Discounted meal plans
They can be a good way to introduce your family to healthier meals. Finally, meal kit services often feature large selections of meals from different types of cuisine.
They can add some much-needed variety if your dinners have been feeling stale. There are two different types of meal delivery services: prepared meal delivery and meal kit delivery. Prepared meal delivery services send single-serving meals that are completely cooked.
They only require reheating and they may be sent fresh or frozen. Meal kits, on the other hand, consist of weekly shipments of recipe cards and all the corresponding ingredients to cook those recipes. There are five main factors to consider when choosing the best affordable meal delivery service for your household.
For individuals, prepared meals may be more convenient, but meal kits are often a better choice for families. Families who follow specific diets like gluten-free, vegan or keto will need to choose meal delivery services like Purple Carrot or Green Chef, which are more expensive than some others.
Additionally, if you eat organic that will limit your options as well. Only Green Chef offers exclusively organic meal kits. Finally, you should review the menu before you sign up and make sure that there are plenty of options that you and the other members of your household will enjoy.
When choosing a meal delivery service, what to avoid really comes down to your personal preferences and budget. Fortunately, you can view the menu for all of these services on their websites before signing up. In fact, I have tested all of the services on this list for myself, in addition to several others.
We were able to use my first-hand experiences to help guide our decisions for the best cheap meal delivery. Additionally, we considered price per serving, specialty diets and customer reviews to ensure that we included highly-rated meal kits that offered affordable options for people with many different dietary needs and preferences.
Meal delivery services are weekly subscriptions that send pre-prepared meals or meal kits with recipes and ingredients to your door each week.
Some, like Nutrisystem, send monthly shipments. Meal delivery services are available at a wide range of prices. Many of them cost around eight to ten dollars per serving, but they can range from five to fifteen dollars per serving.
Meal delivery services can be a good fit for athletes, depending on their unique nutrition needs. Typically, athletes need to prioritize protein intake and may need to time their carbohydrate intake around athletic events.
Most meal delivery services feature protein-rich meal options and you can adjust the size of your carbohydrate serving if needed. Cheap meal delivery services can save your family hours each week. Although they are typically more expensive than grocery store prices, there are several affordable options that can save money compared to regular dining out.
Be sure to choose a meal kit that fits within your budget, is a good fit for your dietary needs and contains plenty of options that your household enjoys.
Sign In. SI Tickets. SI Shop. Deals Fitness Health Nutrition SI Tickets SI Shop Sleep Tech. By Matthew Dustin, fitness coach Feb 12, By Gabrielle Hondorp Feb 9, You can eat meals after just microwaving them for a few minutes.
Meal plans include options for specific diets, like keto, mediterranean, plant-based, or low carb diets. RELATED: Best Weight Loss Programs.
Unfortunately, eating too few calories for a prolonged time can actually damage your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight. HelloFresh is a subscription meal delivery service that provides ingredients and recipes for weekly meals. They provide six different plans, including plant-based, pescatarian, and quick and easy meals.
Additionally, 40 different recipes are available each week, and proteins and sides can be swapped out as needed. The subscription is flexible, as you can skip a week, pause, or cancel your account at any time.
Meal kits include ingredients and recipe cards, and you prep and cook your meals for two people or four. Our product tester, Ashley Little, has used HelloFresh for several years, and enjoys the ease of ordering and customizing your weekly meals. There is quite a bit of customization, an aspect that appealed to dietitian Perry Nix, RD, as well, particularly for family-friendly options.
Also, since you cook these meals at home, the kids can help prepare their meals, which inspires them to taste new foods.
Still, with its low price and discounts, this meal service is worth a shot. Good for: Meal kits that have variety up to par with grocery shopping. Hungryroot offers a unique take on meal delivery, in that you find a recipe you like, and the company will send you all of the ingredients to make it.
There are many options for types of food to choose from, and you can even order extra groceries that you might need as well. You do have to cook though, so if that's not interesting to you, this won't be the right plan. This feels less like a meal service and more like grocery shopping, according to GGR head of content and certified personal trainer Kate Meier, who tested out Hungryroot.
The ease of prep was fantastic for a meal kit service, according to Kate. But it was so easy—not a lot of chopping, because everything is prepackaged and ready to throw in a skillet. There is an abundance of variety with Hungryroot, particularly for those with dietary restrictions.
Also, Kate was a bit overwhelmed by the initial quiz at the start—asking lots of questions before you even get to see the meal options. Nevertheless, this is a solid service that provides high-quality ingredients for a relatively inexpensive price. Mosaic is a frozen meal delivery service that offers plant-based options for vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores alike.
Mosaic has a wide selection of frozen veggie bowls, family meals, pizzas, smoothies, soups, and oat bowls. Dishes vary from smoothies to pizzas and flatbreads, and even soups and oat bowls.
Family-friendly meals were also available, which dietitian Perry Nix, RD, enjoyed. Vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals that promote immune health, improve vision, and support strong bones and a healthy metabolism.
Make sure to check if they deliver to you though, as their delivery is limited to certain parts of the U. RELATED: Plant-Based Protein Powder Benefits. Good for: Families needing meal kits with options for all family members. Blue Apron is a meal kit delivery service that sends you everything you need for a fun, tasty meal right to your door.
Blue Apron is our favorite budget-friendly meal delivery service for families. With wellness and veggie plant-based options available in their preferences, Blue Apron also provides family-friendly options for kid-friendly meals, as well as a fast and easy quick prep option.
RELATED: Blue Apron Vs HelloFresh Vs Home Chef. Our tester, Sarah Carlton, enjoys the meal kits overall, although some meals shine brighter than others. On the other hand, the Salmon was packed with flavor and so good. The quality of the ingredients impressed Perry Nix, RD. These ingredient standards support the environment, farmers, and animal welfare.
A fault that Perry notes is that Blue Apron is fairly limited when it comes to dietary preferences. RELATED: Best Meal Delivery for Weight Loss. There are no subscriptions, you can order at the frequency to like.
Our favorite prepared meal delivery on a budget is Clean Eatz. Clean Eatz allows you to pick six meals from their meal plans—including keto, high-protein, and gluten-free plans—and then a quantity of these six-meal packs. Only being able to choose six meals at a time with limited variety might not be what some are looking for; still, with a decent amount of protein in each meal and delicious ingredients, Clean Eatz provides good value at a pretty low price.
Busy parents will rejoice in picker-eater approved menu items with hidden vegetables and wholesome ingredients from Little Spoon, a kid-specific meal delivery service.
Little Spoon has meal options for babies who are not yet eating solid foods, little ones moving to bite-size pieces, toddlers eating finger foods, and smoothies for on-the-go snacks. Subscription plans offer biweekly delivery cadence that can be skipped, paused, or canceled at any time.
For the picky eaters in your household, we suggest Little Spoon. Providing meals for all age ranges, from infants to toddlers to young kids, Little Spoon exposes kids to a variety of flavors and ingredients at a young age.
Dietitian Perry Nix, RD, speaks on the importance of diversifying the foods a child is exposed to early on. Senior editor and certified nutrition coach Nicole Davis tested out these meals directly with the source: her two oldest children. The kids, being moderately picky in their foods, had mixed reactions to some meals.
Prepared meal delivery services can save time and money. Learn more about the best services to purchase from here. My podcast changed me Can 'biological race' explain disparities in health?
Why Parkinson's research is zooming in on the gut Tools General Health Drugs A-Z Health Hubs Health Tools Find a Doctor BMI Calculators and Charts Blood Pressure Chart: Ranges and Guide Breast Cancer: Self-Examination Guide Sleep Calculator Quizzes RA Myths vs Facts Type 2 Diabetes: Managing Blood Sugar Ankylosing Spondylitis Pain: Fact or Fiction Connect About Medical News Today Who We Are Our Editorial Process Content Integrity Conscious Language Newsletters Sign Up Follow Us.
Medical News Today. Health Conditions Health Products Discover Tools Connect. By Steph Coelho, CPT and Hayley Osborne — Updated on July 25, On this page Our picks Comparison How we chose Who could benefit Hidden costs Benefits Drawbacks Alternatives FAQ Summary. How we vet brands and products Medical News Today only shows you brands and products that we stand behind.
Our team thoroughly researches and evaluates the recommendations we make on our site. To establish that the product manufacturers addressed safety and efficacy standards, we: Evaluate ingredients and composition: Do they have the potential to cause harm?
Fact-check all health claims: Do they align with the current body of scientific evidence? Assess the brand: Does it operate with integrity and adhere to industry best practices? We do the research so you can find trusted products for your health and wellness.
Read more about our vetting process. Was this helpful? Share on Pinterest. A quick look at the cheapest meal delivery services. The cheapest meal delivery services for SHOP NOW AT DINNERLY. Pros Prices per serving can be very affordable.
People can choose from more than recipes each week. Cons Recipe cards are available only online. The website does not clearly list diet-specific menus.
Pros The service offers generous student discounts. The packaging can keep food at the correct temperature for 48 hours.
New customers can get meals at a very low cost. Cons The brand does not offer a wide range of menus for special diets. Some discounts apply only to larger orders. The menu is unsuitable for vegans and pescatarians. SHOP NOW AT DAILY HARVEST.
Pros All meals are dairy- and gluten-free. All meals are suitable for vegans. The brand offers a wide variety of food types. The brand does not provide clear information online about shipping costs or times.
SHOP NOW AT MOSAIC. Pros The service offers exclusively plant-based meals. Some meals are gluten-free. The service also offers drinks. Shipping times are fast. Cons Some items are expensive. No information on shipping costs is available unless a person signs up. Items have individual prices, which may make this service more expensive.
SHOP NOW AT CLEAN EATZ. Pros The price per serving decreases as a person orders more meals, with the lowest price for 21 or more meals. The service offers ready-to-eat meals.
People can view the nutritional values on the website. Cons The dine-in cafe is not available in every state. People must pick up their meals. People may have to factor in travel costs to pick up their meals.
SHOP NOW AT BLUE APRON. Pros Unique menus are available for those on WW diets. The company uses ingredients from sustainable sources. The packaging is recyclable. Cons The service offers fewer menu items than other services. There are no vegan or gluten-free options. The food is not certified organic by the U.
Department of Agriculture USDA. Pros The service offers menus suitable for a range of health conditions. Medicaid may cover the cost of the service. The service provides unique menus, such as pureed food.
Cons Shipping is more expensive than for other brands. Medicaid coverage will vary by state. Specialized menus cost more.
SHOP NOW AT MARLEY SPOON. Pros Meals include unique spice blends. A professional chef designs the meals. The price per serving is very affordable. The company is involved in multiple environmental initiatives. Cons Customers mention quality control issues. The service offers limited vegan meals.
Pros The service is well known and popular. It offers a variety of cuisines. People can keep the recipe cards for later. Cons The company faces criticism over animal welfare.
The menu does not offer many vegan, keto, or paleo options.
Best online meal subscription deals and discounts for February · Daily Harvest · EveryPlate · Purple Carrot · HelloFresh · ButcherBox (meat delivery) Get $/meal and $1 steak (limited time only!). Enjoy affordable meal kit delivery and easy recipes with America's Best Value Meal Kit service Dinnerly, like Every Plate, is a budget meal delivery service with meals starting at just $ per serving. However, they have a huge catalog