As much as cooking is a necessity 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 offer pre-measured, sometimes already-prepared ingredients, so you aren’t left with excess that will sit in your pantry or fridge until it expires. Some even have no-prep meals that you can cook in the oven or microwave. And best of all, they offer variety in food 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 October 17, 2025. 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.

Featured image credit: Monkey Business Images/ Shutterstock

Healthy eating is a journey, not a destination, and it all starts in your kitchen. We would love to believe that we can outsource our healthy eating habits to restaurants and delivery services, but the truth is that cooking healthy meals at home is essential to developing sustainable, long-term habits. Not only do you have control of the ingredients and nutritional content, but it also helps save money, reduce food waste, and develop your confidence as a vaunted home chef. The tools at your disposal can make or break your ability to cook healthy meals with ease and efficiency. These are some of the items you need in your kitchen to up your culinary game and put a healthy spin on your everyday menu choices.

_{Prices are accurate as of December 15, 2024. Subject to change.}

Souper Cubes

It happens like clockwork every year. You begin with the best intentions to eat healthier, but after days of reheated leftovers, cravings for takeout inevitably take over. It’s a familiar dilemma, but there’s a simple solution. Our eating habits totally transformed when we discovered a game-changing meal prep solution called Souper Cubes, which portions out leftovers, saves money, freezer space, and food waste, and switches up your menu so you don’t grow tired of repeating homemade healthy meals. Whether you want to portion out homemade soups, lightened-up sauces, lean meats, or hearty grains and sides, these stackable, bright blue freezer trays, which come in multiple portion sizes, are the healthy cooking and freezer-space solution we wish we had years ago. With these nifty trays, we’ve been able to freeze homemade broth, pasta, and other filling, nutritious meals that leave boredom and blandness off the menu.

Breville Joule Turbo Sous Vide

The best way to cook healthy is to expand your culinary knowledge and dare to be bold with your menu choices. After all, when you’re confident about whipping up nutritious meals, you’re more likely to stick with healthier habits and give Uber Eats a rest. One adventurous cooking method we’ve taken up recently is sous vide, which cooks food in a water bath at a consistent, lower temperature for longer periods of time so you’re left with tender, succulent meals, especially proteins, that not only taste better but also retain more nutrients than traditional cooking methods. Of all the sous vide machines we’ve tried, none come close to the performance, speed, and ease of use of the Breville Joule Turbo. It cooks fantastic cuts of fish, chicken, beef, and pork that have us reaching for it numerous times a week. The Autopilot feature, which takes the guesswork out of doneness, has become our go-to cooking method. Though we rely on this tool for protein preparation, sous vide can also cook veggies, desserts, and other delicious fare. 

OXO Dressing Mixer

Store-bought condiments like bottled salad dressings can be hidden sources of added sugars and artificial ingredients, undermining the nutritional value of an otherwise healthy salad. To elevate your salad game and support your health goals in 2025, we recommend investing in a vessel that can mix and store your own flavorful and nutritious scratch-made dressings. Dressing containers are nothing new, but what makes this piece from OXO our favorite is its generous size and versatility. The wide-mouth opening makes it easy to squeeze lemon juice, pour oils and vinegars, and drop in minced garlic and scallions, while the interior mixing blade helps keep everything well-distributed so you can mix, stir, and pour without issue. The container’s leak-proof and air-tight storage also outperforms any other vessels we’ve used in the past, preventing oily messes and keeping the dressing fresh from the first pour to the last. Your greens will never taste better.

Our Place Perfect Pot 

If we had to choose just one cookware brand to obsess over, it would be Our Place. Not only are the brand’s pots and pans versatile and easy to clean, but they double as decorative pieces in glorious shades like lavender and sage. This colorful cookware is our go-to when we want to make healthier weeknight meals, from veggie-packed stir-fry, teriyaki salmon, and creamy black bean soup. We’ve long been obsessed with the Always Pan, but it’s the Perfect Pot that we lean on most when we need to make healthy meals in a flash. Part of healthy cooking is having the go-to, multi-purpose tools that make cooking simple, approachable, and quick, which is why we can’t help but recommend the Perfect Pot for its ability to roast, boil, bake, braise, steam, and fry, among other uses.  

Ninja Food Processor

When you commit to healthier eating, you’ll likely utilize a food processor far more than you ever expected. This powerful appliance comes in use to make things like spreads, dressings, and soups, so you can make your own provisions instead of eating sugar-filled peanut butter, store-bought hummus, sodium-laden canned soup, or bottled pesto. Though there are countless food processor brands to choose from at every price point, we’re particularly fond of this Ninja food processor, which also doubles as a blender for those green morning smoothies. Simple and easy to operate, it takes the guesswork out of food preparation so you can focus on making fresh, health-centric foods that support those worthwhile resolutions. 

Prodyne Fruit Infusion Pitcher

It’s not technically a cooking method, but there’s no way around it, drinking plenty of water is key if you want to embrace a healthier lifestyle overall. There are days when we dread sipping the bland beverage, which is why we made a resolution to start incorporating some flavor. Forgoing sugary flavor packets, we’ve instead opted to infuse our water with lemon, cucumber, strawberry, kiwi, and other natural flavors with the help of this pitcher. Toss the ingredients into the removable rod and drop it in, letting the infusion work its magic. Not only does it help us stay hydrated, but it’s also a huge hit when it comes to entertaining.

Hedley & Bennett Chef’s Knife 

A dull knife is a no-go when it comes to healthy cooking. If you’re in the midst of chopping up fresh veggies, fruits, and proteins, the last thing you need is a knife that will leave you hacking, sawing, and struggling to get the job done. That’s why we took our dull, lackluster knives, tossed them, and invested in a one-and-done piece that can handle whatever is on the end of its blade. Culinary supplier Hedley & Bennett, known for their coveted chef-designed aprons, actually sells one of the best 8-inch chef knives we’ve ever used. The durable knife is made with three layers of tough Japanese steel and an ergonomically designed handle that works wonders in professional and home kitchens alike. No matter if we’re breaking down a Boston butt or dicing our veggies to miniscule pieces, this easy-to-wield knife is a sharp and sophisticated tool that’ll have you slicing up health-conscious cuisine on the regular.

Featured image credit: Unsplash+ via Getty Images