Meal kits and prepared meal delivery have gotten significantly cheaper than when they first splashed onto the scene. In fact, I did the math and some budget-friendly meal kits amount to only 1 or 2 dollars more than if you bought the groceries yourself. Plus, meal kits and premade meal subscriptions are super-convenient, sending ready-to-eat meals or all the ingredients to make homemade meals right to your door.
When you sign up for a new service they almost universally offer serious new-customer deals to entice you to give their service a try. One of the best meal delivery deals for May is an exclusive offer we secured with Freshly. The popular prepared meal service is knocking $25 off each of your first five orders (total savings of $125) with exclusive code CNET25. And you don’t have to order all five boxes either; try one or two deliveries with the discount and see how you like it.
The best meal kit deals (require some cooking) equate to $2 a serving, which is far less than you’ll spend buying all the necessary ingredients at the supermarket. They also forgo long-term commitments so you can try one of these meal kits or prepared meal services for almost nothing and with very little risk. There are affordable meal kits and prepared meal subscriptions for every type of eater: keto and paleo dieters, vegans, carnivores, experienced home cooks and newbies alike.
Read more: Here’s How Much Meal Kits Cost Vs. Buying Groceries
What are the best meal delivery deals right now?
That depends on what you’re looking for. If it’s the lowest possible cost, EveryPlate and Gobble will send meals, and some for under $3 a serving when you sign up to give ’em a try. Other popular prepared meal services such as Freshly, HelloFresh, Factor and Daily Harvest are ready to send perfectly portioned, ready-to-cook dinners to your doorstep, at per-serving prices that are far cheaper than takeout.
Watch this: The best meal kit for you
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Do meal kit sign-up deals have commitments?
Nope. Virtually all of them allow you to pause or cancel any time just in case you don’t love it, so there’s almost no risk after the deal is up. Although you may have to unsubscribe from their email blasts. The point is, most brands just want you to try out the meals and see if you dig them and those brands are willing to make it very easy (and cheap) to do that. To make things easier, we already tried the top meal kits and meal delivery services so you’ll know exactly what to expect and you can pick the best food delivery deal for you and your tastes.
Pssst, over here. Because all these meal-kit companies let you cancel for free after the trial, you can try multiple services, all at hugely discounted sign-up prices and then see which one you like the best. You’ll save a ton and find out firsthand what each one has to offer.
Read more: Best Healthy Meal Delivery Services for 2022
So which meal delivery service is the best?
I’ve tried most of them and they’re all pretty solid, with differences to consider depending on your budget, diet, taste and kitchen skill level. You can check out CNET’s roundups of the best meal-kit delivery services and best healthy food delivery services for a more detailed, er, taste. And remember, nearly all of these meal-kit companies let you pause or cancel anytime, so the risk and commitment when signing up for a meal-kit service is minimal.
Whether you’re looking for ways to eat healthily, learn to cook new recipes or just make fewer trips to the grocery store this winter, a healthy, versatile and budget-friendly meal delivery deal can help you do it on the cheap.
These offers were valid at the time of publication, but they can end at any time and may be restricted by geography and other cookie-based conditions in your browser. If you don’t see a deal populate, try in a new window or private browser. In the meantime, if you’ve already tried one or more of these, tell me which ones and what you liked or didn’t like.
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Freshly
Freshly is one of the most consistent prepared meal delivery services we’ve tried. The meal subscription service offers a wide range of recipes from comfort classics to lean and healthy meals. They all arrive fresh, ready to be eaten or stored in the fridge for the next time you need a quick lunch or dinner but have no time to cook.
Right now, CNET readers can score $25 off each of their first five orders with promo code CNET25. That’s $125 in total savings if you go for all five boxes. But there’s no commitment and you can give Freshly a try (with the discount) and pause or cancel after the first week if it’s not for you.
Plus, in honor of National No Dirty Dishes Day on May 18, Freshly is launching a “Summer of YOU” campaign giving a select number of busy folks $500 to spend more time doing what they love. Freshly subscribers are automatically entered to win $500. Non-subscribers simply email summerofyou@freshly.com with your first and last name and “Summer of You Sweepstakes Entry” as the subject line between May 18 and May 31.
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Veestro
Veestro is a fully prepared vegan meal delivery service, so all you’ve got to do is heat and eat. I tried it and found the 100% plant-based food to be consistently fresh and tasty. Veestro has a massive menu of ready-to-eat, meat-free meals with lots of (but not only) organic ingredients. You’ll have a whopping 44 dinners to pick from each week, and Veestro makes use of some alternative meat substitutes too, so you’ll see a lot of meals that make you forget you’re eating vegan food at all.
If you try the vegan meal subscription and agree to sign up for emails and texts, you’ll save a whopping $160 across your first four deliveries.
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Blue Apron
I tried the original meal kit company this past year and Blue Apron still holds up. After nearly a decade in business, Blue Apron still keeps things fresh and interesting with tasty brand collaborations, special menus, wine pairings and other fun stuff.
If you sign up for Blue Apron this week, you’ll score $110 off across your first five boxes. That’s about half the normal price and means meal kits for as little as $4 per serving if you choose two recipes per week to feed two people. Plus, your first box ships free.
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ButcherBox
OK, so ButcherBox isn’t exactly a meal delivery service, but you can certainly make some excellent meals with what this online butcher service sends in its monthly boxes. ButcherBox is an online meat subscription service specializing in Australian grass-fed beef. But you can also have heritage pork and organic chicken in your monthly box depending on the subscription you pick.
Monthly shipments of 8 to 11 pounds of meat start at $137 but If you sign up now, ButcherBox will include 7 free pounds of meat including ribeyes, chicken and burgers in your first box.
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Mosaic
This isn’t the most monumental deal we’ve seen but it is one of the best meal delivery services we’ve tried in a long while. Mosaic Foods churns out tasty plant-based meals that can be frozen for later. There’s no subscription required, so this would be a good chance to snag a few meals for a busy week. Use code FIRSTBOX to get $15 off your first order of meals. There is a minimum order of $70 (about eight meals) so your final tally will be somewhere around $55. Read our Mosaic Foods review.
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Brandy Yowell
Gobble is quite similar to the other services, except that many items come already chopped, peeled, marinated and so on — which can definitely save you some prep time. The two meals I received, Yankee pot roast and cacio e pepe, were terrific. Dinner prices are normally a flat $12 per serving, however, so you do pay a bit extra for that convenience.
Gobble will send your first six easy meal kits for $36 total. That’s about as cheap as you’ll find high-end meal kits anywhere. For more, read our Gobble review.
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EveryPlate
While the price of everything else continues to soar, EveryPlate has found a way to lower the price on its meals when you sign up for the popular and affordable service.
EveryPlate is already our pick as the best meal-kit service for families on a budget, but it’s about to get even cheaper. You won’t see a lot of haute cuisine, but I’ve tried its pork sloppy joes and its chicken and linguine in a tomato cream sauce. All the meals I tried were delicious, easy to prepare and light on the wallet.
You can score EveryPlate’s already cheap meal kits for just $2 per serving for your first delivery, a total of $60 spread across your first three boxes. Read our EveryPlate review.
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Sunbasket
Over the past year, we’ve tried just about every meal kit service there is and one of them outpaced the rest of the field as our clear favorite. Sunbasket recipes were the most consistently delicious, interesting and fresh-tasting, landing it the No. 1 spot on our best meal kits of 2022 ranking.
If you’ve never tried Sunbasket, we’ve got an exclusive offer that’s too good to pass up. Sunbasket meals usually break down to about $10 or $11 per serving depending on your plan. If you’re trying it for the first time, you’ll save $100 across your first four deliveries, plus free shipping and four free gifts. Read our Sunbasket review.
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Splendid Spoon specializes in deliveries of quick smoothies, soups, rice bowls and other smaller noshes that are great for breakfast and lunch. Some work well for dinner too, but I like this service better for those first two meals of the day. The meal delivery service has some interesting recipes along with classics, so there’s a little something for everyone.
If you want to give Splendid Spoon a try, you’ll get $15 off your first box if you choose either the Breakfast, Lunch + Reset plan or the Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner + Reset plan.
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David Watsky/CNET
Factor (sometimes called Factor75) had some of the best prepared meals I tried in my many rounds of testing all the leading services in this growing category. I enjoyed a lot of its low-carb and keto-friendly offerings such as pesto salmon over creamy spinach with green beans — and the keto cheesecake was nothing short of transcendent. Among the hits were some misses too and you can read all about the service in my full review of Factor here.
Sign up for the meal delivery service and save a total of $120 off your first five boxes of meals. This deal applies to any of the meal plans, from four per week all the way up to Factor’s 18-meal plan, and you’re welcome to cancel as soon as the offer expires.
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HelloFresh
HelloFresh has more total meal-kit selections than any other service and most of them are pretty easy to prepare. You can check out my deep-dive review of HelloFresh to learn more about the easy meal delivery service.
HelloFresh is offering an enticing sign-up deal that amounts to 16 free meal kits over the course of your first six deliveries. It’s a lengthier commitment than most sign-up deals, but you’ll get $50 off your first box, $31 off your second, $19 off your third box and $18 off each of the subsequent three shipments of meals. Plus, three surprise free gifts are included and there’s free shipping on the first box.
One catch in securing the sign-up deal is you have to provide a phone number, which the brand admits may be used for marketing purposes, but you’d have to provide that either way if you planned to sign up for HelloFresh. You can pause or cancel your subscription anytime after those six weeks.
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Daily Harvest
Daily Harvest is quite possibly the easiest way to eat healthily without ever having to learn to cook. Sign up and you’ll get steady (or one-time) shipments of vegan soups, smoothies, bowls, flatbreads and snacks. Daily Harvest meals are chock-full of healthy, organic ingredients and trendy superfoods like kabocha squash, kale, berries and avocado. All you have to do is blend or heat and eat.
Right now, use promo code WELCOME2022 and Daily Harvest will trim a cool $35 off your first box of 24 items or $25 off a box of 14 meals. Read our Daily Harvest review.
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Hungryroot
While it’s not a traditional meal kit or meal delivery service, Hungryroot melds artificial intelligence and healthy groceries to send a curated heap (based on your preferences) of high-quality groceries, snacks and proteins for quick meals — or more intricate meal-making. This is a good option if you like cooking and are looking for some healthy kitchen inspiration, but find meal kits too restrictive. Like, maybe you just don’t want tilapia tacos with lime crema tonight.
Hungryroot is offering new customers 30% off to try the service and a free gift in every delivery for life. If you’re hoping to try it out, know you can pause or cancel the service anytime. Even if you pause and reactivate, your free gift remains intact.
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Home Chef
I tested Home Chef last year and loved its highly customizable meal kits and comfort-food recipes with a healthy bent, all of which were easy to prepare. Home Chef is also one of the more affordable meal-kit companies, starting at $7 per serving, and is even more so if you sign up using this offer.
For new subscribers, Home Chef is offering $110 off when you sign up for four boxes of meals. The savings are spread out over four deliveries — $30 off the first two and $25 off the next two. If you’ve been wanting to try a meal-kit subscription, Home Chef makes it easy (and cheap). You can pause or cancel anytime, so the risk is low. Read our Home Chef review.
My advice: Take advantage of each and every one of these offers (making sure to pause or cancel after, unless you want to continue). You can see which service you like best and get super cheap takeout-style meals for weeks at a time.
More food 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.
