You have options galore if you’re thinking about trying a meal delivery service for 2022, including some inexpensive meal plans that don’t sacrifice on taste. Both meal kit delivery services and prepared meal companies have launched with cheaper options, making these easy meal-by-mail systems far more practical than when they first hit the scene.
And if it’s convenience you covet, these services deliver it in spades. Meal delivery is fast, simple, and can definitely help you eat healthier in 2022. All of this without breaking the bank if you suss out the cheapest meal subscriptions available. There are meal delivery services for fully prepared meals or preportioned ingredients for a home-cooked meal as low as $5 a serving.
We’ve been testing every meal delivery kit and meal delivery service we can get our oven mitts on, and that includes the least expensive services, some of which boast fare that tastes anything but cheap. Many of the menu options for the meal delivery services we’ve listed include nutritious plant-based food or high-protein recipes with lots of veggies and lean meats. Since you often get to pick your own food, you decide what shows up at the door to help you stick to your healthy eating goal.
A good meal delivery service will rid you of your cooking duties, but you’ll need one that fits your budget if you’re planning to use it regularly and not for a special occasion. The cheapest meal service offerings I tried churn out excellent recipes and are definitely worth a try. If you’re trying to curb your GrubHub or DoorDash habit, you can save some dough by subscribing to an affordable meal kit delivery service that sends healthy, wholesome ingredients to add interesting dishes to your meal plan. And don’t worry about getting bogged down by complicated recipes. Many of these top meal kit services, and especially the cheapest meal delivery service options, have recipes that take 25 minutes or less.
Meal kits have seen a serious uptick in customers during the pandemic, since having the essentials delivered just makes life simpler. There are also more fully prepared meal delivery services than ever before, to save you on those days and nights when cooking isn’t in the cards at all. Meal kits from companies such as Blue Apron, Green Chef and Sunbasket aren’t new, but most of them are on the pricey side, with some as much as $12 or $13 per serving. I’ll tell you about the best cheap meal kit services, and I’ve tested them all to ensure the quality is up to snuff.
If you’re ready to trim some grocery store trips off your weekly routine and grab an easy meal kit subscription or a one-time meal delivery order, you’ll want a meal service that’s right for you, since many have niche menus and recipes. For example, if you’re an experienced home cook looking for preportioned ingredient kits to help diversify your monthly recipe rotation, you might opt for one of the more sophisticated operations such as Sunbasket, Green Chef or Martha & Marley Spoon. Or, if you have dietary restrictions, you’ll want a meal kit service that can cater specifically to those.
But you’re here because you want the cheapest meal delivery service. Many cheap meal kits have easy recipes, starting at as little as five bucks a serving — even less if you snag a sign-up offer. Dinnerly and EveryPlate, both of which clock in at $5 a serving, are the most budget-friendly outfits. There are also midrange options such as HelloFresh and Home Chef that may cost a few bucks more per serving, but they allow for more customization and have more recipes to choose from each week. So if you have specific dietary needs or are just a picky eater, they afford you more flexibility in your meal choice. Most of these meal delivery services also offer vegetarian options or customization for those who don’t eat meat. We’ll also note that there are meal kits that cater to a specialized diet, such as keto, paleo, low calorie, gluten-free and more.
No matter your budget, tastes or schedule, there are affordable and tasty meal delivery services to make cooking for you or the family as easy as ever. We tested all the cheapest meal kits operations and prepared meal services on this list, all to help you decide which one is best.
Read more: Best meal delivery deals right now
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EveryPlate
EveryPlate is the cheapest meal kit service, with recipes starting at $5 a serving — sometimes less if you snag a sign-up offer. I tested EveryPlate recently and was pleasantly surprised. You won’t find a lot of foofy, upscale cuisine or complicated recipes, but you will get a lot of satisfying, rib-sticking meals such as hoisin meatloaf with mashed potatoes, cheeseburgers, umami pork chops and sweet potato quesadillas.
EveryPlate meal kits are easy to prepare and I loved everything I made, making it my pick for the best budget-friendly meal kit in 2022. For more, read my full review of EveryPlate.
Price: $5 a serving.
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Dinnerly
Clocking in at a comparable $5 a serving is Dinnerly, another great cheap meal kit. Much like EveryPlate, Dinnerly has a lot of comfort foods such as ravioli with spinach and parmesan sauce, carne asada tacos and chicken pad thai.
I tested the affordable meal kits from Dinnerly and all were easy to prepare, although — on average — they involved more work than EveryPlate’s recipes. There were also a few big misses among the hits. But Dinnerly is a bit more dynamic than its cheap counterpart and allows you to add on protein packs of chicken breast, ground beef or shrimp for meal planning along with a small market of snacks and desserts, which you can tack on at an extra cost.
Price: Starts at $3.39 a serving, plus $9 shipping.
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HelloFresh
HelloFresh is a bit more per serving than EveryPlate or Dinnerly — $11.79 a serving if you order meals for four — but this budget-friendly meal delivery service affords you more recipe options and I’d contend the recipes and ingredients are of a higher caliber too. HelloFresh has as many as 25 dinner meal kits per week, so it is nearly impossible not to find something you’ll like. HelloFresh also has five or six plant-based recipes a week making it the best cheap meal kit service for vegetarians.
When I tried HelloFresh’s meal kits recently, I made the meatloaf a la mom, barramundi with corn and potato hash and pork chops with honey butter. I liked all three. Check out my full review of HelloFresh for everything you need to know about the meal delivery service.
Price: $11.79 a serving.
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Home Chef
At just a tick more than HelloFresh is Home Chef. I tried Home Chef a few months back and loved the flexibility and customization the meal kit subscription allows for. For instance, you can swap the protein in just about any recipe or double the portion if you’re expecting company or want leftovers to eat for lunch during the week. Home Chef also has affordable oven-ready meal kits which only need to be assembled in a tray and cooked — no chopping or prep required.
A few Home Chef recipes I tried and liked were the moo shu pork tacos and bruschetta shrimp risotto which had a ton of garlic but was far easier to make than I expected. Read my full review of Home Chef.
Price: Most meals are $7 a serving with some even cheaper such as lunch meal kits and entree salads.
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Freshly
If you desire to do exactly no cooking at all but want tasty meals delivered at an affordable price, Freshly is where it’s at. Freshly sends precooked meals (fresh, not frozen) to your door in a one-time order or subscription. While this cheap meal delivery service has healthy recipe options aplenty, Freshly is one of the better options if you want the occasional cheat meal or serving of comfort food.
Penne bolognese, peppercorn steak with mashed potatoes and chicken casserole are just some of the heartier choices you can have delivered and at the ready. But there are also healthier, low-cal Freshly meals to keep yourself honest.
Price: Freshly is just $11.79 per meal when you order 12 meals per week.
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Daily Harvest
Daily Harvest isn’t a traditional meal kit company but rather sends healthy, plant-based smoothies, soups and grain bowls to your door, starting at $7 a meal. While the other options on our list are geared towards dinnertime, Daily Harvest is best to have affordable (and easy) breakfast and lunch meals ready to heat and eat.
When I tried Daily Harvest, I loved the interesting smoothie combos such as a chocolate blueberry smoothie with greens, banana and almond butter. The heartier meals are great too like the cauliflower rice and pesto harvest bowl with cashews and spinach. You won’t need more than a saucepan, toaster or blender to prepare most of the meals and most can be made in as little as 5 minutes. Read my full Daily Harvest review here.
Price: Meals are between $6 and $9 and there’s no subscription required.
More food and drink delivery recommendations
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
