Best Meal Delivery For Families

Especially after a long day, it might be challenging to prepare a healthy supper.

For some people who have hectic schedules that include working, taking care of a family, and running a household, finding the time to go grocery shopping, plan meals, and prepare simply isn’t doable.

There are numerous services that offer nutritious meals. However, they vary in terms of meal varieties, diets catered to, ingredient quality, flavor variety, and price.

We undertook the challenging task of testing some of the most well-liked services available to you in order to assist you determine which meal delivery service is best for you.

See our list of the top 11 food delivery services by reading on.

How to pick a delivery service for meal kits

It’s crucial to take into account a number of criteria while selecting a meal delivery service, including:

• Meal kits versus meal delivery services. If you like to cook and don’t mind prep work, opt for a meal kit company. On the other hand, if you’re short on time or don’t like to cook, a fully prepared meal delivery service is a better option.
• Meals provided. Meal kits are generally geared toward dinner, as they provide larger portions and take longer to cook. Meal delivery services often offer prepared options suitable for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Some even offer snacks and desserts.
• Specialty diets. If you follow a specific dietary pattern, such as vegetarian, vegan, keto, or paleo, it’s important to choose a company that offers several menu choices that are appropriate for you.
• Cost. When selecting a service, have a weekly or monthly food budget in mind. You’ll also want to factor in costs such as shipping and additional groceries you’ll need for the week.
• Servings. Many prepared meal delivery services provide only single-serving meals. In contrast, meal kits often cater to households of two or four, with some even offering up to six servings per meal.
• Sustainability. It’s no secret that meal delivery services use a lot of packaging. However, some companies have made strides to be more eco-friendly by focusing on seasonal or local ingredients and using recyclable, reusable, or compostable materials.

When choosing the best services, we took into account the following factors:

• Ingredient quality and freshness. We tried every service and paid close attention to the freshness of the ingredients upon delivery. We gave extra points for services featuring higher quality items, such as organic produce or grass-fed beef.
• Menu variety. To keep your taste buds happy, we looked for menus offering a good variety of flavors and ingredients. We also included services that cater to specialty diets, such as vegan, gluten-free, or low carb.
• Taste. We personally tried each service to make sure the meals are tasty and satisfying.
• Ease of preparation. We tested each service to find out whether the meals are easy to make or whether they require an extra set of hands in the kitchen. We also noted if the meals took longer than the company’s estimated time to prepare.
• Nutrition. We included services that offer nutritionally balanced meals. Most of the meals offered here contain lean proteins, whole grains, healthy fats, and a generous serving of vegetables.
• Price. We included options to suit a range of budgets. The meal delivery services on our list range from $4.99–$14.49 per serving, with EveryPlate being the most affordable option.

Business and medical vetting

All of the services included have been thoroughly vetted to ensure that they meet Healthline’s medical and business standards. Here are examples of what we looked for:

• Is there scientific evidence to support the brand’s health or medical claims?
• Does the brand adhere to industry best practices, including fair employment and marketing practices?
• How does the company protect customers’ privacy data?
• Does the company provide transparency around ingredient sourcing and food suppliers?
• Does the brand make it clear how it implements safe food handling practices set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?

Best-tasting meal kit

Sunbasket

• Price: starts at $11.49 per serving for meal kits and $9.99 per serving for Fresh & Ready meals
• Shipping: $7.99
• Delivery area: most zip codes in the United States, except for Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of Montana, New Mexico, and North Dakota
• Menus: Chef’s Choice, Lean & Clean, Gluten-Free, Paleo, Carb-Conscious, Mediterranean, Pescatarian, Vegetarian, Diabetes-Friendly

A well-known company that delivers nutritious meal kits, Sunbasket provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner options made from complete, nutrient-dense foods.

It employs organic produce, wild-caught seafood, and organic eggs, all of which contribute to the freshness and quality of each meal. It is a certified organic handler.

Additionally, the majority of recipes use aromatics like shallots, fresh herbs, and spice blends to satisfy your palate.

All of the company’s dishes have been given the seal of approval by an on-staff dietician, and it offers meals that adhere to several common dietary patterns.

Sunbasket also provides single-serving Fresh & Ready Meals that can be heated in the microwave in only 4 minutes for people who are pressed for time. White Bean Turkey Chili, Chicken Tikka Masala, and other dishes are among the choices.

Examples of previous meal kit recipes:

• Spanish Steaks with Patatas Bravas and Bell Pepper Alioli
• Chicken Yakitori with Broccoli and Steamed Rice
• Niçoise Salad with Seared Tuna, Green Beans, and Soft-Cooked Eggs

Hands-on review

My absolute favorite food delivery service was Sunbasket. The majority of the dishes took 30 minutes or less to prepare, the ingredients were delivered fresh, and the flavor combinations were fantastic and unlike ones I frequently make.

I really liked the Fresh & Ready meals; my favorite was the White Chicken Chili, but I still prefer the flavor of the meal kits to the ease of the prepared foods.

In this thorough review, you can learn more about why this meal kit delivery service was my favorite.

—Healthline Nutrition and Fitness Market Editor Kelli McGrane, MS, RD

Best meal kit for healthy eaters

Green Chef

• Price: starts at $11.99 per serving
• Shipping: $9.99
• Delivery area: most U.S. zip codes, except for Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of Louisiana
• Menus: Keto + Paleo, Balanced Living, and Plant-Powered

Examples of previous menu items:

• Baked Ricotta Chicken with Pesto
• Mojito Cauliflower
• Mediterranean Shrimp

Hands-on review

Given that many of the ingredients were already chopped or shredded, Green Chef meals were the quickest and simplest to prepare, earning them the title of best runner-up for meal kits.

The meals were savory, fresh, and included a sufficient serving of vegetables, which is something that is frequently absent with other meal delivery services. This is perhaps most significant. After attempting 1 week of Green Chef meals, read my whole evaluation.

—Healthline Nutrition and Fitness Market Editor Kelli McGrane, MS, RD

Pros

• good mix of family-friendly recipes and exciting flavor combinations
• easy-to-make recipes with premeasured ingredients
• most meals take less than 30 minutes to cook
• easy to skip or change your weekly order
• certified organic company with all organic produce and eggs
• eco-friendly packaging

Cons

• can’t mix and match between meal plans
• limited number of meal plans compared with similar services
• not suitable for severe food allergies or intollerances
• additional shipping fee

The Best Meal Kits For Crowd-Pleasing Family Dinners

Foolproof Food For Fussy Eaters

Yumble Kids

$7PER SERVING AND UP

When you need to feed hangry—and picky—kids quickly, Yumble offers ready-to-heat and eat meals that don’t require any cooking. How it functions The same day every week, meals that you choose from the weekly menu’s more than 40 alternatives are delivered. You have a choice of four, six, eight, or 16 meals every week, depending on your preferences.

Parents also appreciate how Yumble subtly includes healthful snacks. The vegetarian bean burrito with organic corn (a crowd favorite), the cheesy fusilli pasta with hidden veggies and broccoli, the chicken pot pie pocket with organic green beans, and the sweet sticky rice and chicken are just a few examples of the meals available.

Additional benefits include the availability of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options, as well as gluten-free and vegetarian selections, with this kids meal delivery service. Weekly extras like entertaining sticker sheets and conversation starters for the dinner table might be found in your package. You can miss weeks if you have a busy schedule or are traveling, and both the meal trays and shipping boxes are recyclable. When you order more meals per week, the price per meal is $6.99; however, if you order less meals per week, the price per meal rises.

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Fast, Filling Fare With Minimal Prep

Gobble

$78AND UP

This is the strategy for your family if you’re seeking for quickness. All of the recipes can be completed in 15 minutes or less, which means you can prepare delicious meals with little effort and even more quickly than ordering takeout. The components for Gobble’s meals are already peeled, chopped, and marinated, so technically you are still assembling and preparing the meal. Some of their elegant restaurant-quality dishes include bucatini bolognese, halibut with tarragon beurre blanc sauce, apple and Brussels sprout flatbread with goat cheese, and seared chicken with charred shishito peppers and romesco.

You can pick from a variety of breakfast items, salads, soups, sides, and desserts while using Gobble’s meal delivery service. It is genuinely customised in that you may alter the quantity of servings, the delivery date, and any dietary requirements (such as dairy-free, gluten-free, low-carb, vegetarian, and kid-friendly). Dinner for two people three evenings a week costs $78 and dinner for four people three nights a week costs $156 at a cost of $12.99 a serving.

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Stepped-Up Nutrition For Babies

Once Upon A Farm

$5PER SERVING AND UP

Making healthful, organic, and balanced food for infants and toddlers takes time and can be difficult—especially when you know that a sizable chunk of it may wind up on the floor. With meals that assist the youngest children form healthy eating habits and let them experiment with various tastes and textures when transitioning to solids, Once Upon A Farm Organics saves you the bother. This service could come in handy if you balance childcare with working from home or any combination of the two.

For a subscription service, there are two possibilities: The other offers organic meals from Raised Real that may be pureed, mashed, or eaten as finger food. The first comprises cold-pressed fruit and vegetable blends, smoothies, overnight oats, or baby food given in pouches. You’ll feel great about giving your child these baby-friendly meals because they can be prepared in just six minutes and contain components that support healthy digestion, strong bones, brain development, and more. Even frozen meals can be prepared in advance of cooking. While cases of the organic meals cost $80 for a box of 16 ($5 per meal) and $113 for a box of 24, cases of the pouches cost $65 for a box of 24.