The Best Meal Kits to Make Eating Healthier Easier

As much of a necessity cooking is in our day-to-day lives, it can feel like quite a hassle. From planning out recipes, making your way to the grocery store, and potential food waste from leftover ingredients, there’s no doubt a lot of time, money, and energy goes into creating tasty meals. But you can simplify the process with meal kits. 

Meal kits take some of the stress out of cooking and planning. Many options provide pre-measured and sometimes already-prepared ingredients, so you aren’t left with excess that will sit in your pantry or fridge until they expire. Some even have no-prep meals that you can cook in the oven or microwave. And best of all, they offer food variety and recipe inspiration. Whether you’re in a cooking rut and want to try new recipes or are new in the kitchen and want to build up your cooking skills, meal kits are sure to help. 

_{Prices are accurate as of December 17, 2024. Subject to change.}

Blue Apron

Blue Apron is a fan-favorite option that has both meal kits and prepared meals. It provides dozens of offerings each week across categories like chef favorites, nutritionist-approved, family-friendly, fast and easy, and meat-free. The recipes feel gourmet and are innovative and flavorful, but best of all, they’re easy to create. Preparation and cook time varies between meal kit recipes, however, you can find options that can take between 15 minutes up to almost an hour. When it comes to the prepared meals, they can be ready to serve in just five minutes. There’s also a great selection of add-ons including a la carte protein like shrimp, sides, and desserts. Choose between two and four servings and two to five meals per week for as low as $7.99 per serving. 

EveryPlate

EveryPlate is one of the most affordable meal kits on our list with over 27 meals to choose from every week. Its options cover a variety of preferences including vegetarian, family-friendly, calorie-conscious, meat and veggies, and quick and easy. EveryPlate also has additional ingredient add-ons, like extra bacon, cheese, or sauce. Choose between two, four, and six people and three, four, or five meals each week. Whatever combination you choose, you’re only paying $5.99 per serving.

Unlike other meal kits I’ve tried, EveryPlate’s ingredients come in a small cardboard box. It’s such a small detail, but it made me feel like I picked up some produce from a farmer’s market or farm share. Not to mention, the meals were delicious and easy to make. I already have a few in mind that I can’t wait to cook again.

Factor

Factor is a prepared meal delivery service that has over 40 “chef-prepared and dietitian-approved” meals to choose from every week. It features a selection of add-ons for each delivery, giving you options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and snacks in between. It’s incredibly easy compared to kits that you have to prepare yourself. For most meals, you pop them in the microwave for a few minutes and they’re ready to go.

I was lucky to try it, and if I could get Factor all the time, I would. Each meal was packed with flavor, the protein shakes were filling, and the wellness shots and smoothies were refreshing. The only thing is, Factor isn’t cheap. Each week, you can select as few as six meals at $13.99 each or as many as 36 meals at $11.49 each. As for meal variety, there are a lot of options if you eat meat, a few for pescatarians, and only a handful of vegetarian and vegan picks.

HelloFresh

HelloFresh offers over 60 meal options every week, and there’s no shortage of variety with preferences including meat and veggies, family-friendly, pescatarian, vegetarian, “fit and wholesome,” and 20-minute meals. Even though there are options that can take as little as 15 minutes to whip up, most meals average around 30 to 45 minutes to prepare and cook. Plans start for as low as two meals and two servings for $11.49 per serving, and go up to six meals and 12 servings at $9.99 per serving.

Out of all the meal kit services, I’ve used HelloFresh the most. I can attest to how easy it is to use and appreciate the flexibility of the service, which allows you to pause or skip deliveries without any fuss when needed. I found the recipes to be beginner-friendly and easy to follow, and that’s coming from someone who wasn’t always the most confident in the kitchen. Even the most novice chefs can tackle them.

Green Chef

Green Chef’s meal kits are made with a healthy lifestyle in mind that include certified organic ingredients. Each week, you can choose from over 40 meals that cater to different diets and preferences, including Mediterranean, keto, protein-packed, calorie-smart, plant-based, quick and easy, gluten-free, and gut and brain health. There are also add-ons available, including canned coffee, egg bites, oats, meat, fish, and more. When selecting your Green Chef meal plan, you can build your plan to cover two, four, or six people, and three or four meals per week, with pricing coming in at $11.99 per serving.  

When I tested Green Chef, the quality of the ingredients tasted fresh and the recipes were clear and easy to follow. The recipes I chose took around 30 minutes, but meals can range between 10 minutes to 45 minutes including prep and cook time.

Purple Carrot

If you’re tired of the limited plant-based options at other meal kit services, Purple Carrot is exactly what you need. It offers kits, prepared meals, grocery items, and frozen meals, all catering to plant-based eaters. For meal kits, you can filter through the menu based on preferences for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and less prep time. Breakfast meal kits can take as little as five minutes to make, whereas dinners can take up to 45 minutes. In terms of Purple Carrot’s overall offerings, it knocks it out of the park. When you don’t feel like cooking, you can easily reach for the prepared or frozen meals, and when you’re feeling ambitious, you can always opt for a full meal kit. 

Home Chef

Home Chef is packed with over a dozen meals, and has filters to sort through recipes for options that are plant-based, calorie-conscious, carb-conscious, and those that can be cooked in less than 30 minutes, among others. In addition to kits, you can also get microwavable meals, no-prep oven-ready meals, culinary collections with premium ingredients, and extras, like breakfast, dessert, and snacks. Prep and cook time can take anywhere between 15 minutes for express meals to 50 minutes for more advanced recipes.

What sets Home Chef apart from other services is that it can cater to larger households. Rather than limiting boxes to four servings as most meal kit options do, Home Chef has family meal plans with up to six servings, and sometimes more. When customizing your meal plan, you can set it up for two, four, or six people and two to six recipes per week for as low as $6.49 per serving.

Marley Spoon

When it comes to being a pro in the kitchen, who’s better to learn from than Martha Stewart? Marley Spoon is a meal kit service that lets you choose from over 100 Martha-approved recipes. There are options for every meal and dietary preference, whether you want a savory seared steak or kid-friendly shortbread cookies. It’s an incredible option for foodies who have some cooking skills already under their belt and want to expand their horizons. With Marley Spoon, you can choose a meal plan to include two or four people and two to six meals per week. Servings can cost anywhere between $9.99 to $12.99.

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