This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Since the early days of Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, and Plated (it's been a bit over a decade since then!), the number of meal kit services has skyrocketed. That's great if you got bored with the companies you originally used, or if you have dietary restrictions that are now better accommodated, but how are you supposed to decide among so many options?!
While we've talked about easy weeknight dinners, meal planning apps, and meal prepping, we haven't focused on meal kit delivery services before — so let's chat about it today! (Somehow it seems like a good topic for a Monday, doesn't it?)
If you've used meal kits to simplify and streamline your meal planning and cooking, did they work for you? (By the way, while meal kits got much more popular during the pandemic, they're not doing as well now. Have you seen any better deals out there because of that?)
What Are The Best Meal Kit Services?
Here are a few questions to get the conversation started:
1. What are your favorite meal kit services, and why? Any fails?
2. Which companies do you think have the best options for special diets — vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, keto, and so on?
3. For readers with kids: Which meal kits have turned out to be child-friendly?
4. Which companies' kits seem to produce more or less waste?
If you prefer meal delivery services — no assembly required! — let us know your recs for those, too! Readers have mentioned Factor, Thistle, and Spinly in the past.
Stock photo via Stencil.
Lydia
Not vegan (we’re pescatarians), but I love Purple Carrot’s meal kits and have learned a lot of cooking tricks from them!
Anonymous
I’ve also really liked Purple Carrot’s meal kits — also not vegetarian or vegan, but we’ve had some huge hits and it’s been a great way to find fancy-but-meatless dishes. We’ve recreated at least one or two recipe by ourselves with easier-to-source ingredients too, like swapping feta or bleu cheese for whatever vegan cheese it came with.
Anon
In contrast, I really didn’t end up liking them and cancelled. They seemed to do a lot of meat-replacements when I would have preferred natural protein sources with vegetables. I try to eat vegan food, but the options just weren’t that appealing to me.
anon.
The only one we’ve had success with is Green Chef. We’ve tried them all and it’s the only one I’ve been like TAKE MY MONEY. The main difference for me is they often send the sauces for the meals so you aren’t also making those, and they’re usually really good/ restaurant quality sauces. On that note, shameless plug for a free box – https://shorturl.at/bwJW0
NY CPA
I’ve tried a few and Blue Apron are the ones I find tastiest with decent portion sizes. I have some food allergies so I like that I can tailor things vs a pre-prepared meal where I couldn’t change ingredients.
Senior Attorney
Same. We’ve tried others and always go back to Blue Apron. 10 years now and still loyal.
Anon
This board has the best suggestions. Thanks to whoever recommended Shoe Goo to me!
My favorite leather loafers had their original leather insoles start peeling up last fall. The lining would then stick to my toes and wrinkle into an uncomfortable wad throughout the day. Someone here recommended Shoe Goo. I used a disposable plastic knife to smear the Shoe Goo around under the insoles and it worked a charm! My shoes are wearable again without the need to extricate my toes from the lining each time.
Anon
We use HelloFresh and like it. I’m a vegetarian. Their veggie dishes have some variety and they usually (not always) do a decent job with protein. There are a lot of chickpeas, black beans, grilling cheeses, etc.
Whenever I look at other (non-vegan) meal kit services, it’s always so much carb. Cauliflower steaks and rice. Pasta with a vegetable waved at it. Potato tacos. Squash and rice. Sorry, no, that’s not a balanced meal.
Anonymous
I liked Sunbasket and Marleyspoon, but I haven’t used any in many years, and I think Marleyspoon changed its service and selection a lot since then so I can’t speak to itz recent offerings.
Anon
We have 2 kids under 3 and my husband is a big meat and potatoes guy so have been doing Home Chef for a while. Solid and quick/easy which is what we need right now.
Sydni
I have two teens with celiac disease so we need to eat 100% gluten free. Before their diagnosis, I liked Hello Fresh best for price point, variety, and kid-friendly recipes. But it doesn’t have a dedicated gluten-free plan, so now I get Hungryroot which does have plans for all kind of dietary restrictions. I am mostly happy with it. The recipes are very fast, most items are pre-washed, cut, and often cooked, so you are just combining things and heating. They also have groceries, so you can easily add in extra protein or veggies without having to add additional meals. The downsides are less variety in recipes, higher price (which is to be expected with dietary restrictions), and not as kid friendly.
ggg
Marley Spoon was good during the pandemic — my kids really liked the meals. Eventually I felt I was repeating the same meals over and over again though. I still use many of their recipes, I just get the ingredients at the regular grocery store.