In this article:
- Cheapest food delivery services
- how we test
- Cheap Meal Delivery FAQ
What is the cheapest food delivery service?
With prices on the rise, it can be difficult to balance the need to eat well with your budget. We've researched some of the most affordable meal subscription services and meal kits available to help you choose the best option for you. From what we found,CadaPlatoIt's the cheapest meal kit service you'll find. As a bonus, we loved almost every recipe we made during testing.
If you're looking to save some money but still get food delivery every week, we've tried to find the best and cheapest food delivery in 2023. With this plethora of affordable optionsfood delivery services, you can satisfy your appetiteyyour wallet
Read more:Are meal kits more expensive than buying groceries? I did the math
Cheapest prepared meal delivery services.
It's no secret that the best meal kit or catering reduces your workload in the kitchen and the time you spend dealing with the drudgery of shopping. Convenience meal delivery services offer meals prepared in the microwave and oven and require no cooking, providing the best hack for your busy week. Fortunately, all this convenience doesn't have to break the bank, and some of the best food delivery services are also the most affordable. For vegans and vegetarians,Mosaic Foodshas family meals as cheap as $5 per serving and $9 for individual meals, anddaily harvestIt has great shakes, soups, bowls and flatbreads, also most under $10. And it doesn't have to be boring: most of these cheap food delivery services offer an ever-changing weekly menu of delicious meals to choose from.
The cheapest meal kits
meal kitsThey have seen a huge increase in customers during the pandemic. Meal kit subscriptions from companies likegreen chefysun basketthey're great, but they can be pricey, with recipes running as low as $15 a serving.having lunchyCadaPlato, which cost about $6 a serving, are the cheapest sets.
There are also some intermediate options to consider, such asblue apron,hello freshychef. These can cost $9 or $10 per serving, but allow for more customization and have more recipes to choose from. Most of these food delivery services also offer vegetarian options or customization for non-meat eaters. There are meal kits that cater to a specialized diet, such assalvation, paleo, low calorie or gluten free.
Regardless of your budget, taste, or schedule, there are affordable and tasty meal delivery services to make cooking easy for you or your family. We've tested all of the cheapest meal kits and suppliers on this list to help you decide which one is best.
The cheapest meal delivery services for 2023
CadaPlato
Prices
From $5/food
Type
meal kit
regional availability
continental united states
Number of meal options per week
20+
Menu Options/Diet Types
Meat and vegetables, vegetables, suitable for families, quick and easy
EveryPlate is the most affordable meal kit service, with recipes starting at $5 a serving, sometimes less if you can get a subscription deal. youI tried all the dishesrecently and was pleasantly surprised. You won't find fancy or fancy cuisine or complicated recipes, but you will find plenty of satisfying meals that will make your ribs stick together like hoisin meatloaf with mashed potatoes, cheeseburgers, umami pork chops, and sweet potato quesadillas. .
EveryPlate meal kits are easy to make and I've loved everything I've made, which is why I've chosen it as the best budget meal kit in 2023. And for a limited time, you can get $72 off your first box, reducing the price per serving by a modest $1.39-$1.79. This only applies to the first box, but subsequent meals will only cost you a standard $5 per serving, with the same simple but delicious meal options you'd expect.
price: $5 per serving.
CadaPlato
having lunch
Prices
From $5/serving
Type
meal kit
regional availability
continental united states
Number of meal options per week
45+
Menu Options/Diet Types
Vegetarian
At a comparable price of $5.59 per serving is Dinnerly, another great inexpensive meal kit. Like EveryPlate, Dinnerly has lots of comfort foods like spinach-parmesan ravioli, roast beef tacos, and Thai chicken.
I tried Dinnerly's affordable meal kits and they were all easy to make, though on average they involved more work than the recipes on EveryPlate. There were also some big misses between hits. But Dinnerly is a little more streamlined than its cheap counterpart, letting you add chicken breast, ground beef, or shrimp protein packs to your meal plan along with a small market of snacks and dessert, which you can add to an extra cost.
They are currently offering discounts on the first four boxes. The first box is nearly 75% off, the meals are $1.29-$1.58 each (depending on how many meals you get a week), the second is a slightly lower discount, and so on until the fourth. But even at the fifth at $5.59 a serving, that's still a lot of food.
price: From $6 per serving, plus $9 shipping.
having lunch
Mosaic Foods
Prices
From $10/food
Type
prefabricated
regional availability
Most major metropolitan areas in the eastern and western United States
Number of meal options per week
50+
Menu Options/Diet Types
Plant-based, vegan, vegetarian
I've tried about nine of Mosaic Food's plant-based convenience offerings, and the vegetarian convenience delivery service has had a surprisingly high success rate. Mosaic explores big and interesting global flavors and employs the creative use of meat substitutes like tofu, jackfruit, cauliflower and vegan sausages to create vegetarian meals that are tasty and satisfying, even for this omnivore. There are some vegan meals, but many of them use dairy, so vegans need to choose their Mosaic meals more carefully.
Mosaic Meals is also easy to order with a clear and concise website and no overly complicated plans. You simply choose the meals you want with a $70 minimum order (about eight meals) and then decide how often you want them delivered: weekly, biweekly, or monthly. You can change meals, pause or cancel your subscription at any time.
price: Most Mosaic meals for one person are $10, soups are $6, and bowls of porridge are $6. Mosaic also recently addedfamily mealsintended for three or four people who book it for just $5 a serving.
Mosaic Foods
hello fresh
Prices
From $8/serving
Type
meal kit
regional availability
Continental United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan
Number of meal options per week
30+
Menu Options/Diet Types
Meat and Vegetables, Vegetables, Family, Healthy and Fit, Quick and Easy, Pescatarian, Low Carb and Low Calorie
HelloFresh costs a little more per serving than EveryPlate or Dinnerly ($8 per serving if you order meals for four), but this inexpensive meal delivery service offers more recipe options and I'd say the recipes and ingredients are higher quality. quality. . caliber too. HelloFresh has up to 25 dinner kits a week, so it's nearly impossible not to find something you like. HelloFresh also has five to six plant-based recipes a week, making it the best budget meal kit service for vegetarians.
When I tried the HelloFresh meal kits recently, I made meatloaf à la mama, potato and corn steak, and honey butter pork chops. I liked the three. take a look at meHelloFresh full reviewfor everything you need to know about food delivery service.
price: Plans start at $8 per serving.
hello cool
18 free meals in 8 boxes, first box is free + 3 surprise gifts with code: CNET18
Ver e HelloFresh
chef
Prices
From $8/serving
Type
Meal kit, pre-made
regional availability
98% americano
Number of meal options per week
30
Menu Options/Diet Types
Calorie-conscious, Carb-conscious
For just a tick cheaper than HelloFresh is Home Chef. I tried Home Chef a few months ago and loved the flexibility and customization that a meal kit subscription allows. For example, you can swap out the protein in almost any recipe, or double the portion if you're expecting company or want to eat leftovers for lunch later in the week. Home Chef also has affordable oven-ready meal kits that just need to be assembled on a tray and cooked—no chopping or prepping required.
Some Home Chef recipes I tried and enjoyed were the moo shu pork tacos and the shrimp bruschetta risotto, which had a lot of garlic but was much easier to make than I expected.
price: Most meals are $9 per serving. New customers will receive a $100 discount on their first few deliveries.
chef
16 free meals + surprise gift with code: CNET16
daily harvest
Prices
From $8/food
Type
prefabricated
regional availability
95% of the continental United States
Number of meal options per week
40+
Menu Options/Diet Types
Organic, whole, dairy-free and gluten-free fruits and vegetables
Daily Harvest isn't a traditional meal kit company, but it delivers healthy plant-based smoothies, soups, and bowls of grains to your doorstep, starting at $7 per meal. While the other options on our list are geared towards dinnertime, Daily Harvest is best for affordable (and easy) ready-to-heat-and-go breakfasts and lunches.
WhenI tried Daily HarvestI loved the interesting shake combinations like a blueberry chocolate shake with greens, banana and almond butter. More hearty meals are great too, like the cauliflower rice and pesto harvest dish with cashews and spinach. You won't need more than a pot, toaster or blender to prepare most meals, and most can be prepared in just 5 minutes.
price: Meals are between $7 and $12 and no subscription is required.
daily harvest
40% off the first box with the code: CNET40
The cheapest meal kits in comparison
| Service | recipes per week | good diets for | Average price per serving | shipping by box | CNET rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | | |
| CadaPlato | 21 | Vegetarian, gluten free. | $ 6 | $ 10 | 8.8 |
| having lunch | 50+ | Vegetarian, keto, paleo, gluten free, diabetic, fisherman | $ 7 | $ 10 | 7.8 |
| chef | 28 | Keto, Low Calorie, Gluten Free, Pescetarian | $ 9 | Free on boxes over $40 | 8 |
| hello fresh | 50+ | Vegetarian, keto, paleo, gluten free, diabetic, fisherman | $ 9 | $ 9 | 8 |
| blue apron | sixteen | Vegetarian, hypocaloric, gluten-free, pescetarian | $ 10 | $ 10 | 8.2 |
Cheaper ready meals by comparison
| Service | just signature | meals offered | meal options per week | good diets for | Price per portion | shipping by box | CNET rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mosaic Foods | Sim | Lunch dinner | 80 | vegan, vegetarian | $ 5- $ 10 | $ 8 | 9.2 |
| daily harvest | No | breakfast lunch dinner | 100+ | Vegan, vegetarian, low calorie, whle30, paleo | $ 8- $ 10 | Book | 8.8 |
| fresh and thin | Sim | breakfast lunch dinner | 18 | Keto, Paleo, Whole30, Mediterranean Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, High Protein | US$ 8,49 a US$ 13 | Free over $40 | 9.2 |
| Ready Homemade Chef Oven | Sim | Lunch dinner | 7 | None | $ 9 | Free on boxes over $40 | 8 |
How I Tested to Find the Best Cheap Food Delivery
In recent years, we have tested almost everymeal kit deliveryyprepared meal delivery servicewe could put our oven mitts on, and that includes the best cheap meal delivery services. Many of the menu options for food delivery services that we have listed include nutritious foods.plant-based foodor protein-rich recipes with lots of vegetables and lean meats.
To test each cheap food delivery service, I tried at least four and sometimes as many as 10 meals from any given service. I always choose a variety of meals from the various menus and meal plans offered. For example, if a food subscription service offers vegan or vegetarian meals, I would definitely try at least one. I also mixed the cuisine types to include pastas, meat dishes, bowls and other assorted styles that the brand offers.
To test the best cheap meal kits, there was another set of standards and protocols to follow. Here is more abouthow we test meal kits on CNET.
Cheap Meal Delivery FAQ
What is the cheapest food delivery service?
EveryPlate and Dinnerly are the cheapest meal kits, and most plans are under $6 per serving. HelloFresh and Home Chef are next level with servings at $7 or $8 a serving.
With family meals costing $5 per serving and individual meals around $9, Mosaic Foods is the least expensive caterer we've ever experienced. Fresh N Lean also has prepared meals for around $9 or $10 each, depending on how much you order. Services like Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon have similarly priced meals, but focus more on cereal and smoothie bowls and may be better for breakfast or lunch than dinner.
What is the best food delivery service to lose weight?
When it comes to meal kits, your options are many, with most services offering weekly recipes that are low in calories but still filling. HelloFresh has the most recipes per week of any meal kit service, so it might be your best bet for finding consistent meals that keep your diet goals on track. But all services list the calorie content of each recipe, along with carbs, protein, sugar, and sodium.
Depending on your weight loss goals, a healthy prepared meal delivery service or a meal kit service can help. Fresh N Lean, Pete's Real Food, and Daily Harvest have low-calorie meals to choose from.
What is the difference between meal kits and pre-prepared meal delivery?
Some of the services listed here are healthy.prepared meal delivery services, shipping fully cooked meals, often frozen or partially frozen, and ready to eat when you receive them. others includehealth-focused meal kitswith pre-measured ingredients, all packaged and ready to cook easily overnight. There's a big difference between meal kits and meal delivery, but both make dining out easier and could translate to healthier eating options for you in 2023. Plus, we uncover the best healthy meal services for people on special diets like keto or paleo or for those who want to eat organic prepared meals and meal kits.
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The information in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be medical or health advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified healthcare professional with any questions you may have about a medical condition or health goals.