Cheapest Meal Delivery Services of 2023 – CNET
Read more: Are Some Meal Kits Cheaper Than Buying Groceries? I Did the Math
Budget-friendly certainly doesn’t have to mean bad, and that includes for meal kits and prepared meal delivery services. If you’re looking to eliminate a few weekly tasks — grocery shopping, meal planning, prep, cooking — without going broke we tested dozens of the top wallet-friendly services to find the very best cheap meal subscriptions in 2023.
Best cheap meal delivery services for 2023
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Sample Menu: Ravioli with spinach and parmesan sauce; Carne asada tacos; Chicken pad thai.
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Sample Menu: Ravioli with spinach and parmesan sauce; Carne asada tacos; Chicken pad thai.
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Sample Menu: Ravioli with spinach and parmesan sauce; Carne asada tacos; Chicken pad thai.
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Sample Menu: Mushroom and truffle risotto with fava beans; Yellow dal curry; Harissa jackfruit bowl
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Sample Menu: Mushroom and truffle risotto with fava beans; Yellow dal curry; Harissa jackfruit bowl
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Sample Menu: Mushroom and truffle risotto with fava beans; Yellow dal curry; Harissa jackfruit bowl
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Pricing Starts at $6/servingType Prepared mealsMeal options per week 80Good for Vegan, vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free, low-calorie
The bottom line: This plant-based meal delivery service had some of the best, healthy prepared meals of any service we tried. Meals are also affordable with some costing as little as $6 a serving..
<div data-id data-cy="shortcodeListicleSmallImage" data-location="LIST" data-filter-low="true" edition="us" superlative="Starts $8.49 a serving" imagegroup="{"alt":"hello-fresh.png","caption":"
Sample Menu: Thai coconut chicken curry; Cheesy bean enchiladas, Hot honey Brussels sprouts and ricotta flatbread
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Sample Menu: Thai coconut chicken curry; Cheesy bean enchiladas, Hot honey Brussels sprouts and ricotta flatbread
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Sample Menu: Thai coconut chicken curry; Cheesy bean enchiladas, Hot honey Brussels sprouts and ricotta flatbread
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Pricing Starting at $8/mealType Pre-madeRegional Availability 95% of continental United StatesNumber of Meal Options per Week 40+Menu Options/ Diet Types Organic, whole fruits and vegetables, dairy-free, gluten-free
The bottom line: For simple and healthy breakfasts and lunches with almost no fuss, Daily Harvest has loads of superfood-packed smoothies, soups, snacks and bowls to stock the fridge, many of them costing under $10.
Having tested all of the leading prepared meal delivery service options, Fresh N Lean ran away from the competition, ticking more boxes than any other. The food is healthy, thoughtfully prepared, tastes fantastic, looks appetizing and is fairly affordable, depending on the plan you select.
Cheapest prepared meal services compared
We cooked our way through dozens of meal kits from all of the most popular services.
Over the past few years, we’ve tested nearly every meal kit delivery and prepared meal delivery service we could get our oven mitts on, and that includes the best budget meal delivery services. 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.
To test each cheap meal delivery service, I tried at least four and sometimes as many as 10 meals from any given service. I always choose a range of meals from the various menu and meal plan offerings. For instance, if a meal subscription service offers vegan or vegetarian meals I was sure to try at least one. I also mixed up the cuisine types to include pasta, meat dishes, bowls and other various styles offered by the brand.
To test the best cheap meal kits, there was another set of standards and protocols to adhere to. Here’s more on how we test meal kits at CNET.
Factors to consider when choosing a meal delivery service
Cost
After you’ve picked between meal kits or meal delivery, you’ll want to find a service within your budget. There are meal kits with recipes for as cheap as $5 a serving with basic menus and no-frills recipes. More expensive services include recipes with more exotic ingredients, high-end cuts of meat and organic produce but can cost as much as $15 or $20 a serving.
Meal kit or prepared meal delivery
The first big decision you’ll make is whether you want meal kits, which require some prep and cooking, or a prepared meal service that sends fully cooked meals that are ready to heat and eat. Meal kits will demand more of your time and energy but they’ll also cost a little less per serving. Prepared meals require almost no time and energy, other than what it takes to actually eat the food, but typically run a few bucks more per serving.
Healthiness
While most meal delivery services have healthy options, some are much healthier than others. If you’re keen on eating low-calorie, low-carb, plant-based or pescatarian food, certain meal kits and meal delivery services will be better than others. Our list of the healthiest meal delivery services for 2023 is a good place to find all the most nutritious options.
Number of meals per week
With almost every service, the more meals or servings your order per delivery, the cheaper it becomes per meal. But you’ll want to hone in on exactly how much food makes sent for your household. If you can’t imagine yourself cooking more than twice per week, don’t order more than two meal kits because they typically won’t last more than a week in the fridge.
Most prepared meals either arrive frozen or can be frozen after unboxing. That means it’s less of an issue if you order too many meals on your first go around. Most services allow you to change the number of meals or servings in your plan even after you’ve started.
Why you should trust us
Our meal delivery experts have logged more than 5 years of cooking more than 75 meal kits and tasting more than 100 prepared meals from various services to help land on our list of the best healthy meal subscriptions in 2023.
Cheap meal delivery FAQs
EveryPlate and Dinnerly are the cheapest meal kits with most plans clocking in at under $6 per serving. HelloFresh and Home Chef are in the next tier with portions for $7 or $8 per serving.
What is the best meal delivery service for weight loss?
Some of the services listed here are healthy prepared meal delivery services, sending fully cooked meals — often frozen or partially frozen — and ready to eat when you receive them. Others include health-focused meal kits with premeasured ingredients all boxed up and ready for easy weeknight cooking. There’s a stark difference between meal kits and meal delivery, but both make dinnertime easier and can translate into healthier eating choices for you in 2023. Plus, we sussed out the best healthy meal services for those on special diets like keto or paleo or for those who wish to eat organic prepared meals and meal kits.
