What are they?
Meal delivery services are, as their name suggests, meals - most often dinner - that get delivered to your doorstep.
Meals in most cases actually mean ingredients to make meals.
You can choose to get 2-4 meals delivered per week with a serving size of either two people or family size (4 people).
Why use them?
✨You spend less time in grocery stores.
Meal delivery services are a WONDERFUL invention for people who struggle with food.
A hurdle many people face in their relationship with food is learning how to navigate grocery stores without anxiety.
Grocery stores can be triggering or overwhelming. With a meal delivery service, you could easily shop for breakfast and lunch items at the beginning of the week, get a couple of frozen dinners (Amy's is my favorite brand for organic frozen meals) to supplement your meal delivery meals, and then eat high-quality, home-cooked meals the remainder of the week.
✨Meal delivery services take the headache out of meal planning.
It can be hard for anyone to sit down and plan 7 dinners in one sitting. It's even more difficult for people who are re-writing their food stories.
With meal delivery, you get to defer to an "expert." You can trust that whoever created these meals knows how much protein, fat, sugar, vegetables, fruit, and calories your body needs at dinner time.
If you've been on a "fat-free" diet for most of your life, it could be hard for you to walk into a grocery store, buy a block of cheese, and incorporate it into your meals throughout the week.
Meal delivery services can be a non-threatening way to bring "fear foods" back into your repertoire.
✨You can practice structured intuitive eating.
It's unrealistic to suggest that you check in with your body every night, see what it's craving, and then go get that exact food at a grocery store or restaurant.
With a meal delivery service, you pick out your meals ahead of time. Once they arrive, you can check in with your body nightly to see of these 3-5 options which one sounds the best to me.
Do I need more meat or veggies today?
Something more savory or sweeter?
Am I in the mood for something heavier and filling or something on the lighter side?
Then choose one of your pre-selected meals accordingly!
✨They save you time and money.
Yupp, that's right. I believe these services which can appear costly, actually save you two of your most valuable resources.
Timesavers:
No more flipping through cookbooks looking for a recipe
No more last-minute grocery store runs to get that missing ingredient
Most boxes provide recipes that can be cooked in 30-45 minutes
Some boxes provide vegetables that are pre-cut and most ingredients are already measured out saving you steps while cooking
Money savers:
No more buying that special, expensive ingredient that you only need for one recipe and then goes to waste in your refrigerator. Meal boxes come with fun and obscure ingredients that are measured out to exact proportions for your meal. You can try new things and experiment without spending money on a whole bottle.
No more buying the big bag of veggies only to have it spoil in your refrigerator because you couldn't use it up soon enough. Again, you're given the exact amount of ingredients so no food goes to waste.
Every service that I list below 👇 has an amazing introductory deal. So, if I'm telling you about 8 services. And you can get very discounted meals for the first week of each... that's 8 weeks of high quality, low-cost food. Then if you fall in love with one of the boxes, stick with it and see if the full price works in your budget. You can cancel your subscription at any time.
What's the catch?
Honestly, the only word of warning I have is that sometimes the portions aren't 100% filling.
If you need a lot of calories at the end of the day or live with someone who does, you might want to have cereal and milk on hand for an after-dinner snack.
Some services provide larger portions than the others. I recommend trying them all and see what works for you!
The list:
Included below are my favorite meal delivery services (in no particular order). Yes, I've tried all of these. Most of them more than once.
Full disclaimer: Links with a ** are my personal referral links. This means if you buy a box using this link, I get a credit in my account and you'll help me put food in my belly and I'll be full of gratitude for you throughout my entire meal. I'm only listing services that I love and truly, honestly recommend.
For easy comparison, the prices I list below will be for a box of three meals for 2 people (so 6 meals if you're single).
Green Chef
Green Chef prides itself on having very versatile meal plans (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free)
Every Plate
Every Plate prides itself on being budget-friendly.
Hello Fresh
Hello Fresh is an oldie but a goodie. It's one of the original meal delivery services, has a ton of meals to choose from, and the recipes are delicious!
Daily Harvest
Daily Harvest is the outlier in the group because they serve single-serving meals/snacks and a large part of their product line is smoothies.
We tried the mint chocolate chip one which came with fresh mint leaves and cacao nibs for instance.
And the vanilla bean one had chickpeas in it. VERY yummy. I highly recommend trying this one because it's so different and offers food that I wouldn't normally think to make on my own!
Home Chef
Home Chef prides itself on having a variety of meals to choose from and ensuring the prep is easy.
Purple Carrot
Purple Carrot is a plant-based service. No meat, vegan, delicious.
Sun Basket
Sun Basket prides itself on providing organic and sustainable ingredients.
Blue Apron
Blue Apron is another classic. They are one of the original meal delivery services and provide a delicious experience.
There you have it! Bon appetit!
Let me know which ones you try and how it goes!
Want to stay in the loop?