up is more than I want to do, with several bowls and a couple of frying pans and baking sheets. But it is worth it because after cooking for more than 40 years, SB has sent food items I have never even heard of before (my favorite is purple sweet potatoes). The Weekly choice of meals is 18 recipes from vegetarian/vegan, seafood, meat, and poultry categories. The recipes are what I would consider to be mostly nouvelle American cuisine. which will take you out of a rut in cooking quickly.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your feedback 🙂
Heather Kelly says
Hi Sweetphi,
I started receiving Blue Apron meals a couple months ago, before I read your blog. For the most part I like this service. But, I do agree the options for vegetarians are not great. They only provide 3-veggie options each week, and we get 3-meals a week, so no actual choices. And while there are many steps required to prepare the meal, this is not a negative for me as I truly enjoy cooking.
Also, one week I received a box and was almost immediately called out of town, didn’t get back home for nearly 14-days. To my surprise, 95-percent of the ingredients were still in good shape. Out of all 3-meals, I only had to toss 3-items (2-from one recipe and 1-item from another). I was able to use all the ingredients for the 3rd recipe. So, their produce lasts a long time.
My only other complaint is a pattern I’ve discovered. About 85-percent of their vegetarian recipes are a bit heavy on the carbs. A pasta and/or potato dish which also includes bread, pizza, sandwiches, etc. The company appears to believe vegetarians require carbs to get full. While I am not gluten-free, I prefer to have more beans or quinoa as the protein which will fill me up, not wheat flour. But, the flavors are good, I like the zen of cutting, chopping and grating, and not having to spend time shopping for all the ingredients.
Sweetphi says
I agree with everything you said Heather! I would definitely recommend trying some of the other services I mentioned.
Christine Kalinowski says
Terras Kitchen-Con, 1 mayo packet, 1 salt packet, 1 hot sauce packet. Packets when I am paying premium prices? No thanks
Nothing extra? Not 4 hot sauce packets but ONLY 2 little itty bitty packets?
The food was not good. Have no idea how sending an entire bulb of garlic is a “con” but packets are a good thing
Sweetphi says
Hi Christine, oh no, it sounds like you had a much different experience than I did and did not like Terras Kitchen and recipe, I’m so sorry to hear that. The various services do send packets of things, I was going to recommend trying a different service (Home Chef is currently my favorite because the food tastes so good – my older sister who didn’t like the taste of a different company’s food switched to Home Chef and has been loving it and said it’s some of the best food she’s ever eaten, so it’s not just me lol) but if you don’t like the whole concept of just getting the ingredients you need for the recipe and nothing more or packets, than I don’t think you’d like any of the services.
The reason I listed extra ingredients as a con (it was with a different service), not because of something like packets, but because of extra produce that most times I wouldn’t be using(like extra kale), so it would get wasted…and one of the reasons I really like home meal delivery services is because there’s no waste and you get just what you need for the recipe.
atarunomiko says
Thanks for all your hard work to make this thorough comparison, Sweet Phi!
I’m sad no one’s mentioned Hungry Root! I hate to sound like a commercial but I love them. It’s meant for vegetarians, vegans, and the gluten-intolerant, but it’s also been beneficial to someone like me who wants to source their meat locally and supplement it with gluten-free sides. Here’s my rundown:
Ingredients: The food is not only vegan and gluten-free but also organic and non-GMO wherever possible. Lots of protein from a variety of GF sources like lentils, beans, and chickpeas, not just tofu. They also don’t have preservatives and unpronounceable chemicals in the ingredient lists (that I’ve noticed). Even their sauces all look pretty clean so far – not a mono- or diglyceride in sight!
Taste, options, and customization: I was skeptical about how good or filling gluten-free vegan could be but so far my husband and I have loved everything we have tried. There are lots of options including breakfasts and several desserts (like cookie dough and brownie batter you can bake as normal or just eat raw!) and they allow you to customize. I add pastured eggs or meat or have a meat dish alongside for the family and get extra servings out of each dish but they’d be pretty filling on their own at the suggested 2 serving size.
Convenience: Everything’s already chopped/blended/spiralized and all you have to do is mix them together and heat (where appropriate) with a little oil on the stove or in the microwave. Because I’m also making meat dishes alongside there’s still a lot of prep involved but using this service still saves time.
Packaging: They use pre-consumer recycled cotton instead of styrofoam as insulation (which I’ve been repurposing for crafts and stuff), and reusable cold packs which I use to keep the fridge and freezer full for maximum efficiency (and in the summer I use them to keep from having to turn on the air conditioning).
Cost: $69 for 3 meals and 4 snacks for 2 ($59 for your first shipment) $99 for 5 meals and 5 snacks for 2 ($79 for your first shipment). I thought it was pretty expensive at first but after reading your article I believe it’s actually not that bad.
Sweetphi says
Hi there, thank you so much for your comment! I’m so glad you enjoyed my review. I don’t think Hungry Root was around when I did this review, they sound interesting, definitely will check them out 🙂
Sheila says
Thank you for such a detailed description. I tried Home Chef and liked the many options. I did add more flavor to the dishes, just because it would have been bland to us otherwise. We eat a lot of fish and unfortunately the fish isn’t that great for the price. I found that I could purchase from the market if on sale and feed my family of 4 for the price of one dinner with some of the meals. That being said the convenience of having it all labeled and prepackaged was a big time savor.
Sweetphi says
That is great feedback, thank you for commenting. While I do agree that you could probably get some things a little cheaper, the convenience and not having waste always makes me appreciate the home delivery!
Gramme says
So happy that you compiled research for my “homework”. I appreciate your in-depth details & photos. My quest is to gift my grandson with a food service while in his law studies. I did try Blue Apron and another (I thought it had “Sun” in the title.) and learned neither delivered to his undergraduate town. Suffice to say, my plan may not have been a timely idea while he was living in a frat house! Without joining each service to just discover delivery information, is there an expedient way to know which ones deliver to his future area code, 60637 ? While the best product is most desirable, I need to select the best from those actually available for our needs. Thank you.
Sweetphi says
What a great gift idea for your grandson. I wish I had an easy way to help with the delivery zip code, but I think you’d just have to look at the different services and see if they deliver. Thanks for commenting.
CC says
Your article an comparing/constrast is very helpful and informative. i had no idea what i needed to purchase a meal delivery, such as packaging. Thanks you
Sweetphi says
So glad you liked the comparison, thank you for commenting!
B. Anderson says
Thanks for this blog post. I have tried Martha Stewart’s Marley Spoon, Plated and Blue Apron – I enjoyed all three, but want to continue trying them all. Marley Spoon had the higher quality flavor profiles of those three. I just tried to order through Home Chef at your recommendation, but unfortunately their deliver day options are only Wed or Friday, so that doesn’t work for my family (I would need Mon or Tue at the latest) to have meals for the work/school week. They did say that this summer they hope to remedy that for those of us on the West Coast.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for commenting! I tried Martha’s Marleys Spoon…I didn’t love the recipes, the portions were really small I found too (that’s probably what I should be eating lol). I do think you’d like Home Chef, so I’m glad they’ll be rolling out more delivery days soon 🙂
Crystal says
I love using home chef. It’s so easy that my husband, who has not really spent much time in a kitchen can do it. The recipes are delicious and easy as you want them to be.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for your feedback, I just made a home chef meal for dinner which was delicious 🙂
Donna H says
Thanks for all of the information! I think I will give a few a try. A friend sent us Home Chef when my husband was recovering from surgery – a great gift indeed! I tried to order from them myself and found their customer service left a lot to be desired. So, moving on to try some others. I am quite the stickler for customer service and it you don’t meet the mark, you don’t earn my business. I work to hard for my money! Off to try Plated!
Sweetphi says
Definitely hear you about customer service, I agree that it should at least be good as they should want your business! Hope you enjoy Plated 🙂
Denelle Canadian says
My friend loves gobble- have you tried it?
Sweetphi says
No I have not heard about it, I will look them up
kathleen says
i am a cook who loves great food and to feed others. however, my daughter recently went off to college and i find myself not taking the time to cook and am stopping for crappy food. i have put on weight and was googling this type of home delivery service option. your research and comparison was very helpful. I really want a service with delicious flavors but not too calorie offensive. Based on most of your comments I am getting the impression that the good kitchen and home chef are leaders?….are they just healthy or calorie conscious? I loathed both jenny craig and nutri system food. Have you ever tried them and if so, would you say any of these are comparable? I will take them off the list. And lastly are there any others that you know of that focus on a plan to help you lose weight in the process? Thanks for your help!
Sweetphi says
Hi Kathleen,
Thank you for your comment. A lot of great questions that I’d like to help answer.
I wouldn’t suggest Home Chef for weight loss. Their food is delicious, but it’s not always calorie friendly so it’s easy to want the non-healthy options.
If you’re looking for something that’s pre-made and that actually tastes good and is calorie friendly and healthy (my problem with other healthy delivery services I’ve tried in the past for weight loss has been the taste, it just has been gross to say the least lol) my recommendation would be The Good Kitchen. They also have these lunch boxes that are super good. I also love their lunch meals (i don’t know why they try and market them as ‘kids’ meals, it’s been perfect for me, and i’ve loved the variety).
Next, if you’d still like to cook, I’d recommend Terra’s Kitchen. They’re a little more money, but they have really tasty weight-loss meal options that you can cook. They also offer these snack bundles that I’ve eaten as lunch (I do end up eating a little something in addition to them, but they’re so good). My other recommendation if you like to cook would be Sun Basket, their meals are very tasty and healthy. Oh, and Green Chef, their stuff is great for weight loss too – I have a delivery coming today which I cannot wait to cook.
Hope that helps.
Phi
Alice Cherie Spies says
I’ve tried SunBasket, Blue Apron, and Hello Fresh so far. Thought I would love Sun Basket initially, but there have been some quality issues and unsatisfactory substitution issues and, although they have “All Organic” options… They are not “All Organic” at least where the meats/eggs are concerned… You have to pay extra ($2-$5/portion) for the organic meats (to their already comparatively expensive prices of $11-12/per person). Also, Gluten-free is great for those who need/want it… Not so great for those of us who can’t stand GF pastas etc. and so many of their recipes are GF. Hello Fresh was anything but fresh. Blue Apron, I liked the meals but wished they had more variety. I didn’t mind the prep work… I prefer it to having veggies already peeled/chopped and consequently not as fresh. I love that Sun Basket sends organic based ice packs and padding in the cardboard! Still looking for the perfect meal delivery! Will try your recommendations next!
Sweetphi says
Thank you for coming and letting me know your thoughts!! Really appreciate the in depth feedback 🙂 I completely agree with everything you said!
Bitsy Meacham says
Are there any offering gluten free meals?
Sweetphi says
Yes! There are definitely GF meals services that I’d recommend:
Sun Basket – loved their GF options.
Green Chef – the recipes were good, but didn’t like that you couldn’t chose meals, you just are part of a plan and then they send you the meals, but their GF food is really delicious
Terra’s Kitchen – super good food, lots of GF options, only downside is it’s a little on the pricey side.
Debbie says
Can you recommended a site that has a good selection for vegetarian meals. I tried Home Chef but didn’t get past shipping because they did not have enough selections for me to choose from for the week.
Sweetphi says
I have a vegetarian sister who has helped me answer this question, because she has used the services in the past. Here are her recommendations:
Sun Basket – loved the vegetarian plan, tasted so good.
Green Chef – the recipes were good, but didn’t like that you couldn’t chose meals, you just are part of a plan and then they send you the meals, but they did taste good.
Plated – their vegetarian plan meals are really delicious, love that you can add dessert to your meal plan. Some of the recipes were a little ‘out there’ in terms of unique recipes that I wouldn’t normally make, but overall very good.
Patricia says
This was very helpful! Gave me some great comparison tools. I too have tried Blue Apron and found their prep and chopping times s big much. Have you tried Dinnerly?
I too would like a salad add on option.
Thank you again for your insightful article!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for the feedback, so glad you found the post helpful! I have wanted to try dinnerly, but they didn’t deliver to my area last time I checked, so I’ll have to look again.
I love the salad add on option from Home Chef!!
Robert Sherrod says
Thanks for your information. I am a retired software developer. My wife is a former Food Editor of the Atlanta Journal (1970’s), and had over ten years of experience with all types of food stories, a weekly recipe column, food-related travel, interviews with famous chefs, etc. I created a computerized cookbook in the 1980’s.
We do a fair amount of cooking, and explore new types of recipes.
Here is my comment / question. We don’t trust prepared meals in the major grocery stores (Whole Foods, Central Market, Kroger, etc.). They don’t handle their food properly, and have made us sick several times. As you know, Amazon is moving into home delivery of meals, and all of the existing services will have to compete, especially on prices.
If major food chains don’t handle food well how can small delivery services be trusted?
Sweetphi says
Hi Robert, thank you for your thoughtful comment and concerns. So, I really can’t speak to the food safety concern, as I do not work for any of the companies. What I can say though, is that you receive the ingredients whole and then have to chop/cook them, etc. just like you would if you were to go to a grocery store and pick up the ingredients. So for you I would suggest going with a service that sends you the ingredients where then you cook them, because that way you can clean and prepare the food in your own kitchen. Hope that helps.
Robert Sherrod says
Thanks.
Charlie says
Thank you for your research. We’ve been doing Home Chef for a couple of years now. The quality of the food is excellent, but their beef is virtually fat free (grain fed I guess) so it tends to cook a little dry. We still occasionally have trouble figuring out how to keep the vegetables from burning while roasting at the time and temperature settings they recommend. Yes, they do have lots of menu choices and you can order 6 weeks in advance and even change your choices up to the Friday before your next shipment is due, but after a year or so they did become a little redundant, so we took a break over the holidays. By late January we were ready to start again. We kind of missed it. Still, the cooking times are frequently off for us. Nevertheless, we have had our palates expanded dramatically (we are hardly novices to fine cuisine) and learned to cook some things we would never have attempted on our own. We particularly like their seafood and asian dishes It takes a little while to find your favorites and you do learn a lot of techniques that “mama didn’t teach you”. We do keep almost all of the recipe cards “just in case”. All in all, we do think it is the best service out there. Just our opinion.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your very insightful comment. I too took a break, and then missed it!! I am now getting weekly deliveries again. So glad you like the same service I did (I also agree, cooking times tend to be a little off, across all services…maybe I’m just slow in the kitchen? Lol)
Ruthie says
Hi there! I got a referral for HelloFresh a while ago and my family and I love the meals we’ve gotten so far (well, maybe except for 1 dish). But I’d totally re-order. I love cooking but tire out easily, especially when I’m on my feet for a long time. The biggest relief for me was not worrying my little head at work, thinking about all the ingredients in my fridge/freezer, and trying to figure out what to make for dinner! Also, given that both my hubby and kid are sorta picky eaters, I spend way too much time (thinking!) trying to ensure dinner will be satisfactory for picky tastebuds. Thanks for the comparison chart – very helpful. I was thinking I’d try Home Chef next, and reading your article provided the confirmation I needed. Home delivery meals are such life-savers, lol.
Sweetphi says
Hi Ruthie, thank you for taking the time to comment. Totally agree with you, it’s so nice not to think about what to make for dinner sometimes, they’re such life-savers!
CHRISTINA B. says
Thank you so much! I’ve been teeter tottering back ‘n forth for months whether to try something like this… single, hate to cook, lack of time, lack of motivation but the “happy fat kid” needs to eat… and she’s steadily gaining weight, eating out all the time and late and then junk food when I get home… and picky as all get out! I appreciate all the information you provided, especially the chart! Very awesome and kind of you to share your research 😉
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment!!! So happy you liked the post and research, really appreciate you saying that! Hope you love the service you chose!
Bernice says
I’m new to all of this. I read your blog because I’m wanting to decide which of the above meal home delivery service is best. I have absolutely no motivation for cooking in the evenings. My family and I are looking for healthy lifestyle eating. My husband is a meat eater, but he doesn’t eat red meat.
Can you give any suggestions which to choose for my family.
Thanks
Sweetphi says
Hi there Bernice,
Thank you for the comment. I know how hard it can be to have motivation to cook. Ok, so I have two recommendations for you. If you’re looking for healthy food that’s already cooked, I’d suggest The Good Kitchen. You can select the meals you want, so if someone doesn’t eat red meat, then you can just select chicken or whatever else that is not red meat. And they come precooked, so you don’t have to worry about cooking at the end of a long day. If, however, you’re looking to cook, I’d suggest Home Chef. Their food simply tastes the best, and they offer the most selection, so you can go and pick the different recipes you want and see the calories/ingredients before selecting it.
Bobbi Thompson says
I love your article. Thank you for all the information. I just decided to try these meal deliveries.
My first one is Hello Fresh and I made the mushroom ravioli casserole. Definitely delicious! Dinner for 2 people made 3 meals for me. I’m trying Blue Apron next. I’m wondering if any of these dinners come with a fresh green salad included? Thank you again. I just signed up for your blog.
Sweetphi says
So happy to hear you decided to try some of the services!! Thank you for your comment!
Maggie Reese says
Do you know of any hme delivery meal plans for Parkinsons patients? He has an aide who will prepar the for him. He does NOT want to lose weight!!
Sweetphi says
I think i’d recommend Home Chef, they offer the most flexibility and selection for letting the customer pick the meals (vs. just sending you a set menu!)
Tina says
Thank you for such helpful information and overall comparison.. Your comments on everything from the taste of the food to the aluminum pans provided (which I would have never even thought of) were very helpful.. My husband and I have been going back and forth if it would be worth trying one these meal service plans and your comparisons have helped us decide that it is. thank you again !
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, I really appreciate that!
Robert Lehner says
Are there any ones for only one person—i am a widower and all alsone—86 years old but healthy—-Bob Lehner
Sweetphi says
Hi Bob! Thank you for commenting on my site! The meal service I would suggest would be The Good Kitchen (they sell really delicious high quality prepared meals, my husband loved their backyard burger and steak options) but if you’re looking to actually cook then I would suggest Home Chef. They have a plan for 2 and then I’d just make the recipe and have delicious leftovers 🙂
Amanda says
This was my question too, something aimed at one. It seems leftovers are the answer though. I guess in that way, order a two meal a week plan and it turns it into 4 meals, etc. Thanks for this comparison article. The chart too, that was my fav. Part
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for the feedback, so glad you liked the chart!
Caroline says
thank you, I too have tried Home Cheif, blue apron, dream dinners, sunbasket, and Plated. I’m yet to try Terra’s kitchen.
I even tried nutrisystem (yuck!) and Jenny craig (Yum!) to try and save time in the kitchen, or a way so that I don’t have to think about what I’m goona cook tonight and of course to keep the weight down. I’m trying to find a company that does all the above but hardly any chopping and prep work. It gets tiring after a long day at work and I just wanna eat when I get home. it’s so easy to grab takeout, but not so healthy. Finding a meal under $10 per person is very hard. Thank you for your great reviews, all the ones I’ve tried the ones you have tried, I totally agree with everything you say, totally. I think I tried Home Chef for the longest. 16 weeks. all the others were maybe 3 or 4 weeks. I could by pre- packaged food from the grocery store, but I really want fresh without all that sodium and sugar!
Sweetphi says
Thank you for your comment and feedback, so glad you agree. Yes, definitely Terra’s Kitchen if you’re looking for a little less prep and healthier options (they’re totally delicious, sometimes though some of their meals are a little pricey.) I would also highly recommend The Good Kitchen (linked in the post) they have really really delicious premade meals, I find myself ordering them to have on hand for when I really cannot find the time to cook 🙂
Scott says
I have to say it was a little disappointed with the following things.
Hello Fresh needs to list all the available recipes and allow us to curate our own menus. Veggie = Those three items only. Standard menu does not contain veggie menus. So basically that sucked.
HomeChef was just bottom barrel ingredients that I felt came right out of a factory. Very disappointed.
Blue Apron waaaaaaaaaay too much prep. Totally agree.
I went back to shopping for myself.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for sharing Scott. I totally agree, I wish Hello Fresh had veggie meal options along with their other ones so that one didn’t have to change plans. That’s actually why I love Home Chef so much. I was so surprised that you thought the ingredients were so low with them, I have found the opposite – they had little mustard’s or honey that are from brands I know are top notch, but who knows lol. Thanks for the feedback. I know every once in a while I need a break too and end up going to the store and buying things and cooking on my own 🙂
Michael says
I pretty much agree with everything you say in the article. There are certainly pros and cons with each service and opinions seem to vary widely on websites and social media. In my home we’ve practically tried them all and we keep coming back to Home Chef for many of the reasons you highlighted. We’re certainly open to trying newcomers and I’d love to see a part II to the article. The flexibility of swapping meals, individually bagged and labeled meals, and the depth of the menus with Home Chef are the best parts for us. My only criticisms would be the quality of ingredients varying as they switch suppliers. For example, the bagged shrimp have been tough with a strange aftertaste for the last few weeks when they were perfectly delicious before. They also tend to include packets of Miracle Whip knock-offs for recipes that call for mayonnaise instead of the much tastier Best Foods/Hellmann’s, in my opinion. It’s a small gripe but when I’ve taken the time to make my own mayonnaise it tastes pretty close to Best Foods and nothing like Miracle Whip so that is what I prefer. They do have a feedback system and in the last year we have seen some improvements after we submitted our comments.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment, I totally agree with the shrimp comment, it’s been a slight difference and I just thought it was in my head lol. But I had a steak dish, and my husband and I kept saying how it was the best thing we’d ever eaten, so I’ll keep going back because 99% of everything from Home Chef has been insanely delicious
tania says
Thanks so much… we’ve tried all of these with the exception of Terra’s Kitchen, which we may want to try now. I agree with every pro and con you listed. We’ve also subscribe to Sunbasket. I’d love to hear your opinion about that option.
Right now, we use Homechef, Plated and Sunbasket. I created a spreadsheet so we know what’s coming when. It’s nice to receive a variety of dinners and to see the different companies’ chef’s recipes for the same ingredients. It’s been interesting. Again, thanks for your comparison review!
Sweetphi says
Thank you for the comment, I’ve heard about Sunbasket but never tried it, so I’ll do that in the future and add my thoughts 🙂
Dan says
SweetPhi,
Thank you so much for you post. I seasonally (Winter) subscribe to meal deliveries. I used Blue Apron and Home Chef last year, Blue Apron was fine, but I really liked Home Chef and I’ve made several of the recipes and sides on my own since I suspended my subscription for Summer. I’m sure I will be back to Home Chef again, but I think based on your review that I will try Plated for variety and to hopefully acquire some always welcome cooking styles and techniques.
Thanks again for taking the time to research and share 🙂
Sweetphi says
Thank you for leaving your feedback and experience Dan! Hope you love Plated, I know I did 😉
Jane Mansur says
I really do like your article on the comparisons. I received a week of hello fresh for a Christmas. Such a wonderful gift. it was bought off groupon. So I then got another week myself off groupon for hello fresh and then I also got home chef off groupon as well. The price was amazing. Not only are they discounted on groupon, watch for the 25% off codes in addition too their already low price.
Hello fresh meals were quicker to make but for a family I also thought choices were limited.
Home Chef meals were very good and there produce was amazing! Some of their times were a little bit off on a couple of meals. I tried meals I’ve never had before!
However, when I tried both of them I made the mistake of overlapping services and I had both packages delivered on the following Wednesday since you have to put in credit card info when using a groupon. But Home Chefs produce did stay fresh over the whole time because I had 6 meals combined. So be careful. I like both. I’m not sure which I like better.
I still use them but not every week. It depends on there meals. After reading your I’m going to try some of the other services. Thank you.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for sharing your experience. I totally loved Home Chef for the same reasons – the produce was amazing and there were so many delicious choices.
Mary says
Hello. I was wondering whether anyone with children have tried any these services. Are the meals things kids would eat, or are they geared towards adults/foodies?
Sweetphi says
I can answer that question – I gifted friends with children boxes for Christmas. They all gave me rave reviews. One mom ended up having her kids write me a thank you – it was the cutest thing ever, her kids LOVED them! I will say that Home Chef would probably be my recommendation for you – they have the most delicious meals kids would love and are easy to work with picking different menu options and things.
Kate says
We are using a gift card for Blue Apron for 2 weeks. I may take your recommendation to try another company when this is finished. I’m a little nervous about the prep work. Thanks! I’m following you now so I can start cooking more.
Sweetphi says
Aw, thank you so much for following me now! And regardless of the service, it’s fun to try new food!!
Fei says
Wow! Thank you, I’ve been considering meal delivering services for awhile now. Home chef sounds like the way to go for my bf and I!
Sweetphi says
I think you’ll love them. I seriously look forward to my weekly deliveries, I love trying new things I normally otherwise wouldn’t 🙂
Jason Jones says
Hi, was just wondering have you had any experience with Dinnerly? I read about them one of the foodie magazines..
Thanks in adavance
Sweetphi says
I don’t, but I’ll definitely have to look them up. I do have experience with the good kitchen (linked to them in my post and share a discount code for first orders) – I currently have some of their meals in my fridge for lunch this week 🙂
Kevin says
Thank you for your time and effort for providing your personal insight and opinion about each of the companies above. VERY helpful. My wife and I have just started the home delivery service and our first one has been through Hello Fresh. We’ve been very happy with the selections available, quantity and flavor of food. However after giving them a good rating for the above mentioned reasons, I became very upset with them and have put them on hold. The first delivery came fine, a 4 course selection. However the second week we decided to try the 3 course meal and chose accordingly. We ended up getting 7 meals and charged for them! I called and asked why? They explained that when you first set up the order you choose your plan. Then unless you physically go in and either stop/cancel or skip your selection, that it automatically continues. I was under the impression that unless I physically chose the weeks menu, they didn’t send you anything. Well since we had the 4 course initially selected and then chose the 3 course the following week, we ended up with 7 meals! I also couldn’t figure out how to log in and see my history of orders. So they walked me through it. First: You have to select Choose Plan. Then on the top right select Log In. Then I personally used to think that the settings was for altering personal information. I.E. Address, Email information, Phone number etc. Well this is where I learned your Order History is as well and can make the changes to your plans/course/meal selection and is where I saw both my open active orders (one for 3 meals and one for 4 meals). If you make ANY weekly changes to your orders you MUST go in and physically suspend all previous ones. Well now we too are working trough the individual companies available and taking advantage of their initial discounts. Our next will be Blue April and then Home Chef. You went the extra mile which most, like us, do not do by physically going and buying the ingredients of each and doing the purchase comparison which we thank you for and which will assist in our overall final decision of which company we go with. I’ll post our experiences as we try each company moving forward, and share our experiences. Thanks again.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for sharing your feedback! That totally sucks that that happened to you. Hopefully you’ll have all better experiences from here on out 🙂
Shelley says
I signed up for Hello Fresh and was able to immediately “skip” the next two weeks. I’ll decide after I get my first week if I want to receive more – I have until Friday of that week to change my mind!
It was the same with Home Chef – there is an option to “skip” the weeks following your first order. I also really liked that Home Chef give you the option of fresh fruit and lunch salads. My only complaint was that for the fruit and lunch salads I can’t change to number of servings – but on their site they say they are working to change that.
Sweetphi says
I’ve found that you can usually “Pause” or “skip” the coming weeks in the calendar function of the services 🙂
Kristen says
Great information! I am thinking of starting meal service in my area (a rural area in Texas) for busy, working families whose kids are involved in everything and are so tired of fast food, eating out, etc. Would you mind if I used your rating chart for informing my target audience? Many of them have tried the boxes and like them, but do not want the prep, clean up, etc. I would be sure to credit your blog and offer a link. Let me know your thoughts- I completely understand if the answer is no. Thanks!
Sweetphi says
Hi Kristen, please feel free to email me at sweetphiblog@gmail.com, I’m not entirely sure what your question is. We can talk more via email. Glad you enjoyed the chart 🙂
Dana says
Lots to think about! Thank you!
Sweetphi says
Thank you for stopping by and commenting 🙂
Michelle says
I use Sun Basket. Only one I’ve tried as I was pointed in that direction by my sister who has been using it for over a year. The meals vary as far as how good they are, but for 2018 they have expanded to 18 menu options each week (which is almost too much choice, lol), and have plenty of options for different dietary requirements and preferences(gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, soy free, etc). With all those options, it’s easy to pick recipes of the complexity you desire. Also to get different levels of value. Some recipes (like soups) provide more servings, whereas more traditional entrees are a pretty good portion for two for one night. Their shipping containers and pretty much all materials are compostable or recyclable. I don’t really have much motivation to try any others… Though I liked the one you mentioned that gave you a binder to collect recipes in =)
PAMELA BLIZZARD says
Ordered!
Sweetphi says
I’ll definitely have to give that one a try 🙂 Thank you so much for commenting
Pamela Blizzard says
I really appreciate your reviews! It’s saving me lots of time and trouble! Here’s a question – because, as another reader said, you can’t really see ahead to the menus – do any of the services offer a Vegan option?
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome – so glad you liked the review. I believe Green Chef offered a vegan option!
Michelle says
Sunbasket does as well.
Kelly says
HELLO love the comparison thanks so much. I don’t cook, at all 🙁 I am looking for a service that will deliver pre made meals that I can just microwave and enjoy (not Jenny Craig or Lean Cuisine). Do you have any suggestions for services that don’t require any cooking but provide tasty and borderline healthy options?
Sweetphi says
Hi Kelly, sometimes I too don’t feel like cooking. So I tried a service called The Good Kitchen which has premade meals delivered to your door. WOWZA, they were super delicious. They were definitely on the more premium side. I had some of the best steak I’ve ever had in one of their meals. If you use code PHI15 you get 15% off your first order!
Jaimie says
Kelly, have you looked at Freshly? They are pre-cooked, individual meals. I know they don’t serve every area, but might be worth checking out!
Ruth Williams says
Thank you. Looking for a service. Home Chef was on my radar, and I’m happy to see you liked it. However, you’ve pointed out a couple more options I need to look at.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for commenting Ruth, so glad you liked my comparisons 🙂
Angela says
I found this very helpful and informative. I was familiar with some of the options like Blue Apron, and have been weighing the pros and cons of the service, found a few new must-trys. The dessert option on Plated looks amazing! Thanks for the post.
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, thank YOU for commenting 🙂 I loved the dessert options – and they were quite yummy!
Steve says
Thanks for your efforts here. I have not tried any of the services, but it looks like one has to sign up and cannot get just one weeks service to try one out? That by signing up, you are are already into the 2nd week and obligated to continue for more than a week. Any thoughts?
Sweetphi says
Hi there, I think i may have answered this to someone else’s comment, but all the services let you “pause” or “skip” the coming weeks in the calendar function 🙂
SANJA DAVIS says
Just tried Plated….they offer the 1st time discount, so I picked 3 meals and paid, then found that you can cancel as “just trying”. I was very impressed….on time delivery, well packed and COLD, each meal was clearly labeled and packed into itself, meat was good and fresh (I had to freeze it due to delay in trying). All ingredients lasted the extended timeframe of a week, except the poor fresh peas…sadly, they didn’t make it. But OMG the food was good, very fun to make with hubby and 2 person meals were enough for him, me (tiny eater) and my 6 yr old, no leftovers but no one went hungry either! On to my next try….!! Hope this helped.
Sweetphi says
I love that you can cancel and try services. So happy to hear you had such a great experience with Plated, I loved their food too!
Mnsotamama says
I wonder if they offer a gift card to give someone?
Sweetphi says
They definitely do!
Steve says
thanks for getting back! I have signed on for Home Chef and look forward to the first delivery this week. My kids have told me about such services and I look forward to some meal variety without any thoughts!
Sweetphi says
I think you’ll love the different services 🙂 I know for me it’s a great way to try out new foods I would normally never cook.
Jimmy says
You have home chef winning with 91 but their score should only be 81
Sweetphi says
Hi Jimmy, the score is 91 – the $ equals points too, so because it is only $, that’s 10 points – so 91 is correct 🙂 Thanks for checking the math though.
James says
Hey Sweetphi, I wanted to share my experience with Blue Apron. In short, HORRIBLE! Had three weeks of deliveries before I threw in the apron! The first week, two of the three menu cards were the wrong ones entirely, as well as the packages of meat leaked juice all over everything both the first and second weeks, and the first and third weeks, ingrediants were mixed up with something else or missing entirely. Of course I was credited for all the mayhem, but SO NOT WORTH the grief! I also dont like how they don’t seperate the ingrediants for each recipe and they package everything in terrible fashion. Also, that sad excuse for a cooler bag they send everything in leaves much to be desired as far as keeping the items cold. I’ve also tried Hello Fresh before and am currently using Home Chef. I love them both, but think I will stick with Home Chef due to their more flexible meal options. Thank you for sharing your experience with everyone too.
Sweetphi says
Thanks for sharing James! Sorry to hear about your experience, I sadly have heard many similar. Glad you like Home Chef, I love them too!
Betty says
HI Sweetphi,
Enjoyed all your comparisons. Saved me tons of time. Now I’m just trying to justify the cost. For 2 people for 1 week for 3 meals it would be $60 or $240 a month. Still have 4 more dinners a week and 7 breakfasts to go to the grocery store for, so maybe the food delivery service is mainly for convenience.
Sweetphi says
I hear you Betty, I ended up having to pause every few weeks so that it’s justifiable!
Liz says
Enjoyed this…very informative. Do any of these lock you into auto-billing or require a subscription you are stuck with? Sorry, if already asked/answered.
Sweetphi says
Hi Liz, great question. Pretty much all of them have some form of automatic plan, but it’s really easy to pause a week, or even cancel and start again. For example, with Plated I had a plan and had it for every other week and then I would pause it if I wasn’t ready. At one point I just was traveling too much, so I cancelled my account all-together, and then I got a ‘welcome back’ discount when I reactivated it a few months later. Hope that helps
Crystal Lee says
I’m interested in trying one of these home meal subscription services. My primary concern is that I have a few unusual food allergies. Could you tell me if any of these companies offered ingredient substitutions, or took note of food allergies when creating an account and choosing the meals? Also, was there general nutrition and ingredient info provided so I can check for those ingredients myself prior to choosing the meals, even if I cannot customize or substitute any of them? I know it’s not something a lot of people have to think about, which is why there doesn’t tend to be a lot of flexibility in current meal services. Any information you could provide would be a great help. Thank you!
Sweetphi says
Thank you for commenting Crystal. Hmmm…that’s a great question. So, I don’t know if any company offers substitutions or customizations with any of the ones where you have to cook, but i can tell you that one that comes with meals made already – The Good Kitchen (it’s super delicious) their meals are very allergy friendly and you can choose meals based on allergies. Hope that helps – their meals were really tasty, and I actually liked the break from cooking for a little bit.
Crystal Lee says
Great, thank you so much!
Sweetphi says
You’re welcome, so glad you enjoyed the review!
Chris Null says
Have wanted to try these services for quite some time, but live alone. Now that my daughter has moved back home I’m definitely going to try Plated. Thanks for doing the homework.
Sweetphi says
You’re welcome, I loved Plated and think you will too!
Tony Seran says
Thank you so much for taking the time to publish your results. You’re one of the good people on the planet.
We just tried Home Chef for the first time and loved it. A few missing pieces but nothing to get hoisted about. Compared to the others they are our fave.
Happy Holidays!
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, thank you for commenting Tony, so glad you liked the review.
Julie says
Thank you for doing all this research! I am thinking of gifting a home delivery service to my two daughters (both live in two different states), so this has helped me immensely. Especially loved the graphic at the end.
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, and thank YOU for commenting 🙂
Andrea says
I’m trying the services of these different companies until I have tried them all. You can cancel anytime and so why not try each one, a new one every week. They all give first week discounts which makes it easier to compare them. We tried hellofresh last week and really enjoyed it. We are trying plated this week and are excited. I had to leave town this week on a family emergency and my teenage daughter cooked 2 of the meals and liked the setup. My husband said they were tasty. I don’t like that the steak plates are uncharged so much but enjoyed my steak meal. I also dont like that 3 meals is the most I can get. Looking forward to trying plated this week.
Staci says
Thank you! I look forward to reading your thoughts!
STACI says
Thank you for this! I have tried Home Chef and Hello Fresh as well. I recently tried Dinnerly also. So far, my favorite is Home Chef as well. The one thing I am not liking about any of these services is that, so far, they make me sign up before I can look/choose a menu.
My question for you is do you know which one if any delivers for one person? My son is in the Air Force and single. He loves to cook but we cannot find a company that has an option for a single person.
Thank you,
Staci
Staci says
I forgot to mention that I didn’t like Dinnerly only because the meals didn’t come with a recipe. I had to go to the website, look up which meals I chose, separate all ingredients for all 3 meals, and go from there.
Sweetphi says
Hi Staci, thank you so much for the comment! I am always stumped at the weird things some companies do – like not putting the recipe with the meal so you have to go to their website – that makes it not convenient at all lol!
In regard to your next question about delivery for one…I am getting a delivery from a company this weekend and will be trying it out, and I’ll be sure to report back what I think next week! Otherwise, my suggestion is always to get a plan for 2 and then have leftovers for lunch. Right now it’s just my husband and I, and I get us the family plan (or for 4) and then we have two dinners and two lunches 🙂 I’ll be reporting back soon.
Best,
Phi
Staci says
Thank you! I look forward to reading your thoughts!
Adrienne says
Looking for a service that one week you might have two meals the next none or the next three meals. My MIL has Alzheimer’s trying to streamline dinner for her husband who is the full time caregiver. Leftovers would be great but easy of recipes is much higher value.
Sweetphi says
Hi Adrienne,
That’s a really great question. So I’d say that Home Chef would probably be a good fit. Their service is really easy to add or subtract meals and start/pause deliveries and pic different numbers of meals, without changing your entire plan, so for ease I would suggest them. Also, I do have to say what an absolutely FANTASTIC idea to get meal delivery services for someone with Alzheimer’s!
Chris Dingman says
Thanks Sweet Phi – I’m SOOO not a blog-type reader…but this was fun and helped a lot! Thank you!!!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Chris, really appreciate you leaving a comment!!
Monica Aguilar says
Which of these would be best for a family of 6?
Sweetphi says
I would say Home Chef, because they let you choose how many servings (2, 4, or 6)
janet terry says
whichwould be good for 1 person for 5 dinners
Sweetphi says
I replied to you already but wanted to share in case anyone else was curious. I haven’t come across a service for just 1 person where you cook the food and they send you ingredients. I have however come across this service and tried it- suuuper delicious food- all organic,and you can order 1 meal per person and it’s already made, it’s a little pricey but I thought it was worth it. here is the link, and if you use code PHI15 you’ll get 15% off! https://www.thegoodkitchen.com?rfsn=910858.92b23
Tony says
Thank you for putting this together. I will give plated a try and let you know.
Sweetphi says
So glad you liked the post, I loved Plated, so I can’t wait to hear what you think!
Debbie says
I have to agree. I used Blue Apron about 6 months. Had an issue with produce going bad so I decided to try another company. Additionally Blue Aprons meals took a lot of time. I now order from Hello Fresh and we are very satisfied.
Really enjoyed reading the reviews
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your awesome comment, so glad you liked the article 🙂
Melissa Brown says
I can’t wait to try out Hello Fresh i have been looking into all the delivery companies, now i dont have to. Thank you for your help
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome! Glad you enjoyed the article
Tanya Hespe says
After reading this I checked out Plated, and ended up getting half off of my first week! Thanks for the comparisons!
Sweetphi says
Thanks for stopping by, so glad you enjoyed the post!
Linda Eaton says
Loved your review! We have just started “Hello Fresh” and both my hubby and I are amazed at the great
tasting meals we have received so far (2). I was going to try another service and test them out, but I don’t think I will now… You have saved me a LOT of time!
Thank you
Linda
Sweetphi says
So happy to hear you liked the review, appreciate your comment 🙂
Davey says
This was very helpful, I was looking to choose a service to try for someone in a long stable surgery recovery who loves to cook but can’t go shopping as much. Side note, only a totally zany person uses descending dollar sign symbols to signify increasing costs, lol.
Sweetphi says
So glad you found this helpful. And oh my goodness, thank you for pointing that out about the dollar signs, going in to edit that right now, because you’re absolutely right!!
Davey says
Lol, I wasn’t being rude, I just got to that and was like “what kind of upside down world is this??” Ha. Based on this we are going to try Plated…my friend likes to cook, so it seems like the best fit. Will see how it goes.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for saying that. So you know, last night I went in and was like “what was I thinking” and then I took a look at the image and remembered, I was assigning a point system to the dollar signs, so it’s not dollar sign equals a dollar, it was dollar sign equals 1 point if that makes sense. Anyway, I need to figure out how to display it better so it’s not confusing lol. Regardless, Plated is amazing, I think you’ll love it!
Pat says
Wonderful article and very informative. I have tried most and agree with you on most. If I wanted to chop and slice, I could shop, chop and stir fry on my own.
Sweetphi says
So glad you like the post 🙂
Charles Meagher says
Hmmm … none of the internet evaluations aren’t biased and all seem very sponsored even when it’s well hidden
Sweetphi says
Hi Charles, while I cannot speak for others, I can tell you my post is 100% not sponsored or biased in any way. I spent my own money and tried out these services and wrote pros/cons based on what I experienced. I received no money nor have any relationship with any of the companies whatsoever (I wish I was getting paid by them lol). A few of the services have a referral links where if someone signs up for their service, you get store credit, but again, no actual money, and that is available to all customers who try the service (so if you tried the service and liked it, they tell you you can tell your friends and get store credit if your friend signs up through your link, and I did disclose that). Also bloggers are actually required by law to disclose sponsored relationships, so whenever I do have a relationship with a company, I definitely disclose that to my readers. Lastly, I am curious as to how this could be considered biased…I wasn’t paid and if you read through the 100+ comments, you’ll see some people have had quite different experiences and I didn’t go back and change my answers lol, so nothing has swayed or made my opinion biased. Thanks for the comment though, I just wanted to make sure to write you back 🙂
TheGaby says
Great article and incredibly helpful. Thank you!!!
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome. Thank you for commenting!
David Fuell says
Ok so I loved your rating of multiple meal delivery services. So one thing I want to mention to you. Hello fresh my wife and I ordered once the product never showed up when it did finally show up the second shipment came the same day. They were very hard to get a refund all they wanted to do was give credits. Credits of course would do no one any good as why would continue to order something that could be hazardous if it would rot before getting to you. We finally got our money back from them only through the help of our bank. I only make this comment cause you scored them very high but try getting s refund from them cause they don’t honor even their own policies.
Sweetphi says
So glad you liked the ratings David. Sorry to hear you didn’t have a good experience with them, when I contacted their customer service, they responded right away to make it right, but I was ok with the credit because I was intending to use their service. Sorry you had to deal with that though!
Alice Walker says
I use Sunbasket. I would say the prep/cooking required would fall in the moderate range. The recipes are delicious and the produce is very fresh. They include everything except salt, pepper and oil. (Eggs are included if needed) . The packaging is all recyclable. We are trying vegetables and spices that are not in our general repertoire, which is terrific.
Very flexible delivery. Easy to skip a week or change to fewer meals or order extra to serve to guests.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for sharing that, I’ll have to give them a try!
Tania says
Tried Hello Fresh for the first time just last evening, we had a peppercorn steak with creamed kale (which we loved and we are not Kale eaters) and roasted potatoes. For the price point it was delicious, we didn’t have a bite left, for the ease of prep and cooking the estimated 35 minutes, I went close to an hour (but that could just be that I wasn’t rushing) and for quantity I felt satisfied with my plated portion, however my husband was still hungry so I really should have supplemented a salad or extra veggie on the side. I am making our 2nd dish this evening and in anticipation of one stuffed poblano pepper per person I am running to the grocery store this morning to buy a few extras and some extra ground turkey (he will not leave the table hungry tonight). We LOVED it … and though I will not use the service weekly, we feel two weeks out of the month will be a nice service for our needs. Loved your comparison, thanks for sharing it with us.
Sweetphi says
So glad you liked the comparison, thanks for commenting!
Alexandrawrrrr says
Thanks for taking the time to write up this article! My husband and I have recently ventured to meal delivery services because of our busy schedules, and we were curious for feedback on Green Chef and Terra’s Kitchen. Your comments/reviews are extremely helpful! So far we have tried Blue Apron, Peach Dish, HelloFresh, and Marley Spoon. I was so surprised to see that your ratings for Blue Apron were the lowest, since they currently hold the top spot in our household. We loved all their recipes so far, and have found that when making one of their vegetarian meals, we always have leftovers for lunch (which for us is a bonus). We tried HelloFresh and hated it. Almost all our food was limp or rotten, and we felt the recipes weren’t exciting whatsoever. Also, their website was just very difficult to figure out, and I didn’t like that I couldn’t have control over my delivery dates with as much flexibility as Blue Apron offered. Marley Spoon’s recipes seemed a bit bland to us, and Peach Dish was just a little too pricey for us (although it was VERY tasty)! Thanks again for writing up this comparison! It was a great read! 🙂
Sweetphi says
So glad my review was helpful. Also thank you for sharing your experience. The food with Blue Apron was good, but it was the one that required the most prep and dishes. I swear to you, one of the recipes used 6 bowls, 3 pans and a baking sheet. I felt like clean up alone took an hour lol. Yes, the food was tasty, but it just wasn’t worth the extra time. It could be different now though, or it could have been the recipes, you know? I loved Terra’s Kichen, but like Peach Dish, it was just too pricey. Hope you fine a service that works for you 🙂
A Arkinill says
For various reasons I had to cancel my Blue Apron membership. The process was confusing (I felt the company wanted it to be so). Plus, I was forwarded to a third party CancelHero.com and forced to pay $35.00 to cancel–I had to use my credit card with a company I knew nothing about–a little scarey.
This was not cool nor good business Blue Apron.
Sad!
Sweetphi says
That’s totally sad to hear, sorry you had such a bad experience trying to cancel your account!
Diana says
We tried Hello Fresh last week – We were shorted 1 recipe (sent the wrong one) – after I emailed they gave me a link for the correct one and a $10 credit. Then we noticed a missing meat for 1 of the 3 meals and they gave us a $20 credit. Last the 3rd meal was missing the chili pepper – – plus it was delivered a day late.
BUT – 2 meals were great and 1 was OK – but with the 30 credit we are trying it again
Sweetphi says
Oh my goodness lol, that sounds like an ordeal! I feel so bad for you, it sounds almost comical how many errors. I’ve been ordering weekly for like 5 months and in that whole time I’ve not had that many issues! So, hopefully all the weird stuff is out of the way for you, right?
Victoria Meredith says
I’m just joining the chorus here to give you a big thank you for this well-written article with so many helpful details. I’m just starting to explore meal deliveries, and you’ve pointed me to some good options.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Victoria, each and every comment means the world to me 🙂
Sue says
I have tried Home Chef and also had items that leaked, making a mess. But the biggest issue I have with HC is the high calories and fat in their meals.
Sweetphi says
That is such a bummer that your ingredients leaked! I hope you contacted their customer service 🙂 I haven’t had that issue with Hello Fresh or the other services, also a lot of them offer lower calorie meals 🙂
Nicole says
Loved this! Such a huge help to me in deciding what to do.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much, so glad you liked the post, thank you for commenting!!
Elizabeth H says
Thank you for this. My husband and I both work 10-14 hours a day but we both enjoy home cooked meals. We have been using Home Chef for about 6 months now. I have really enjoyed their meals. I would say I like 85% of the meals I’ve tried and my husband 99%. However in the past 2 months the service has just gone a bit south. I did not receive a total of 3 deliveries now. I did get reimbursed but it defeats the purpose of convienece. On top of that, every single week we are missing ingredients. Not usually enough to ruin the meal but it has just been dissapointing. After reading your article I am going to give Hello Fresh a shot and cancel my Home Chef.
Sweetphi says
Oh my goodness, that is so horrible that you didn’t receive deliveries, definitely definitely definitely defeats the purpose! I have to tell you, when we moved I was 9 months pregnant and forgot to change my address, and then our box got delivered to our old house so we didn’t get it. It was awful trying to deal with their customer service, whereas Hello Fresh was like omg let us send you another box right away. So yeah, HF is my fave at the moment (and they have so many tasty meals, I literally had one and it tasted JUST LIKE Chinese take out.) Anyway, I feel you, so sorry to hear your bad experience, and thank you for commenting!
Belle wyatt says
Hi! We were just given a free week of hello fresh and are looking at trying some other options. We really enjoyed it, but I thought I would add a couple of cons. The first issue I had was with our first box, the free one. The beef for the meat loaf was only 85% lean…. maybe there is something cheify about why that is a better option, but not for me. I prefer lean meat and this higher fat did not sit well. The pork chops that made up the second meal were also very fatty, each one had at least an inch of fat that when trimmed the pork chop took more the size of a medallion then a chop. My second complaint is that I had to put in a credit card when opening my account. The day I received my free box I cancelled my membership. My card was still charged and I was still sent a second box. After canceling my membership I contacted customer service about the charge and they told me that they could not reverse the order as they need 5 buisness days before stoping a meal. My second box was good so it wasn’t a complete waste, I just would have expected more flexibility.
Belle wyatt says
Sorry, I wanted to add a thanks for this article. We may try plated next. The idea of dessert sounds nice! It was something we felt was missing from the hello fresh
Sweetphi says
Thank you for the follow up comment 🙂 I totally loved the dessert option with Plated, it was really tasty and nice addition to the meal.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for sharing that. I too am surprised sometimes at the choice of meat – I like leaner meats too 🙂 Hopefully if you try other services your experience is better 🙂
Tara says
my boyfriend and I tried Blue Apron, but the 2 person plan did not work for us, only because it was NOT enough food for the both of us (me yes, him no) For example: there was a recipe that had mashed potatoes and they only provided us with 1 potato for the both of us. I was having to go to the store and buy more ingredients, hence defeating the purpose of a food delivery service. And we didn’t do the vegetarian plan, but we kept getting mostly vegetarian dishes constantly and I again was having to run to the store to get chicken, steak etc. Are there any that anyone recommends that provide with more sustainable food? Preferably one where you can select your menu
Sweetphi says
I do have to say that I agree with you on Blue Apron, it was actually my least favorite – the food wasn’t that great and oh my goodness, we had so many dishes. I’m pretty sure we used every dish and pot I owned lol. Id recommend either Hello Fresh or Home Chef, their portions are pretty decent, I know that the biggest portions were with Green Chef, but you couldn’t pick and choose items like with the other services. Their meals were delicious, and there was always a leftover portion! What I actually started doing is getting a family or 4 person meal plan, and then getting 2 of those so that I’d have enough for us for dinner and a lunch, twice a week.
Gwen says
Great article! Thank you for taking the time to write it. I’m currently in the process of trying multiple services myself. So far, Hello Fresh is my favorite. Home Chef is my second favorite. Plated seemed to take a bit longer than I’d prefer with instructions not as user friendly. The food was delicious, though. I also tried Blue Apron and found it not as user friendly and more time consuming. I will be trying Sun Basket and Green Chef next. Would love to know your opinion of Sun Basket and any others. I’m enjoying the discounted trials of these programs. So far I’ve kept Hello Fresh and Home Chef as my weekly deliveries.
Sweetphi says
So glad you found my article helpful. I agree, Blue Apron was so time consuming…I think when I made the recipe, I used like every bowl and pot in my house too lol (and that’s coming from someone who loves to cook, but the prep was just too much!) Sun Basket wasn’t out yet when I did this review (or at least I hadn’t heard of it), i’ll have to give it a try now 🙂
Margaret says
Thanks so much for this review of meal delivery plans. I’ve selected HelloFresh for a trial run this week. I’m excited to get started with eating better and wasting less. Margaret
Sweetphi says
Hope you love it Margaret 🙂
Jena says
Great article. I did a similar comparison, tried Hello Fresh, Home Chef, Blue Apron and liked HF best.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much, so glad you liked the review!
Christine says
Thank you for this article! I have been wanting to try a service like this for awhile but didn’t know where to start. We are full-time RVers and have limited fridge space. We are adventurous eaters and love variety which is hard to do when you have to buy ingredients that you may never use again or that end up taking up prime fridge/freezer space. Got our HelloFresh box on Wednesday and so far we are enjoying the meals. Next week we are trying Home Chef due to more variety and the fact they are not your normal, every day meals. Thanks again for giving me a place to start!
Sweetphi says
Oh my goodness, you’re full time RVers? How neat is that! Thank you so much for your comment, hope you enjoy the services you try 🙂
Julie says
I’m curious to as why there are no less than 6 adds for Martha’s Marley Spoon meal service on this one page, but you don’t review that company.
Sweetphi says
Hi Julie,
Thanks for reading the post! So my site uses programmatic advertising. Everyone sees different ads, so what you’re seeing is different than the ads I’m seeing, and different from what another reader sees, etc. That is because programmatic advertising uses cookies — which include the site someone is on, browsing history, demographics (age, gender, etc.) and location — to target readers’ preferences and serve them things that are relevant. If you’re reading an article about meal prep boxes, then you might see ads for meal prep boxes because the advertisers are picking up on those keywords in the page you’re reading. Also, the reason I didn’t review that company is because I didn’t know about it at the time I did the review, it definitely sounds interesting so I might be giving it a try and adding to my review at a later time 🙂
Thanks again for being a reader, hope you found the article (and the explanation) helpful!
Phi
teresa mason says
My husband really likes normal not fancy food and meat, which would you suggest for that? And thank you loved the article!
Sweetphi says
Hi Teresa, I’d say the most ‘normal’ with options like steak and potatoes or a nice chicken dish, nothing too crazy (and you can choose which ones you’d like) would be Home Chef 🙂
Beth C says
I’d agree with the Home Chef recommendation. But it is the only service I have tried too. You can chose from a variety of 10ish meals. My steak craving, bottomless pit (which he is trying to work on) eating husband hasn’t requested steak in the past 3 weeks that we have done Home Chef. We purchase a side of beef each year. I bought this to supplement our white meat & fish options. I thought i’d Have to add a side salad or veggie or starch to a meal, but that hasn’ t been the case; decent serving sizes. My husband who was skeptic has loved 100% of the 9 meals we have had. It help cut back/ eliminate on our takeout bill.
Sweetphi says
So glad to hear you like Home Chef too 🙂
Marilyn says
I thought I saw one that was pop in the microwave no prep. Thinking about single professionals??
Sweetphi says
Oh very interesting, i’ve never heard of something like that.
Haley says
I believe that is something through Publix. Everything comes prepped for you in a bag and all you have to do is pop it in the oven and viola meal.
Anna says
Hey Marilyn,
I have seen those microwaveable food delivery service! The one I have heard great reviews about it Freshly!
Hope that helps!
Stacia says
I’m having fun trying the discount offers. We did Hello Fresh last week, this week it’s Home Chef, and next week it’s Plated. All of the HF meals were tasty, but I could do with less arugula. The HC meal that I made last night seemed to take forever (blame it all on the roasted cauliflower).
HC’s meat portions seem a bit larger than HF’s, but the salmon was kinda leaky and slimed all over the other packages of meat (fortunately, they were all vacuum sealed in a large zip-top bag). My biggest complaint about HC is that most “real” people that I know don’t have pans that can go from sauteing to a 450 degree oven (let alone two of them — as required for last night’s recipe).
Sweetphi says
I totally have to agree with you Stacia! Sometimes if you have some of the services a few weeks in a row you’ll notice the little quirks and think to yourself … why? Like why so much arugula with one service or why so many ‘slaws’ from another service lol. But glad you’re having fun trying the different ones out.
Shay says
Loved the article. I saved it and sent it to my father who is also looking into these services.
I’m struggling to find a service for a single person. Most are for 2 and more people. Any suggestions?
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much, so glad you enjoyed the article – also, thank you for sharing it, much appreciated. So about the serving thing…there is my husband and I who I cook for, so 2 servings. But what I was finding was happening is that I would cook a nice meal for us, and then the next day I’d have to figure out lunch, so what I actually started doing is getting us the family plan which I’ve found is perfect because then I cook once and have dinner and lunch or two dinners for us. So…my suggestion would be to get the 2 person one and have it for 2 meals, it really has saved me time in the kitchen. Hope that makes sense/helps
Etta says
I just made enough for 1 and then cooked 2nd dish days later
Sweetphi says
That’s perfect!
Teri Pendleton says
Freeze half for another day.
Sweetphi says
That’s a great idea! I’ve done that too!
Sherriann says
This was SO helpful! Thank you! ??
Sweetphi says
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, thank you for commenting!!
Katrina Friedfeld says
Your review is great! I only wish you had included prices (although maybe not that different?) and, even more important, minimum meal purchases. I can only accommodate 2 meals a week but need them for 3-4 people. Some of these options require a minimum of 3 meals a week.
Sweetphi says
That’s a great suggestion Katrina, I just rated it on a scale of 1-10 because it each service was so different you know? Anyway, best of luck 🙂
Sylvia says
Thank you for the meal delivery comparison, it was very helpful
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, so glad you enjoyed the post!
Dawn Massey says
Are there any of these companies that can accommodate a family of 5?
Sweetphi says
Hi Dawn, I know that with Home Chef you can order for a family of 6 🙂
Cynthia Carosella says
I have only tried Home Chef so far, my first Blue Apron order arrives next week. I must say that all of the meals I received from Home Chef have been great but I don’t know how they come up with the time that it should take to prepare the meals. The must not include all the prep time and they certainly don’t include all the cleanup time that’s needed for all the dishes that are used.
Sweetphi says
Haha I couldn’t agree more Cynthia! Just this weekend I made one that was supposed to take 30-40 minutes…and it ended up taking over an hour!!!!
Mr. Z says
Three things you should always have on hand are bread, milk (lactose free if you need) and EGGS! Honorable mention: Butter. Seriously, you complain about eggs, please. Your article was informative nevertheless but I prefer to make my meals from scratch..
Sweetphi says
Hi Mr.Z, while I do totally love cooking from scratch (as you can tell by the over 700 original recipes I’ve shared here on my food blog) this post is about a review of home meal delivery services 🙂 so…if I’m buying a meal kit (and they’re not super cheap by the way) I think everything should be included. I wasn’t complaining, but if eggs are a key ingredient, I feel they should be included in the box, don’t you think? I wanted to share in my review my opinions. However, I did find that after trying these services, one that I continued to use to this day (Home Chef) does include eggs, so issue solved.
Beth says
Sorry, it’s pretty rare to find an egg in my kitchen – I don’t bake and eggs are not often used for my cooking. Have to agree, when I’m paying for a meal plan, I expect ALL meal components to be included (exceptions, oil, butter, water) – 50% of my reason for signing up is to completely avoid the grocery store – no, I don’t want to just “run in to grab milk or eggs”, ’cause that then leads to me filling a cart with ‘bad choices”
Sweetphi says
Thank you Beth, I feel the exact same way lol! If I’m paying for the meal, I want ALL the ingredients included 🙂
Indy says
I cook all the time but I agree if paying for a meal plan all items should be included.
Sweetphi says
So glad you agree 🙂
Robin says
Hi, what an amazing awesome review! Thank you so much! I was (when I found you) with pen and small jot book in hand to do research, my pros and cons beforehand stuff like – how many will it feed – family of 6 ( or more when the grown-up children drop in). Cost of meals and so forth, but has to be tasty and good for you too! I’m looking forward to trying HF first due to you great review. Thanks again!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your awesome comment Robin, so glad to have helped!! Hope you enjoy your HF delivery. We’re probably going to be eating the same thing next week because I have a family delivery scheduled (I ended up ordering more this week because I have lots of family visiting and it’s so nice to just make something I know everyone will love.)
Lori Howe says
We have enjoyed the heck out of Home Chef. I might check into some of the others but so far Home Chef has been the most ‘normal’ food selections (not too heavy on the quinoa/kale/etc)
Sweetphi says
Home Chef is great isn’t it? I totally lol’d at your comment about not too heavy on the quinoa/kale, because that’s so true!! I should have added that as a judging category lol.
Erika Medel says
This is amazing! Incredibly helpful! Thank you so much.
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, so glad you like it!
Michelle Harris says
I’m considering these plans. Your information and comparison was exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, thank you for your comment 🙂
Ann Blankenship says
I tried Blue Apron, Fresh Choice and Hello Fresh and HF is my favorite too. We are on the bi-weekly plan. Thanks for the review.
Sweetphi says
So glad you liked the review, and HF is awesome, isn’t it?
Lynn Moore says
The 1 thing in common with all the meal deliveries that I don’t like is that you can’t see the menu selections prior to commuting.
How many people are willing to pay for something without ever seeing it ?
I’m not !
Lynn Moore says
Correction….commiting not commuting ???
Sweetphi says
Hi Lynn,
I completely agree that if you’re not familiar with the sites, it may seem like the menu isn’t available without entering credit card information, however most sites actually have it posted. It’s usually on the top menu bar. For example Home chef has it listed on their menu as ‘Our Menu’ – hope that helps
Phi
Danielle says
Question: My spouse is allergic to all nuts and most fish. Would your recommendations change for my particular circumstance?
Sweetphi says
They might…I just didn’t look into the allergy side of the services though, so I can’t answer that question, sorry!
Shirley Burkkhardt says
I agree with the comment about Florida heat. I now have tried Blue Apron, Home chef and Martha. I have cancelled my account with Blue Apron as the boxes came so beat up, vegetables were already wilted and was missing salmon in one package, they did promptly credit my account but then had to reorder to receive credit. I do think Home Chef is the best so far but am going to try some of your suggestions
Sweetphi says
So glad you liked the review Shirley! I just got a delivery of home chef last week and the food was so tasty. Hope you like the other ones you try 🙂
Edie Allyn-Page says
We tried a couple and settled on Home Chef. I consider myself a good cook (witness my waistline) but the experience has retaught me and my husband a little about portion size. Theirs are adequate but not what I would choose – the 16 ounce Ribeye. My point being that they provide the correct portions for an adult. We have learned to eat healthier. A confirmed vegaphobe – I am enjoying some roasted and pan seared veggies, but please don’t tell my mom. Of course everything isn’t a hit, but most are. Sometimes I alter a little here and there. Like when I just needed fried chicken tenders instead of whatever they wanted me to eat. It is also WONDERFUL not to have to think about shopping, travel (When I say travel, I mean we are 45 minutes from the nearest gallon of milk.) and menus for those three or four nights every week. Well worth the money.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for the awesome comment Edie! I feel the same way, you just said it so well – it’s definitely teaching me about portion size, my husband was even saying the other day he feels like he’s losing weight, but it hasn’t been at the sacrifice of taste or weird diets, it’s just eating better portioned food. Even though I’d consider myself an adventurous cook, there have been multiple meals where I had never used an ingredient before, so it’s neat to try out the different things! Glad to hear you like the services as much as I do!
Candy Gareiss says
Do you have a recommendation for people living in Florida? We used Home Chef of a few weeks and packages arrived with the cooling packs melted and sometimes the boxes soaked through. While all the meat remained chilled some of the vegetables wilted. (It gets pretty hot here in August.). They were kind enough to credit our account when I made them aware but the shipping was the big issue. Any suggestions for Florida delivery?
Sweetphi says
Oh my goodness, I never even thought of that with the heat! So I don’t know how different this would be, but have you tried Hello Fresh? When they deliver the packages (at lease the ones I’ve had delivered) they had these gel packs that they put at the bottom of the insulated box, and I think they’ve been delivered on an 80 degree plus day and were fine. I can’t remember which other service it was, but it came with dry ice. But I’d definitely ask whichever company before they shipped again.
Leslie says
Candy – you might try Home Chef again – I was getting frustrated here in Texas also but they recently changed packaging and it addresse many of the issues I’ve seen folks mention.
Joanne says
I use Hello Fresh and they have the food well insulated. I have no problems. Also, they buy sustainable food and many organic items. I love their recipes and it is easy. I have never used my kitchen this often.
Sweetphi says
Hahah I agree about never having used my kitchen more Joanne 🙂 I also love the sustainable ingredients, and I find myself using ingredients I never would have!
Micko says
Thank you ???
Meredith says
We are currently using Sun Basket and enjoy it very much!! The menu options are great and the food is fresh with a lot of flavors. However, we are thinking of trying other companies just to compare. I am glad you shared your comparisons as I think it was helpful in our decision. Thank you!
Sweetphi says
Thank you for saying that Meredith! Hope you enjoy the other services you try 🙂
Karyn Jones says
Just finished a month of Hello Fresh and loved it but wanted to try some others – I think you just saved me a LOT of time. Thanks.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much! Glad you liked the post 🙂
Heather says
Just got my first kit from Hello Fresh. Loved it!! The 2 recipes I have tried have been a hit. Can’t wait to try more!
Sweetphi says
I’m so glad you like them too – they were my fave one!
Susan Myszkowski says
Could not find the way to reply to original post but our experience with Hello Fresh has been a little different. It has never been delivered in the window it was supposed to arrive hence cooling bags completely melted, soggy bottom on box. Also, the salad greens they include are not yet any that we like…mostly arugula (yuck). Chili recipe was terrible until I doctored it up with things from my own kkitchen. I am however pleasantly surprised how nice it feels to not have to struggle with…what am I going to fix for dinner. And, it keeps me out of the grocery store when I am hungry, we all know how dangerous that can be! ?
Sweetphi says
Thanks for sharing your experience Susan, that is different then mine and i’m sorry to hear that, especially because I feel like since I have been using Hello Fresh (or other services) they have gotten better! Like they used to not include eggs, and now they do (at least I know Hello Fresh and Home Chef do) and they now separate the meat and other items so nicely. I do relate how nice it is to not have to think about what to make, guesswork is definitely taken out of it. Thank you for sharing though, i’m always interested in what people think!
Sheikh says
Excellent Sweetphi, Thanks for great comparison. Will certainly help next time I order meal online.
I really appreciate your work you are making people life easier.
Sweetphi says
So glad you found it helpful 🙂
Nathania says
Was wondering if you also know off hand, if any of these home delivery services offered diff. types of plans such as; Vegan, low carb, etc… ? Thanks!
Sweetphi says
Yes, I believe some of them do. I believe Green Chef offered a Vegan option 🙂
Dawn Connor says
One of the most thorough and relavant comparisons for actual families. I have tried Blue Apron, Home Chef, and Plated.
One thing with Blue Apron, after a while, you get similar flavors. Although we like their dishes, you felt like you had something similar the week before. I have an active account and only request a box once a month or every other month. The downfall is you only get 2 meals – for us, the 3 meals is about optimal.
I have consistently stuck with Plated – their ingredients seem to be fresh and of high quality, which is why we didn’t last with Home Chef (once got 6 rotten potatoes sent to me).
I might just sample the Hello Fresh, just to compare. Thanks!!!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for the super sweet comment Dawn, I really appreciate that, and so glad you liked the review! It’s the absolute worst when ingredients arrive rotten, isn’t it?
I like Hello Fresh because it seemed to me that they use the least amount of dishes when cooking their recipes … and I’m all about that lol 🙂
Ryan Cook says
This is a great post… my fiancé and I do Hello Fresh and set it to only ship once a month. It adds variety to our meals and we have enjoyed everything we have made and even made one of the recipes again. We got a discount for Blue Apron and will be giving that a try next week. I will now have to check out some of these other services as well. Thanks for the input and information you have provided.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for commenting. I too think that it adds variety, I just started using the services again after having a baby – definitely makes life a little easier 🙂 Hope you enjoyed reading about the other services, besides Hello Fresh, you might really like Plated – I love their dessert option!
Denielle says
Hi, thanks for this amazing comparison…it’s what made me want to give meal delivery services a try! I decided to sign up for Plated but sadly my first box never showed up. The tracking shows it was scanned on Sunday evening for delivery on Monday, and here we are a week and a half later with no updated tracking info, and still no box. I’m still very anxious to give Plated a try but I’ve had to skip the next 4 weeks because we’ll be out of town. Plated immediately reimbursed me but the shipping company, LaserShip, has offered no explanation, just an email with the same crummy tracking. Has anyone heard of them or experienced missing/undelivered boxes as well?
Sweetphi says
So glad you liked the comparisons. That’s so odd that your box never showed up, that must have been so disappointing, I know I would have been. I’ve never had that happen, thankfully, so hopefully (sadly for you) it was a weird fluke!
Weiser9 says
Is there anything out there for singles (that’s not already prepared?)
Sweetphi says
That’s such a great question, I have not come across anything yet…if I do ever find something I’ll let you know- hope a reader can chime in!
Rob says
Dinner Thyme allowed for this. Awesome service. However, they just suspended service for a few months.
Sweetphi says
I’ll have to check them out when they’re back, thanks Rob
Shaton says
Love your post. I’ve used Home Chef on a couple of occasions and really enjoyed the food but most of all I enjoyed not having to plan meals. However, after the 2nd time using them, the food didn’t excite me anymore so I’m currently on pause. I have been looking at Hello Fresh so it was great to see your comparison…… same with Plated. I may consider using several of these services on a rotated basis over a period of time – Maybe 2-3 months and then change. That way the flavors and choices may stay more inspiring.
Sweetphi says
I’m so glad you like this post, thank you for your comment! You know, I was the same way, after trying these services back to back, I needed a little break before using them again. I love that you can just pause your account and come back later – they definitely helped with meal time inspiration.
Rita says
Dear Phi,
Love this segment was reading it to Al especially with everything that is going on. Thinking a lot about you this week. Love you, Rita
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Rita!! We loved trying the different services out, it was a really fun post to do. Thank you so much for your thoughts this week- much appreciated, we’ll keep you posted 😉 Love phi
Christina Moehrke says
Hello! I absolutely loved your post on meal delivery services and found it to be very insightful. My husband and I just received our very first Hello Fresh box last night and were pleasantly surprised. The organization was great and the first meal was excellent (Juicy Lucy burgers). I like how Hello Fresh allows you to send a $40 coupon to your friends who might be interested and if they sign up you get $20 off your next order. We have also ordered a box from Blue Apron to come at the end of the week to compare. Home Chef and Plated are next on the list to try.
While I don’t see that it will be a significant savings to our budget, it certainly runs close (some cheaper, others a little more) and it keeps me from having to come up with different meal ideas every week.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment and feedback! I definitely know what you mean, it’s not so much the budget saving, but it’s the ‘mixing it up’ factor and having different meal ideas that i don’t have to think up myself lol! Hope you enjoy the other meal delivery services as you try them. I found it fun to try different ones and compare them to each other!
Edward says
I just signed up with Plated…. I will let you know about my experience!
Sweetphi says
Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Karla Carter says
Thanks for this amazing comparison! Has anyone tried Purple Carrot? It looks fresh and healthy. I’ve been tempted to try it!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much – so glad you liked the comparison. I heard from one of my friends who tried Purple Carrot, she said she liked it, but it’s all plant based (vegan) and she said that while she’s vegetarian, she’s not vegan. She said the food was good, but that she like some of the other delivery services with vegetarian plans better. Hope that helps – I’ve never tried it personally.
Mary W says
Friends of mine were given one of these meal services as a gift. These are people who think cooking is taking dried food out a well known brand name box and boiling it. They were thrilled with the meal service. It really opened their eyes and taste buds to new possibilities. The gift proved to them that they really can cook from scratch and it’s not as difficult as they thought. They gave their gift very high marks and were raving about it. Consider a week or month of these services as a gift for someone; new Moms and Dads, college students, someone new to the neighborhood – there are endless possibilities. And no – I do not work for any of these companies.
Sweetphi says
I absolutely love the idea of giving one of these meal services as a gift. I’m totally going to gift my mom and sisters one!!
Jessiva says
This is such an amazing resource! I love the fact that you took the time to review each and every service and break it down with pros and cons! I’ve only tried Hello Fresh and we did like it, but discontinued it the end of last summer when we needed to kind of pull together the budget. I’ll have to remember Plated too, it looks like another great option! Well done!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much, so glad you liked this post! It was a lot of work, but fun to put together. I know what you mean about the budget though, I tried all of them with the first time customer discounts and then after had to skip a bunch of weeks or services because it definitely adds up. It was really nice to get a bunch of different ideas and inspiration though 🙂
Darcy says
Thanks for this post! I had not really paid attention to these; we’re cattle ranchers and all of the commercials I’ve seen are for Blue Apron, and I personally don’t agree with their marketing/portrayal of traditional (vs organic or natural) farm products as “bad”. I just signed up for Hello Fresh with your code, and want to try Plated next. Thanks for the review & for sharing!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment Darcy, I truly appreciate it! I know what you mean – I felt inundated with commercials and do not always like the strong messages. I was surprised by which services I ended up liking vs. not lol. Thanks again for the comment 🙂
Betsey Weaver says
Thank you for your wonderful post! My husband and I really loved everything you had to say and how you put it all together. Appreciate the time and effort you put into this! I shared it on my Facebook page because I have lots of friends asking about these meal delivery services. Good work!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your awesome comment Betsey! And a big thank you for sharing on Facebook, I really appreciate that 🙂
Kay Bastian says
Phi, Thank You for this post, I love it! very informative and I love the number rating at the end, I now will try one or some of them based on your post. ❤?
Sweetphi says
I’m so glad you liked the post Kay!! Thank you!! I hope you like some of the services – I know they have inspired me to try new things in the kitchen 🙂
Karen @ Seasonal Cravings says
Woah, this is such a thorough comparison. Thanks so much for all the details! I tried Blue Apron and really enjoyed it and I can totally see the value in ordering meal kits. Life is so crazy – it such a time saver1
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much, so glad you liked the comparison. It was fun to do, but also a lot of work lol. I do like meal delivery services, it was nice not to have to think about what i was going to be making for dinner, and totally inspired me with different flavor combinations I normally wouldn’t have tried!
Sues says
What an awesome post!! I still haven’t tried any meal delivery services (trying to resist!), but I know where to come if I decide to go for it 🙂 I’ve heard awesome things about both Hello Fresh and Plated!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much! I was really feeling just low on inspiration and motivation to cook, and I do have to say it was fun trying all the different services and some of the recipes totally inspired me to get cooking again. I really like that one can ‘pause’ or ‘skip’ weeks, so after trying all these different services I can space them out to once in a while 🙂
Buffy Coffey says
This post is awesome! I’ve been trying to figure out ways to make dinner time easier because we all get home at different times. Meal delivery service is something I’ve considered but, I haven’t had time to do any research. Plated is one I haven’t heard of so I may check that one out this weekend. Everyone I know has raved about Blue Apron but, when I looked on their website, I felt like there weren’t many options and the majority of the meals Phoebe would not eat. Hello Fresh was next on my list but, Plated might be a better option for us. Thanks for sharing your experience with each of them. This was extremely helpful!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for commenting Buffy!! I’m just like that – trying to find ways to make dinner time easier, because it can be so hard to come home at the end of the day and then start the process of thinking of ‘what’s for dinner?’ These services were really helpful. I feel like everyone I know has heard of Blue Apron, and I have to say, I was very surprised by how much I did not like their service. There was SO MUCH prep work and dishes involved (I think I counted and for one meal I used like 5 bowls for mixing, 3 pots, 2 pans, and a bunch of utensils – a whisk, a zester, multiple knives, etc.)…it’s just not the way I cook. The food from Plated was so tasty, I seriously saved 2 of the 3 recipe cards to make on my own again because I liked them so much, and I loved that I could add on dessert, that too was really good. Anyway, thanks again for commenting, makes me so happy to hear this post was helpful.