Jack
There is almost not a day we don’t hear about a new meal kit delivery service. I’ve decided to check out the ones that offer a good taste/price ratio. To be exact, I tried nine of them and I am pretty sure there is at least one delivery service that you will love!
I like no fluff blog posts so I will cut to the chase. I will tell what is good and what is not-so-good for each service along with a few photos I took (practically, my tripod took).
Note: Due to the high demand during pandemic (Coronavirus in 2020), almost all services stopped offering new customer discounts. Some of them even stopped accepting new customers.
The order of the services in this post is random.
#1 HelloFresh
HelloFresh is one of the first meal kit delivery services. It’s also one of the most popular ones. So let’s see what makes it this popular!
Pros
- Great taste! Especially those tacos were amazing
- Recipes with photos for each step (perfect for visual-learners)
- $15 off if you subscribe to their newsletter
- Easy to find nutritions table on their website
- Appetizers and desserts. Try their garlic bread and cookie dough!
- Great support! If there is something missing for a meal, they issue a refund right away
Cons
- Once you start your plan, you are enrolled in all upcoming weeks. They keep shipping (and charging) meals unless you skip weeks.
- They send coupons for other services such as wine delivery, jewelry, shaving stuff etc. You keep getting the same coupons every week.
Your link to deliciousness with HelloFresh
#2 Sun Basket
From the time you wake up to the time you go to bed… Sun Basket has lots of options for every meal and snack break.
Pros
- The biggest variety of options I have ever seen. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack… Everything! You probably won’t need to do any grocery shopping
- You can order half-prepared meals. Ingredients come chopped for those. You just cook the meat and put everything together
- Those jars are cute and reusable! I love them!
- $40 off for new customers! (Here is the discount link)
Cons
- Expensive ($13 per serving. It goes down to $11 if you order 4 meals. Still on the expensive side)
- No pictures for each step in the instructions card. Only one photo and lots of text.
- Instructions cards are in each meal bag. So if you are trying to decide which one to cook by their photos, you will have to open each bag to see photos
- Opted in automatically for upcoming weeks unless you cancel the plan
Enjoy a wide variety of options with Sun Basket
#3 EveryPlate
Environment friendly at every step. Even for the meal bags. Well, there are no meal bags. All ingredients are in the same box.
Pros
- Super affordable ($5 per serving). Small portions though (You knew it)
- Compact recipe card but there are still lots of photos. Thanks!
- Perfect support! They are fine with late cancellation
Cons
- No individual meal bags. It’s sometimes confusing to find which ingredients go to which meal
- No snacks whatsoever. Only meals. We need chocolate!
- Automatic enrollment for upcoming weeks
Check out this affordable service, Every Plate
#4 Blue Apron
I ordered it. They canceled it. End of the story.
Okay, I will add more. They canceled a few days before the delivery and apologized about the situation (High demand, wrong calculations). I had high demand related issues with other services too but they have never canceled the order. There were just delays.
Canceling the plan is not easy, by the way. Here is what they want you to do for this:
You may cancel your subscription online at any time by emailing cancellations@blueapron.com and following the instructions in our response.
Other services let us cancel by clicking a link.
Alright, I found a direct link to cancel your plan.
#5 Green Chef
Green Chef in three words: “Healthy and pricey”. By the way, don’t confuse them with Home Chef (I did!)
Pros
- Big recipe card that is easy to read and follow
- Healthy meal options
- Healthy meal plans (Keto, Paleo, Balanced Living, Plant-Powered)
Cons
- Expensive ($13 per serving. It goes down to $11 in the family plan)
- Email-only support (No messaging or support ticket system)
- Automatic enrollment for the upcoming weeks
- No mobile app
Link to healthy meals with Green Chef
#6 Freshly
Ready to heat! Ready to eat!
Pros
- Fast and easy. Fresh version of the microwave-ready meals in grocery stores
- Affordable ($9 if you order 6 meals per week, $8 if you order 12 meals per week)
- Order meals up to 12 per week
- Easy to skip or unskip weeks
- $20 off for new customers (Click here to get this discount)
- Extra $7.5 off if you use Rakuten (cashback site)
- Paypal is accepted
Cons
- Automatically opted in and charged for the upcoming weeks
In rush for food? Check out Freshly!
#7 Snap Kitchen
Protein-packed meals that taste good and ready in minutes! Plus, they come with a huge discount!
Pros
- High protein meals. Perfect especially for those who want to build muscles
- Tastes fresh even though it’s microwave-ready
- $45 off! One of the biggest discount among meal kit delivery services (Use this link to get the discount)
- Super easy to skip or unskip weeks
Cons:
- On the expensive side ($11.67 per serving if you order 6 meals per week. It goes down to $9.58 if you order 12 meals per week)
- The website is hard to navigate when you first visit it
Get delicious meals from Snap Kitchen!
#8 Factor
Low carbs prepared performance meals
Pros
- Wellness packages that come with nutrition coaching and workout accessories
- $40 off for new customers! (Use this link to get discount)
Cons
- Expensive ($15 per meal if you order 4 meals, $11 if you order 18 meals)
- Automatically enrolled in the upcoming weeks
Get performance meals from Factor!
#9 Fresh n’ Lean
A different approach to prepared meal containers
Pros
- 15% off to everyone during the hard times! (Pandemic in 2020). Thank you!
- Free Delivery
- Small ice packages (easy to recycle)
Cons
- No dashboard to manage upcoming weeks (at the time of writing)
- Not easy to cancel the subscription plan
- It’s hard to remove the plastic wrap around the containers
- Not able to choose meals
- Minimum order of $85
- No mobile app (at the time of writing)
And the Winner is…
You may be wondering which one I will continue ordering or will I continue using meal kit delivery services at all?
I will continue using one of these services. Actually, two of them!
The Meal Kit Delivery Services I chose
My preference for cooking from scratch is HelloFresh! The taste of meals and step-by-step recipes made this choice easier!
My preference for ready-to-heat prepared meals is Snap Kitchen! It’s because they taste perfect as if you cooked them from scratch. The meals are also rich in protein!
What is your favorite one and why? Comment below.
If you are thinking about going on a road trip once you have a chance from working and cooking, check this post out: 5 Apps You Will Ever Need for Your Road Trip
