If you’ve been on the hunt for a little help in the kitchen, meal delivery services are waiting in the wings. There are dozens to choose from, each with its own advantages and drawbacks. If you’re wondering which is a better deal or which kind of delivery service offers more convenience, I’m here to break down all three types: grocery delivery, meal kits and premade meal subscriptions.
I’ve tested dozens of grocery and meal delivery services, which has allowed me to get up close and personal with the cost, level of convenience and general pros and cons associated with each. The various types of services all provide an assist of some sort to the time-strapped home cook, but one may be much better than another for your habits, routine, taste and budget.
I’ll share what I’ve learned during my more than five years of ordering, cooking, reheating and eating. Though food delivery services come in dozens of niche varieties — think gourmet snack box subscriptions, wine clubs and others — for this comparison we’ll look at three of the most popular categories: meal kits, prepared meals and grocery delivery.
First, a quick description of each type of meal delivery service and how they operate.
Meal kits
Prepared meals need only be heated and eaten. Most can be frozen for whenever your hunger strikes.
These services send fully prepared meals either fresh or frozen that will generally only require heating, plating and eating, with no cooking needed. Fresh N Lean, Mosaic Foods and CookUnity are among some of the more popular services in 2023. The meals come either fresh or frozen to be eaten or popped in the freezer for later.
Grocery delivery
Prepared meals are the biggest time-saver of the three options, but they’re also the most expensive.
Though each of the three delivery options means fewer trips to the store, all is not equal once that box of provisions arrives.
Because it’ll require no preparation or cooking, a prepared meal subscription is the most convenient of the three types. Prepared meal delivery is akin to takeout but typically comes at a lower cost per meal. Prepared meals can also be frozen for later. In fact, most are designed to be frozen, so there’s no urgency to consume them if your schedule changes. (Meal kits and fresh groceries won’t always afford you the same luxury and often have to be eaten or spun into meals within a week or so.)
Meal kits, particularly services that specialize in quick and easy meals, also offer a significant shortcut over cooking from scratch. Most meal kits offer a range of recipes that take less than 30 minutes. Gobble, for instance, sends ingredients that are often pre-chopped and sometimes even precooked to shave off steps in executing a meal.
Grocery delivery will save you the time and energy you’d normally spend at the market. Once it’s time to prepare meals, it’s mostly business as usual.
Cost and value
Winner: Meal kits.
Instacart may be one of the fastest grocery delivery options, but it’s also one of the most expensive.
To compare the price of meal kits to groceries, I calculated the total cost of one meal kit with the cost of having the same ingredients delivered by a grocery service. The results were nearly identical. When you factor in the convenience associated with meal kits, they edge out grocery delivery and present the best value of the three.
Prepared meal services are typically the most expensive. While some budget-friendly services can be had for under $10 a serving, most cost between $10-$14 per meal.
Variety and versatility
Winner: Grocery delivery.
All three types of services can make for healthy eating habits if you order the right things.
Any one of the three types of services can be used to forge a healthy diet. There are prepared meal delivery services designed for folks looking to cut carbs and calories, eat more protein or manage diabetes.
With meal kits and grocery delivery services, you may have to do a little more of the strategizing and planning yourself to execute healthy meals. If dietary discipline isn’t one of your strong suits, you might consider a healthy prepared meal delivery service to help keep you honest. Some options I tested, like ModifyHealth, even provide free dietician support with your membership.
Overall taste and quality
Winner: Tie between meal kits and grocery delivery (with one caveat).
Splendid Spoon and similar meal services are geared toward breakfast and lunch.
Though you may not want to commit to prepared meals for all your at-home dining, certain services are great for a few meals a week. I find this to be especially convenient for breakfast and lunch. Services such as Splendid Spoon and Daily Harvest send lighter fare including smoothies, soups and grain bowls that are particularly satisfying for those morning and afternoon moments when there isn’t time to cook.
