Skip the planning, the shopping and the prices with these cheap meal delivery services.
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David Watsky
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David WatskySenior Editor / Home and Kitchen
David lives in Brooklyn where he's spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips.
David earned his BA from Northeastern and has toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom.
Right now he's likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or tinkering with a toaster. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week.
Our meal delivery experts have logged more than five years of cooking more than 75 meal kits and tasting upwards of 100 prepared meals, from popular meal delivery services to help land on our list of the best cheap meal subscriptions in 2024.
What to consider
Cost
After you've picked between meal kits or meal delivery, you'll want to find a service within your budget. There are meal kits with recipes for as cheap as $5 a serving with basic menus and no-frills recipes. More expensive services include recipes with more exotic ingredients, high-end cuts of meat and organic produce but they can cost as much as $15 or $20 a serving.
Meal kit or prepared meal delivery
The first big decision you'll make is whether you want meal kits, which require some prep and cooking, or a prepared meal service that sends fully cooked meals that are ready to heat and eat. Meal kits will demand more of your time and energy but they'll also cost a little less per serving. Prepared meals require almost no time and energy, other than what it takes to actually eat the food, but typically run a few bucks more per serving.
Healthiness
While most meal delivery services have healthy options, some are much healthier than others. If you're keen on eating low-calorie, low-carb, plant-based or pescatarian food, certain meal kits and meal delivery services will be better than others. Our list of the healthiest meal delivery services for 2024 is a good place to find all the most nutritious options.
Number of meals per week
With almost every service, the more meals or servings you order per delivery, the cheaper it becomes per meal. You'll want to decide exactly how much food makes sense for your household. If you can't imagine yourself cooking more than twice per week, don't order more than two meal kits because they typically won't last more than a week in the fridge.
Most prepared meals either arrive frozen or can be frozen after unboxing. That means it's less of an issue if you order too many meals on your first go around. Most services allow you to change the number of meals or servings in your plan even after you've started.
Our meal delivery experts have logged more than five years of cooking more than 75 meal kits and tasting upwards of 100 prepared meals, from popular meal delivery services to help land on our list of the best cheap meal subscriptions in 2024.
What to consider
Cost
After you've picked between meal kits or meal delivery, you'll want to find a service within your budget. There are meal kits with recipes for as cheap as $5 a serving with basic menus and no-frills recipes. More expensive services include recipes with more exotic ingredients, high-end cuts of meat and organic produce but they can cost as much as $15 or $20 a serving.
Meal kit or prepared meal delivery
The first big decision you'll make is whether you want meal kits, which require some prep and cooking, or a prepared meal service that sends fully cooked meals that are ready to heat and eat. Meal kits will demand more of your time and energy but they'll also cost a little less per serving. Prepared meals require almost no time and energy, other than what it takes to actually eat the food, but typically run a few bucks more per serving.
Healthiness
While most meal delivery services have healthy options, some are much healthier than others. If you're keen on eating low-calorie, low-carb, plant-based or pescatarian food, certain meal kits and meal delivery services will be better than others. Our list of the healthiest meal delivery services for 2024 is a good place to find all the most nutritious options.
Number of meals per week
With almost every service, the more meals or servings you order per delivery, the cheaper it becomes per meal. You'll want to decide exactly how much food makes sense for your household. If you can't imagine yourself cooking more than twice per week, don't order more than two meal kits because they typically won't last more than a week in the fridge.
Most prepared meals either arrive frozen or can be frozen after unboxing. That means it's less of an issue if you order too many meals on your first go around. Most services allow you to change the number of meals or servings in your plan even after you've started.
Everything seems to be getting more expensive, but meal kit subscriptions are only cheaper, particularly when compared with the cost of buying groceries. Get delicious meals that are healthy and well-rounded without all the planning and shopping with meal delivery services that fit even a tight budget. Cheap meal delivery options include services as cheap as $2 per serving. The absolute cheapest meal kit is EveryPlate. I've tested EveryPlate three times, and it holds steady in the top spot on our list.
EveryPlate has the cheapest meal kits of any service I tried.
David Watsky/CNET
There are budget-friendly picks to consider. I found affordable services that send healthy vegan meals and meal kits for as little as $6 per serving. If you want to kick things up a bit, there are meal kit services that include steak and seafood in the standard plan without those extra charges for premium entrees.
The short of it? You can get delicious food and meal kits delivered to your door for cheap. If you want to cut down on some of the legwork required to cook from scratch -- grocery shopping, meal planning, prep, cooking -- without spending loads of cash, I tested more than a dozen wallet-friendly options to find the best cheap meal delivery services for 2024.
tested EveryPlate</a> and was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked the meals. You won't find a lot of foofy, upscale cuisine or complicated recipes, but you will get a lot of satisfying comfort food, such as hoisin meatloaf with mashed potatoes, cheeseburgers, umami pork chops and sweet potato quesadillas. </p><p>See my <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href=https://www.cnet.com/health/nutrition/cheapest-meal-delivery-service/"https://www.cnet.com/news/everyplate-meal-kit-reviews/">full review of EveryPlate</a>.</p>" page-position linktext linkurl like="~ Excellent value with plans starting at $5 a serving ~ Easy to execute and tons of family-friendly options" dislike="~ Not as many healthy options ~ No customization allowed" can-collapse="true" can-truncate="true" truncate-on-page-load="true" offer="{"id":"840296b7-7415-402d-8e44-94827e1fa5c6","label":"EveryPlate","slug":"everyplate","edition":["US","ES"],"imageId":"eda3a91b-b6e5-40c4-b985-bf2721d33f0e","imgUrl":"/content/image/redirect/eda3a91b-b6e5-40c4-b985-bf2721d33f0e/resize/75x56","typeLabel":"Tech Product","objectType":"content_product","icon":"type-icon ct-cmg-tech-product ct-small"}" techobjectinfo="{"uuid":"840296b7-7415-402d-8e44-94827e1fa5c6","slug":"everyplate","name":"EveryPlate","productType":"PRODUCT","updateType":"PRISM","mod":1722542013070}" overridecredit="EveryPlate" overridecaption="<p></p>" imagegroup="{"uuid":"6b3ec26b-83b0-457d-a487-3db1ad5239e8","alt":"Every Plate meal delivery service","caption":"<p></p>","credits":"EveryPlate","imageData":{"id":"6b3ec26b-83b0-457d-a487-3db1ad5239e8","filename":"ep.jpg","path":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/6069aba7e6ee6af59f0e6178a00e38027d091ae0/hub/2020/12/03/6b3ec26b-83b0-457d-a487-3db1ad5239e8/ep.jpg?auto=webp&height=500","dateCreated":{"date":"2020-12-03 20:33:42.000000","timezone":"UTC","timezone_type":3},"primeColor":null,"hasWarning":false},"size":"","float":"","lightbox":false,"imageUrl":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/6069aba7e6ee6af59f0e6178a00e38027d091ae0/hub/2020/12/03/6b3ec26b-83b0-457d-a487-3db1ad5239e8/ep.jpg?auto=webp&height=500","imageCaption":"<p></p>","imageCredit":"EveryPlate","imageAltText":"Every Plate meal delivery service","imageFilename":"ep.jpg","imageWidth":1200,"imageHeight":800,"imageDoNotCrop":false,"imageDoNotResize":false,"imageWatermark":false,"imageDateCreated":"2020-12-03","imageParallax":"","imageCrop":"","imageEnlarge":false}" usepricing="false" ng-block="{"id":"486ruxkissyehgg","type":"listicle"}" edition="us" data-key="cnetlisticle__6c9f4751-bc6c-44b4-ac26-4bc7c1a08782" index="1" contenttype="Best List - Precap" pagelayout="Default - Article Page" tagslugs="gap-project,bl-promo-banner,meal-kit,hv28,freelance-update" productpromo="true" isbestlistredesign="true" imagecredit="EveryPlate" imagealttext="Every Plate meal delivery service" class="c-bestListListicle">
The bottom line: EveryPlate's meal kits were all solid and easy to make. This is also the cheapest meal kit, with plans as low as $2 a serving. EveryPlate meal kits are easy to prepare and I loved everything I made in multiple rounds of testing.
EveryPlate is the overall cheapest meal kit service, with recipes starting at $2 a serving -- sometimes less if you snag a sign-up offer. I tested EveryPlate and was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked the meals. You won't find a lot of foofy, upscale cuisine or complicated recipes, but you will get a lot of satisfying comfort food, such as hoisin meatloaf with mashed potatoes, cheeseburgers, umami pork chops and sweet potato quesadillas.
The bottom line: Dinnerly wasn't my favorite meal kit service but it lands on this list because it is one of the cheapest. The service sports a big selection of easy recipes, more than 60 in a given week, with plans starting at under $5 a serving. This is the perfect service for families with picky eaters trying to eat well on a budget.
Dinnerly is another cheap meal kit. Much like EveryPlate, Dinnerly has a lot of comfort foods such as ravioli with spinach and parmesan sauce, carne asada tacos and chicken pad thai. Dinnerly has an enormous menu of recipes -- typically more than 60 to choose from in a given week.
The bottom line: This plant-based meal delivery service had some of the best, healthy prepared meals of any service I tried. Meals are also affordable.
I sampled about nine of Mosaic Food's plant-based prepared meal offerings and the vegetarian prepared meal delivery service had an astoundingly high hit rate. Mosaic uses bold and interesting global flavors and employs creative use of meat substitutes such as tofu, jackfruit, cauliflower and vegan sausages to create tasty and satisfying vegetarian meals -- even for this omnivore. There are some vegan meals, but many of them use dairy products, so vegans must choose their Mosaic meals more carefully.
most eco-friendly service</a> of the major players, according to a recent study.</p><p>Read my <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href=https://www.cnet.com/health/nutrition/cheapest-meal-delivery-service/"https://www.cnet.com/health/nutrition/blue-apron-review/">full review of Blue Apron</a>.</p>" page-position linktext linkurl like="~ A standard plan includes steak and seafood recipes ~ Recipes are interesting and easy to make" dislike="~ Some produce was a little overripe" can-collapse="true" can-truncate="true" truncate-on-page-load="true" offer="{"id":"c86eac5e-9ed1-4940-a0bd-0ffbcb7c4ce1","label":"Blue Apron","slug":"blue-apron","edition":["us"],"imageId":"","imgUrl":"","imageHeight":0,"imageWidth":0,"typeLabel":"Product","objectType":"content_product","icon":""}" techobjectinfo="{"uuid":"c86eac5e-9ed1-4940-a0bd-0ffbcb7c4ce1","slug":"blue-apron","name":"Blue Apron","productType":"PRODUCT","updateType":"PRISM","mod":1722542013403}" overridecredit="David Watsky/CNET" overridecaption="<p></p>" imagegroup="{"uuid":"7bbf7c57-0228-4d96-9c0c-3c31b7dd3819","alt":"blue apron steak dinner","caption":"<p></p>","credits":"David Watsky/CNET","imageData":{"id":"7bbf7c57-0228-4d96-9c0c-3c31b7dd3819","filename":"steak-dinner.jpg","path":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/f42715593e3e36b9e5b759fc65c94a0ff1de167e/hub/2023/05/31/7bbf7c57-0228-4d96-9c0c-3c31b7dd3819/steak-dinner.jpg?auto=webp&height=500","dateCreated":{"date":"2023-05-31 20:36:30.000000","timezone":"UTC","timezone_type":3},"primeColor":null,"hasWarning":false},"size":"","float":"","lightbox":false,"imageUrl":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/f42715593e3e36b9e5b759fc65c94a0ff1de167e/hub/2023/05/31/7bbf7c57-0228-4d96-9c0c-3c31b7dd3819/steak-dinner.jpg?auto=webp&height=500","imageCaption":"<p></p>","imageCredit":"David Watsky/CNET","imageAltText":"blue apron steak dinner","imageFilename":"steak-dinner.jpg","imageWidth":4032,"imageHeight":3024,"imageDoNotCrop":false,"imageDoNotResize":false,"imageWatermark":false,"imageDateCreated":"2023-05-31","imageParallax":"","imageCrop":"","imageEnlarge":false}" usepricing="true" ng-block="{"id":"mhr87cix8tn55oh","type":"listicle"}" edition="us" data-key="cnetlisticle__e735b319-a1d5-40a2-a791-6f1847cbf862" index="4" contenttype="Best List - Precap" pagelayout="Default - Article Page" tagslugs="gap-project,bl-promo-banner,meal-kit,hv28,freelance-update" productpromo="true" isbestlistredesign="true" imagecredit="David Watsky/CNET" imagealttext="blue apron steak dinner" class="c-bestListListicle">
The bottom line: Blue Apron is a classic example of a quality meal delivery service. One of the original providers of this service, it also stands out for eco-friendliness.
Blue Apron is one of the original meal kit services and it's also one of the best. Blue Apron topped our list of best meal delivery services for 2024 with a wide range of excellent recipes, all for an affordable price. It's true, you can order bistro steaks and roasted trout dinners with Blue Apron's standard plan, where many services charge extra for those premium proteins. In addition to solid meal kits, Blue Apron is the most eco-friendly service of the major players, according to a recent study.
A recent independent analysis found that Blue Apron meal kits have the most environmentally friendly packaging.
Blue Apron
I tried Daily Harvest</a>, I loved the interesting smoothie combos such as a chocolate blueberry smoothie with greens, banana and almond butter. The heartier meals are great too, like the cauliflower rice and pesto harvest bowl with cashews and spinach. You won't need more than a saucepan, toaster or blender to prepare most of the meals, and most can be made in as little as 5 minutes.</p><p>Read my <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href=https://www.cnet.com/health/nutrition/cheapest-meal-delivery-service/"https://www.cnet.com/health/nutrition/daily-harvest-review/">full Daily Harvest review</a>.</p>" page-position linktext linkurl like="~ Healthy meals for breakfast and lunch ~ Shipping is free over $40" dislike="~ Some of the bowls an noodle dishes are just OK ~ Smoothies can be sneakily high in sugar" can-collapse="true" can-truncate="true" truncate-on-page-load="true" offer="{"id":"1b94beb7-8087-4c9d-99e3-2fdc04beb6a1","label":"Daily Harvest","slug":"daily-harvest","edition":["us"],"imageId":"7c5c91ae-61f3-48b3-a7ad-c50125b1619b","imgUrl":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/7c3b87926e83f413186c38ab9cfa42a065918571/hub/2020/01/03/7c5c91ae-61f3-48b3-a7ad-c50125b1619b/daily-harvest-cups.jpg?auto=webp&width=300&height=300&fit=crop","imageHeight":0,"imageWidth":0,"typeLabel":"Product","objectType":"content_product","icon":""}" techobjectinfo="{"uuid":"1b94beb7-8087-4c9d-99e3-2fdc04beb6a1","slug":"daily-harvest","name":"Daily Harvest","productType":"PRODUCT","updateType":"PRISM","mod":1722542013768}" overridecredit="Daily Harvest" overridecaption="<p></p>" imagegroup="{"uuid":"34a41744-b96f-44dd-9694-12933da525e2","alt":"daily harvest meals","caption":"<p>Daily Harvest meals arrive in recyclable packaging with very little excess plastic waste. </p>","credits":"Daily Harvest","imageData":{"id":"34a41744-b96f-44dd-9694-12933da525e2","filename":"screenshot-2023-12-20-at-3-43-12pm.png","path":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/dcf5efdb32bc5394857f99c49eb46db8e5e2d1e7/hub/2023/12/20/34a41744-b96f-44dd-9694-12933da525e2/screenshot-2023-12-20-at-3-43-12pm.png?auto=webp&format=pjpg&height=500","dateCreated":{"date":"2023-12-20 20:43:38.000000","timezone":"UTC","timezone_type":3},"primeColor":null,"hasWarning":false},"size":"","float":"","lightbox":false,"imageUrl":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/dcf5efdb32bc5394857f99c49eb46db8e5e2d1e7/hub/2023/12/20/34a41744-b96f-44dd-9694-12933da525e2/screenshot-2023-12-20-at-3-43-12pm.png?auto=webp&format=pjpg&height=500","imageCaption":"<p>Daily Harvest meals arrive in recyclable packaging with very little excess plastic waste. </p>","imageCredit":"Daily Harvest","imageAltText":"daily harvest meals","imageFilename":"screenshot-2023-12-20-at-3-43-12pm.png","imageWidth":2036,"imageHeight":1416,"imageDoNotCrop":false,"imageDoNotResize":false,"imageWatermark":false,"imageDateCreated":"2023-12-20","imageParallax":"","imageCrop":"","imageEnlarge":false}" usepricing="false" ng-block="{"id":"hwdf0evvahmufob","type":"listicle"}" edition="us" data-key="cnetlisticle__095a8cc1-ea45-4f2f-a215-3c3520ab2954" index="5" contenttype="Best List - Precap" pagelayout="Default - Article Page" tagslugs="gap-project,bl-promo-banner,meal-kit,hv28,freelance-update" productpromo="true" isbestlistredesign="true" imagecredit="Daily Harvest" imagealttext="daily harvest meals" class="c-bestListListicle">
The bottom line: For simple and healthy breakfasts and lunches with almost no fuss, Daily Harvest has loads of superfood-packed smoothies, soups, snacks and bowls to stock the fridge, many of them costing under $10.
Daily Harvest isn't a traditional meal kit company but rather sends healthy, plant-based smoothies, soups and grain bowls to your door, starting at $7 a meal. When I tried Daily Harvest, I loved the interesting smoothie combos such as a chocolate blueberry smoothie with greens, banana and almond butter. The heartier meals are great too, like the cauliflower rice and pesto harvest bowl with cashews and spinach. You won't need more than a saucepan, toaster or blender to prepare most of the meals, and most can be made in as little as 5 minutes.
The bottom line: It doesn't get much easier than HelloFresh. This service has tons of cheap meal kit options, more than 50 per week, and allows you to add proteins or extra servings to keep the whole crew fed and happy.
HelloFresh is a bit more per serving than EveryPlate or Dinnerly -- $10 a serving if you order meals for four -- but this budget-friendly meal delivery service affords you more recipe options and I'd contend the recipes and ingredients are of a higher caliber too. HelloFresh has as many as 25 dinner meal kits per week, so it is nearly impossible not to find something you'll like. HelloFresh also has five or six plant-based recipes a week, making it the best cheap meal kit service for vegetarians.
We cooked our way through dozens of meal kits from all of the most popular services.
David Watsky/CNET
Over the past few years, I've tested nearly every meal kit delivery and prepared meal delivery service I could get my mitts on, and that includes the best budget meal delivery services. Many of the menu options for the meal delivery services I've listed include nutritious plant-based food or high-protein recipes with lots of veggies and lean meats.
To test each cheap meal delivery service, I tried at least four and sometimes as many as 10 meals from any given service. I always choose a range of meals from the various menus and meal plan offerings. For instance, if a meal subscription service offers vegan or vegetarian meals I was sure to try at least one. I also mixed up the cuisine types to include pasta, meat dishes, bowls and other various styles offered by the brand.
To test the best cheap meal kits, there was another set of standards and protocols to adhere to. Here's more on how we test meal kits at CNET.
Factors to consider when choosing a cheap meal delivery service
Cost
After you've picked between meal kits or meal delivery, you'll want to find a service within your budget. There are meal kits with recipes for as cheap as $5 a serving with basic menus and no-frills recipes. More expensive services include recipes with more exotic ingredients, high-end cuts of meat and organic produce, but can cost as much as $15 or $20 a serving.
Meal kit or prepared meal delivery
The first big decision you'll make is whether you want meal kits, which require some prep and cooking, or a prepared meal service that sends fully cooked meals ready to heat and eat. Meal kits will demand more of your time and energy but they'll also cost a little less per serving. Prepared meals require almost no time and energy, other than what it takes to actually eat the food, but typically run a few dollars more per serving.
Blue Apron is budget-friendly and includes steak and seafood options.
David Watsky/CNET
Healthiness
While most meal delivery services have healthy options, some are much healthier than others. If you're keen on eating low-calorie, low-carb, plant-based or pescatarian food, certain meal kits and meal delivery services are better than others. This list of the healthiest meal delivery services for 2024 is a good place to find the most nutritious options.
Thistle meals are as healthy as they get and show up fresh. Here's what I thought of the prepared meal service.
David Watsky/CNET
Number of meals per week
With almost every service, the more meals or servings are in your order per delivery, the cheaper it becomes per meal. Ideally, you'll want to determine exactly how much food makes sense for your household. If you can't imagine yourself cooking more than twice per week, don't order more than two meal kits because they typically won't last more than a week in the fridge.
Most prepared meals either arrive frozen or can be frozen after unboxing. That means it's less of an issue if you order too many meals on your first go-around. Most services allow you to change the number of meals or servings in your plan even after you've started.
Daily Harvest is one of the healthiest and cheapest meal delivery services we tried.
Our meal delivery experts have logged more than five years and have cooked more than 75 meal kits, and tested more than 100 prepared meals, from popular services to help land on our list of the best cheapest meal delivery services in 2024.
EveryPlate and Dinnerly are the cheapest meal kits with most plans clocking in at under $6 per serving. HelloFresh and Home Chef are in the next tier with portions for $7 or $8 per serving.
With family meals clocking in at $5 a serving and single meals around $9, Mosaic Foods is the cheapest prepared meal service we've tested. Fresh N Lean also has prepared meals for around $9 or $10 each, depending on how many you order. Meal delivery services like Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon have meals for similar prices but are focused more on grain bowls and smoothies and might be better for breakfast or lunch versus dinner.
What is the best meal delivery service for weight loss?
When it comes to meal kits, your options are many, and most services provide weekly recipes that are low on calories but still filling. HelloFresh has the most recipes per week of any meal kit service, so that might be your best bet for finding consistent meals that keep your diet goals on track. But all meal delivery services list the calorie content for each recipe, along with carbs, protein, sugar and sodium.
Depending on your weight loss goals, a healthy prepared meal delivery or meal kit service can help. Fresh N Lean, Pete's Real Food and Daily Harvest all have low-calorie meals to choose from.
What's the difference between meal kits and premade meal delivery?
Some of the services listed here are healthy prepared meal delivery services, sending fully cooked meals -- often frozen or partially frozen -- and ready to eat when you receive them. Others include health-focused meal kits with premeasured ingredients all boxed up and ready for easy weeknight cooking. There's a stark difference between meal kits and meal delivery, but both make dinnertime easier and can translate into healthier eating choices for you in 2024. Plus, we sussed out the best healthy meal delivery services for those on special diets like keto or paleo or for those who wish to eat organic prepared meals and meal kits.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
